AlterWorld

At the moment, I had two such spells available: a slowing one and a stronger poisoning one. The latter could deal more damage which was a good thing but still I was going to take the first one. As I leveled up, the slowing effect would grow, ultimately freezing the target 60-70%, and that could save my skin quite a few hundred times. Good thing.

Congratulations! You've learned the spell: Thorny Grass.

Cast time: 1.5 sec

Mana expenditure: 15

The spell deals 5 points magic damage every 4 sec for 16 sec. Slows an enemy target 11%. See Wiki for more details.

Excellent. I had one more Talent point left. Moving to the Death Tree.

At the moment, I had two spells available and I was dying to get both.

The first one was Life Absorption which, apart from damage, drained the target's life. The damage wasn't much but it ignored the player's magic resistance and, most importantly, helped me heal. And you couldn't underestimate the importance of healing for solo classes.

The second one was Bone Shield. It created a magic shield capable of absorbing a certain amount of damage.

I gave it a good thought and decided to go with the healing one. The shield I could still take a bit later on one of the next levels. From what I could remember from the official guidebook, I would receive 3 more talent points at level 5, and then one point for each level once I chose my specialization.

Congratulations! You've learned the spell: Life Absorption.

Cast time: 1.4 sec

Mana expenditure: 14

The spell deals 8 points of magic damage to an enemy target simultaneously giving you 8 HP points. See Wiki for more details.

I moved my newly acquired spells into quick access slots. Having finished, I jumped to my feet and shook the dirt off my pants. Great worldbuilding. The developers showed amazing attention to detail.

The leaves rustled. The sound of footsteps came from the trail. In a moment, a beefcake Elf walked out into the open, his recognizable celebrity face distorted with fear, his childlike eyes wide open. He carried no arms and wore the same kind of sack shirt as myself. I took my hand off the dagger. "Be welcome, O young Warlock!"

The Elf’s eyes opened wider. "Are you Grym the Hermit?"

Can’t he read or what? "I’m his younger twin. Go in, be my guest," I pointed at the cave. "He’s expecting you."

"TY," the young Elf forced out sliding past me toward the entrance.

I shook my head, unbelieving. How mature. I just hoped the developers took the players' age into account. That way, he'd have to prove his loyalty by slaughtering a rabbit. Alternatively, he could get a snail and a hammer—all that snot and gore hitting the cave walls.

Nah, I was going too far. Most likely, the FIVR capsule's parental guidance was blocking out all gore, pain and erotic sensations and activating the profanity filter.

Right. Time to get going. I'd been in the game already for an hour and a half and hadn't risen beyond a level one newb. Not good. Judging by the map, the city's East Gate was only ten minutes' walk away. The new players' starting locations were situated behind the city walls allowing endangered newbies to escape to the safety of the guards, if needed. I could do a bit of hunting while heading toward the city. These backwoods had to have more rabbits and other game to offer than the newbie-infested city limits.

Chapter Four

My first attempt at hunting very nearly became my last. I saw a small rabbit just off the trail. The pop-up prompt helpfully informed me that the rabbit was young: level 1. Sounded like my size. Without the Soul Stone, I couldn't raise a pet for myself. Never mind, I could manage. Level 1 casters often had to do a lot of tanking.

I selected the bu

An adult rabbit. Level 3.

Whatever. It was going for me. Embarrassing, really: to be killed in your first fight—by a rabbit.

Rabbit or no rabbit, I hurried to move the target to the big bastard and cast a slowing DoT. A resist. The target couldn't care less about the spell. A magic resistant rabbit—what kind of world was that? Another try, and I managed to slow it down a bit.

You've been bitten! Damage sustained: 6 points. Source: the young rabbit's teeth. Life: 54/60.

The young rabbit's missed! He attempted to punch you but failed!

Indeed, the young 'un had caught up with me and was now busy trying to hurt me. I drew the dagger and slashed the bu

The Young Rabbit has sustained 8 points Damage.

You've received 8 points Life. 60/60.

You've been bitten! Damage sustained: 17 points. Source of damage: the Adult Rabbit's teeth. Life 43/60.

You've been bitten! Damage sustained: 5 points. Source of damage: The Young Rabbit's teeth. Life 38/60.

You've been clawed! 12 points Life lost to the Adult Rabbit's claws. 26/60.

Shit. Time to leg it. I still had the slowing spell on both bu

The Young Rabbit has sustained 8 points Damage!

You've received 8 points Life. 34/60.

The Young Rabbit has sustained 5 points Damage!

You've received 5 points Life. 39/60

You've received Experience!

Die, you bastard!

My attempt to slow down the mature rabbit resulted in more aggro and two more bites. My life dropped into the orange zone so I had to retreat double quick. Had it dropped into the red, my speed would have dropped accordingly and no way I could've escaped. But even so my advantage was minimal. I just couldn't shake the big bu

After another hundred paces, the forest parted. We scrambled out into a clearing. Far beyond, I could make out the city walls and dozens of players swarming below as they interacted with each other, doing a bit of leveling. I marked the position of the gate towers and the paved road and bolted for the main gate, counting on the guards. Surely they would stick up for a player and not let a mob into town. A monster rabbit, never thought I'd live to see the day. Total embarrassment.

Shame about the experience lost: I could kiss it goodbye if the guards finished the mob. But I spoke too soon. The big bu

Now I had to think fast. Whoever inflicted more attack damage on him would get the experience.

I began casting the Life Absorption double quick. An extra bit of healing wouldn't go amiss.

You've received Experience!

Got him. By then the young rogue was almost finished, too. Either the bu