Post by Saber on Oct 29, 2016 22:17:29 GMT
At the edge of the fields, the Summoner stood with his hands crossed over his chest and his head tilted, his eyes surveying the scene before him. He took up a job to help clear some farm fields of boars but honestly, he didn’t expect the scene before him. After being told just to thin the numbers of the population by five, Saber figured there would only be about ten boars loitering around the open fields. He wasn’t even close with that guess. At all. The large farming fields that were positioned just outside of Londinium’s western gates were crawling with the boars, and there were a small handful of Londinium Guards and other people all working to try to get them out. The ratio of combatants to boars was skewed greatly towards the boars and the boars were coming out of the forest almost as fast as they were being killed. It was an odd phenomenon.
It wasn’t something Saber was ready for, but he honestly didn’t have much choice but to deal with it. For one he was inside of a game world so he felt it safe to assume that the boars were returning at such a high rate because the Quest was repeatable. If it wasn’t then there would be no replenishing of the monsters after they were killed. It was also safe to guess that not everyone in Londinum would care enough about the world to help. Thus, the number of non-guards helping out was understandably low. He wished it was the opposite but after the first week with all of the riots, he could see why the number of adventurous souls wasn’t high. But that wasn’t something he was tasked with getting a headache over. Saber wasn’t a politician. In this world, Darius was just a summoner with a lizard for a partner.
Said Salamander was not here today, however. The Summoner was indeed tasked with killing Boars but he could not trust his little friend for the time being as this task would need some finesse. Part of the quest was to not damage the fields themselves. If he did that, he would probably lose some kind of reward and the Captain of the Guard might force him to pay for the additional damage done. Poor and lacking any goods to pay for said reparations, Saber figured he would use the quest to refine his sword skills. He had practiced a bit in the real world and learned quite a bit about swordplay, but using it for actual combat was a different story. He was still sloppy.
“Huff… Huff, huff.” While standing there, Saber noticed that there was some curious company approaching him from the right. He noticed the movement earlier in the corner of his eye but now, the shadow was moving closer and closer. He glanced over to see a young Pittered boar staring at him from about three meters away. It was pretty close but it didn’t look angry or anything. It was probably too young to understand the concept of danger. Thinking of that made Saber smile and he grinned at the young boar.
Saber took that as his signal to get moving and he grasped the wooden sheath of his katana. He jogged ahead and left the young boar behind, instead moving towards another group of boars that looked much older. There were four of them eating crops together and two of them looked old. One well behind them looked tired and its fur was greyed. They were perfect targets. Saber judged his distance, estimated the time of contact, and then flicked his thumb on his sword. It popped out an inch from its sheath into his left hand. Following the instructions of his teacher, Saber waited until he was close before squeezing the hilt.
The four boards reacted in a stagger. The closest squealed and jumped away from the sounds of footsteps. The second looked up and ran away after spotting Saber. The third lifted its head in response and made a move to leave but before it could, Saber was on it. The fourth squealed a warning and darted away. Saber’s blade cut through the side of the targeted boar’s face, splitting the flesh. His blade was a bit dull already due to use so he had to use additional force to make it cut, but the wound was enough. The boar’s left eye was useless.
The boar squealed loudly and attempted to charge, but Saber moved to his right and sliced at the boar’s left front leg. He cut it at the knee and tripped the creature before it could take a step. The boar fell onto the left, unable to apply pressure to it, and Saber finished the job with a series of short cuts. The boar lay there for a short time before disappearing slowly. Saber hesitated only long enough to remove the boar’s ear and pocket it before heading towards the old boar that he had spotted during his initial approach. The boar caught him in its sights and turned its body to face the Adventurer. Saber narrowed his eyes; this one was old and experienced based on that reaction. Saber glanced at its level as he ran for it and grit his teeth; it was level 5. Saber was still only level 1. “Damn.”
The boar charged as Saber realized his mistake and the Summoner was forced to dive to his right. The boar rushed passed him and Saber rolled safely to his feet, albeit dusted but not injured. Before the boar could turn around, the Summoner fled and darted towards his next target. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed the boar stomped its foot at him before returning to its meal. “Safe” he thought before leveling his eyes on the next target.
Another aged boar lingered just on the outskirts of its group and lay on its belly with its eyes closed. Saber checked its level this time before getting too close just to confirm it was low enough for him to fight successfully. Once he knew it was level 1, he rushed it. One of the young boars squealed a warning and the group scattered. The old boar on the ground blinked awake and looked around, but before it spotted Saber the Summoner finished it off quickly. Targeting its neck and head, Saber scored three critical hits to end the fight before it started. The boar slumped to the ground without resisting and closed its eyes again. Saber lopped off its ear and placed it into a pouch.
“That’s two.” Saber muttered as he eased his breathing. He flicked his sword to the side, getting some of the loose blood off his blade. He would clean it better later but he wanted to keep it as clean as possible for now. With only two boars dead in two minutes, Saber didn’t have all the time in the world to clean his sword after every fight. He wanted this done.
Saber spotted two good targets beside one another a short way off and he also noticed a third he could get along the way; that would put him at five. Nodding to himself, Saber took in a few deep breaths and then moved to his left. He circled around to get behind the next grouping and then lunged in. Two got away but Saber caught one in the hind leg. The boar flopped to the ground and whined in agony as Saber assaulted his true target. The boar turned and kicked up dirt, attempting to create a dust cloud to blind the Summoner. Saber rushed through it and kicked out the boar’s legs. It sprawled to the ground and then found itself stuck as Saber shoved his blade through its spine. It squirmed, Saber twisted and kicked. The boar rolled onto its back and then found itself cut down the middle. It finished its roll, lifeless after Saber cut it twice more. Before the boar even finished moving, Saber was on the one he wounded. It had begun to limp away when Saber returned to finish the job. He took both of their ears for marks of his kill.
Instead of just one on the way, Saber got two. He charged the two older targets after taking his two easy kills and dispatched of them just as quickly. He totaled six kills now and his quest was effectively completed, however the numbers were still great. He figured he could help a bit more before returning. Though he had a feeling that he might run into some trouble if he went too far out from where he was. The levels of the boars increased in the denser groups and there weren’t many weaker boars that were isolated unless he went all the way to the other side of the plot he was on. Which meant he was going to have to be pretty quick, lest he end up biting off more than he could chew.
“Right then.” Squeezing the hilt of his sword, Saber jogged over towards one of the smaller groups of boars that had the least amount of higher level animals in them. As he approached, three boars of level three, four, and three, all turned to face him. He wiggled his nose and increased his pace to a near sprint. The boars kicked up dirt, leveled their heads and their tusks, and then charged. Saber twirled his sword in his hand and accelerated to a full sprint. His stride opened, his boot thudded on the tilled ground, and his mouth worked easily to fill his body with oxygen.
As the first boar came within close distance, Saber shoved off to his left and slipped by the first boar. He took two steps forward to catch his balance and then twirled right, using his right hand to push on the head of the second boar and shove it out of the way. As the third closed, Saber crossed his blade in front of him and used the flat edge to catch the tusks. His heels dug into the dirt and he skidded back two inches as he halted the boar’s advance. He felt a pain rush through his body and noted the feeling; his Health trained a few points but not as much compared to what he would have lost if it was a direct hit. The boar huffed at him and pushed. Saber shoved back, challenging the boar. When it pushed once more, he heard footsteps. Saber checked his right, spotted a shadow behind him, and then quickly shuffled to his right. One of the two boars which had charged him slammed into the boar Saber had just been holding back. The two toppled to the ground loudly.
Free, Saber sprinted into the herd and targeted two of the older boars before they could scramble. He aimed for their legs, wounding them and limiting their movement before dispatching them. A younger boar tried to catch him off guard but Saber slipped back and used his foot to trip it up. The young animal squealed as it flopped onto its belly and roll a few paces away. One of his initial targets nearly got away in the brief moment, but Saber caught it in the back and finished it. At the same moment, Saber was struck in the back of his left leg. The Summoner’s eyes shot open and he was flipped onto his back, hard. Oxygen exploded from his lungs and he was dazed.
Scrambling, Saber rolled over and pushed up to his feet only to get smacked square in his right hip as he started to raise up. The impact snapped his back out and he rolled to his left. During the roll, he lost his weapon. Saber grit his teeth and smacked the ground, stopping his roll and pushing himself back to his feet. Immediately, he readied his fists and took three steps back, and right into the tusks of another boar. This time though, he noticed the shadow as it closed. His left leg was flicked up and Saber raised his heel. As the boar ran beneath him, he slammed the heel of his boot down onto the boar’s neck. It wasn’t effective, as he wasn’t skilled in Unarmed combat, but the boar was dazed. Saber grabbed the creature’s right hind leg and yanked it back as it staggered, pulling it into the face of a boar coming from his right. The charger collided into the shield and Saber dove out of the way.
Popping back up into a sprint, Saber rushed back towards his blade. Two boars charged him to try and keep him from it. Narrowing his eyes, Saber noticed a third to his right was coming from an angle behind him. He adjusted his path so he was running left and then skipped to his right. As he did, he lowered his body and then looked over his should. He grabbed the tusk of the boar that was coming from behind and yanked it over some. He curved the boar and used its own running to cause it to run straight into the other two boars. They did so with a loud smacking of meat and Saber slipped back, scooping up his blade.
With a huff, Saber took in a deep breath and sliced at an old boar he had originally targeted. It was almost dead and the final cut finished it. He did two quick slashes; one to finish the kill and the second to get the ear. That made nine. The kill had triggered a lull in the frenzy and the boars began to take steps back from him. Saber used the moment to catch his breath and he walked over to the other two dead boars. He glanced around, keeping tabs on the circle of animals around him, and sliced off the ears of the dead animals before they slowly disappeared. He twirled his sword and targeted the last kill of his little excursion. It was another old boar, but his scars were numerous and he looked extremely weak. Saber noticed that it kept an extra few steps away and was carefully walking behind the younger boars, as though using them as shields. Too bad. It stood out more that way.
Six long, quiet breaths passed before finally Saber decided he wasn’t going to wait forever. He shot forward and raced towards his target. Four boars closed on him and took advanced angles to catch him. But just before they could tag him, Saber stopped in his tracks. Two of the boars raced by him, missing by inches, and two others skidded into each other at his feet. The Summoner stepped up onto their backs and jumped into the air, using them as platforms. Raising the hilt of his blade to his shoulder, he reeled back and pointed the tip of the weapon straight for the boar. Its eyes opened, realizing who the target was and quickly turned to run. It got one step before Saber buried his weapon into its back. The blade slipped in with ease, was yanked free, and then cut along the back of the boar’s neck. He took three more hacks at the boar and then sliced off its ear. The boar let out one last squeal before slumping over.
The ear popped up into the air and was promptly snatched up. Saber dropped it into his pouch and then pulled out an old, torn up piece of cloth. He ran the cloth down the length of his katana and then sheathed it. The boars behind him readied themselves to charge but Saber only turned to glare at them. Four of them were furious and huffed loudly, their hooves digging into the dirt. Saber smirked and quickly fled from the group as two Lander Guards engaged the group from behind. They would finish the job. Saber, on the other hand, was done with the fight for now. His part was finished, so he made his way out of the farmland and headed back towards Londinium. On his way, he spotted the Guard Captain walking out of the gate with his entourage.
“Sir!” Saber called out, jogging up towards Baxton and four of his underlings. The Captain held up a hand to halt the men and straightened his back. Saber stopped three paces away and straightened up as well, out of respect for the authority figure. Baxton smirked at the subtle move.
“How can I help you, traveler?” Baxton’s voice was sincere but rough. The man was busy and on the move so he probably wanted this to be quick. Saber wouldn’t hold him up. Saber had seen Baxton around the city and the Guard Captain was always busy doing something.
“Ten kills. Here’s your proof, Captain.” Untying the pouch from his hip, Saber pulled it free and then extended it towards the Captain. Baxton scoffed and snatched the bag, opening it and staring at it intently. He wiggled the pouch a few times to get a better view of the contents and then looked to the female guard on his right. He nodded to her and she pulled the sack on her back off. Out of it, she pulled free another brown sack which jingled and tossed it to Saber. The Summoner caught it and then tied it to his waist. He trusted the Guard.
“Well done. There’s your reward. Come aid us again if you can.” Baxton gave the ears to the same female guard after she shouldered the sack she carried. Saber nodded and stepped out of the way, clearing the path for the guards. One of the guards nodded to him; a familiar face. Saber smirked and waited for a few more seconds before returning to Londinium. One more job in the bag.
Word Count: 2,983
Quest: Safeguarding Necessities
It wasn’t something Saber was ready for, but he honestly didn’t have much choice but to deal with it. For one he was inside of a game world so he felt it safe to assume that the boars were returning at such a high rate because the Quest was repeatable. If it wasn’t then there would be no replenishing of the monsters after they were killed. It was also safe to guess that not everyone in Londinum would care enough about the world to help. Thus, the number of non-guards helping out was understandably low. He wished it was the opposite but after the first week with all of the riots, he could see why the number of adventurous souls wasn’t high. But that wasn’t something he was tasked with getting a headache over. Saber wasn’t a politician. In this world, Darius was just a summoner with a lizard for a partner.
Said Salamander was not here today, however. The Summoner was indeed tasked with killing Boars but he could not trust his little friend for the time being as this task would need some finesse. Part of the quest was to not damage the fields themselves. If he did that, he would probably lose some kind of reward and the Captain of the Guard might force him to pay for the additional damage done. Poor and lacking any goods to pay for said reparations, Saber figured he would use the quest to refine his sword skills. He had practiced a bit in the real world and learned quite a bit about swordplay, but using it for actual combat was a different story. He was still sloppy.
“Huff… Huff, huff.” While standing there, Saber noticed that there was some curious company approaching him from the right. He noticed the movement earlier in the corner of his eye but now, the shadow was moving closer and closer. He glanced over to see a young Pittered boar staring at him from about three meters away. It was pretty close but it didn’t look angry or anything. It was probably too young to understand the concept of danger. Thinking of that made Saber smile and he grinned at the young boar.
Saber took that as his signal to get moving and he grasped the wooden sheath of his katana. He jogged ahead and left the young boar behind, instead moving towards another group of boars that looked much older. There were four of them eating crops together and two of them looked old. One well behind them looked tired and its fur was greyed. They were perfect targets. Saber judged his distance, estimated the time of contact, and then flicked his thumb on his sword. It popped out an inch from its sheath into his left hand. Following the instructions of his teacher, Saber waited until he was close before squeezing the hilt.
The four boards reacted in a stagger. The closest squealed and jumped away from the sounds of footsteps. The second looked up and ran away after spotting Saber. The third lifted its head in response and made a move to leave but before it could, Saber was on it. The fourth squealed a warning and darted away. Saber’s blade cut through the side of the targeted boar’s face, splitting the flesh. His blade was a bit dull already due to use so he had to use additional force to make it cut, but the wound was enough. The boar’s left eye was useless.
The boar squealed loudly and attempted to charge, but Saber moved to his right and sliced at the boar’s left front leg. He cut it at the knee and tripped the creature before it could take a step. The boar fell onto the left, unable to apply pressure to it, and Saber finished the job with a series of short cuts. The boar lay there for a short time before disappearing slowly. Saber hesitated only long enough to remove the boar’s ear and pocket it before heading towards the old boar that he had spotted during his initial approach. The boar caught him in its sights and turned its body to face the Adventurer. Saber narrowed his eyes; this one was old and experienced based on that reaction. Saber glanced at its level as he ran for it and grit his teeth; it was level 5. Saber was still only level 1. “Damn.”
The boar charged as Saber realized his mistake and the Summoner was forced to dive to his right. The boar rushed passed him and Saber rolled safely to his feet, albeit dusted but not injured. Before the boar could turn around, the Summoner fled and darted towards his next target. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed the boar stomped its foot at him before returning to its meal. “Safe” he thought before leveling his eyes on the next target.
Another aged boar lingered just on the outskirts of its group and lay on its belly with its eyes closed. Saber checked its level this time before getting too close just to confirm it was low enough for him to fight successfully. Once he knew it was level 1, he rushed it. One of the young boars squealed a warning and the group scattered. The old boar on the ground blinked awake and looked around, but before it spotted Saber the Summoner finished it off quickly. Targeting its neck and head, Saber scored three critical hits to end the fight before it started. The boar slumped to the ground without resisting and closed its eyes again. Saber lopped off its ear and placed it into a pouch.
“That’s two.” Saber muttered as he eased his breathing. He flicked his sword to the side, getting some of the loose blood off his blade. He would clean it better later but he wanted to keep it as clean as possible for now. With only two boars dead in two minutes, Saber didn’t have all the time in the world to clean his sword after every fight. He wanted this done.
Saber spotted two good targets beside one another a short way off and he also noticed a third he could get along the way; that would put him at five. Nodding to himself, Saber took in a few deep breaths and then moved to his left. He circled around to get behind the next grouping and then lunged in. Two got away but Saber caught one in the hind leg. The boar flopped to the ground and whined in agony as Saber assaulted his true target. The boar turned and kicked up dirt, attempting to create a dust cloud to blind the Summoner. Saber rushed through it and kicked out the boar’s legs. It sprawled to the ground and then found itself stuck as Saber shoved his blade through its spine. It squirmed, Saber twisted and kicked. The boar rolled onto its back and then found itself cut down the middle. It finished its roll, lifeless after Saber cut it twice more. Before the boar even finished moving, Saber was on the one he wounded. It had begun to limp away when Saber returned to finish the job. He took both of their ears for marks of his kill.
Instead of just one on the way, Saber got two. He charged the two older targets after taking his two easy kills and dispatched of them just as quickly. He totaled six kills now and his quest was effectively completed, however the numbers were still great. He figured he could help a bit more before returning. Though he had a feeling that he might run into some trouble if he went too far out from where he was. The levels of the boars increased in the denser groups and there weren’t many weaker boars that were isolated unless he went all the way to the other side of the plot he was on. Which meant he was going to have to be pretty quick, lest he end up biting off more than he could chew.
“Right then.” Squeezing the hilt of his sword, Saber jogged over towards one of the smaller groups of boars that had the least amount of higher level animals in them. As he approached, three boars of level three, four, and three, all turned to face him. He wiggled his nose and increased his pace to a near sprint. The boars kicked up dirt, leveled their heads and their tusks, and then charged. Saber twirled his sword in his hand and accelerated to a full sprint. His stride opened, his boot thudded on the tilled ground, and his mouth worked easily to fill his body with oxygen.
As the first boar came within close distance, Saber shoved off to his left and slipped by the first boar. He took two steps forward to catch his balance and then twirled right, using his right hand to push on the head of the second boar and shove it out of the way. As the third closed, Saber crossed his blade in front of him and used the flat edge to catch the tusks. His heels dug into the dirt and he skidded back two inches as he halted the boar’s advance. He felt a pain rush through his body and noted the feeling; his Health trained a few points but not as much compared to what he would have lost if it was a direct hit. The boar huffed at him and pushed. Saber shoved back, challenging the boar. When it pushed once more, he heard footsteps. Saber checked his right, spotted a shadow behind him, and then quickly shuffled to his right. One of the two boars which had charged him slammed into the boar Saber had just been holding back. The two toppled to the ground loudly.
Free, Saber sprinted into the herd and targeted two of the older boars before they could scramble. He aimed for their legs, wounding them and limiting their movement before dispatching them. A younger boar tried to catch him off guard but Saber slipped back and used his foot to trip it up. The young animal squealed as it flopped onto its belly and roll a few paces away. One of his initial targets nearly got away in the brief moment, but Saber caught it in the back and finished it. At the same moment, Saber was struck in the back of his left leg. The Summoner’s eyes shot open and he was flipped onto his back, hard. Oxygen exploded from his lungs and he was dazed.
Scrambling, Saber rolled over and pushed up to his feet only to get smacked square in his right hip as he started to raise up. The impact snapped his back out and he rolled to his left. During the roll, he lost his weapon. Saber grit his teeth and smacked the ground, stopping his roll and pushing himself back to his feet. Immediately, he readied his fists and took three steps back, and right into the tusks of another boar. This time though, he noticed the shadow as it closed. His left leg was flicked up and Saber raised his heel. As the boar ran beneath him, he slammed the heel of his boot down onto the boar’s neck. It wasn’t effective, as he wasn’t skilled in Unarmed combat, but the boar was dazed. Saber grabbed the creature’s right hind leg and yanked it back as it staggered, pulling it into the face of a boar coming from his right. The charger collided into the shield and Saber dove out of the way.
Popping back up into a sprint, Saber rushed back towards his blade. Two boars charged him to try and keep him from it. Narrowing his eyes, Saber noticed a third to his right was coming from an angle behind him. He adjusted his path so he was running left and then skipped to his right. As he did, he lowered his body and then looked over his should. He grabbed the tusk of the boar that was coming from behind and yanked it over some. He curved the boar and used its own running to cause it to run straight into the other two boars. They did so with a loud smacking of meat and Saber slipped back, scooping up his blade.
With a huff, Saber took in a deep breath and sliced at an old boar he had originally targeted. It was almost dead and the final cut finished it. He did two quick slashes; one to finish the kill and the second to get the ear. That made nine. The kill had triggered a lull in the frenzy and the boars began to take steps back from him. Saber used the moment to catch his breath and he walked over to the other two dead boars. He glanced around, keeping tabs on the circle of animals around him, and sliced off the ears of the dead animals before they slowly disappeared. He twirled his sword and targeted the last kill of his little excursion. It was another old boar, but his scars were numerous and he looked extremely weak. Saber noticed that it kept an extra few steps away and was carefully walking behind the younger boars, as though using them as shields. Too bad. It stood out more that way.
Six long, quiet breaths passed before finally Saber decided he wasn’t going to wait forever. He shot forward and raced towards his target. Four boars closed on him and took advanced angles to catch him. But just before they could tag him, Saber stopped in his tracks. Two of the boars raced by him, missing by inches, and two others skidded into each other at his feet. The Summoner stepped up onto their backs and jumped into the air, using them as platforms. Raising the hilt of his blade to his shoulder, he reeled back and pointed the tip of the weapon straight for the boar. Its eyes opened, realizing who the target was and quickly turned to run. It got one step before Saber buried his weapon into its back. The blade slipped in with ease, was yanked free, and then cut along the back of the boar’s neck. He took three more hacks at the boar and then sliced off its ear. The boar let out one last squeal before slumping over.
The ear popped up into the air and was promptly snatched up. Saber dropped it into his pouch and then pulled out an old, torn up piece of cloth. He ran the cloth down the length of his katana and then sheathed it. The boars behind him readied themselves to charge but Saber only turned to glare at them. Four of them were furious and huffed loudly, their hooves digging into the dirt. Saber smirked and quickly fled from the group as two Lander Guards engaged the group from behind. They would finish the job. Saber, on the other hand, was done with the fight for now. His part was finished, so he made his way out of the farmland and headed back towards Londinium. On his way, he spotted the Guard Captain walking out of the gate with his entourage.
“Sir!” Saber called out, jogging up towards Baxton and four of his underlings. The Captain held up a hand to halt the men and straightened his back. Saber stopped three paces away and straightened up as well, out of respect for the authority figure. Baxton smirked at the subtle move.
“How can I help you, traveler?” Baxton’s voice was sincere but rough. The man was busy and on the move so he probably wanted this to be quick. Saber wouldn’t hold him up. Saber had seen Baxton around the city and the Guard Captain was always busy doing something.
“Ten kills. Here’s your proof, Captain.” Untying the pouch from his hip, Saber pulled it free and then extended it towards the Captain. Baxton scoffed and snatched the bag, opening it and staring at it intently. He wiggled the pouch a few times to get a better view of the contents and then looked to the female guard on his right. He nodded to her and she pulled the sack on her back off. Out of it, she pulled free another brown sack which jingled and tossed it to Saber. The Summoner caught it and then tied it to his waist. He trusted the Guard.
“Well done. There’s your reward. Come aid us again if you can.” Baxton gave the ears to the same female guard after she shouldered the sack she carried. Saber nodded and stepped out of the way, clearing the path for the guards. One of the guards nodded to him; a familiar face. Saber smirked and waited for a few more seconds before returning to Londinium. One more job in the bag.
Word Count: 2,983
Quest: Safeguarding Necessities
