Title: Great Enemy of Wolves
20% more damage to hyena monsters, 7% more damage to canine-type monsters, +4 agility, and +3 strength.
**Note**: Wolves-type monsters will generally be more aggressive towards you, and wolves will have a higher chance of fearing you.
**Description**: A title given to someone who has killed approximately 1,000 or more wolves in a short time. Anyone who earns this title is likely not a friend of wolves and may have been traumatized by a dog in their life.
When I saw the description, I chose to ignore it since I personally like dogs. However, the effects of the title caught my attention—not only is there a specific damage increase, but also a slight stat boost. This made me realize that titles could indeed influence certain battles, especially when individual capabilities are similar.
"Actually… battle aspects in this game become quite complicated to measure… there are so many variables…"
I murmured softly as I stretched my body and prepared to leave. I planned to leave the village soon, take a break from the game for some swimming exercises, and then rest.
---
When I returned to the game, the first thing I did was go to the general store, a simple place and the main hub for selling items.
A large wooden house stood before me, featuring multiple spaces for selling items. Players were selling their goods around it, but I planned to sell to the NPC store. I had a massive amount of items, which made it difficult to sell to players, who typically buy only small miscellaneous items from my hunting spoils. Another reason was to avoid attention—NPC attention in the starting village isn't negative, while player attention can be extremely annoying, given the competitive and political nature of player guilds.
Entering the building, I saw various furs, meats, fangs, feathers, and other monster items arranged in different areas. Though rarer here, there were also plants, minerals, and other items brought in by collectors.
After observing the environment, I moved to a counter, where a giant man with a small white apron stained red and black stood. He was holding a large knife that looked capable of cutting through bones. When I saw it up close, its gleam and size seemed somewhat exaggerated.
'If he cuts something with that knife, it would only take one swing to chop half a person off,' I couldn't help but think. But I didn't worry much and stood in front of him.
"Oh... a young beastman. Put your items here, boy. I have a lot to do, and I hope you've brought some quality cuts."
His voice was rough and strong but not disrespectful. Following his request, I opened my personal inventory space and started unloading item after item.
My main hunt had been wolves, so I had a massive quantity of wolf pelts, some with dark marks that didn't quite look burnt, and others with signs of slashes or blunt force. There were also pounds and pounds of wolf meat and teeth.
As the items piled up, the large man's eyes gleamed with excitement and happiness. His look towards me had a shine of admiration and recognition.
After a few minutes, I wiped the sweat from my brow and looked at the large man, who began inspecting the quality of the claws and pelts. He didn't seem to feel the need to assess the meat's quality.
I was already ready to leave when the giant man called me.
"Hey kid, I have a challenge for you, want to accept it?"
Hearing this, I was intrigued and asked, "Help with what?"
"It's simple, I see you like hunting, so the challenge will be a hunting challenge! You must hunt some monsters for me. As long as you kill enough, I promise to give you a good reward."
I was intrigued by this and thought it was a good option, but I needed to confirm something.
"Will I need to stay in the beginner village for this?"
If it was necessary to stay here, I didn't plan on accepting the mission since I wanted to head to an expanded world.
"No, on the contrary, this mission can only be completed outside. So, do you wish to accept it?"
"Alright, I accept." I smiled. Since I didn't have to complete it inside, it was still a good option.
"Great!" He smiled and clapped his hands loudly, and finally, the accepted mission popped up in front of me.
---
Mission: Time to Hunt
- Objective:
- Hunt 800 rabbit-type monsters.
- Hunt 1000 fox-type monsters.
- Hunt 600 bear-type monsters.
- Hunt 1500 goblins.
- Hunt 500 trolls.
- Hunt 300 ogres.
- Reward: ????
- Restriction: ????
- Description: A strange man in the butcher shop was impressed by your fast hunting ability and performance. As such, he has issued you a challenge. The reward for this mission could be a compliment from a good butcher or something else?
---
Seeing the mission's objectives, I was quite shocked. It was indeed a high number of monsters to hunt, and as for the reward, there were no details, but it was unlikely to be bad.
After confirming the mission, I chatted a bit more with the man and left the shop. I wanted to buy some more masks, better armor, and maybe a whip or a wand—something of unique rank would be nice.
As I left, the large man with the cleaver looked at the door with a smile on his face.
"Heh, interesting... but no one has hunted that much yet. What a pity."
He spoke, and as he turned, his body and clothing subtly changed. He was still a large man, but his body looked more muscular, and a dark aura surrounded him, symbolizing something not very holy. His body became more attractive, and his hair and beard grew. Black bat-like wings appeared on his back.
In his hand, the cleaver turned more refined, beautiful, and dangerous. At that moment, another man, resembling the original butcher who served Alan, appeared. He also had bat wings, but with a considerably weaker aura.
He bowed with respect and even devotion to the person in front of him.
"Master Hircine, did you see what you wanted?"
"Yes. Thank you, my servant, it was a good surprise, and I hope to see more. If you find anything interesting for me, call me."
"Ah, take this, a gift." He spoke with a playful smile and touched the man's forehead, a dark red mark with blood-like, evil streaks appeared where he touched. The man who received the mark smiled, showing endless devotion.
As for the muscular figure with black bat wings, he paid no more attention to the devoted man. With a dark power and an unusual red energy covering his body, he disappeared from the place.
---
Of course, I had no idea about the strange being the butcher truly was or the scene that unfolded.
After leaving the shop and making some purchases, I was satisfied with the items I had gotten.
The first was a shoe with beautiful white and green fur.
Wolf Boots
- Rank: Unique.
- Effect: Increases your agility by 15% when wearing the boots.
- Description: Meticulously crafted by a player, the boots are made from wolf fur and dusted with ground wolf bones. They were sewn using high-quality threads. Lightweight and perfect for a runner.
Reinforced Leather Armor
- Rank: Unique.
- Description: Armor reinforced with magic and densely packed leather.
Leather Whip with Glass Shards
- Rank: Unique.
- Effect:
- 5% chance to cause bleeding on hit.
- Strong piercing effect.
- Description: An unusual leather whip fused with glass shards. Rumor has it that it was created by a survivor who had to live hiding and fighting against the undead, but it seems like just a rumor.
---
The only item I came to buy that I didn't find was a new wand, which was somewhat expected, since most mages prefer to use staves. The rest were high-quality items, and what impressed me most was the boot, surprisingly crafted by a player. I was also curious about who the player was that managed to create the new item, but the guy I bought it from said he was just reselling and couldn't provide the name of the artisan. I wasn't curious enough to insist, so I accepted the answer and left.
Without hesitation, I equipped my new gear. The boots were beautiful, well-made, and felt comfortable on my feet. The reinforced leather armor wrapped my body above my usual clothes, and at my waist hung the leather whip with visible glass shards, reflecting small traces of light.
After dressing up, I threw on my cloak.
My cloak, white as chicken feathers, and a penguin mask were my chosen look this time.
Looking outside, I smiled and headed toward the portal to leave the beginner village.
At the end, after walking, I stopped at the exit point. There was a large structure resembling a gigantic door. The entire structure was made of some kind of bluish-gray stone that emanated a subtle and peculiar energy.
In front of the gate, there was a man dressed in clothes matching the colors of the portal. He had an indifferent attitude, barely glancing at the players before seemingly communicating something with them. Once he finished, he raised his hand, and a mana synchronized with the energy of the gate, activating it and causing it to change color slightly.
I kept observing and noticed that depending on the player, the portal's color and sensation were different. For some, it looked similar to others, while for others, it was noticeably different.
Seeing this, I thought it was probably linked to different landing positions. I read the forums and the books in the library covering the continents, the forces on them and some possible cities to start the game. Personally I already had an idea of where I wanted to start my adventure in the world, one that I believe is very interesting.