"Is that Draven the Piggy?!"
This was a name that I heard a lot during my four years in high school but not one I liked at all. All sorts of bad memories surfaced in my mind but I was pulled out of them when I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder.
"Emma, look, it's Draven from high school!"
The guy who spoke was named Chad. He was the captain of the football team, good looking, and popular. He had been dating the school beauty as well: Emma Sterling.
I looked in the direction he was talking to and I saw her round the corner with her beautiful blue eyes. She brushed her long blonde hair and turned her head to look at me.
At least I thought she was looking at me, but I knew she was just looking at Chad.
"So what? Come on let's check out and leave. I'm hungry."
"Hahah, okay babe. Hey Piggy you're lucky today otherwise I would give you a taste of high school in the bathroom!"
'Are you really so stuck in the past that you are seriously considering giving me a swirly?'
I thought in my head, but I knew I couldn't say it aloud or I would definitely get beat up. Chad hit me hard on the back before walking towards Emma. She took a backwards glance at the art supplies I held in my hand before turning back and walking off with Chad's arm around her.
'What could she possibly be gaining from dating him other than him paying for stuff? Is it really that important to have nice things when you're dating a piece of shit?'
I was so confused by it but I didn't care too much. She was beautiful but I knew what kind of person she was. For years she simply watched me get relentlessly bullied for years. Now, when we were all 20 year old adults, she still didn't do anything. Simply wanting to leave because she had better things to do.
I then walked to the check out and paid for my stuff before heading home.
I knew I could just steal them with my inventory, but I knew the owners of this shop. It was an older woman who was a retired art teacher and her husband. It wouldn't feel right stealing from them. For the groceries there were just too many cameras. I didn't want to get caught using the system and then being questioned about how I mysteriously made a large piece of ham disappear.
After I left the store I put the art supplies in my inventory too before heading home. When I got back I forgot to avoid the front entrance and because of that I heard a shrill voice as I walked in.
"You're STILL here?"
Sighing I turned to face my landlord.
"I have until the end of the month to pay don't I? I don't have anywhere else to go so I have to try and get the money."
"Tsk. You're still annoying. If you're poor then you might as well just accept being homeless."
I knew there was nothing to gain by talking to her so I just turned and left. It had only been a few hours outside my house and I had already had two encounters that made me not want to go out or talk to anyone again.
Then there were the gazes people gave me.
'They look at me like I'm revolting... They don't even know me...'
I closed the door to my apartment behind me as tears began falling.
I had gone through such pain just to try and make myself more appealing. In the end it wasn't enough, and didn't matter. No one saw that my skin was clear, or that I looked healthier.
I sat on the ground and buried my face in my knees. I was feeling so disheartened that I simply sat on the ground until I finally felt better.
"Sniff.. There really is no reason to try and make people like me... They'll never be happy, so fuck them..."
I stood up and made my way to the kitchen. I had some leftover rice still so I popped a cup into the rice cooker and put away the eggs. Except for two that I placed in a small bowl for use later. While the rice was cooking I stepped into the living room where I pulled out a piece of canvas. I didn't have money for an easel so I was just holding the canvas in my hands.
Taking out a small paint mixing tray I started to mix my paints. I got some water for my brush and got to work. After tracing my outlines I began to paint.
I don't know how much time had passed, but it had been quite a while since my rice had finished cooking. I was so immersed that I had forgotten to eat, but looking at the finished work in front of me I felt a new found sense of fulfillment.
The theme of the painting was self love but objective dislike for one's appearance. The painting didn't make me feel better about myself, but it made me feel better that I might not be alone in the way I feel.
I smiled and took a picture of the painting. Since I didn't have a phone I had used my webcam to take the picture. The picture wasn't great but it was presentable. I posted the picture online, under an anonymous new account and closed my computer.
I then went to fry the two eggs I set out earlier and eat it with some overcooked rice. Even though it wasn't a good meal, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I could. I wanted to create another painting but I wanted to focus on how to make money.
After I pulled out my new computer tower I posted my old one online for a couple hundred bucks. I needed money quickly, and the only way I had to do that right now was to get some quick cash to start fixing electronics.
After posting those I went back to creating art. This time I hoped to create something that expressed my loneliness. It was like throwing my feelings into a painting freed me from them. The painting took me late into the day as I tried spending more effort on it. I stood by the moonlit window and looked at the painting in my hands.
It was a skinny and dying tree on a cliffside. There weren't any other plants, and it was a miracle that a tree grew here in these conditions, overlooking a beautiful vibrant forest below. Taking another picture I posted it again and went to the kitchen to make a bowl of ramen.
As I was slurping the noodles up I was looking at the shop tab. I was no longer looking at cosmetic improvements, I was not looking at things to improve myself. The item I had in my sights was a 2nd Class Slot. It was a whopping 1,000 Gold but if things really were to go the worst they could, I would have to clear Stage 1 several times to get enough gold.
Almost 80 times actually.
However that didn't consider the gold I gained from killing monsters. That made my path forward simple.
I went to bed for the day, and decided tomorrow I would enter the Trials again.
****
"Phew... Let's go in... Wait! Shoes!"
I ran to the front door and slipped on my beaten up sneakers. I then went back to my bedroom and opened a portal to Stage 1. Once inside the first thing I did was inspect my surroundings.
'This is another forest, but there isn't a path.'
I found myself in another forest but there was no longer a path. This made me think that the fights would be sudden and there might be multiple enemies. I began walking forward. I soon discovered who the enemies were too, as I heard a weird yipping sound before I saw an arrow flying towards me.
I desperately threw myself to the side but it still hit my side. Thankfully it went all the way through and after cauterizing the wound I peeked out from behind a tree at my attacker.
[HP: 95/100]
It was a humanoid hyena thing, but I knew what it was.
"Kobold? Shit... They're more aggressive than Goblins and they're smarter too... Is this one alone?"
It fired another arrow at me but the tree blocked it. Deciding that it was not going to be helpful, I decided to begin casting fireball and when it was ready I dashed from behind my tree. The kobold was standing still shooting it's bow so I knew where it was going to be.
The fireball landed easily.
[You deal 5 DMG!]
I casted again and sprinted to the next tree. Since I was back to 3 second cast times the fights were back to being slow battles of attrition, but I used this environment to get acclimated to the stress of battle.
[You deal 5 DMG!]
[You deal 5 DMG!]
While I was getting into the rhythm I jumped from behind my cover and was about to throw another fireball when I felt a sudden impact followed by a sharp pain in my side.
I was knocked off balance and as I turned my head I saw another kobold with a bow not far from where I was standing.
[HP: 85/100]
This time the arrow was stuck in my side and I couldn't leave it in. It would hurt when I tried moving so I had to remove it now before it caused more internal bleeding.
I already had a fireball ready so I threw it at the first Kobold, but it missed since I was off balance. Without caring about the wasted fireball I turned and frantically began scrambling towards some trees. I got behind a tree just in time to see an arrow penetrate the ground right behind me.
I began casting fireball again as I tried touching the arrow.
"Tsk! Shit it hurts! Fuck! But I have to pull it out. Okay okay okay... On three... One... Two.. THREE!"
I tightly grabbed the arrow shaft and yanked straight away from the wound. Immediately I shoved the fireball into my wound. Even though it burned my hand I knew I had to press hard otherwise the inside of the wound would continue to bleed inside.
I didn't know what the kobolds were doing but I didn't want to get caught off guard again. I took a quick look from behind the tree and saw that they were still split up. I identified the one I had been hitting with fireballs from the burn marks on it's chest, so I sprinted to the right, where the injured kobold was.
Having noticed me I continued running while casting fireball. The kobold that was circling me on the left began to run forward when it noticed me running. I figured that if I kept running they wouldn't be able to shoot since they would be running too.
This was because I noticed the kobolds only shot when they were standing still.
"I never thought I would be kiting in real life..."
Although I had a sharp pain in my side, and two murderous dogs chasing me, I was kind of having fun.
I saw the first kobold shoot an arrow towards me but I simply stepped to the side. I then threw the fireball I had in my hand at it.
[You deal 5 DMG!]
I began casting again while I ran in a circle around the kobold. The second kobold had caught up to me enough that it felt confident in shooting a shot. I quickly hid behind a tree before waiting for the arrow to hit the tree I was standing behind. Once that shot was wasted, I sprinted out from my cover and threw the fireball I had ready.
[You deal 5 DMG!]
"UGH! I swear if I level up today I'm fucking putting a point in intelligence!"
I began running again but my speed had drastically dropped as I was starting to breathe really heavily. The taste of blood had began filling my mouth. I was able to make it behind a tree still as two arrows punctured the bark.
"How much health does this thing have?! God I wish I could see their stats!"
I glanced at the corner of my vision.
[HP: 79/100]
[MP: 40/100]
I still had relatively decent health but I was worried about my mana. I didn't have enough mana to kill both kobolds.
It was then that I had an idea.
I casted another fireball. When it was ready I dashed out from cover again and threw it. I hit the kobold squarely in the face, and saw the notification I was hoping for.
[Lvl. 1 Kobold defeated.]
[+25 EXP.]
[You gain 10 Gold.]
[Level Up!]
[1 Free Attribute Point!]
"Quick!"
[Intelligence: 1-->2]
[MP: 30/100-->80/150]
With renewed confidence I dashed to cover. Another deep impact sound as the arrow landed on the tree I was hiding behind.
"Thank god these Kobolds are awful shots... 30 HP, right?"
I counted in my head quickly. I threw seven fireballs but one missed. At five damage each that was indeed 30 HP at most.
With the confidence to land six fireballs I dashed out from behind the tree. It was finally my turn to turn the tide of the fight.
...
[Lvl. 1 Kobold defeated!]
[+25 EXP.]
[25/400 EXP to Level 4.]
[You gain 10 Gold.]
I was panting while standing a few feet away from the corpse of the kobold. My stamina was at rock bottom. Thankful that the fight was over, I dropped to the ground and let out a long sigh.
"Oh my god this was rough! The fact that there were two and they had so much health was such a problem for me. It seems that the stages have random enemies and layouts. This one was much harder than the goblins stage from yesterday... But maybe I should have put the point from yesterday into Intelligence sooner."
After increasing my Intelligence stat to 2 I was dealing a whopping 10 damage with my fireball now. Looking around I felt it was safe enough so I sat down and meditated. This took much longer than I liked to get all my mana back but I didn't want to get into another fight without enough mana.
One close call was enough for me to learn my lesson.
Once I was full mana I walked forward again. This time I decided not to take the weapon from the bodies. I wasn't a good shot and it might just make me slip up trying to use a weapon I'm not familiar with.
'Maybe in the future I should learn to use all weapons. It would definitely make it easier to clear the early stages.'
While walking I ran into another kobold, but this one suffered a really pathetic end.
[You deal 10 DMG!]
[You deal 10 DMG!]
[You deal 10 DMG!]
[Lvl. 1 Kobold defeated!]
[+25 EXP.]
[50/400 EXP to Level 4.]
[You gain 10 Gold.]
"I wonder what the conditions to getting a perk are? It's obviously not when I level up, or I would have gotten one earlier. It's not number of enemies defeated, because yesterday on Stage 2 I killed over 14 leeches and didn't get a perk. Hm."
I continued through the stage with ease.
[Lvl. 1 Kobold defeated.]
[+25 EXP.]
[175/400 EXP to Level 4.]
[You gain 10 Gold.]
[Choose one random perk:
Glass Cannon - Deal 3x damage but your health is reduced to 1/10th of your Max HP.
Brawler - Unarmed attacks deal 2x damage.
Beefy Boy - Max HP is doubled.]
I stood still for a moment thinking over my choices. It didn't take long before I chose the first option. I didn't use unarmed attacks, and while doubling my Max HP was good I didn't know if that meant my current health would be doubled as well. If that was the case since I didn't have any healing abilities it would be a waste.
Now I had 10 HP, but tripling my damage was really interesting. With a staggering 30 DMG per hit, I felt that I could handle most enemies as long as I could make the first move. However if I got the leeches stage 2 again, I would die after two bites. It was really a gamble.
"I think it's whenever I clear 75% of the stage that I get a perk. At least for Stage 1 it is, perhaps it's less as the stages increase, but that's to be discovered I guess. Let's find out. If I'm right I'll only have two more kobolds to kill and then I'll be going to Stage 2."
I walked around for a couple minutes before I ran into another Kobold. However this one ended up in a sorry state.
[You deal 30 DMG!]
[Lvl. 1 Kobold defeated.]
...
As the notifications were rolling in I saw a glint in the corner of my eye.
I turned to look at it on reflex, and I was so glad I did. I saw a kobold aiming a bow at me, and as the arrow left my mind froze again.
However my body's reflexes didn't betray me, and I quickly felt myself propel myself to the side. I managed to dodge the arrow but I hit the ground hard.
Although it hurt thankfully I didn't lose any HP so I quickly scrambled to cover before casting another fireball. When it was ready I peeked my head out of cover, and confirmed where the kobold was. It shot another arrow at me but I ducked back behind cover as it whizzed past me. Using the time between shots I stepped out and threw the fireball at the kobold's head.
[Lvl. 1 Kobold defeated.]
[+25 EXP.]
[225/400 EXP to Level 4.]
[You gain 10 Gold.]
...
[Stage 1 complete. Moving to Stage 2.]
[Choose one of the following:
Mana Circlet - +100 MP, +1 MP/second.
Metal Buckler - A simple metal buckler.
Rocket Belt - Allows for short burst of propulsion in any direction.]
I chose the buckler and put my hand through the straps. Defense was incredibly important right now, and the other two items were not as important to me. The belt was interesting but I wanted to be sure I could block an attack if needed.
[You gain 25 Gold.]
[G: 143]
'Almost 1/3rd of the way there... My goal for today will be at least to 250.'
I then stepped through the portal.
Once inside I took in my surroundings and was hyper alert. However I found myself in a serene mountain path. The path was very narrow as on one side was the steep mountain up, and the other side was a steep mountain down. This would mean I wouldn't have anywhere to dodge, I would have to block attacks. Feeling worried I began walking forward.
I rounded a turn along the cliffside when I spotted a weird looking mountain goat. It looked like a normal one but it was incredibly large. Since it didn't notice me immediately, I ducked back behind the bend and started casting fireball. When it was ready I peeked around the corner and threw it. With no where to go the fireball landed on the goat's rear end.
[You deal 30 DMG!]
In an instant it turned it's head and looked straight at me. Immediately I began casting another fireball.
"More than 30 HP? That's insane."
Another fireball was ready as the goat charged at me, and I threw it while getting ready to run away.
Thankfully the fireball hit and the goat fell to it's knees.
[Lvl. 2 Sky Scraper Goat defeated.]
[+50 EXP.]
[275/400 EXP to Level 4.]
[You gain 25 gold.]
I stared blankly at the prompts before my mouth curved into a big smile.
"Looks like I found the big piggy."
I then jogged forward with excitement, and proceeded to bulldoze the rest of the stage. After three more goats I levelled up.
[Level Up!]
[1 Free Attribute Point!]
I considered putting another point into Intelligence, but 10 damage was more than enough for now. I was feeling much more confident about making it through Stage 1 now, so I opted for something new.
[Luck: 1-->2]
[Cost of increasing Luck doubles each time.]
"Crazy! Two AP to increase it just to 3? I don't even know what it does."
Feeling a little disappointed but hopeful, I continued on my path. I killed another two goats and received another perk.
[Choose one random perks:
Track Star - Sets your Agility to 5. If Agility is already higher than 5, multiply Agility by 1.5x.
Burn Baby Burn - Fire damage causes the target to Burn, dealing 25% of the initial damage over 2 seconds.
Deal With A Glutton (Cursed) - Make a deal with an Otherworld God, at a price.]
These choices were substantially better than what I had previously been offered, but I couldn't attribute that entirely to my increased Luck just yet.
Since I was already dealing so much damage I didn't even consider the burn effect. Track Star was interesting but I was more inclined to take a risk to find out what the (Cursed) choice was.
Finally deciding that I wanted to experience everything new that I could, I chose the final option, and a searing sensation appeared on the back on my right hand.
I gripped my wrist tightly with my other hand and dropped to the floor.
"What is this?!"
I watched as a mouth was tattooed onto the back of my hand. Feeling the pain recede I slowly loosened the grip on my wrist. Panting, I began to wipe the sweat off my forehead and collect myself. After a few moments of closing my eyes and breathing I opened them to read the notifications I had missed.
[Feed The Glutton - Offer the corpses of the next 10 enemies to the Otherworld God. You will receive 0 EXP for killing them but after the 10 corpses are fed to the Otherworld God they will give you a permanent F-Rank Skill. However you will suffer an added death penalty. Your appetite will double and experience terrible hunger pains for five days.]