[Mission Accepted!
Teleporting to: 594839434832
Time Remaining: 1:00]
Sirus was teleported to a small clearing in the middle of a dense forest. He couldn't hear any animals or monsters, but his intention wasn't to search. He took the meat from his inventory and poured the lure all over it.
"Damn, that smells awful. Hope it thinks differently. Anyways, AAAAAUUUUUUGGGHHHHHH. HEEEEELLLLLLPPPPPPP. I'VE GOT SO MANY VALUABLES, AND I'M DISTRAUGHT."
Within a minute, the ground started to shake a little as the Ogre charged toward the enticing smell and knelt down to devour the meat scraps.
'How rude. I did all that screaming, and all you did was go for the dead, poisoned fish. I guess I just don't look tasty. The nerve of some people.'
Despite being in its field of view, Sirus could walk behind the monster, holding his halberd above his head.
Taking the description of "human-esque" literally, Sirus brought the weapon down on what would be the Achilles tendon of a human. Regrettably, the Ogre's leg instinctively kicked back, broadsiding Sirus, and sending him flying into a disjointed heap. It turned to see him get knocked back, and when he didn't seem to get up, he returned to eating.
"You fucking bastard. You son of a bitch. Prick. Dumbass. Pillock. Meathead."
Sirus continued cursing while looking for his spear in the tall grass, after which the Ogre seemed to notice something off. Its left foot didn't seem to be working all that much.
The beast overcame it, however, bringing itself up with its club and screeching at the nearest food.
! You are under the effect of status: Fear. Stats: -10%.
! Courage takes effect. Stats: -9%
"Nine percent? Are you serious? What the hell's that?"
The Ogre hopped at Sirus, hopping mad, screaming relentlessly, but it had already lost too much. It was either the poison or it was overdosing on the massive amount of nutrients present in the fish oil it gorged itself on, but in any case, it was having a hard time.
"You were so excited to fight before! I'm getting bored over here!"
Despite bruised and fractured ribs, Sirus charged at it, and the Ogre attempted to attack, but each movement was worse than an Octogenarian with Parkinson's. It collapsed onto its face, and he made his way around, and tossed his halberd to the side.
"Come on, aren't you having fun! It's the fight of your life!"
Sirus climbed up its back, stabbing knives in for handles, then hung by the Ogre's necklace, then stabbed its neck as it vainly attempted to reach behind it.
[Quest Complete!
Time: 8:30
Contribution: 100%
Completion Grade: S+
Due to high completion grade, more rewards will be given: +.4 Strength, 4,000 Gold]
[Congratulations: You fulfilled the hidden condition!
Reward: +.5 Strength]
[You have risen to level 2! +.25 Bonus stat
Your stamina has been restored.]
A wave of heat filled Sirus' body as the muscles on his body seemed to visibly shift under his skin.
"Holy fucking shit, this hurts. I think I'm molting my skin or something!"
Eventually, the pain subsided, though not entirely, but that may be due to getting hit with a massive foot.
[Dungeon will close in 30 minutes.]
'Stat bonuses feel great. I wonder if this is more like cocaine or ecstasy, but either way, it's great. Anyways, I don't think I can harvest the blood, but I am curious to see how much the testicles are worth.'
After failing to pull them into his inventory without touching them, Sirus regrettably made contact.
[Alchemy Ingredient: Sweaty Ogre Testicles]
'... the sweaty part seems unnecessary.'
[Returning to Commissioner's office]
"That was really impressive; I haven't seen a score like that in quite a while!"
"A little louder, could you?"
"Oh, the type that likes attention? I see. Excuse me, everyone! Yes, this man is the one you're looking for, the perfect specimen, the one who beat the first mission! Quickly!"
"That was obviously sarcasm!"
"Relax, nobody can hear mission result information. The system, and by extension I, value absolute player information privacy between players. Nobody but you heard me say that."
"Whatever, I hate you."
. . .
"Wow! Most people don't realize the testicles are valuable and don't harvest them. I'll buy them for 5,000 Gold."
"Uh, what are these used for that makes them so valuable?"
"I wouldn't say it's so valuable, I think you have the perspective of a poor person, but I make them into adrenaline potions!"
"Huh? What? Excuse me? Are all adrenaline potions made that way?"
"Yep! Though higher-grade potions use higher quality sperm."
"Goodbye."
. . .
There was still much of the city that Sirus hadn't explored, and he was excited to do so, especially with 9,000 gold burning a hole in his pocket.
Each class had their own dedicated building. The Ivory Tower, the Fighter's Hall, Thieves' Den, Ranger's Outposts and the Artisan District. Each had their own receptionist, training areas, and library. Sirus visited all of them, asking about the benefits and drawbacks of the classes. Most of it was self explanatory with how each worked, but he still found it worth his time.
'Each of those buildings all had the same types of resources, and the system seems to value contribution and willpower, and tries to make it fair considering those factors. So, I assume no class is stronger in combat than any other, except artisans. Therefore, if there is no objective best, then I can just choose what I want, obviously being the most fun one.
I enjoy close combat fighting, but it just doesn't seem special to me.
Thieves need social skills, like acting or people reading, which I certainly don't have.
Artisans seem to be more like a job than a class, so that's not great.
Exploring as a ranger sounds fun, but magic is more so.'
. . .
"Welcome to the Ivory Tower! What can I do for you?"
"I was curious, if you guys don't issue missions, what do you do?"
"We do lots of stuff! We issue bounties for magical items, which is similar to missions. Buy and sell magical books, conduct research, teach newbies, and defend the city!"
"Forgive my asking, but are you a Player, a resident, or something else? I'm getting this uncanny valley sort of vibe."
"How upfront! I'm an extension of the system! Most of the non-Players are normal residents, people like you, but some positions like the commissioner and Templar aren't people. We were created to make your experience smoother."
"You said you buy and sell books?"
"My, you change topics quickly, don't you! Unfortunately, only a few books are available to people not in the mage class, though you do have more options since you haven't explicitly chosen another path yet. Right this way!"
[Cantrip: Slow
Effect: Slows a single enemies movements by 20% for 15 seconds]
[Cantrip: Shock
Effect: Release electric current through the hands. Inflicts stun on physical contact.]
[Cantrip: Frost Ray
Effect: Shoots a cold ray of ice. Range: 15 meters]
[Cantrip: Rock Balls
Effect: Shoots a barrage of small rocks. Range: 5 meters]
[Cantrip: Ghost Sound
Effect: Creates an illusionary sound of the casters choice. Range: 50 meters][Cantrip: Gust
Effect: Creates a burst of air. Range 15 meters]
[Cantrip: Mend
Effect: Repairs damage to weapons]
"When it says range, does it mean maximum distance, or maximum effective distance?"
"Effective."
"Cantrip means instant casting?"
"With practice, yes."
"Then I'll take Shock."
"So decisive, only two questions?"
"It's the only one with obvious versatility. I'm poor, I don't think I could buy multiple."
"7,500 gold then."
"That's actually quite cheap. I wasn't actually expecting to be able to afford them."
"It's cheaper so you might gain an interest in being a mage. If you had chosen another class, it would be substantially more expensive."
"I'll buy it now!"
"Take it then!"
[Cantrip: Shock
Effect: Release electric current through the hands. Inflicts stun on physical contact.]
Engraving: Bolt]
[Possessed Gold: 1,500]
"I assume you haven't used magic before and don't actually know how to use that?"
"Yes."
"What's your intelligence?"
". . . . . 1"
"Oh. Well I'm sure you're very smart. Intelligence is a measure of your amount and ability to use mana or in the case of a fighter, aura."
"Mana being?"
"It's like an element that permeates everything. Different areas have different mana densities, causing mutations in the environment and changing the nature of spells. In mana rich areas, spells are stronger and your store of mana will likely recharge faster, but similarly, monsters will be stronger. Vice versa with mana lacking areas.
When you do feel mana, probably when you increase your intelligence, try to shape it into the shape of a Bolt on the area of your body you want Shock to take effect."
"Seems simple enough."
"Dumbed down concepts do tend to sound that way."
"Do all of you act this way?"
"What do you mean?""Do you have a practice range?"
"It's Shock, you don't need space, but yes, follow the big sign that says Practice Area."
"See? This is what I mean."
"Sorry, I don't."
"Whatever."
. . .
'Ok, this isn't working. I should wait until I become an actual mage. Sitting on the ground and thinking real hard about it isn't doing anything. I've spent most of my money without actually raising my combat prowess. Assuming mission difficulty increases, I'm probably in a worse position than last time, I need something to help again. I should probably check out what the mission even is.'