Chapter 2

The air was warm and humid with a smell that reminding me of camping, fires, rain and rotten shit mixed with old gym shoes. The trees and plants were thick and helped block the view of the trail which was a damn good thing or the trolls would have seen me. I was staring out at the clearing where Travan was sitting, he was the brother of a merchant who had given me the quest to find out what had happened to him, he was an npc who had gone fishing and was now captured by trolls. My quest had been to find out what happened to him, however once I saw he was captured I decided to change the parameters of what I was supposed to do and make this a rescue mission.

If I could describe just how bad these things smelt, anyone would have understood the urgency of rescuing the poor man. So here I am watching 3 trolls pick their noses, scratch their butts, fart and otherwise do what trolls do when they relaxed. I was waiting for them to all fall asleep and then I would attack, hopefully, the element of surprise would be enough before I ran out of energy. Combat burnt energy super-fast. And at level 1 I did not have a huge reserve.

Finally, it was time, they were asleep and I had a chance to creep up on them. I made it as far as the fire and took a moment to wipe my sweaty hands on the staff. Travan observed my approach with a surprised look but nodded when I gestured that he should keep quiet. Once I was sure he would not wake up the trolls I concentrated on what I was about to do. Taking in a couple of deep breaths I tried to slow my heartbeat and then I attacked. My staff connected with the scrotum of troll 1 with as much force as I could summon. Critical hit for 87. His eyes opened wide and then he whimpered and tried to curl up in a ball.

Having your stones crushed like that has to hurt, I thought as troll number 2 tried to sit up. I was ready and swinging my staff like a bat I connected with his throat. Critical hit for 79. I could hear a gurgled gasp of pain as he went over backward, holding his throat and trying to breathe. The third troll was rolling onto his side, using his long arms to help him get to his feet. I swung the staff and connected with his left wrist as he was pushing upwards. Hit for 65. It was not a crit but I observed that his wrist was now broken as he fell onto his back.

Half shouting, “Casey is up to bat.” I thrust the staff at troll 3 and connected with his face. I continued to attack until he was dead, then turning to the middle troll who was still gurgling and coughing up blood I began to beat him on the head. After several hits, he died and was no longer a threat. Glancing at the first troll who was still curled in a ball and whimpering I quickly walked over to him and ended his agony with a few accurate hits. It took a moment for it to sink in, I had actually defeated the trolls and could now rescue Travan.

My screen suddenly flashed green and a trumpet sounded in the distance while my vision lit up with the words,

Congratulations, you have achieved level two.

Your base stats have been increased.

Opening my stats tab I saw,

Charisma

45/100

Defense

35 /100

Will-power

45/100

Strength

40/100

Agility

45/100

Wisdom

30/100

Knowledge

35/100

My energy, health and mana bars had also doubled and I now had 200 points in each and with the leveling, up they were all topped off. Nice, I thought, it is great that I leveled before I rescued Travan, that quest’s xp will help me in getting to level three. The game mechanics must have increased my stats based on my performance in the game as well as my level. I had heard that the game leveling would become fluid once it began at level 2.

I quickly looted the trolls for 7 silver and then went to Travan, as I untied him I asked, “Are you ok, can you walk? We should get the hell out of here before more of these things come. What the hell are these things, trolls?”

Travan rubbed his hands back and forth to restore circulation and said, “Yep they are trolls, ugly, fucking, stinking bastards, they managed to grab me at my camp. There was no wind and I could not smell them. I was too far from the shore to dive in the river when they caught me, they will not get wet for anything and won’t follow anyone into water. Probably why they stink so much. Anyway, just glad to meet you and be rescued.”

I replied, “No problem man, your brother had sent me out to see why you had not returned, and once I saw the trolls I thought I should investigate a little more. Glad that I did or you would be up the creek.”

About this time, we both heard a crashing coming from further down the trail and Travan went white, he then whispered, “We have to get the hell out of here now, that is the matriarch and she is coming to get me. Let’s go, if that bitch gets me she will,” at this point he could not say anymore but began to run across the clearing and go up the trail as fast as he could. I followed him and just managed to get out from view when a loud wail sounded in the clearing behind me. Turning I stopped to have a look and see what the hell we were running from.

The sight was hideous and disgusting, it was a female troll, and if anything, she was even more ugly than the males. The only difference that I could tell was that she had breasts and they were huge. Now most guys will see a set of boobs and focus on them and not the face of the girl especially if the boobs were large and the girl ugly. This female troll made that impossible, she was ugly right down to her boobs. I quietly stepped back and then began to make my way up the trail as fast as I could without making noise. I knew that she would probably continue up the trail after us but for now, she was grunting and groaning while looking at the fire in the clearing.

I finally caught up to Travan and asked, “Why the hell is she after you?” as I spoke we both heard a loud wail from behind us and we both began to jog even faster heading towards his camp.

Travan looked sick and muttered something that I couldn’t hear, so I said, “Look man speak louder I can’t hear you, why is that thing after you?”

Looking at me with fear in his eyes he said, “That ugly bitch wants to have sex with me, alright. It is troll mating season and they look for any male they can find. Once the dirty is done they kill the males if the sex already hasn’t.” I stared at him somewhat shocked but I could not help find the situation somewhat funny. “So, let me get this straight, your girl back there wants to do the horizontal bebop with you because she wants a baby and you are having trouble with that.”

Seeing Travan glare at me I chuckled and continued to run. Once we made it to Travan’s camp he reached into the tent, grabbed his pack then ran over to a tree and picked up a fishing rod leaning against it. Looking at me he said, “We have to keep going, that crazy troll will follow us for a while because she is in heat. If she captures us we are done for, so it is every man for himself if she gets to us. No offense to you and I appreciated you saving my ass which is why I am giving you this warning.”

Shrugging I gestured for Travan to lead the way, I thought he was being a bit of a prick with his attitude. Still, I recalled seeing that female troll and I shuddered. It would be best if she could be avoided. We continued to jog up the trail following the river, eventually reaching a place where the river could be crossed.

“we will cross here,” Travan panted as he walked into the water. I followed him and soon we were in the middle of the river. The water felt cool and was about a foot and a half deep. The bottom had a few rocks and stones but was basically sandy. It was clear all the way down to the bottom and fish could be seen darting around. As I looked I noted a strange looking rock covered in algae and sand.

Passing by this rock I happened to glance back and saw what appeared to be a handle on the backside of the rock. Stopping for a minute I turned around and reached down and grasping the handle pulled the bag, for that is what it was up. Once in my hands, I continued to cross the river, reaching the other side just as a scream was heard. Turning around Travan and I saw the female troll standing on the far riverbank screaming as she saw not one but two prime examples of males out of her reach.

We watched as she worked herself into an emotional frenzy yelling and screaming, at one point she even dipped her toe into the river. Quickly pulling it back she burst into tears and literally threw herself on the ground kicking and punching the air. I looked over at Travan and said, “Dude, you had better change your aftershave if this is the impact you are having on the ladies.”

Travan replied, “Let's go her cries might bring others, god forbid they might be on this side of the river. Travan shuddered as he spoke, he truly had an intense fear of sex with a female troll. I did not blame him, even if you were to cover the trolls face its smell would be enough to make you sick. We once again began to walk up the riverbank looking for a game trail to take us farther into the forest on this side of the river.

Glancing over at the other side of the river I noted that the troll was pacing as, never letting us out of her sight. “Travan, we had better get into the forest to get out of sight, your girl is still following us, and we will have to cross back through the river at some point. I don’t want to run into her loving arms if you know what I mean.” After I had spoken Travan looked over at the troll and then swore, suddenly turning he ran into the bush, I followed him and we quickly faded from the view of the troll.

The trees were closer together on this side of the river and many shrubs were growing in any spot that received enough sunlight. The earth had a smell that reminded me of fall, it was actually relaxing but that might have just been the tension release from once again getting away from the troll. Seeing a small clearing ahead I called for a break, I wanted to see what I had found in the river.

We stopped and I used handfuls of fallen leaves to clean the gunk off the bag I had scooped up from the river. It was made of leather and it must have been waterproofed because once the bag was clean it showed no signs of damage or deterioration. It was held shut with a simple clasp, I opened the clasp and then opened the bag. Looking in I could see that it held a few coins and several other items.

I pulled out the coins and counted them, 8 gold 5 silver and 3 copper. Adding them with what I had gave me 9g 37s and 3c. I would not be considered rich but it was better than being broke. I then reached into the bag and pulled out a couple of daggers, still sheathed. I stared at them with surprise, they were bind on equip items. Most games had boe items they were pretty common but what made these rare was the fact that they had no level caps. They could be used from level 1 to 100. Most named items within the game had a level cap that covered about 5 levels, for example, if the Dagger of Stone a named item, had a level 15 to 20 level cap once the player hit 20 the dagger would do so little damage it was not worth keeping. Again, it was a feature designed into the game to encourage players to constantly upgrade their weapons and gear which would help to improve the stats.

Both of the daggers I had found were named items, both were boe and both had no leveling cap. The amazing thing was that without a leveling cap the stats on the two daggers would increase to match your level. Basically, you would not have to constantly upgrade your weapons, this would save a player a lot of gold. I pulled the first dagger out of the sheath noting that it was dry and the edge had a wicked sharpness to it with the blade tapering down to a needle point. It was called Dagger of Night and it had some great stats.

Night vision

100/100

Base stats increased by 10

100/100

All poison damage doubled

100/100

I could hardly believe my luck, it was an amazing find and would be worth a lot of gold if sold at the Auction House. I carefully sheathed the dagger and put it down. Grabbing the second dagger, I pulled it free from its sheath and observed that it was physical the twin of the first. It was called Spell Blade which seemed a strange name for what would be a warrior or a rogue weapon. I glanced at the stats and was impressed but puzzled.

Generates mana ,10 ticks every 3 seconds

100/100

Dagger can hold 3 enchantments

100/100

Instant cast

100/100

Travan who had been looking over at me asked, “What the hell did you find, those two daggers are pristine, my brother will pay good gold to get his hands on them.”

Ya, that is not going to be happening, I thought. I glanced over at Travan just in time to see him reach for the first dagger. I gently poked his hand with the one I held and said, “I have a rule, no one touches my stuff, not my armor, not my weapons. So please don’t try, or I will take you back to that troll bitch and dump you.” It sounded rude and mean, but I had not equipped the dagger to myself and the fact was I did not know this npc. What I did know was the look of avarice and greed I had seen on his face.

Scowling at me Travan swore and said, “They are probably stolen items, I will be reporting this when we get back.”

The little prick was trying to get back at me, what an asshole, I was beginning to regret rescuing him. Thinking fast I decided to equip the daggers, that should stop his greedy little mind from dwelling on them. Once I had fastened the sheaths to my arms, as they were a type that was concealed by shirt sleeves, I picked up the bag I had recovered from the river and fastened it around my waist with the long leather straps. I had a quick glance at my stats now the daggers were equipped and was pleased to see the increase,

Charisma

55/100

Defense

45 /100

Will-power

55/100

Strength

50/100

Agility

55/100

Wisdom

40/100

Knowledge

45/100

I could feel a small but solid difference in my character with the stat increase. It felt like I was physically a little bit larger, my muscles just a little more defined. It felt good.