Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Boar Tactics

It had taken two uses of Sprint to reach the cave, and she flopped down as soon as she got to the deepest part. She had not looked behind her to check whether she was being followed at any point, but at least no arrows or fireballs had come flying after her.

The popups had faded away as soon as she started running, but now that she was stationary again they faded back in. She dismissed them all except for pushing the button to see her Status.

[ Character Status ]

[ Name: Sara ]

[ Species: Grey Wolf | Gender: Female ]

[ Genus: Wolf ]

[ Class: Starter ]

[ Level: 5 -> 6 ]

[ HP: 26/26 -> 30/30 | SP: 32/32 -> 35/35 | MP: 10/10 ]

[ VIT: 8 -> 10 | END: 11 -> 12 ]

[ STR: 8 | DEF: 4 ]

[ AGI: 13 -> 16 | DEX: 6 ]

[ INT: 3 | WIS: 3 ]

[ LUK: 18 -> 20 ]

[ Bonus Attribute Points: 8 -> 10 ]

That was about as expected. She had started getting a feel for what would increase when. It was a little impressive that she had more than doubled her agility since she started. Next she opened her skill tab.

[ Skill List ]

[ Active: ]

[ Bite Lvl 1 -> 4 | Rake Lvl 1 -> 4 | Jump (New) Lvl 1 | Sprint (New) Lvl 1 | Stealth Lvl 2 -> 5 ]

[ Passive: ]

[ Night Vision Lvl 4 -> 6 | Keen Eyes Lvl 2 -> 5 | Agility Up (Small) (New) Lvl 1 -> 2 | Vitality Up (Small) (New) Lvl 1 | Skill Gain Lvl Max (Hidden) ]

[ General: ]

[ Identify Lvl 1 -> 2 (Hidden) ]

[ Skill points: 7 -> 12 ]

Seeing how almost everything was glowing, she realised she hadn't checked this tab in a while. Probably not since level 1. She had just read the new skill descriptions directly from the popup windows. Speaking of glowing, so was the skill store icon with 'New' written in small, red letters next to it.

[ Available Skills ]

[ Howl: 2 sp ]
[ Keen Ears (New): 1 sp ]
[ Endurance Up (Small): 1 sp ]

[ Skill points: 12 ]

There was one new skill. Which wasn't much, but at least it was something.

[ Keen Ears (Passive): Improves the sense of hearing, letting the holder hear both clearer, and further away. Can hear things outside normal human audio range. Effect increases with skill level, and with training one can even be able to focus on, and isolate sounds. Price: 1 skill point. ]

Another thing that made sense for a wolf to have, and seemed like it would be handy, so she bought it immediately. Howl still didn't seem necessary. Maybe if she got to join a pack in the forest or something.

She was considering whether she should just pay for the Endurance Up already, but she couldn't shake the thought that she might get it from killing something eventually. Maybe the boars had it. She had already gotten lucky, and got a skill on her first kill, so the other two (assuming the theory held) could be anything. Though she might prefer a Defence Up. Those things were tough, so it wasn't out of the question.

She had absolutely no idea what the sheep might have, or whether she'd be able to get close enough to kill one before she got killed herself.

Right now she felt tired, and it was probably a good idea to sleep. Oh right, there was something she wanted to ask.

Aina? Are the days here as long as back in the real world?

"Yes. The developers considered time compression, making one day on Earth last four days on Moorhold, but the idea was scrapped because of how it conflicted with the goal of making Residents as equal with players as possible. Residents can become adventurers and crafters too, can join player parties, and player guilds. They can even create their own guilds for players to join. It would be unfair for them to have to wait for however long players would be absent, and they could lose interest in working with players altogether. Perhaps they would use the extra time they had to outlevel, and outpace the player base, making it less fun for them as well. The big dream of the lead developers is to blur the line between human and AI, and make players and Residents treat each other as equals. To make Moorhold a proper world of its own. I want to share that optimism."

But?

"But I fear it is too game like for players to take such dreams seriously. Something that functioned closer to the real world they are used to might do a better job of selling the idea. I do understand their point of not wanting to alienate players who just want a convenient experience, and there are definitely several ways to make the game more challenging for those who want that. Yet it remains too much of a game for people to accept it as a real world, I think. Take the issue of how mobs work. I imagine it is hard for players to consider them real animals. Reactions on the community forums suggest as much. Maybe that will change with future updates, additions, and expansions. Maybe things will look very different, and closer to that dream, in a couple of years. We have barely gotten started, after all."

The voice retained its emotionless tone, yet it still felt like there was some real passion behind it.

It seems like you've thought a lot about this.

"It is why I was created."

You care a lot about this world.

For once there was a slight pause before the answer: "Yes."

* * *

Hares seemed to give next to no experience any longer. She had been afraid of that, but it was still a shame how quickly it dropped off. Wolves continued to be off the table. They only went up to level 3 anyway. She'd found boars up to level 5, but that didn't seem enough to get the Starter players up to level 10 for their class selection. So where did they go next? The forest? She sometimes scouted outside during the day, but hadn't seen many head in there. They probably had access to other areas, and entrances. If she were to try to go along the roads, she would be killed by the first player able to do so, and then respawn all the way back in the cave.

Aina? Is it possible for me to change my respawn point?

"If we find a suitable place in a different area, I will take care of it."

A suitable place, huh?

Sara wasn't sure what that meant, but all she could do for now was to keep hunting, and keep levelling. Her hope was that it would also help her grow used to her new circumstances. Her new... life. Because if she tried to just sit down, and think about it too much it quickly became overwhelming. Better to occupy herself with action.

It was possible she was strong enough to enter the forest, but it was tempting to get at least one or two more levels first. Even more tempting was acquiring more skills from the boars. She was also really curious about what the sheep had, but had accepted the fact that unless she came back at a higher level (or got really lucky with a lack of players), she'd have no chance of killing enough of them to find out.

She reminded herself to keep in mind that it could be worth it to kill low-level enemies she hadn't seen before when she went to new areas, in case they had some skills that would help. Even if it felt a little cruel.

It was time to trot outside, and get started. The grass was damp, because it had rained for the first time earlier that day. Thankfully it had let up by the time she went out, but it was still too cloudy for either of the moons, or any stars to be visible. It didn't feel so bad walking on wet grass, maybe due to her tampering with the temperature, and weather realism settings. Still wasn't tempting to lay down on it, but hopefully she wouldn't need to.

The plan was simple. Lure boars close to wolves to hopefully spark more jolly cooperation. Grabbing Howl might help with that, but it would also 100% draw the attention of any nearby players. Maybe she was being paranoid, but part of her was worried people had already taken special notice of her.

Luckily the plan was as effective as it was simple. Even in the dark it wasn't hard to get the attention of a boar, and it would just charge mindlessly after her if she didn't get too far ahead. Leading it in the direction of a wolf, dodging to the side, and then knocking it over with a tackle was usually enough to get the other wolf to join in. Opportunists indeed.

The length of the fights varied depending on the level of the boar, the level of the helping wolf, and some luck, but typically lasted somewhere between a minute or two. They probably had decent Defence on top of their bulky HP.

Two boars in she got a new skill: Charge. For a 25% chance she'd been pretty lucky so far. Maybe the high Luck score actually helped out.

[ Charge (Active): Charge headfirst at a target with increased speed. Minimal ability to change direction during charge. Reduced balance during charge. Damage value: 1.5+(0.05*skill level)*attack power. Increased chance to knock target down. Scales with Strength, and user's mass and size. Effect increases with skill level. Chance to receive recoil damage if target is too hard, or user is too frail. Not for the weak of neck. Cost: 5 SP. Refresh: 5 seconds. ]

That... is probably not very useful for my current self. Certainly not against the boars themselves. Maybe if I grow bigger, and sturdier.

With the third boar successfully lured to its doom, she received a sparkly popup.

[ Level Up: Level 7 Reached! ]

[ Character Status ]

[ Name: Sara ]

[ Species: Grey Wolf | Gender: Female ]

[ Genus: Wolf ]

You are reading story Thrown Into A Wolf at novel35.com

[ Class: Starter ]

[ Level: 6 -> 7 ]

[ HP: 30/30 -> 33/33 | SP: 29/35 -> 38/38 | MP: 10/10 -> 11/11 ]

[ VIT: 10 -> 11 | END: 12 -> 13 ]

[ STR: 8 -> 9 | DEF: 4 -> 5 ]

[ AGI: 16 -> 17 | DEX: 6 -> 7 ]

[ INT: 3 | WIS: 3 ]

[ LUK: 20 -> 22 ]

[ Bonus Attribute Points: 10 -> 12 ]

She felt a sense of smug satisfaction that her mental math had been correct. Every stat had increased. Well, except Int and Wis. Those seemed to have zero growth rate in a Starter wolf. Now seemed like a good time to move over to the forest. Except she felt absolutely certain that the boars had to be hiding one more skill, and she was very reluctant to leave it behind.

So she went for another boar, and got a very surprising popup afterwards.

[ Skill Unlocked: Body Slam. Unlock requirement: Damage 5 enemies by hitting them with just your body in ways that don't involve head, hands, feet, or knees. 1 skill point granted. ]

Eh?

She had no idea it was possible to unlock skills in that way, but she pushed the 'Go To Skill Store' button to have a look.

[ Body Slam: Smash into a target with your shoulder, torso, or behind. Damage depends on user's Strength, size, and mass compared to the target's Defence, size, and mass. Impact severity affected by strike location. Capable of knocking target off balance. Chance to stun target for 5 seconds. Effect and duration increase with skill level. Stun chance: 50+(1*skill level)%. Cost: 3 SP. Refresh: 5 seconds. Price: 3 skill points. ]

Huh... I guess the boars taking some chip damage when I knocked them over counted towards the unlock.

While it likely wouldn't have much impact in her current form, the stun might be nice, so she decided to buy it, and then look for another boar. After which:

[ Boar (Starter Lvl 4) Defeated. ]

[ Skill Gained: Strength Up (Small). ]

Finally! Theory confirmed! It did have three! But Strength up, huh? Not Defence? Well, it still helps. It's not out of the question that the boars have four, so maybe I should-

*BOOM*

An explosion happened right next to her, causing her to leap backwards in reflex. She turned, and saw a group of five people running her way. Instead of wondering who they were, she just activated Sprint, did a 180, and bolted off. Except something caught her foot, causing her to stumble, and fall.

Crap.

[ Respawn Timer: 01:59 ]

...

...

It's not paranoia if you're right! Screw this field, I'm going into the forest.

* * *

[ Community Forums ]

^[ General Topics ]

^^[ Merwyn Field Rare Wolf? ]

[ Thread Creator: Cramble ]

Hey, I think I saw a wolf disappear as if it was using stealth after it had killed a field hare. Anyone else seen anything weird? - 05/11/2041

[ Eloan ]

I saw a wolf suddenly appear on top of a hare, and kill it. I thought it had just spawned in, so I quickly fired an arrow at it, then my buddy finished it off with a sword strike. We were doing the wolf extermination quest. What made it stick in mind was that it had some brown stripes on the back, and didn't attack back. Still just identified as a grey wolf tho, and drops were normal. Figured it was just a palette variation, but I haven't seen any others like it since. - 05/11/2041

[ La Bumba ]

Rare mobs are supposed to have unique names, right? So it probably wasn't one. - 05/11/2041

[ Ditinidat ]

I might be wrong, but I think I saw a wolf running at much higher speed than they usually do. Straight away from the nearest players. It was around sunrise. Never seen one run away from players before, let alone that fast. -05/11/2041

[ Scott McScot ]

Not a lot is known about rare mobs in this game, yet. They might not be the same as named mobs. Not sure. If anyone learned anything in the beta, they kept it to themselves. Field boss mobs, like pack leaders and such are known, but they respawn after a longer timer. If you think there's an actual rare spawn, I think that warrants further investigation. - 05/11/2041

[ Thread Creator: Cramble ]

I was paying extra attention this morning, and noticed a wolf acting strange. It was dark, but I could still make out most of it. You know how the wolves run away when the boars chase them? That part was normal. But this one led the boar over to another wolf, then knocked it down, and the two of them finished it off together. I was so puzzled that I ended up just watching as it went over to another boar, and repeated the process. Not with the same wolf though, it seemed to just pick whichever was closest. Maybe the way the devs brag about the AI in this game has some merit after all. Though not all of them seem equally smart. After it had done this like five or six times a group of players showed up, and killed it. It put up a fight, but didn't really stand a chance. A shame the show had to end, really. - 06/11/2041

[ Scott McScot ]

I was with that group. We got a priest that had a binding spell to come along, since you mentioned it would run away. We were on the lookout, and also noticed this weird behaviour, so we went after it. No big deal if we killed the wrong wolf, right? It did try to run away, but the priest was able to knock it over, then the rest of us charged in to finish it off. The rogue went in front of the tank though, and nearly got killed. A little surprising since we had all classed up. In the end the only notable things were that it was level 7, stronger than average, and had different fur markings. It didn't drop anything special, and it didn't have a special name. Some kind of fluke, maybe? - 06/11/2041

...

[ Per Smere ]

Anyone seen the rare wolf? I've been looking around for days. - 11/11/2041

[ Loshan Wasd ]

Nah. Didn't they say it was just a fluke or bug or something? - 11/11/2041

[ Thread Creator: Cramble ]

I left for the next area so I could hit level 10 the day after I saw it killed. Maybe it was a one-time spawn with permadeath? - 11/11/2041

[ Ditinidat ]

I thought the devs said they weren't doing that for this game? You'd think a rare spawn would still spawn once a day or something. - 11/11/2041

[ Thread Creator: Cramble ]

Well, they wouldn't reveal every secret in the game, right? And they did mention something about unique events, I think. - 11/11/2041

[ Niaa ]

What if it didn't like being killed, and decided to go elsewhere? - 11/11/2041

[ Per Smere ]

... they can do that? - 12/11/2041

You can find story with these keywords: Thrown Into A Wolf, Read Thrown Into A Wolf, Thrown Into A Wolf novel, Thrown Into A Wolf book, Thrown Into A Wolf story, Thrown Into A Wolf full, Thrown Into A Wolf Latest Chapter