[SP F1]<<Earning a Living>> [Complete]

[Gestein 0]

Night 2: Begin

No more lollygagging. Gestein thought to himself the moment that he woke up in the morning. Having been greatly shaken by his near death experience, the reason for which was his own fault - he was woefully under-leveled. He spent a good deal of the morning grinding for a new level to prepare to renew the quest in the evening so that he would have more HP to go after the wolf. If only he had a bit more gold - a new war hammer or some armor would have been fantastic.

Still, he was not about to give up on such a low-level quest. He waited at the edge of the treeline as evening came, avoiding the wolf spawns to save his health for when the dire wolf triggered. Just after sundown, once again the ominous howl of the dire wolf rang loudly into the dusk air. Gestein was ready.

BATTLE START:

The moment the Dire Wolf spawned, the big man was hot on his tail. He dashed through the meadow, and wasting no time, slammed his hammer into the side of the wolf's flank. The attack caught the wolf completely off guard; it yelped in pain as it landed on its side from the impact of the swing.

Gestein: 11/11

Dire wolf - +1 damage to bite: 5/7 HP

[Gestein 0]

A low growl escaped the dire wolf's throat as it scrambled to its feet after the ambush. The human had caught it completely off guard. Did the human not know where it was? This was the jet black beast's territory. This was its home. And it. Was. Pissed.

Wasting little time, the dire wolf surged forth into the fray, forgoing its previous tactics for sheer veracity. That the human had the audacity to sneak up on it like that evoked a rage within the beast that it had yet to experience in its short life. It lunged towards the lumbering human, but was surprised to find the man was faster than it had expected. With a swift shift in it's weight and stance, the human slid into position and pushed the wolf off to the side, keeping it off balance.

[Gestein 0]

Give it no quarter. No space to move. Not a moment to breathe.

As quickly as Gestein had pushed the beast away, he was back on the attack with a vengeance. The previous evening had been a wake up call to the reality of the game, and the big man was not about to fail a gateway quest twice in a row. Gone was the cocky demeanor and defensive style of combat - the stout warrior was in full on blitz mode.

Once again he rushed the jet black beast, but the wolf was ready for him. It quickly regained its bearings and leapt nimbly out of the way as Gestein launched into the first of what was intended to be a wild flurry of blows. Over-extended from the ferocity of his attack, he left the beast an opening that it immediately tried to capitalize on.

[Gestein 0]

The wolf had no intention of letting the human rest or gain the upper hand once again. Though it would have been prudent for it to call the pack to its side, the beast's pride had been wounded by the human's sneak attack. This was his fight. This was his prey. This was his kill.

With inhuman speed, the dire wolf skittered into position and attempted to ram its enemy in the leg. The tactic was sound - if it could take its prey off balance and knock it to the ground, it would be an easy kill. What the wolf didn't take into account was the man's tree-trunk like legs. Despite being made of 200lbs of sinew and muscle, it did not have enough strength to loosen the human's footing.

*crunch*

After having throw its entire weight into the attack only to be met with such a solid rebuff, the wolf had the wind knocked out of its sails. It fell to the ground, panting to try to reclaim the air back into its lungs, as the human prepared to strike.

[Gestein 0]

Every muscle in his body was tensed and ready to strike. His stance was rigid, no... solid would better describe it. Every movement and placement of his limbs was a direct action, from the way that he held his ground, he could generate waist movement to dodge or leg movement to step into action. He was rooted, like a stone, and yet coiled like a spring ready to strike.

However, overconfidence in his strength was what failed him in his latest attack. Despite having the wolf open for a powerful strike charged with a sword art, he instead opted to try to kick the beast while it was down in the hopes that he could keep it off balance. As he surged forward, he brought his foot to bare against the dire wolf, but his unarmed attack was not strong enough to cause damage to the beast.

[Gestein 0]

The human had given the beast the opening it needed. With the kick ineffective against its haunches, the dire wolf used the slight push of the human's attack to skitter and regain its footing.

As the beast scratched its way back into a standing position, it took off at a run and gained a bit of distance from the hulking man, who shifted to observe the wolf's new behavior. However, the beast was not content to run away; it spun on its heels and re-aligned itself to charge straight into the human once again. This time, instead of trying to hobble the warrior's legs, it leapt straight for his throat. The heavy impact of the oversized wolf against his body caused Gestein's guard to falter, and the beast took the opportunity to deliver a wicked bite to his shoulder before dropping to the ground and pressing the attack once again by snapping its jaws in an attempt to keep the human off his toes.

Gestein: 8/11

Dire wolf: 5/7 HP

[Gestein 0]

Frustration was beginning to set in on Gestein's face. His battle plan had worked perfectly at the start of the encounter, and the pace was exactly what he wanted. Now, he was on the defensive, angry more at his own self for missing so many opportunities to peg the beast.

"RRRAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" the man bellowed in frustration as he once again launched himself at the wolf. With rage setting in, he no longer kept his stance and form and focused purely on attacking the beast with reckless abandon. After a wild swing with his hammer glanced the side of the beast's head, Gestein quickly followed through with a sword art. The dark-green glow of power that now coursed through his hands flashed brilliantly in the night sky and dissipated on impact, dealing the jet black wolf a grievous blow.

Gestein: 8/11

Dire wolf: 2/7 HP

[Gestein 0]

The crunch of hammer against its skull hobbled the dire wolf for a brief moment. As the man continued into a wild flurry of blows, it could barely react in time to dodge. As its head began to clear from the effects of the blow, the wolf saw how open the human had truly left itself. As Gestein over-extended himself one time to many, the wolf coiled into position and leapt once again onto the man, dealing a grievous blow on his unprotected throat.

Gestein: 4/11 HP

Dire wolf: 2/7 HP

[Gestein 0]

The dire wolf howled in triumph as Gestein dropped to one knee, staggered from the powerful blow. As he looked at what little yellow remained of his HP bar, he shook his head. Not again. he thought to himself, growling as the grip of his hand against his war hammer turned his knuckles white.

Gestein was not about to let himself be beaten by the beast again. His pride could not take it. In his angered state, he couldn't even think of running away, such was the level of his rage. The only choice he had was to attack. Despite his health bar flickering in warning at his low HP, Gestein launched himself into one last attack of desperation. He tackled the dire wolf, launching himself onto the back of the beast with such force that its knees buckled to the ground. Though the wolf tried to shake the human off its back and desperately nipped at the arm that had snaked its way around his neck, its snout was driven completely into the dirt. The last thing it saw was a flash of dark-green light before the hammer connected with the dire wolf's skull.

Dire wolf: Defeated.

Gestein panted deeply as the dire wolf's body exploded into pixels beneath his frame, causing him to drop to his knees.

"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again." He chided to himself in between deep gasps for air. It was stupid. He had let himself get reckless. And for what? Pride? A quest? Of course he could have walked away. He could have tried again the next day. There was never any sense of urgency behind fighting the beast. He had gambled his life on something so incredibly trivial, that in retrospect of his victory, he felt disgusted with himself.

As luck would have it, when he checked the glowing inventory before him, the dire wolf not only dropped the quest item "Wolf's Tail" to show that he had completed the request of the NPC, but he also found 35 Col. Every little bit of cash would go a long way towards helping improve his odds of survival. He was in desperate need of armor and better weapons, what with this being his first actual quest.

"Well... you did it. At least that's something." He said as he picked himself off the ground and dusted his shabby starting tunic off. He could have sworn his shoulders were sore, but per usual the game did not allow him to feel pain for all that long. He had been lucky that the wolf didn't try to call for its pack, and that he hadn't accidentally aggroed a roaming encounter as well. He walked back to town with trepidation, eyeing every mob with impunity as he slowly and carefully made his way.

[Gestein 0]

"Oh thank you. Thank you! Now I can get a good night's rest!" The NPC vamped as Gestein turned in the quest item. Despite the glower that resided on the man's face as he walked into the shop, the NPC didn't seem to take the hint. Either that, or it actively enjoyed messing with people. It was an entertainer, after all.

"I assume this was no trouble for a strong warrior such as yourself." It said sweetly, with just a hint of knowledgeable cheekiness. It took all of Gestein's fortitude to struggle to smile and nod in response. The shop keep seemed pleased as punch

"As promised, here is your reward. Enjoy!" it said as it opened a window for Gestein to survey. In it was the true reward of the quest - the ability to choose the performer profession, and a greyish sphere shaped crystal that represented the ability to morph into any instrument of his choice. With a heavy sigh, he clicked accept, and the quest came to an end.

In real life, Gestein learned how to play a ukulele at a young age, but had never really progressed beyond learning a few simple chords. It was one of his regrets as he got older that he hadn't taken the time to really learn how to play an instrument. As he activated the crystal sphere and toggled through the medieval instruments, his eyes settled onto a four stringed lute. After messing around in the instrument's settings, he tuned the lute to the classic G4 C4 E4 A4 strings of the humble uke, and strummed happily for a moment as the sound brought back fond memories from his real life. Maybe now he would be able to do the instrument some justice.

~QUEST COMPLETE~

Total rewards:

55 Col and +2 Mat (looted from defeated enemies)

400 Col (for one full completed page of the topic)

Profession: <> + Instrument

[9Lives 0]

Approved: GM 9Lives