20 First Blood (1/2)
Emerging from the village, Eric was greeted by a rough dirt road leading off into the forest surrounding the town. Along the roadside a number of fields could be seen, with a handful of small farmsteads dotting the plains. A few farmers could be seen working the fields, pausing their work to warily watch him go by. They were most likely preparing for the upcoming harvest, Eric supposed, giving them each a small nod as he passed by.
From what he had seen, the villagers all seemed nervous. With the exception of the local leadership, Flen, Tom, Alistair, and the girl he'd embarrassed with his wave, most of the villagers had looked at him with a mixture of wariness and mistrust. It seemed he would have to grind out reputation if he wanted to be accepted by the villagers.
Along the way, Eric checked out the UI elements, curious to find out more about the game. Discovering a status window, he opened up his character page.
[Status]
Erick Kystfyr - Level 1
Title: None
Weapon: Rough Maple Short Bow (20 Rough Goose-feathered Stone Arrows)
Rough Bronze Dagger
Armour: Reinforced Wool Doublet
Skills: Basic Magic (Arcane, Fire)
Militia Spearmanship
Militia Swordsmanship
Basic Archery
Basic Herbalism
Basic Speechcraft
Active Skills:
Sword Technique - Guard
Seeing his skill list Eric raised his brow a little. He'd gained more skills than he'd thought in the tutorial. He even had an active skill. Interestingly enough though, his various magic spells did not count as skills. Or at least they weren't displayed on the status page.
Closing the status page, he noticed a small book icon next to the status icon. Bringing it up, the icon transformed into a beautiful book with 'Kystfyr's Spellbook' emblazoned on the cover. As he looked at it, the flipped open to reveal a page with all three of his spells written upon it. Detailed engravings of the runes took up much of the page. The beautiful ring representing Arcane Strike featuring in all three of his spells. Refreshing his memory of the runes quickly, Eric closed the book and looked up. He'd walked further than he'd though while engrossed in his character information, the forest was nearly upon him now.
Stillwood Forest itself was a riot of various trees and foliage, the local plant life in full bloom in what felt like early autumn weather. From afar, it all seemed to all blend into a singular shade of green. However, as Eric approached the treeline, the colours became more distinct, revealing a rich mixture of various greens and browns. The occasional squirrel could be seen jumping from bough to bough, while birdsong intermittently pierced the silence of the forest.
Caution!
Monsters roaming the area!
Avoid travelling alone!
Eric smiled, while the sign definitely was meant to warn travellers, it was not the monsters he needed to be scared of. Rather, it was the monsters that should soon be afraid of him.
Entering the forest, Eric soon found himself once again caught up in the incredible majesty of the forest. If he didn't know better thanks to the minimalistic HUD elements, he would have assumed that this was reality. So caught up was he in enjoying nature's beauty, that he failed to notice the creature approximately the size of a small dog eyeing him from beside the path.
Still gazing up at the trees, Eric was caught unawares as the creature slammed into his side, embedding its sharp horn in his thigh.
”Yeaaargh!” Eric roared, stumbling backwards as he did so.
”Motherf***er that hurts!” He shouted, only to realize that there wasn't actually too much pain, merely a dull stinging sensation where the creature had torn open his leg.