We Hunt Monsters, page 10
Keith placed his hand on the monster’s corpse and thought the word ‘loot.’ Immediately, several messages popped up.
You have received: 22 Basher scales, 12 Basher spikes, 6 Basher stumps, Basher thumper & Basher head (Quest item)
“What the hell kind of body part is a thumper?” Keith asked as the monster’s body vanished.
“You got a thumper?” Bob exclaimed. “You lucky such and such!”
“What?”
“The thumper is literally the rarest drop a basher-type monster can give you!”
“We’re ready to head back,” Cayla called, interrupting the excited monkey. “Did you grab the daggers?”
“We’ll talk more when we get back,” Keith said, stooping to grab one dagger.
The illuminator finally ran out at that point, and he had to rely on his Discerning Eye skill to find the other, but it didn’t take too much longer.
“Cayla?” he called, trying to locate the woman.
“Here.”
Her voice sounded off to his left, and after a few seconds, he found her.
“How’s he doing?” Keith asked when he saw the man slung over her back.
“He’s alive,” Cayla said. “But unconscious. He should be fine once we get him to a healer. I just hope this won’t be too expensive.”
It took a bit longer to reach Oster’s Keep, as they needed to navigate in the rain and keep a slower pace due to their injured companion. Still, the natural stone wall soon came into view, and thankfully, the guards at the gate didn’t give them too much trouble.
“We need a healer,” Keith called as he shoved the heavy door to the guildhall open.
He was sure they looked like a mess. After all, they were completely drenched, covered in blood, cradling broken limbs, and carrying a half-dead person.
However, after a few people turned to see what the commotion was about, they went back to their own business. Clearly, heavily-injured people were quite common around here.
“Out of the way! Move!”
Cragg, the overly loud half-dwarf, shoved his way through the crowd, followed by a small man dressed in tattered robes.
“Set him down over here,” the man ordered.
Cayla complied, and Keith watched with interest as the healer held his hands out over the unconscious Jared. Green particles of light floated from his fingers, seeping into the man, and before their eyes, Jared began to recover.
His chest evened out, expanding to a normal size once more, and the pallid look vanished as his skin took on a healthy flush. His breathing eased, though the man didn’t immediately regain consciousness as Keith had expected.
Jared’s HP slowly ticked up until it was full, and only then did the healer turn to Keith.
“Come on. You next.”
Keith didn’t argue, stepping forward. Just as the earlier message had stated, his HP had stubbornly refused to fill all the way, thanks to his broken limb, and that was not to mention the actual pain he felt.
He let out a breath as a soothing warmth flooded into his limb. He felt something within shifting around, and a moment later, the pain stopped. His HP began to tick up as he flexed his fingers.
“Why did it take so much less time to heal me?” Keith asked after thanking the healer.
“Because your injuries were far less severe,” the man replied. “Good work in getting him to me so quickly, by the way. Any longer, and he might not have recovered fully.”
“Was the damage really that severe?” Keith asked.
“Several broken ribs, a punctured lung, and internal bleeding,” the healer replied. “His HP was capped at 40%, and there was a debuff that would lower that cap every hour until he recovered. He was so bad that he had attracted the Potential Cripple debuff, which, as I said, would have left him with a permanent disability had he not been treated in time.”
“I guess the final question is how much do we owe you?” Cayla asked, cutting in.
“Nothing,” the healer replied. “The guild offers up to three complimentary healings a month. Since I take it that you completed your quest, I’ll take this one off your credit. You did complete the quest, right?”
In answer, Keith pulled the basher head from his inventory, though he made sure to do it in a clear area. It was quite large – coming all the way up to Keith’s chest – and grotesque, with both eyes missing and its stony tongue lolling out of the side. Strangely enough, no blood leaked onto the floor as Cragg let out a booming laugh.
“Alright, you’ve completed the quest! Welcome to the guild!”
Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Sneaky Basher.
+200 XP
Go to Cragg to collect the rest of your rewards.
Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Initiation.
+100 XP
Go to Marj to collect the rest of your rewards.
“Here you go!” Cragg boomed, removing a shiny copper chain from his inventory and having it to Keith, along with five silver coins.
He did the same for Cayla, though it seemed Jared would need to wait until he woke up to receive his rewards.
“And the final reward,” the man boomed, extending a hand.
A window popped up before Keith, and he quickly read it over.
Skill available!
Monster Hunter
Level: Novice – I
You’re a terrifying monster hunter. You hunt monsters. It’s pretty self-explanatory…
+10% Damage
Keith readily accepted the skill, and another unexpected prompt flashed in his vision.
Skill: Monster Hunter has advanced to Beginner.
Monster Hunter
Level: Beginner - IV
You’re a terrifying monster hunter. You’re a little better at hunting monsters. It’s pretty self-explanatory.
+20% Damage, +5% Armor piercing
Well, that was unexpected, Keith thought as he added the coins to his inventory and thanked Cragg for teaching him the skill. He wondered if the immediate advancement had something to do with his previous experience with hunting. It kind of made sense, but he would need to confirm with Bob once they were away from prying ears.
“Well, you now have access to all of the guild’s amenities and discounts!” Cragg said. “Go to Aargh to get your housing straightened out. If you want any quests, just go check out the job board. See you around!”
Keith hid a wince as the man wandered away, presumably leaving someone else to take care of the monstrous head. He turned to Cayla, who was looking to the still-prone Jared worriedly.
“I’ll get him to a bed,” she said, moving to pick him up.
“Wait,” Keith called. “The loot from the basher.”
“Keep it,” Cayla said. “You saved both our lives out there. I’m sure Jared would agree.”
“If you’re sure about that,” Keith said, extending a hand with both daggers.
“I’m sure,” Cayla said, giving him a strained smile. “I’ll see you around, Keith. If you ever need someone for a quest, I’ll be happy to join you, and while I can’t speak for Jared on this matter, I’m sure he’d say the same.”
Keith watched the two of them go, disappearing into the oddly crowded main floor of the guild before turning his attention to Bob.
“So, shall we go find Marj and get the rest of our reward, then go to bed?”
“Sounds good to me,” Bob replied, drooping over his shoulder. “I’m pooped!”
15
“Good work killing that monster,” Marj said, handing over two silver coins. “I’m sure you’ve got a bright future in our guild.”
“Thank you,” Keith said, hiding a yawn. “Do you know where I might find Aargh?” he asked, hesitating on the truly bizarre name.
“Aargh can be found on the second floor,” Marj said, extending a finger upward. “There should be a sign with a key painted on it. Best to put that chain on before you go, as he won’t even talk to anyone not in the guild.”
Keith thought that was a rather strange thing, but seeing as the man’s name seemed to be the sound people made when they were in pain, he wasn’t going to question it.
Now seven silver coins and many monster parts richer, Keith headed up the stairs, already twining the thin copper chain through his belt. It wasn’t hard to find the sign with the key, where a massive brute of a man wearing a much-too-small pair of glasses was reading a book.
“The Adventures of Bogo the Baboon?” Keith asked, getting the man’s attention.
Aargh looked over the top of his book before closing it and placing it beneath the counter.
“New guild member, I take it?” he asked in a gruff voice.
“Yeah,” Keith replied. “I’m looking for a place to sleep.”
“Obviously,” Aargh replied, pulling a copper-colored key from beneath the counter. “Copper rooms are through that door. Room number is on the key. If you lose it, it’ll cost you ten silver to replace. So don’t lose it.”
With that said, the man took his book back out and proceeded to ignore him.
“Friendly guy,” Keith muttered as he headed to the far side of the floor, where a rickety-looking door sat, hanging on a single hinge.
“Some people are just like that,” Bob said as Keith pulled the squeaky door open.
He headed in, and the noise from outside mostly died down. The floorboards creaked underfoot as he walked down the narrow hallway until he reached a weathered door with the number 69 stamped on the front.
“Someone has a childish sense of humor,” Keith said while he inserted the key into the lock.
“I don’t get it,” Bob said as the door swung open.
“So this is what Coppers get,” Keith muttered, examining the room.
A single narrow bed was shoved up against one wall, and a small lantern sat atop a nightstand. Aside from that, the room was completely bare. Well, aside from the cobwebs that sat strung up in the corners.
“Yeah, I probably should have warned you about that,” Bob said, sounding apologetic.
“What was all that about housing for guild members in town?” Keith asked, closing the door behind him.
He had to shove it extra hard for it to close, and the lock stuck a few times as he twisted it.
“I’m pretty sure you need to be at least a gold to get one of the houses on the outskirts. But you should get a more decent room if you become an iron.”
“Oh, yeah? And how long will that take?” Keith asked, sitting down on the bed.
It made a horrible squealing noise as he did, as though he had just stabbed it in its nonexistent guts.
“It could happen tomorrow,” Bob said with a shrug as Keith removed his cloak and put it back in his inventory. “It all depends on how strong they think you are. But realistically, you won’t be promoted to iron until you either reach level ten or show that you have an intermediate skill, which in your case, would be suspicious.”
Keith grunted as he lay down on the hard bed, deciding to leave his armor on. He’d slept in worse places, but seeing as he was still a stranger to this world, he would be a lot more comfortable sleeping in something that would offer some protection.
“Why was I rewarded both for killing the monster and completing the quest?” he asked, tucking his hands behind his head and staring up at the darkened ceiling.
“Bonus XP,” Bob replied with a yawn. “You obviously didn’t get as much XP as you would have, had you defeated the monster without taking the quest first. But you definitely got more XP in total due to having a quest in the first place. Even split three ways, you would have gotten 200 XP at most for beating a monster like that.”
“Why, though?” Keith asked. “That monster was level eight, while I was at three.”
“Your companions were higher-level, so the system would have awarded you based on their levels, not yours. Had you gone on that quest alone and lived, you probably would have gotten about 750 XP for defeating the monster alone, and likely another 1,000 between the two quests you got.
“However, the difficulty of the quest would most definitely have been A, which means your chances of survival would have been dismal at best.”
“Yeah,” Keith admitted without any sense of false pride. “I would have failed that quest without a shadow of a doubt if I’d had to go it alone. Better to take a smaller reward and live.”
“I always knew you had common sense,” Bob said, sounding half asleep.
“Go to sleep, Bob,” Keith said. “We’ll talk more in the morning.”
A low snore was his reply.
Keith let out a long breath, then tried to relax in the uncomfortable bed as he pulled up his status and assigned his stat points – two to strength, two to vitality, and one to endurance – then looked over his status.
Status
Name: Keith
Race: Human
Class: None
Level: 4
XP: 300/400
HP: 100/100
MP: 0/0
STA: 140/140
Strength - 16 (14+2)
Vitality - 10 (8+2)
Endurance - 14 (13+1)
Agility - 13
Intelligence - 0
Wisdom - 12
Luck - 5
Skills
Passive
Bladed Mastery: Advanced – X
Ranged Mastery: Intermediate – IV
Martial Arts: Master – V
Peak Health: Advanced – VIII
Tactician: Advanced – IV
Quick Learner: Advanced – V
Ranger: Advanced – III
Punisher: Master – I
Discerning Eye: Advanced – VIII
Active
Stonestance: Novice - VII
Brutal Rain: Novice - III
Equipped Items
Armor
Light Ripper Shirt
Light Ripper Pants
Light Ripper Shoes
Total Armor Rating: 7
Weapons
None
He was close to level five already, and he’d only been here for roughly twelve hours. He had also almost died several times, but that seemed to be pretty standard for the worlds he’d lived in. The Trickster hadn’t been lying when he’d said this world would be dangerous, and for some twisted reason, Keith had chosen one of the most dangerous guilds to join.
He grinned to himself as he closed his eyes. He had been a bit disappointed when he’d discovered this was a game-type world. Now, after spending just a few hours here, he was already starting to warm up to it.
He liked the idea of finding better gear, having better armor made, and yes, even finding a weapon – he had been forced to accept that reality after needing to use a weapon against the basher.
He could now understand why his brother had enjoyed gaming as much as he did and hoped to continue leveling up, finding new quests and items, and killing even larger and more dangerous monsters.
With this thought in mind, Keith curled up, dragging the thin blanket over his body and went to sleep. Tomorrow was another day, and he couldn’t wait to see what it would bring.
16
“My back feels like it was trampled by a herd of angry preschoolers,” Keith groaned as he stretched in his tiny room.
His breath steamed in the air, the cold having seeped in during the night, and his nose felt like it had been frostbitten. Still, oddly enough, he had no debuffs, and his HP remained full.
“I know what you mean,” Bob complained, crooking his neck from one side to the other. “You are not a comfortable bed.”
“No one asked you to sleep on me,” Keith replied as he worked to loosen his tight muscles.
His stomach growled then, reminding him just how hungry he was, and Keith decided it would do better to warm up over a good breakfast.
“Let’s go see what they’ve got available,” he said, already imagining something steaming and hearty.
Bob leaped from the bed, landing on his shoulder as he opened the door, tail curling around his shoulder.
The hallway was just as cold as the room, but once he exited into the guildhall, the temperature noticeably rose. Judging by the lack of people in the hall and the dull sky outside, Keith estimated it was somewhere around six in the morning and that today would be an overcast day. He was used to getting up early, and despite not feeling well-rested due to the uncomfortable bed, Keith knew he wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep.
Thankfully, the cooks seemed to up, as delicious smells permeated the air. He headed over to the nearest counter, where a woman with blue-tinged skin and strange, webbed ears was reading a small pamphlet.
“Good morning,” Keith said, giving her his best smile. “What’s on the menu today?”
The woman craned her neck, looking down to his guild chain, then flicked a finger, throwing up a menu.
There weren’t many options, and he ended up going with a hot cup of tea, a small loaf of brown bread and butter, and some eggs.
“So,” Bob said, ripping a piece off his loaf and chewing slowly. “What’s the plan for today?”
“I thought I’d look around for a class trainer,” Keith replied, sipping his tea. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“I would suggest you pick a sword or bow-type class, but seeing as you’re being stubborn about those, how about a blunt weapon-type class?”
“You mean like a staff or hammer?” Keith asked.
“Yeah, something like that,” Bob replied. “This way, you can still dish out some damage but won’t run the risk of getting it caught on anything.”
Keith thought about it for a few moments, then nodded. He liked the idea of using a blunt weapon, and although he would need to start from the beginning, as he’d never used one before, it would still be better than using a bladed weapon.
“You might also consider carrying around a brace of daggers or something similar,” Bob said. “And don’t give me that look,” he said, wagging a small finger at him. “You might have a higher Martial Arts skill, but I think we’ve already established that it doesn’t work as well against monsters.
