Chapter 2: Grinding with Wolves and Mushrooms
“So, Princess, what do we do in this game?” Black Paladin asked as Luna lead him into a bazaar. “There has to be some sort of point or else ponies would not be attracted.”
“You do a variety of jobs or quests to earn money and other things. A greater variety comes from running your own business or joining groups and guilds,” Luna explained in her most studious of voices. “Maybe if you try hard you can get to my level.”
“And what level would that be Princess?” Black Paladin looked up at her, seeing a large sign he hadn’t originally seen before. It displayed some sort of title but the number that caught his attention was the giant 20. “You’re level 20?!”
“Yes, my Paladin,” Luna giggled. “I am afraid that I cannot do any grinding with you. The monsters would be at my level, not yours. You’ll have to figure this out for yourself I believe. I must go finish up some quests and get new ones so I can level up. I will not lose to my sister.”
“Celestia is online also?” Black Paladin stared up at the princess. “This is not a disaster waiting to happen.”
“I suggest you not make fun of me, Paladin,” Luna stuck her tongue out at him. “I am your superior.”
“Good point,” Black Paladin snickered, scratching his head in real life. He sighed wondering how it would be if he ever were to get a cool headset to play on. Something told him it would be an even better game if he could control every action of his avatar. He looked back at the screen to see that Luna had disappeared into the crowd leaving him alone in the midst of a bunch of players.
“I guess I should go try and grind for levels,” Black Paladin mused to himself. He opened his map trying to find an area that would prove to be an easy hunting ground for him. He decided that the Forest of Timber would be an easy area based on the fact that it was closest to his current position. He headed out into the wilderness, searching for the mobs he had heard about from the talks of other players he had passed on his way out of the city.
He had to admit, the graphics of the game were surreal. Everything seemed to be real and textured to look like it was really made out of wood and not just a bunch of pixels on a screen. He heard a rustle of the trees off to his right and a low growl. He saw that two timber wolves seemed to have aggroed to him, both glaring at him hungrily. Black Paladin pressed one of the keys on his keyboard that was hot keyed to his basic attack, which was his sword.
He got a satisfying smack as his sword made contact with the side of one of the wolves and saw numbers appear above its head. It was accompanied by a health bar as well as a number that seemed to indicate the timber wolfs level. He guessed it was the exact same level as he was because there was a one in what he believed was the level display. He then remembered that a second wolf had been accompanying the first as he saw his own avatar receive a swipe of a paw. Without any armor, he took the full force of the blow and saw his health bar drop.
“Buck,” Paladin cursed in real life looking at his hotbar. There was another ability linked to his 2 key, so he pressed it without any knowledge of what it would do. He was rewarded with a spell that seemed to heal his own wounds by encasing him in a glowing aura that also warded off attacks. He continued to hack at the wolves until both were dead on the forest floor.
“Now let me see how much experience I gained,” Black Paladin glanced at his experience bar and found that it had only gotten to about a quarter full. He realized that this was going to take longer than he originally thought. If he was going to be out here in the world he would need some more equipment and it wouldn’t hurt if he had some other reason to be out.
He decided before he would go back he would grind to the next level and collect some items to get money to pay for some basic equipment. He spotted some strange mushrooms bouncing around in a nearby clearing and began to stalk them. The moused over each of the creatures, making sure they were within his level range finding that they were. He prepared himself for combat, checking out the two spells he actually had access to. One of them was the one he discovered against the timber wolves but another seemed to be a melee buff.
It detailed that he could mask his weapons in a magical aura of night that would deal extra damage to enemies over a period of time. That would be an excellent spell he would need to remember for later battles and when it came time to upgrade things.
“All right mushrooms, let us do this,” Black Paladin grinned to himself as he launched out of cover into the middle of them, activating his night aura enchantment. He struck at the mushrooms left and right, activating his magical shield when he needed a heal. By the time all of the mushrooms were dead on the ground, Black Paladin had leveled up and filled his experience bar another half way full.
He smirked, reaching down to loot the mushrooms when he heard a giant explosion from close by. He quickly grabbed all the items off the dead shrooms as he rushed over to where he assumed to explosion had come from. He stopped at the edge of a river, unsure of what would be located inside it. He saw a group of ponies, the exact same group that had seem to broken the games physics engine. A lavender pony faded in what he assumed was the respawn system of the game. He would need to be careful of whatever had blown up because it seemed like a one way road to respawn.
“Guess I will get back to the city before logging off for the night,” Black Paladin yawned in real life. He glanced down at the clock and saw that it was midnight. He hoped Luna would understand why he was so late tomorrow if he slept in. He was going to be in so much trouble.