As Jake walked down the street, he realized he never asked Horrick what the job entailed. He had simply accepted blindly due to his excitement in receiving his first quest.

"Old man Horrick seems a bit shifty, but he might be a good person. I hope I'm not going to get boned on this..."

Jake's mind wandered as he made his way into the corner store. His food supply consisted of packaged lunches, instant food, and coffee. Needless to say, he did not eat very well.

Gathering what he needed, he made his way to the front of the store. Jake then began trying to haggle with the clerk, who then reminded him what year it was, and asked for the proper amount of money.

Jake walked out of the store with a sore expression, as his plan to save a few coppers...ehh...dollars, had failed.

"Mother of god. I am already obsessed." Jake thought, as he went to unlock his door.

As he was unlocking his door, he spotted his neighbor who smiled and waved. His neighbor's name was Amanda. She was gorgeous. She stood at a height of about 5'4'' and had beautiful red hair...Not like those creepy looking gingers. No, Amanda's hair complimented her perfectly. It was straight, and her bangs were swept to the side, revealing her beautiful light green eyes. She was slightly tanned for a redhead, and had a beautiful figure. Her chest wasn't that big, but Jake preferred the smaller ones anyway. As he failed to return a smile, his eyes traced her body, from her head, straight to her a...NEVERMIND! Jake ran inside quickly, heart still racing. If there was an ideal dream girl for him, she would be the perfect example. Alas, the only thing he actually knew about her was her name, and he was too nervous to approach her or ask anything further. Still though, she always nonchalantly smiled and waved.

As he got inside, he began smacking his head off of the wall.

"STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!" He shouted in an embarrassed rage. "Oh well, not like I can change what has occurred."

After eating a healthy meal of wheat thins, day old rice, and poptarts, Jake headed to the bathroom to take care of business before he got back to the game...

Upon logging in, he checked the map the old codger gave him, and noticed his home was in a more secluded section of the city.

"Well, best get to going."

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Amanda was cracking up as she entered her apartment.

"Same old Jake." She blared, in between her fits of laughter.

"I wonder when he will start playing Royal Road...Maybe that will help him come out of his shell more."

As if she was much different, she had only started playing a week prior to Jake. She had no idea he was playing, though.

As Amanda said this, she finished logging in.

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"Oi, Old Man Horrick! Are you here?" Screamed Jake as he stopped at a building that looked like a warehouse.

"Ah, so good of you to come." Replied Horrick, who was already behind Jake.

"What the fu..What, How...WHEN DID YOU GET BEHIND ME?" Jake said. His shock had still not subsided.

"Oh, that's neither here nor there." Replied Horrick

"Now, Let's get you to work young man! Come! Follow me to my basement!" Said Horrick with a glint in his eyes.

"What..You know...Old man, I'm not really into..." Jake started.

"Oh shut up, you wise little shit, follow me." Snarked Horrick.

As Jake followed Horrick, he was led into the warehouse, which had many tools of various sorts. There were axes, saws, knives, hammers, and all manner of other things. Jake was quite sure he was to be sexually assaulted, and then brutally tortured. As he walked through the warehouse, intricate woodwork and engravings caught his eye. It was beautiful. Further yet, a wooden staircase descended about thirty down feet into the ground. When the pair had reached the bottom, Jake's eyes were filled with disbelief. A dense forest of trees covered about a square mile.

"Old Man, how in Freya's green earth did you grow all these trees down here?" Remarked Jake.

"Those are my secrets, boy! Get your own secrets!" Snarked Horrick.

Jake clicked his tongue, "Dodgy Old Man." He thought to himself, and yet he could still only stare in awe at the sight before him.

"Now, boy, listen close! Take my axe! For two days, you shall chop as many trees down as you can. For two days, you shall clear branches and debris, and then cut the logs into 4 feet sections. For one day, you will carry all the logs upstairs to the workshop! On the last two days, I will instruct you further." Said Horrick.

Item received

Woodcutter's Axe

"I will provide food and lodging. Well, get to it! I ain't paying you fer' nothing!" Yelled Horrick!

Jake took off into the trees, and checked the stats of the axe.

"Stats!"

Woodcutter's AxeDurability20/20Damage3-5A heavy axe used to fell trees.Requires: 10 STR

"Not bad!" Thought Jake.

He equipped the axe, and set off to work. After two hours...He finally heard the magical ding of a stat up!

Strength rises by 1 point. (+1 STR)

Gained skill: Woodcutting

"Oh a stat and woodcutting!" Shouted Jake excitedly!

"View Woodcutting!" Said Jake aloud.

Woodcutting - Beginner 1 - 32%

Chop down trees 5% faster.

Consume 5% less stamina chopping down trees.

+1% resistance to earth magic.

+1 STR

Fill with new found motivation, Jake spent the next two days felling as many trees as possible. Resting in between, he and Horrick spoke of Jake's progress. Horrick was pleased with the speed things were progressing. Jake, in turn, was pleased that he had a warm bed and was not eating old rice and wheat thins.

Two more days, and jake had cleared the brush and chopped off any small brunches. After that, he neatly cut all the sections to four feet. This task was arduous, but he was pleased that his character was making progress. The fact that he would be payed for this also helped his motivation...

After all the sections were cleaned up and cut properly, Jake began to haul them upstairs. By the end of the fifth day, he had gained 13 points of STR, 10 points of VIT, and 40 Stamina. Not to mention, his woodcutting level had reached beginner four.

"View Woodcutting!" Said Jake aloud.

Woodcutting- Beginner 4 - 46%

Chop down trees 13% faster.

Consume 13% less stamina chopping down trees.

+4% resistance to earth magic.

+4 STR

"Alright old man, tell me what ungodly task the last two days consist of." Huffed Jake.

"Oh, did I not explain?" Retorted Horrick.

"NO! You said you would explain it after I finished the fifth day." Screamed Jake.

"Ah, maybe I did...Maybe I did..." Said Horrick calmly.

"Well? What am I doing?" Snarked Jake.

"Ah yes, we will be shaping the logs into fence posts." Stated Horrick.

Jake could only stare at him.

"You need four foot long, two foot wide logs...TO MAKE FENCE POSTS?? How many do you need as well? Growing such a crazy forest, for fence posts?" Roared Jake.

"They are fancy fence posts...and I sell quite a lot. People like fences, Azrael."

Stated Horrick in a rather hurt "Matter of Fact" tone.

Jake sighed, and then Horrick began to explain to him the intricacies of carving logs into fence posts. Jake immediately began, and hurt himself a few times.

Cut a finger. -5hp

"DAMN IT ALL."

Stabbed hand. -10hp

Stunned for 3 seconds.

"RAGE."

Damaged ear. -5hp

Can't hear right temporarily.

Don't even ask about that one...

But all was not in vain!

Gained skill: Handicraft

"View Handicraft!" Said Jake.

Handicraft - Beginner 1 - 17%

Increases melee and ranged attack power by 1%.

Increases unarmed attacked power by 2%.

Slightly increases quality of all crafted items.

"Very useful!" Exclaimed Jake.

With his new skill, the next two days went quite smoothly. In the process, he also gained an impressive 6 AGI, 2 VIT, and 13 more Stamina! Not to mention two level ups in handicraft, mind you. He also saw in the handicraft window that he could now learn tailoring and cooking, although that did not interest him much.It was then Horrick approached Jake.

"Good work young man, these are quite well done." Said Horrick, impressed.

"It was nothing, I believe in completing your work to the best of your ability." Stated Jake.

"Kiss ass..." Mumbled Horrick.

"What was that? Yelled Jake.

"Oh nothing, I said congrats. Here is your pay, and you may keep the axe." Said Horrick.

T-Ting

Quest completed - Chop, Haul, CutRewards

You have gained 2 silver, 30 copper.

You have gained Woodcutter's Axe.

You are now friends with Horrick.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

"Truth be told, I didn't think anyone would put up with me. Hahaha!" Laughed Horrick.

Jake sighed.

"Boy, you did your job well. If you would allow it, I would like to impart my knowledge unto you."

T-ting

You may convert to secret class - Shady ForesterIf you accept, Horrick will take you on as his apprentice and teach you all sorts of shady things...

"Eh, no thanks...You know...Want to explore my options and what not. I'll come back if I ever change my mind though!" Said Jake.

"Suit yourself..." Said Horrick with a sad tone.

"Right, well, I am going to go now...Thank you for the learning experience...and not killing me in your dungeon. I guess I'll go find other things to do for a while..." Said Jake, as he backed out slowly.

"Wow...I have been in the game for nearly two days now! I better get some fresh air and take care of myself." Said Jake as he moved to log out.

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