The Tower's receptionist had mentioned bounties at their first encounter, and the will to try something different, alongside his want for more money led him there.
"Simply put, there are resources that we want, whether they be something as basic as mana crystals up to World Tree Branches, so we put a bounty on them so people will collect them.
At your level, I would stick to Mana Crystals, which you could probably find a Dire Wolf Pack. . . here, near the Kinuur Mountain basin. If you want to be ambitious, there are Chimeras near there, but showing you the map and where the Dire Wolves are is probably enough help."
"Thank you!"
Sirus left the Tower, and for the first time, bought some supplies and gear, then left the city limits. The Kinuur Mountains were relatively small, reaching 7,000 ft in elevation. The surrounding area was a dense temperate rainforest, and largely uninhabited by intelligent species, though there were established trails.
"As long as I follow this trail, I should be fine. Maps are seriously too expensive and not worth it. Paper too."
Sirus walked along for a few miles beyond the city and the farms, to where the fields met the forest.
"Stop! This is Heavenly Guild territory. If you want to hunt here, you must pay a fee of 1,000 Gold per day."
"Who are you to toll me? Aren't you two players?"
"I hate newbies. We laid claim to this area. If any of our members find you in here, without a stamp, they'll kill you. No guards out here in the boonies."
"So you really aren't tolling by any right, more so force."
"More or less, pay or leave."
! Player Name: Mikhail Rostiv - Class: Fighter, Swordsman
! Player Name: Robert Sals - Class: Ranger, Dagger Thrower
'They're definitely a few levels higher than me. Given how much of a boost the class advancement gave me, they're likely out of my league, especially given they're two of them, and they've fought people.'
"I'll pay."
"Wise choice. Hold out your hand."
Unsure, but not hesitant, Sirus held out his hand, and Robert stamped his hand with a wooden press.
[Marker: Magic Stamp
Effect: Members of the Heavenly Guild will receive a penalty if they attack you, unless in self defense.
Duration: 24 Hours]
"Aren't you going to say thank you?"
"Thank you for not lying about the stamp. It's a nice effect."
"Few people are actually able to tell."
"Yeah, y'all are just scumbags, not dishonest scumbags."
"I would be careful. The negative effect from breaking that isn't very strong."
"I get it, I get it. I'm leaving."
[Entering Kinuur Mountain Forest]
! Survive for three weeks by foraging and hunting for food and water, and not using any supplies from the city to unlock Rare Ranger Class: Native
! Create a map of the mountain range to receive skill: Mini-map
! Discover 5 hidden pieces to unlock common ranger class: Explorer
! Find 20 treasures to unlock Rare Ranger Class: Treasure Hunter
'Lotta shit to do here it seems, but I'm not a ranger, so it really doesn't matter much. But those damn toll people. Fucking assholes.
Who am I kidding? It's my fault for letting them, being too weak to stop them or too stupid to avoid them. Though in the long run, 1,500 gold isn't a lot.'
As Sirus walked through the forest, he heard a great many animals, most of which likely opted to stay away from the path. The most notable of these noises was the howl of a Dire Wolf to the east, which he immediately chased after.
The wolves were chasing a group of animals that looked like Wildebeest. Sirus was able to catch up to the chase, but only because they were running in his direction.
"Consume at my command: Fireball!"
Sirus held his hands at his sides like a Kamehameha, and shot his arms forward to release the ball. It flew through the air, illuminating its dark surroundings before engulfing a wolf in flames.
He reached into his inventory, and grabbed a grappling hook out of his bag, and threw it onto a high branch. On Earth, as a firefighter, Sirus was required to keep a certain level of fitness, and if necessary could climb a rope, but it wasn't easy.
During his short time here, he's only gotten stronger. Climbing a tree with a rope was no problem at all.
Nine wolves had gathered around the base of the tree, gnashing their teeth and attempting unsuccessfully to climb the tree. Sirus pulled the rope up behind him, tying it around the hilt of his shortsword.
[Name: Dire Wolf
Race: Beast
Attribute: Dark]
! Kill 5,000 Beast-type Monster to recieve Title: Beast Slayer
'At this point it's starting to feel a bit repetitive.'
Sirus took out his two knives, throwing them down, injuring one of the Dire Wolves in the back, and hitting the ground with the other. He waited a few more minutes to get to 15 mana again, before firing off another shot.
"Consume at my command: Fireball!"
Another Wolf burned to death, and Sirus felt like his energy was squeezed out like a sponge. He waited further, a couple minutes to not feel so terrible, but the cries of the other Wolves were getting much louder, and their attempts at climbing were getting better.
"Don't worry, I'm coming. You think that I would just sit back in such a boring position?"
Sirus threw his rope dagger around a higher branch, then flung it down, striking a wolf in the neck. Though instead of pulling up immediately, he waited for the wolves to bite onto the rope, then jumped off, swinging on the rope, and using the wolves as a counter weight.
Two wolves were flung high and the air, then unceremoniously plummeted towards the ground, killing the one that wasn't already dead.
As he swung down, he used a halberd like a lance, impaling one through the side of head before tumbling to the ground. Then, holding it by its base, Sirus made big swings with his halberd, keeping them temporarily at bay while he stood back up.
Four wolves remained, too many to take on with one weapon, and he started to feel fear, but that only turned into excitement.
"Come one! It's four against one! Why haven't you attacked yet?"
The wolves were by nature pack hunters, perhaps to a fault. Despite their anger, they waited to attack, encircling Sirus on four sides. He stood in the center, sweating profusely, spinning around to keep his back from showing to any one wolf for two long. But once the encirclement was completed, he felt he needed to take the first action.
He ran towards the wolf that was in the direction of his fallen dagger. The wolf jumped at him, only for it to get impaled completely, but by doing so, forced Sirus to abandon his halberd. The other wolves had pounced, and closely pursued him as he fled.
Sirus dove for his dagger just as one of the Dire wolves leapt on top of him, putting it in close enough range to stab it in the head. He threw the dagger once more, which lodged itself in one of the two remaining wolves' brains.
The final wolf jumped on top of Sirus, biting into his shoulder. The two wrestled for dominance, Sirus becoming increasingly covered in claw marks. In the end, he grabbed a rock, and smashed it into the side of the wolf's face, dislocating its jaw, then once more, and it staggered. Taking the rock with both hands, he brought it down on the wolves head, killing it.
Sirus' body was cut and bloody. Muscles ached and any movement was difficult, so he didn't move. He laid, sprawled out on the forest ground, unwilling and unable to move.
[You have left combat.]
'God, I'm so fucking dumb. Here I am, messed up, in a heap. I don't know how much these corpses are worth, but probably not much given I'm still weak. I got over confident from all the stat bonuses and new records, but it really doesn't mean anything overall. People have been here for months, and I've been here a week. I need a plan of how to continue, and not just stumbling my way into good ideas. I don't know what the visitor privileges really entail, but it's probably unique to me among the players, and I need to take every possible advantage from it.'
Sirus opened the system and sent Darren Baker a message.
[Msg: I got an appraisal skill early on, so I'm not really sure what information I get from it that others don't. Could you tell me what information the system gives you about items, other players and missions? Like when information windows pop up for you.]
As he waited for a response, he went around and took the dire wolves into his inventory, then laid back down, tired as could be.