Bright light shone through Steel's eyelids as he slowly regained consciousness. He blinked at it, groaning as he moved a hand to block it from hitting his face. Once there, he felt a wet rag on his forehead, which he removed carefully and took in his surroundings.

He was lying on a bed, well, a cot in what looked like a training room. Staring at some straw dummies, his memories came back in a flash. He groaned at the force, lying back down onto his back. A door opened behind him, and he peeked an eye to see Eric walking in, holding a cane and a happy face. He walked behind Steel, and pulled a chair to sit in.

"So, how you feeling boy?" He asked, poking him with the cane.

Steel gave him a droll stare, "You have to ask? I feel like crap, and I wake up to find the guy who beat me up walks with a cane." He complained, then his stare hardened, "Don't you dare threaten to touch my friends again."

Eric held up his arms, "Peace boy, I had my reasons to lie about that."

Steel cocked his head, anger mixed with curiosity.

Eric sighed, adjusting his posture to lean forward, "That was for your complete and utter benefit boy. Tell me, how does your heart feel right now?"

Confused, Steel said, "Like I ran a marathon." Eric whacked him on the arm.

"The other heart fool, how are your feelings?"

Steel blinked, then realized with amazement, "It feels, lighter somehow."

Eric nodded, "As I said, your benefit. You see boy, as I was explaining to ya before out little spout" He blocked the flimsy attempt from Steel to hit him, "You unintentionally tried to cover your original goal of revenge with the goal of protecting everybody. Goals are a lot like food you know, they mix together to form new creations. They can also be made poorly." He tapped Steel's chest with the cane.

"All your hate and negativity was being wrapped up in your core, allowing for your happy- go lucky character. Not the best situation, but it wouldn't kill you if kept down. Some event though opened the floodgates, and you decided to punish someone right?" Steel nodded, "Well, now your mind is flooded with all this hate, but you naturally try to hold it back down so you can interact with others. You make new friends, find happiness again, and then you lose them through some tragedy. It makes you want to protect them, and you forget your revenge. But all that hate doesn't just vanish you know, it simmers underneath, a corruption that rises ever so slowly, polluting your mind and actions til you are a mere shell of what you were. That's the tragedy of tyrants with the best intentions you know, and they become the worst leaders in history."

"You boy, were still in the infancy of that. I made you mad and played on your fears, giving all that hate a target. I have to say, you did some impressive things in out fight too." He nodded to himself, "I actually had to get serious, and you may have almost died." Eric rubbed his head and stuck his tongue out with a "Tee Hee".

"Bastard, don't give me a "Tee Hee"." Steel said angrily, "I'm..."

Eric pushed Steel back down, "Yes yes, still mad at me, I know. It'll take time to accept that I helped you. Enough of that though, its time for you to get a little stronger."

"Uh, you mean training?" Steel said hesitantly.

Eric shook his head, "No boy. Check the notifications from the gods, I'm sure you'll be happy with the results."

"Oh right, I forgot." Steel moved his finger to the blinking notification button, and a list of pop-ups appeared in front of him:

Skill Acquired: Nature's FuryYou unlocked one of the class skills for Shield Tamer, Nature's Fury.

Skill Name:Skill Rarity:Skill Rank:Skill Experience:Nature's FuryAF28%You call upon the fury of nature to assist you in battle.Effects:All earth based spells double in damage and have no cost. Strength, endurance and vitality increase by 150%.Costs:Ability lasts for 10 seconds and completely drains mana and stamina.Cool down1 Day

Status UpdateYou have completed drained your mana and stamina and survived the experience

+5 strength

+5 intelligence

Status UpdateThrough experimentation, you have learned that you can channel different elements into your shield for different effects.

Darkness mana will create a tentacle of darkness that will seek out the closest enemy and wrap them in a cocoon of darkness..

Godly updateYou are the first player to use a special skill granted by the gods. Milna is pleased by your fury, so much like her own.

Increased intimacy with Milna's Followers

Steel's anger couldn't repress the excitement at the news. A special skill, and a huge boost to his mana and stamina pools! Not only that, but his shield had once again proven how amazing it was.

In his excitement, he didn't notice Eric pick up the shield and put it on his back. He did notice, however, when the short man poked him in the cheek with his staff.

"I see your plenty pleased ey? In any case, I'll be keeping this shield for the time being."

Steel's head whipped around, "What! Why?"

"As I said before, you're too dependent on the shield, and not ye own abilities. When your done learning from me, I'll give it back don't you worry." His smile did not reassure Steel, especially when he noticed the two rather large bottles of alcohol hanging from Eric's side.

"I thought you said you weren't a drunk?" He accused.

Eric shook his head, "Nope, never denied that, just that Hamilton was spreading it around." He took a swig, "I took the liberty of paying myself for your training as well. Come back tomorrow after you settle yourself and we'll begin." He left the room with a chuckle.

Steel cocked his head, then with horror checked his inventory. His silver was gone, again!

"Eric, you bastard!!!"

--------------------

Unable to find Eric again, Steel left the training hall in mixed spirits. Besides the obvious harassment, he hadn't felt this well in a long time. The pain, anger, and sadness of his memories remained, but now more of an echo than the roar they had been. Sighing, he figured that he owed the little bastard one day's worth of training, and resigned to get his lost money's worth.

On a brighter note, he still had the bounty slip, so he wasn't going to poor yet! He sat down on a bench and pulled up his status screen, eager to use his 10 points from leveling up. The loss of his shield had put a dent in his vitality and endurance, but overall he was pretty happy with low hes was, stat wise anyway. Leadership had also been lost, but he didn't mind that at the moment.

"Now lets see here." He muttered as he scrolled through the menu. Same options as the last time he level's up, he could upgrade a skill or put points into his stats. He scratched his head as he read through some of the possible upgrades.

"I know I don't have the basic skills right now." He mused to himself, "But I don't think they would improve too much anyway."

He decided to upgrade Shield Bash, as it was his go to skill for attacking. Even with a different shield, it would be useful in crowd control. Which reminded him, he needed to find a temporary shield later.

He clicked on the skill, and donated 4 points into it. A notice popped up.

Skill Name:Skill Rarity:Skill Rank:Skill Experience:Shield BashFE18%You use your shield as a weapon to pummel your opponents.Effects:Blunt damage to opponents and has a 16% chance of inflicting daze on an opponent.Costs:10 staminaCool down3 seconds

Do you want to receive the higher form of your skill: Shield Bash?YesNo

He hit yes, and the a small trumpet horn sounded. Steel blinked, for according to the notice in front of him, his points had not upgraded the skill, but had bestowed him with a higher form of the skill. He had impatiently clicked the yes button without reading it. He hoped it hadn't been a mistake.

Skill Name:Skill Rarity:Skill Rank:Skill Experience:Shield SlamDF0%You use your shield as a weapon to pummel your opponents with great force.Effects:Causes blunt damage to opponents while also inflicting 10% penalty to impact resistance (Does not stack on itself). It has a 32% chance of inflicting daze on an opponent.Costs:25 staminaCool down10 seconds

"Yes! This is great." He cried out, putting his hands into the air like an idiot. People walking the streets gave him an odd look. Even though Steel had messed up, this new skill would really help him. Not only did it have double the dazing chances than shield bash, it also increased impact damage!He might be able to kill a trap plant now from hitting it with a plain shield.

"Wait, no. I have to remember, I'm not actually strong." He said to himself, bringing himself down to a somber mood. Eric had showed him the error of his ways, he couldn't afford thinking that he was strong enough. Improvement was great, but it was perfection he had to strive for.

Sighing, he brought the egg out of his inventory, gazing at it. The egg seemed to be a little bigger than before he had entered the training hall. He rubbed it, taking comfort in it's soft feel. 'Maybe it grows when I fight.' He thought to himself, 'Looks like this little guy wants to be strong too.' He picked it off his lap and rubbed it against his face. It was so soft, he almost fell asleep. Coughing, he quickly put the egg away before he became addicted to it. He knew eggs weren't soft, but figured game logic was involved due to being a wolf's egg?

At any rate, he had 6 points left to distribute, and decided to put all of them into stats. He decided on 4 points in vitality and 2 points in intelligence, to bring his mana and health up. He nodded at the status menu when he was done.

Status WindowName:SteelAlignment:NeutralLevel:4Class:Shield TamerRace:HumanGender:Male

TitlesThe Listener, Milna's Disciple, Strong Neet, One with the CarrotFame:250Infamy:0Experience:2000/10000

Health:210 / 210Health Regen:4/ SecMana:100 / 100Mana Regen:1.3/ SecStamina:105 / 150Stamina Regen:1.5/ Sec

Vitality:21 (16)Agility:20 (10)Intelligence:20Wisdom:13Strength:21 (16)Endurance:15 (12)Leadership:20Luck:7 (12)Charm:17 (7)Faith:20

Elemental ResistancesFire:0Water:0Wind:0Earth:10Light:0Darkness:5

Now is mana was as high as his stamina, and he had the same health as when he had his shield. Nodding to himself, he got up and headed toward the marketplace, eager to turn in his bounties for gold. Gold!

He quickly checked, sighing in relief as he felt the gold coin. He had wisely hid the coin in a separate part of his inventory than the silver he had, a result of the last time his money was stolen. In a much better mood now, he walked with a skip in his step down the street, a whistle on his lips.

-----------------------

As he was walking down the street, Steel received another ping from Dia. Well, Dia's avatar anyway- Steel had forgotten his Game name and it hadn't been set in game. It was link to a video, saying:

Hey Plat, Steel. I'll be able to play soon, but before that you're in Rostwood right, the human city? This video got taken of a scary player who took on a trainer! Can you believe it? Scary as heck too, its too bad his ID couldn't be read while he was in the room. Watch yourself man, and see if you can get his help with your revenge.

With a feeling of trepidation, Steel opened the link. As he feared, it was his battle with Eric. Someone had used the hole in the wall to record the majority of the fight, including his Nature's Fury form. Luckily, it seemed the special room had hidden his ID, or it had been too dark to see. The video was entitled: The Green Giant is real! and had over a million views so far.

He groaned, putting his head in his hand. He'd have to watch himself and keep the skill to himself. He didn't want Hank to know how strong he was getting yet.

Still, it wasn't too big of a deal at the moment. They didn't know him, and he'd keep it that way, for as long as possible.

He resumed his walk toward the market. As approached the district, kiosks and yelling merchants began to appear on the street, announcing their wares for all to hear. Steel ignored them, for he was a man on a mission.

He came out into the main square of the merchant district, a fountain in the middle with players and stores everywhere. The merchant guild was on the north side of the plaza square, big and shiny in the day's light. He strolled right through the open doors, intent on his money.

As it turned out, the inside of the guild was as magnificent as the outside, and a lot more crowded as well. It was here that the player item auction was help, so many players were crowded around both the traditional auction stages and what looked like. . .enchanted rocks?

Steel walked over to them, curious. There were only a few rocks, so players were crowded around them and calling out what sounded like bids. As he approached, Steel saw that the rocks were actually enchanted orbs that showed what looked like a gladiatorial match.

He tapped a random player's shoulder, "Excuse me, what's going on here."

The player didn't turn, his eyes fixated on the match, "That's the coliseum match at the capital. We can't travel there yet, but there's money to be made betting on the matches there. Good on minotaur!" He yelled out, watching a minotaur slave fight a group of people.

Steel shook his head and walked off. He had no desire to pick up a gambling addiction. It took him awhile, but he finally managed to brave through the crowds of people and arrive at the receptionist desk.

The perky looking receptionist smiled at him, "Hello, and welcome to the merchant's guild of Rostwood. Is this your first time here?" She inquired.

"Yes ma'am, I..." Steel began.

"Perfect! In commemoration of this, please note that an auction terminal has been place in your virtual home. Feel free to buy or sell items from it. Remember, you have to drop off items here to be sold and bought items must be picked up from this or associated guilds." She smiled, then her face softened and she winked at him, "Now that that's out of the way, what can I help you with?"

"I would like to turn in my bounty from the expedition." Steel pushed the bounty slip across the counter, "Also, Master Yorick was expecting me for something."

The receptionist read the bounty and nodded, "Yes, Steel correct? Give me a moment, I'll be right back with your rewards." She disappeared into the door behind her.

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Thx for reading!