HC:Pacifist | Ch. 11 - Marathonist
Added 2023-04-24 15:50:38 +0000 UTCIt had been days of non-stop running and reading for Roth. He was sure that if reading the forum counted, he would have unlocked some title like "running reader" or "I can read and run without falling on my face." Alas, he hadn't. Nevertheless, reading the forums allowed him to gain a good overview of the game's inner workings. The knowledge that at the start of AstroTerra came at a premium cost was now considered common, and he could access much of it in the forums for free.
As for the [Package Run] quests, he had already met Bartholomew’s niece, brother, nephew, son, daughter, father, mother, and cousin, and now he was on his way to Creekhill Village to meet Bartholomew's wife. Why was this whole family living apart from each other anyway? He jokingly wondered if this family of merchants organized reunions when no one was looking.
Although these quests were vastly similar and, for the most part, uneventful, he had received a few nice surprises along the way. One of them was after three days of almost non-stop jogging. He had unlocked his second title.
Title: Marathonist (common)
Title description: After running great distances, your training has made you more robust and durable.
Title effects:
- You can run longer without getting tired.
Conditions to unlock [Marathonist]:
Run 500 km in under three days {complete};
or run 1.000.000 km.
The benefit of the title wasn’t quantifiable, but the results were there for him to see. Before, he could run for ninety minutes straight without resting. Now, he could go on for two hours without taking a break. He was happy with the added boost, saving him much time.
From what he could tell from the forums, titles were a much bigger deal than he had assumed. Every title was highly coveted and sought-after in the game. He found one post that suggested this.
"Yo! Ya, noobs! Just to letcha all know, I got my first title today at level 12! Take that, all you fools who said that you can only get a title after level 20!"
If getting a title was this hard, he guessed he was doing exceptionally well after unlocking two as early as level 4! Some titles would be much rarer and more valuable than others. For example, from what he saw here, [Marathonist] was a more common one that eventually all players got. However, it would take much longer for those who unlocked it by running a million kilometers inside the game. He could benefit from getting it early. It would save him some time. Any advantage he gained mattered. If he were to get out, he would have to catch up to many players who were much more advanced than he was.
As usual, Roth went into the local shop and delivered the parcel.
[Package Run IX] completed
Quest completion rate: S
Rewards: 50 coppers, 500 XP
Bonus rewards: 50 coppers, 500 XP, [Horrible Vest], +10 reputation with Greenleaf Inc.
[Level up!]
You’ve achieved 100 reputation with Greenleaf, Inc. You are now friends with Greenleaf, Inc.
This had been the ninth of the [Package Run] quests. Every time he completed a quest, he was given some reputation with the merchant association that ran all these shops. He had finally unlocked the first level of closeness with them! He did not know what kind of difference that would make, but he was sure to find out sooner or later.
Roth also took a moment to examine the item he had just received.
Item: Horrible Vest
Item's description: What was once a jacket is now so full of holes and tears that it can be more appropriately called a vest.
Grade: Common
+1 Intelligence
+1 Wisdom
Roth equipped it and checked his stats:
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Pax
Race: Human
Level: 4 (300/3000)
Affinity: [Empty]
Alignment: Neutral (20/100)
Relationships: Mice (10/100); Greenleaf Inc. (100/300)
Titles: [Martyr]; [Marathonist]
STATS (Free Stat Points: 20)
Hp:109
Energy:102
Damage Reduction: 31.6%
Running Speed: 134.2%
Weight: [Light] - (2/44,4kg)
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 16
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 7
Endurance: 216
EQUIPMENT
Right Hand:[Empty]
Left hand: [Tin Ring]
Shoes: [Crappy Shoes]
Bottom: [Moldy Trousers]
Top: [Horrible Vest]
Gloves: [Empty]
Head: [Ghastly Headband]
Cape: [Errand Cloak]
Accessories: [Empty]
ONGOING QUESTS:
[Empty]
SKILLS:
Stat Bonuses: [Stone Skin]; [Horse’s Gallop]
Passive: [Empty]
Active: [Empty]
Not too bad after spending a few days just running around. The experience he gained from completing the quests allowed him to reach level four. He hadn’t gotten anything below an S in the quest achievement, earning him a significant boost in XP. He noticed that every time he leveled up, he gained free stats. He could allocate those to whatever he liked. Typically, warrior classes allocated all of their stats to strength, for instance. Rogues would boost their dexterity, and medics and espers would focus on intelligence or wisdom. He still didn’t know which stats would benefit his profession or class more, so he held them in reserve. Nevertheless, he had twenty free stats to spend at the moment.
With his new items, he looked a bit more respectable now. One could argue that his clothes were so full of holes and ragged that he was almost as naked in them as he had been without them, but Roth preferred to look on the bright side of life. He knew there were items that looked more respectable for sale in the villages, but nothing gave him more running speed, so he chose not to waste his hard-earned money. He just kept completing quests and equipping the items he was given.
Tin ring (common)
Item description: A piece of trash that happens to fit into your finger
Item effects: +1 intelligence
Moldy pants (common)
Item description: The trousers are so foul and have been kept in a humid place for so long that they have become covered in fungus and moss.
Item effects: +1 wisdom
Ghastly Headband (common)
Item description: A headband that someone dug out of a pile of trash. It is unsightly and disgusting.
Item effects: +1 wisdom, +1 intelligence
He had also received a sword as a reward for one of the delivery quests, but he returned it because he did not want to wield any weapons. When he did so, he got another message similar to the one he received when talking to Bartholomew.
Barach, the merchant, is impressed with your refusal to take up arms.
+10 righteousness
Apparently, it was much harder to gain alignment than it was to gain reputation. He had to perform actions that the game considered extraordinary before he was given the righteousness points.
If things went as they had so far, Bartholomew’s wife, Bertha, would soon give him a follow-up quest. He waited to see if Bartholomew’s wife had anything to say. She did.
"Oh, you truly have been a good friend to our family, traveler. You have traveled far and wide to help us deliver these goods. Would you be willing to help us one last time?"
Quest: One last errand (rare)
Mission objectives: Go and deliver this package to Bartholomew’s dog, who lives in the woods.
Mission rewards: Unknown
Roth was excited. This was the first rare quest he would complete. He had noticed how the rewards kept snowballing in this chain quest. The farther he went in the series of missions, the more bountiful the prize. He couldn't wait to see what the final reward would be! "Certainly, ma'am. I will be on my way."
"Be careful, traveler. Many are those who get lost or are attacked in those woods."
"Don’t worry, ma'am, I'll be alright."
"Godspeed, traveler."
Roth left the store in town and checked the local map. This had been one of the rewards of the last quest he’d completed: [Package Run VIII]. As he completed almost a full circle in the beginner area, running from town to town, he was awarded a map of the whole region.
He now had a more accurate idea of where he was in the beginner zone. This would prove helpful since players usually stayed here until level 10. The beginner zone consisted of a ring of villages and prairies surrounding the woods. He hadn’t even come near the woods until now, nor had he come near one of the hunting grounds; he had only stuck to the roads. At least here, in the beginner zone, there were no mobs near the roads, and traveling was completely safe.
It would be his first time going into the woods. He was looking forward to it. These days, all the woods and forests left out in the real world were considered national parks, and humans weren't allowed anywhere near them. The only way most people saw wild animals or were in touch with nature was, ironically, by playing this kind of augmented virtual reality. Looking at the map, he saw how different mutated animals populated the woods. There were rats, foxes, ravens, badgers, and at the very center of the woods, the strongest mobs in the beginner zone, boars. The map was so detailed that it displayed where he could find each type of animal and the locations of all the dungeons within the woods. Roth noticed that, despite the relatively detailed map, it lacked the information he needed most. He didn’t know where Bartholomew’s dog was. This was the first time he wasn’t given the coordinates for his destination. Maybe it was a result of the quest being of a higher grade. He would have to work harder for it.
As Roth followed his map, he left the village through the south gate, and for the first time in the game, he took a cross-country route while heading toward the woods. Separating the villages from the treeline that showed the beginning of the woods was a series of grass prairies. Different mice inhabited them. He walked for a couple of minutes and then heard a commotion ahead. Curious, he tried to come closer. Finally, he saw the reason for the fuss. Three players were hunting a mouse.
As Roth drew near, he heard the pained squeaks of the mouse as it was attacked on all sides.
"Attack him from behind!"
"Hit its head! Hit its head!"
"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!"
Hearing the pain of the animal, Roth froze. Different memories flashed in his mind. First, he was transported back to his time in prison. He could hear the counselor talking to him sometime around his third rageaholic meeting.
"Roth here is an egg. I want you to take care of it."
"What? What do you mean? Take care of it?"
"Be careful. There is a chick about to hatch. Keep it warm and safe; otherwise, the chick will die."
Roth remembered accepting the tiny little ball in his massive, clumsy hand. Even though he was such a big man, for the first time in his life, he felt that his strength was useless for this task. For this, he would have to be gentle. He remembered taking care of it, day in and day out. He had seen it hatch and remembered the day the little chick came out. He remembered how it had followed him happily around. He recalled that from that day onward, he had become a vegetarian and could not bear to see the sight of an animal being hurt.
Then his mind was transported to the eighteen hours of uninterrupted torture he had experienced a few days ago. He had never felt so much pain for so long. He had shrugged it off, but he hadn’t come out of that inhumane treatment unscathed. His eyes focused back on the mouse. Wasn’t what this little mouse was going through the same thing that they had done to him?
"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!"
"Quick! Keep hitting it!"
Before he realized what he was doing, Roth was running toward the mouse.
