Chapter 61: 61 Playing For Keeps

Brad and his friends started to celebrate and pat each other on the back. That lasted for only a moment, however.

“Brad! LOOK!” One of the guys said and pointed. Everyone turned and look at the spot as the dust and debris faded away and everything was destroyed in the area... except for a glowing Arnold. That wasn't the worst part about him surviving the attack, though. It was the popups afterwards.

' Warning: New Player Protocol Violation. Players cannot be attacked for the twenty four hours after their first log in. Players attempting to do so will be fined and warned.

First Warning Fine: 100 gold. '

' Warning: New Player Protocol Violation. Players cannot be attacked for the twenty four hours after their first log in. Players attempting to do so will be fined and warned.

Second Warning Fine: 500 gold. '

' Warning: New Player Protocol Violation. Players cannot be attacked for the twenty four hours after their first log in. Players attempting to do so will be fined and warned.

Third Warning Fine: 1,000 gold. '

' Warning: New Player Protocol Violation. Players cannot be attacked for the twenty four hours after their first log in. Players attempting to do so will be fined and warned.

Fourth Warning Fine: 5,000 gold. '

' Warning: New Player Protocol Violation. Players cannot be attacked for the twenty four hours after their first log in. Players attempting to do so will be fined and warned.

Fifth Warning Fine: 10,000 gold. '

' Warning: New Player Protocol Violation. Players cannot be attacked for the twenty four hours after their first log in. Players attempting to do so will be fined and warned.

Final Warning: Player account will be suspended for one (1) day. Logout countdown: 30 seconds. '

“SHIT! We totally forgot the newbie rule!” One of his friends said.

“Oh, for fuck's sake!” Brad nearly yelled and looked over at Arnold. “We'll be back!”

Arnold watched them all fade away and walked back over to his horse and Helena. “Thank you.”

“I'm sorry that my protection will end tomorrow.” Helena said.

Arnold nodded. “They destroyed all that loot just to get me and I couldn't pick it all up.”

“Fear not, brave adventurer.” Helena said and waved her hand, then all of the destroyed loot reappeared in the same spot that it had been in before. “It's a safety feature to stop other monsters and players from destroying the loot before it can be gathered.”

Arnold didn't know the game had that kind of a feature, so he went back over to the spot and spent several minutes gathering everything up, right down to the last dagger, and it practically filled his inventory. He walked back over to the horse and climbed on behind Helena.

“Thank you.” Arnold said and opened the menu for personal actions, then chose 'kiss on cheek'.

Helena gasped. “You dare take liberties with a Goddess?” She asked sternly and gave him a glare.

“It's not much, because it means more when you kiss on the lips.” Arnold told her.

Helena stopped glaring at him and gave him an inquisitive look instead, as if to ask why he didn't try to take a full liberty when he easily could have.

“Take us back to the tutorial area.” Arnold said to the nag as he took the reins. The horse was covered in sparkles and it grew the giant butterfly wings from its shoulders again, then they took off and flew for the five minutes to head back to where they started.

*

“That pretty much went the way I had hoped it would go.” Kelly laughed. “Brad and his friends are such idiots!”

“I can honestly say that I have no idea what just happened.” Annie said from the bed.

“They were going to pin-cushion Arnold with both magical and physical attacks every time he appeared in that spot.” Kelly explained. “It's a scummy tactic that only the worst players will do.”

“What's to stop them from doing that again?” Annie asked.

“They think that's Arnold's spawn point and they are going to camp there and wait for him to show up.” Kelly said with a smile. “Only that's not where he'll appear when he logs back in. There's also no way that they are going to invite him to play again after that spectacular failure. Also, I won't let Arnold accept another invitation anyway.”

“I'm glad.” Annie said. “I don't know what I would have done if they had succeeded.”

“I would call everyone together to take revenge on them, of course.” Kelly said and then she laughed. “I can't wait to see what happens to them when I anonymously post that video!”

*

Because of his speed enhancement and bonuses for having his Speed at fifty, when Arnold tried to do the Endurance tutorial so that his character wouldn't have to rest for as long between tasks, it only took him half the time that the Speed tutorial had taken to reach level fifty, because he had already had it up over thirty when he started. Of course, he tried to do more than that and the stat didn't increase.

“I guess I can't max the stat in just the tutorial.” Arnold said.

“Brave adventurer, training can only take you so far.” Helena said from where she still sat on the old nag. “You must strive in the world to make yourself great.”

Arnold nodded and stepped back from the booth, and the athletic man there handed him a satchel that was filled with enhanced food rations. They would restore his Vitality to full and the satchel itself gave a two percent regeneration rate when worn, so he equipped it.

Arnold walked over to the next booth, which would train and increase his Strength. With both the Speed and Endurance boosts, Arnold worked for fifteen minutes and raised it to level fifty, since he had already had a higher than normal Strength because of the previous two tutorials. The same thing happened with Agility, Accuracy, Dexterity, and Dodge, since all of them were used in each trial to some degree.

Of course, Arnold didn't stop there. He went to every single booth and did every tutorial available as he raised all of the basic stats to fifty. Each time he went to a new booth, it was that much easier, because he did them in a specific order to reduce the amount of time needed to complete each of them by compounding the previously learned skills and enhancements.

“I think...” Annie started to say and yawned. “...that's enough for tonight.”

“Just one more.” Arnold said and stepped over to the magic tutorial stall. A very handsome witch stood there and she gave Arnold a squinted eyed look. She hadn't liked that he had only used her booth the last time for barely five minutes and that he had only unlocked the skill and moved on.

“What makes you think I'll train you now after you left so abruptly?” The witch asked, because she had watched him go to each and every both except hers.

“I didn't have the time or the ability required to devote to you.” Arnold said. “I needed to learn all the other things available so that I would be ready to learn what you have to teach me.”

“What made you think that?” The witch asked, curious.

“Magic is the most important subject to learn in this world. Without it, adventurers would be nothing more than commoners.” Arnold said, repeating what Kelly had told him.

“If I do teach you, what are you going to do with that knowledge?” The witch asked. “Will you hunt down evil wizards or will you destroy whole towns and kill everyone because you can?”

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“I can't answer that until I learn what you have to teach me.” Arnold said.

“Oh? You're not going to proclaim your righteousness and promise me to rid the world of the men and women that besmirch the Lore of Magic?”

“Is that what you want me to do?” Arnold asked.

“Every adventurer has promised me that.” The witch said.

“Has it happened yet?”

The witch sighed. “No.”

“Then what should I do when you teach me what you know?” Arnold asked her.

“Magic is neither good nor bad. It's just magic. People can use it for good and they can use it for evil. You can heal with it and you can kill with it.” The witch said. “If you learn what I have to teach you, as quickly and as proficiently as you've learned everything else here, then I want you to make me a promise.”

Arnold nodded.

“Do something significant with it besides killing. Heal a sick villager. Save ten damsels in distress. Protect a hundred people from attack. Grow a thousand crops and feed the starving.” The witch said.

' The Teaching Witch has given you a Quest with set conditions. Do you accept?

Saying no does not invalidate training and you can still proceed with learning magic. '

“I promise to do as you ask.” Arnold said.

The witch gave him a big smile and nodded, then she taught Arnold the most efficient way to gather spells, gather energy, and how to properly cast spells as if he was a master caster.

Kelly sat there and her mouth was open slightly in surprise, because Arnold was learning a better way to cast magic than her. His mana generation is higher than mine already and he doesn't even have a class yet! She thought in surprise.

Arnold kept working until his Magic level hit fifty and he had learned how to properly cast a medium level spell that he wouldn't have access to until his own personal level was level thirty, which was something Kelly hadn't seen before, either. She had only received the pre-set generic spells and nothing even remotely close to what Arnold now had in his repertoire.

He can't cast most of them yet; but, with how he smashed the tutorial, gaining levels for him is going to be a cinch. Kelly thought.

“Thank you, adventurer.” The Training Witch said. “You have learned all that I have to teach you and have earned this.” She said and held out a Tome of Magic.

“Oh, my god.” Kelly whispered. “She gave you a hotkey list!”

Arnold accepted the tome and it glowed for a moment, then it was filled with all the spells he had learned to cast and a mostly greyed out list popped up on the right side of his display.

“You just have to say 'spell number' and the number of the spell, or pick it on the list, to prep it.” Kelly said. “You only have to do the short button combination to cast it, too!”

“Don't forget to keep your promise.” The witch said.

“I won't.” Arnold said and walked over to Helena. “Where can I set my spawn point?”

“Just outside the training area at the inn or at any town inn anywhere in my lands.” Helena said.

“Will you stay there for me or should I call for you when I return?” Arnold asked as he led the old nag out of the tutorial area.

“I should return to my duties.” Helena said.

“Is there another new player starting?” Arnold asked.

Helena's face lost all expression. “You are the first new player in a while.”

“Then you should wait for me to return.” Arnold said and walked over to the inn. “Wait here for me to get a room.”

Helena stayed on the horse and watched Arnold go inside. The innkeeper said it would cost five copper for a night and two copper to keep the old nag in the stable. Arnold paid the fee and received a popup.

' You can set your spawn point for this inn and will appear here whenever you are killed.

Do you want to set your spawn point now? '

Arnold chose yes and went back outside to help Helena climb down from the saddle and a stable hand came out to take the reins of the horse and led her into the small stable at the side of the building.

“Most players just leave their animals standing wherever they log out.” Helena commented.

Arnold took her inside the inn and led her up the stairs. He opened the door to the room and it was surprisingly clean, so he walked her over to the bed and sat her down on it.

“I'll be back in the morning.” Arnold said.

“Arnold, give her another kiss on the cheek.” Kelly whispered.

Arnold chose that option and Helena only glared at him for a moment. “Goodnight, Helena.”

“Goodnight, Morbid.”

Arnold chose the 'save progress' option and then logged out. Kelly took the controllers from him and he took off the VR headset, then Kelly took the recorded video and sent it to her computer.

“I can't believe you convinced the game guide to stay with you.” Kelly said, because she didn't want to discuss all the things that he had done so much better than her.

Nearly all of his special tutorial starting equipment was nearly as rare as her high level casting staff that she had worked for months to get. She actually felt a little envious and she knew that wasn't what she wanted to feel about how well Arnold had done. She had trained him well, so she pushed her envy aside and concentrated on how proud she was of him.

“You told me to gather everything I could to have the best advantages.” Arnold said and took her into his arms. “Thank you.” He said and gave her a quick kiss.

“Let's get changed for bed.” Kelly said and they both changed right there in front of each other, which was something Kelly hadn't done before, and she was surprised that she didn't feel uncomfortable about it. She gave Arnold a kiss and they both climbed into the left bed and under the blanket. They laid there side by side and didn't cuddle or anything. It was a bit too early in their relationship for that much familiarity in bed, especially since they hadn't had sex yet.

“Goodnight, Arnold.” Kelly said.

“Goodnight, Kelly.” Arnold said.

The two of them had completely forgotten that Arnold's mother was right there and had watched them, even though she had spoken not that long ago.

Kids. Annie thought in amusement and watched the two of them drift off to sleep before she fell asleep herself.

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