Post by Icyferno on Oct 11, 2014 1:48:36 GMT
Status: Healthy / Rested
~
Swinging his sword in a blur of motion, the Human Swashbuckler hacked away at some shrubbery and caught sight of his aim, the rocky outcrop in the heart of the Windsor Greatwood. It was still quite a distance away, so tired as he was, he decided to press on, giving himself both some time to survey the land and to confirm whether the elusive beast he was hunting was present in the first place.
Just that morning, as he was making his way to the Savill Flower Grove to grind on mobs a few levels lower than him, he stumbled upon a middle-aged man staring in dismay at her overturned cart, his farm produce evidently trampled upon as it lay next to the overturned cart smack right in the middle of the road. Fortunately, traffic was not high at the time of the accident, so his predicament did not inconvinience the numerous other farmers, merchants and Adventurers who used the road to travel to and away from the town of Londinium.
After helping the farmer righten the cart and return the goods, both trampled and those lucky enough to survive the trampling, to their rightful place in the cart, he heard the story of how such a disaster came about. Knowing that traffic was low at this time of the day, the farmer was headed to Londinium to sell his produce to a small grocery shop located near the residential district.
That was the farmer's fatal mistake. A wild 「Crag Cow」 happened by the area and needlessly attacked the farmer's cart, which it may have thought of as a rival cow. Who knows, it was hard to tell what animals thought without the skill needed to communicate with them, the Tongue of Nature, or the Animal Tamer subclass which seems to give one a natural Tongue of Nature. In any case, the cow charged the cart, toppling it over, and promptly stamped on the produce as it snatched a few leaves off of a head of a vegetable similar to lettuce before running off, leaving the poor farmer stranded with his goods damaged, a slightly damaged cart and a broken spirit. A few minutes later, the Swashbuckler arrived.
The enraged farmer was, thankfully, by no means poor, so losing one cart of produce did not mean the end of the world for him, though it had a huge toll on his income. The farmer wished for him to undertake a quest to rid the world of that 「Crag Cow」, but was stumped as to how to go about it since his finances were already in trouble.
"It's alright, I don't need a reward. Getting the loot from the 「Crag Cow」 would be enough of a reward for me." He spoke up when he saw the farmer looking distressed once they strayed into the topic of, "undertake a quest to kill the 「Crag Cow」".
Icyferno was by no means a poor fellow, having amassed a small sum of money despite not belonging to a Guild and thus missing out on the tougher, large-scale quest which boasted proportionately better gear and rewards. In any case, he was comfortable with his current financial standing, and thus saw no need to trouble the farmer, who was likely to face financial difficulties due to him losing his produce to a wild 「Crag Cow」. Being nice sometimes pays off in the most unexpected ways, especially when it came to People of the Land. As much as it looks like he was simply currying with the farmer, he was, in actual fact, just bored with grinding and doing something for other people while he was at it would certainly help his mood.
As such, that was how he ended up doing this simple task of eliminating a 「Crag Cow」. Its level range was far lower than that of his current level and equipment, so he honestly did not expect much of a challenge. It was more of him exploring another section than the woods rather than him actively hunting for the produce-attacking cow. Speaking of which, he was pretty sure that cows eat grass, not the kinds of vegetables a farmer would grow. Perhaps this one has a perculiar taste for lettuce? Perhaps it was simply craving for lettuce? No matter, his job was to hunt it down, and hunt it down he was intending to do.
But man, he had never been in this section of the woods before. It was one of those spots were one just happened to miss when in the area. He had never seen the rocky outcrop in the Windsor Greatwood before. He had never seen that herb out in the wilds before. He had never so many butterflies in the Greatwood before, either. It was almost as if he had entered a completely new part of the Windsor Greatwood previously unbeknownst to him before.
A few minutes later, he reached the rocky outcrop which he had tracked the 「Crag Cow」 to. Hopefully, it would not decide to charge to another location, for it had already given him the slip once and he had no desire to chase it to another location again. Sitting under the shade of a tree, he carefully inspected the rocky outcrop.
The peculiar rock formation was by no means made by man; it was clearly a work of nature. Even from afar, he could see moss growing over a few areas of the rock, and a small, hollowed out section which housed his target. Now that he though about it, the 「Crag Cow」 had chosen a good spot to rest, as it was kept out of the rain, and food was abundant in the form of moss on the rocks and the long, wavy grass which surrounded the rocky outcrop. If the shape of the rocks allowed for a pool of water, then this would technically be the perfect spot for almost any beast in the Windsor Greatwood to rest without straying too far, lest it happened to be a carnivorous one.
Environment aside, his target was here, which was a good thing, though he was concerned over whether or not it would suddenly take off again. Hopefully, this location was soothing to the beast so it would stay for a bit. That would give him time to survey the area for optimal points to attack from.
But for a few moments, he would rest. He had been up and about on his feet for the entire morning going after this cow, so a minute or so of rest would do him some good. Now, he was aware that as an Adventurer, he had far better stamina than his real body and recovered much more quickly, but that was only true in the physical sense. Mentally, his recovery rate was about as slow as it had always been.
Leaning back against the tree whose shade he was currently enjoying, he rested briefly while keeping an eye on the 「Crag Cow」. For its part, it seemed to have decided on a quick nap as well. He could not blame the animal. It was a hot day, and running around on a hot day was hardly his idea of fun, so he could empathise with the creature. Taking out his stash of Chocolate Eclairs, he wolfed down a few of the surprisingly still cool chocolate treats, but not before making sure he was down wind of the 「Crag Cow」, despite there being hardly any wind to speak of. It always pays off to be cautious.
His quick break done, he decided it was time he got this whole thing done and over with. It was not like the 「Crag Cow」 was going to get any weaker than it already was when it was sleeping.
He silently made his way over to the sleeping cow, cautiously manuveouring his way through the long grass to reach his goal. On the cow's part, it never so much as noticed him as it lay, unsuspecting, as its death became imminent.
To be honest, he was not the type to attack something which clearly could not defend itself. But at the same time, he saw no reason not to attack when the chance presented himself, so attack he did.
Upon entering striking distance, he wasted no time in launching himself on the offensive, bringing both of his swords down on the sleeping 「Crag Cow」, which woke with a start, pain searing through its body as the blades cut deep into its flesh.
It was no mere boast to say that at this point, the 「Crag Cow」 stood no chance against the Swashbuckler. The human outlevelled the 「Crag Cow」 by around ten levels, which pretty much sealed the deal in this fight since he had gotten off the first strike.
It thrashed about, trying to free itself, but as cruel as it was to the 「Crag Cow」, the Swashbuckler kept it pinned down under the two swords. Blood gushed forth from the deep wounds he had inflicted upon the beast. It fought hard, which only served to release a greater torrent of blood from its painful, ever deepening wounds. He turned away as the blood seeped all over the ground, signalling the end of the life of the 「Crag Cow」 he had just slayed.
Stepping back, he stopped for a brief moment to examine his handiwork. The corpse, of course, was gone. And so was the blood. All that was left of the 「Crag Cow」 he had just slain was the loot that it dropped, with no trace of the grizzly scene from before. The small, hollowed out section of the rock formation was just as it had been moments before, albeit missing a sleeping 「Crag Cow」 resting under its protective structure.
He left the rocky outcrop to report his findings.to the farmer, who was obviously no longer there. Hmm, that farmer did not even wait to find out if the 「Crag Cow」 was slain, he thought. So much for all the effort it took in chasing it down. Still, what's done was done, and with the time he had left, he had no inclination left to go back to the fields. With that thought, he decided to return to the town for the day.
While the farmer had already gone off, the Swashbuckler was surprised to find that very same farmer just as the farmer was selling what remained sellable of his goods to some aged female vendor. For some reason, he felt the need to hide and himself, so he did just that.
Their conversation drifted over him, like a soft whisper by his ears.
"An Adventurer took care of that troublesome cow for me. No, he would have never been able to figure out that the goods were rotted. I made sure they were all well-trampled to make it look like the cow's fault."
"What did that cow do to you? It's not like you to get animals killed for no reason"
"That cow was originally mine, mind you. It had the audacity to run away by upturning and destroying a good part of my fence. It deserved to die, if you asked me."
He had heard enough. Without casting a glance behind him, he left the area, not wanting to hear more.
Mixed feelings swarmed his head, each threatening to overwhelm the other. On one hand, he realized that he had been lied to, and was angry at the People of the Land who made used of Adventurers as a means to an end. The animal had likely only wanted freedom. On the other hand, he had likely prevented a 「Crag Cow」 from destroying more property, its apparent tendency to destroy things all too obvious.
Urgh, the lack of information was killing him. In any case, he should put the matter behind him, taking the all important lesson that People of the Land should not be trusted just like that. All that was left to do was to sleep off the whole episode and look forward to a better day, preferably one without lying scum.
~
Word count: 2016
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 4032
Notes: N/A
~
Swinging his sword in a blur of motion, the Human Swashbuckler hacked away at some shrubbery and caught sight of his aim, the rocky outcrop in the heart of the Windsor Greatwood. It was still quite a distance away, so tired as he was, he decided to press on, giving himself both some time to survey the land and to confirm whether the elusive beast he was hunting was present in the first place.
Just that morning, as he was making his way to the Savill Flower Grove to grind on mobs a few levels lower than him, he stumbled upon a middle-aged man staring in dismay at her overturned cart, his farm produce evidently trampled upon as it lay next to the overturned cart smack right in the middle of the road. Fortunately, traffic was not high at the time of the accident, so his predicament did not inconvinience the numerous other farmers, merchants and Adventurers who used the road to travel to and away from the town of Londinium.
After helping the farmer righten the cart and return the goods, both trampled and those lucky enough to survive the trampling, to their rightful place in the cart, he heard the story of how such a disaster came about. Knowing that traffic was low at this time of the day, the farmer was headed to Londinium to sell his produce to a small grocery shop located near the residential district.
That was the farmer's fatal mistake. A wild 「Crag Cow」 happened by the area and needlessly attacked the farmer's cart, which it may have thought of as a rival cow. Who knows, it was hard to tell what animals thought without the skill needed to communicate with them, the Tongue of Nature, or the Animal Tamer subclass which seems to give one a natural Tongue of Nature. In any case, the cow charged the cart, toppling it over, and promptly stamped on the produce as it snatched a few leaves off of a head of a vegetable similar to lettuce before running off, leaving the poor farmer stranded with his goods damaged, a slightly damaged cart and a broken spirit. A few minutes later, the Swashbuckler arrived.
The enraged farmer was, thankfully, by no means poor, so losing one cart of produce did not mean the end of the world for him, though it had a huge toll on his income. The farmer wished for him to undertake a quest to rid the world of that 「Crag Cow」, but was stumped as to how to go about it since his finances were already in trouble.
"It's alright, I don't need a reward. Getting the loot from the 「Crag Cow」 would be enough of a reward for me." He spoke up when he saw the farmer looking distressed once they strayed into the topic of, "undertake a quest to kill the 「Crag Cow」".
Icyferno was by no means a poor fellow, having amassed a small sum of money despite not belonging to a Guild and thus missing out on the tougher, large-scale quest which boasted proportionately better gear and rewards. In any case, he was comfortable with his current financial standing, and thus saw no need to trouble the farmer, who was likely to face financial difficulties due to him losing his produce to a wild 「Crag Cow」. Being nice sometimes pays off in the most unexpected ways, especially when it came to People of the Land. As much as it looks like he was simply currying with the farmer, he was, in actual fact, just bored with grinding and doing something for other people while he was at it would certainly help his mood.
As such, that was how he ended up doing this simple task of eliminating a 「Crag Cow」. Its level range was far lower than that of his current level and equipment, so he honestly did not expect much of a challenge. It was more of him exploring another section than the woods rather than him actively hunting for the produce-attacking cow. Speaking of which, he was pretty sure that cows eat grass, not the kinds of vegetables a farmer would grow. Perhaps this one has a perculiar taste for lettuce? Perhaps it was simply craving for lettuce? No matter, his job was to hunt it down, and hunt it down he was intending to do.
But man, he had never been in this section of the woods before. It was one of those spots were one just happened to miss when in the area. He had never seen the rocky outcrop in the Windsor Greatwood before. He had never seen that herb out in the wilds before. He had never so many butterflies in the Greatwood before, either. It was almost as if he had entered a completely new part of the Windsor Greatwood previously unbeknownst to him before.
A few minutes later, he reached the rocky outcrop which he had tracked the 「Crag Cow」 to. Hopefully, it would not decide to charge to another location, for it had already given him the slip once and he had no desire to chase it to another location again. Sitting under the shade of a tree, he carefully inspected the rocky outcrop.
The peculiar rock formation was by no means made by man; it was clearly a work of nature. Even from afar, he could see moss growing over a few areas of the rock, and a small, hollowed out section which housed his target. Now that he though about it, the 「Crag Cow」 had chosen a good spot to rest, as it was kept out of the rain, and food was abundant in the form of moss on the rocks and the long, wavy grass which surrounded the rocky outcrop. If the shape of the rocks allowed for a pool of water, then this would technically be the perfect spot for almost any beast in the Windsor Greatwood to rest without straying too far, lest it happened to be a carnivorous one.
Environment aside, his target was here, which was a good thing, though he was concerned over whether or not it would suddenly take off again. Hopefully, this location was soothing to the beast so it would stay for a bit. That would give him time to survey the area for optimal points to attack from.
But for a few moments, he would rest. He had been up and about on his feet for the entire morning going after this cow, so a minute or so of rest would do him some good. Now, he was aware that as an Adventurer, he had far better stamina than his real body and recovered much more quickly, but that was only true in the physical sense. Mentally, his recovery rate was about as slow as it had always been.
Leaning back against the tree whose shade he was currently enjoying, he rested briefly while keeping an eye on the 「Crag Cow」. For its part, it seemed to have decided on a quick nap as well. He could not blame the animal. It was a hot day, and running around on a hot day was hardly his idea of fun, so he could empathise with the creature. Taking out his stash of Chocolate Eclairs, he wolfed down a few of the surprisingly still cool chocolate treats, but not before making sure he was down wind of the 「Crag Cow」, despite there being hardly any wind to speak of. It always pays off to be cautious.
His quick break done, he decided it was time he got this whole thing done and over with. It was not like the 「Crag Cow」 was going to get any weaker than it already was when it was sleeping.
He silently made his way over to the sleeping cow, cautiously manuveouring his way through the long grass to reach his goal. On the cow's part, it never so much as noticed him as it lay, unsuspecting, as its death became imminent.
To be honest, he was not the type to attack something which clearly could not defend itself. But at the same time, he saw no reason not to attack when the chance presented himself, so attack he did.
Upon entering striking distance, he wasted no time in launching himself on the offensive, bringing both of his swords down on the sleeping 「Crag Cow」, which woke with a start, pain searing through its body as the blades cut deep into its flesh.
It was no mere boast to say that at this point, the 「Crag Cow」 stood no chance against the Swashbuckler. The human outlevelled the 「Crag Cow」 by around ten levels, which pretty much sealed the deal in this fight since he had gotten off the first strike.
It thrashed about, trying to free itself, but as cruel as it was to the 「Crag Cow」, the Swashbuckler kept it pinned down under the two swords. Blood gushed forth from the deep wounds he had inflicted upon the beast. It fought hard, which only served to release a greater torrent of blood from its painful, ever deepening wounds. He turned away as the blood seeped all over the ground, signalling the end of the life of the 「Crag Cow」 he had just slayed.
Stepping back, he stopped for a brief moment to examine his handiwork. The corpse, of course, was gone. And so was the blood. All that was left of the 「Crag Cow」 he had just slain was the loot that it dropped, with no trace of the grizzly scene from before. The small, hollowed out section of the rock formation was just as it had been moments before, albeit missing a sleeping 「Crag Cow」 resting under its protective structure.
He left the rocky outcrop to report his findings.to the farmer, who was obviously no longer there. Hmm, that farmer did not even wait to find out if the 「Crag Cow」 was slain, he thought. So much for all the effort it took in chasing it down. Still, what's done was done, and with the time he had left, he had no inclination left to go back to the fields. With that thought, he decided to return to the town for the day.
While the farmer had already gone off, the Swashbuckler was surprised to find that very same farmer just as the farmer was selling what remained sellable of his goods to some aged female vendor. For some reason, he felt the need to hide and himself, so he did just that.
Their conversation drifted over him, like a soft whisper by his ears.
"An Adventurer took care of that troublesome cow for me. No, he would have never been able to figure out that the goods were rotted. I made sure they were all well-trampled to make it look like the cow's fault."
"What did that cow do to you? It's not like you to get animals killed for no reason"
"That cow was originally mine, mind you. It had the audacity to run away by upturning and destroying a good part of my fence. It deserved to die, if you asked me."
He had heard enough. Without casting a glance behind him, he left the area, not wanting to hear more.
Mixed feelings swarmed his head, each threatening to overwhelm the other. On one hand, he realized that he had been lied to, and was angry at the People of the Land who made used of Adventurers as a means to an end. The animal had likely only wanted freedom. On the other hand, he had likely prevented a 「Crag Cow」 from destroying more property, its apparent tendency to destroy things all too obvious.
Urgh, the lack of information was killing him. In any case, he should put the matter behind him, taking the all important lesson that People of the Land should not be trusted just like that. All that was left to do was to sleep off the whole episode and look forward to a better day, preferably one without lying scum.
~
Word count: 2016
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 4032
Notes: N/A
