Dark Forest. A level 24-50 zone, with various dungeons scattered everywhere.

Some
discovered, some not. A peculiar choice for a single level 21 apprentice mage. Some
might even say a stupid choice. But let them talk is what Wail would say. He felt
confident. That wolf he managed to kill before the unfortunate encounter with a
patrolling Onnion soldier was level 28. Thus Wail felt like he could just barely manage
that zone. That is - if he avoids larger groups of enemies. Those and unfortunate forest
fires. One can never be too careful with fire.
On his way there, Wail didnt miss a single opportunity to thoroughly incinerate every
moving thing he came in contact with. Mostly just living creatures. Since setting
flowers or grass ablaze served no purpose. Due to his genuine effort
You have leveled up!
+6 to unspent stat points.
+1 Mana regen and +20 Mana due to constant use of mana consuming skills.
Skill proficiencies increased.
Wail checked his skill levels as well.
Fire Mastery Novice level 7 (11.3%)
Increases base and critical damage of fire based spells.
Reduces the mana cost of fire based spells.
*Damage increased by 13%
*Mana cost reduced by 5%

Fireball Novice level 8 (0.8%)

The most basic fire-based spell. Conjures a fireball can be managed in any way
decided upon by the wielder. Can set on fire and cause damage over time. The overtime effect causes damage according to set circumstances.
Base fire damage 46-67 damage.
Base over-time fire damage 5 damage/sec.
Mana cost 14.55 mana per use.
Casting time 1.92 seconds.
*Damage increased by 3% due to wisdom.
*Mana consumption reduced by 3% duo to wisdom.
*Casting time reduced by 4% due to intellect.
His main proficiencies were leveling up quite nicely and just in time. Though thats
only because Wail chose to level up only one magic aspect - fire. In addition - just one
skill to boot, out of a myriad of choices. That way he was able to level up the
proficiencies quite fast, which in turn made leveling much easier.

The truth of the matter? Not much choice was given, since the only skill he managed
to acquire was fireball. Tomes were quite a pricy commodity and Wail simply couldnt
afford them.
For example, the polar opposite of fire - water. The very basic spell book cost 80 silver
coins. Wail managed to collect 5 gold coins after spending hours upon hours torturing
those weaker than him. But he was not about to spend almost one fifth of his measly
fortune for a basic spell. Let alone a weaker one.
The issue with mages and different magic attributes was that you couldnt learn
intermediate spells without having intermediate mastery of the attribute. Since he
didnt level up water mastery, he could only learn ice-bolt. The simplest water based
spell. Without dual-casting - learning and using an even weaker spell than fireball
made no sense to Wail.
Of course, there were more spells for novice mastery, but most of them were hard to
come-by. The rest were over-priced, the same way the most basic spells were. Thus he
didnt even bother.
Wail trusted his fate. Even though life was always hard on him, eventually hed
persevere. That was his strong belief. Baseless? Sure. But headstrong as well. Maybe
even slightly delusional.
You have gained 15% experience.
With a smirk Wail watched another wolf burn to ash before his eyes. His title gave a
very pleasing increase in experience gain when killing higher level monsters. Even
though the damage was decreased slightly, the skill proficiencies rose quicker against
such foes as well. Thus in the end, everything worked out for the better. And boy was
Wail enjoying himself. Jumping from one mob to the other, purging the dark forest of
life. Creating light where there was once only darkness. Tripping over roots. Barely
managing to put out the burning grass
The spot had its up and downs.
-1 Reputation.
Every now and then, Wails sadistic tendencies gave such results. It seemed like the
game had a base set of morals. Morals that were brought down like an iron hammer
upon the inhabitants of this world. Though it mainly happened to Wail. He never heard
of anyone complaining in or out of the game. Though considering his non-existent
social-circle in both realities it didnt serve as much of a surprise.
Once his 8 hour long fun-time spree was over, Wail made a bonfire and sat down in
front of it. Might not be the smartest thing to do while being alone in a dark forest.
Dark as in the brightest thing in close proximity within the forest was that exact
bonfire. Might draw in unwelcome visitors. Wail had a way with not learning from past
experiences though. That or he simply did not care. After hunting for so long he gained

a chunk of reputation and 10 whole levels. Thats right, Wail was now level 31, and he
only spent 2 real-time hours on it.
Virtual reality had a way with time. Inside, it sped up 4 times. Might have something to
do with how the brain managed to work at an amazing pace, where as our body just
limits it in a way. Some say this kind of brain abuse might bring upon some sideeffects, but after a year of use none were recorded. Though the illuminati fanatics say
its all a big scheme.
Wail decided that it was about time to move deeper into the forest in search for
dungeons and the like. If hes lucky maybe hell find an undiscovered one.
Undiscovered dungeons gave their own set of bonuses to their first visitors:
*Double experience for a week.
*Greatly increased chance in quality loot
These two bonuses made undiscovered dungeons the best damn thing to every level
crazy individual on the whole continent. Thus most of the dungeons were already
discovered in densely populated regions. Yet, Wail started in a not-so-popular zone. On
the very outskirts of Onnion Kingdom. Thus the possibility of actually finding an
undiscovered dungeon remained.
In addition - thats also the reason, why he so rarely met up with other players. One
could argue that his horrid appearance played a part in it as well.
Youd think that someone wouldve taken him for a killable monster by now, but it
seems like Wail was quite lucky at least in that respect.
Once the bonfire was nice and proper Wail took out another loaf of stale bread and
started chowing down.
Obviously, the taste was horrid. It was basically the taste of cardboard. Wail would
know he tried it when he was little, just to feed his curiosity.
It was cheap though. 2 coppers per loaf. That much Wail could afford without a single
tingle in his scrooge-like inner-self. Thus, without the sound of money falling away
after each bite, Wail could chow-down at full throttle.
Only half through the stale loaf of bread - Wail noticed the rustling of bushes all
around, revealing 5 humanoid forms soon after. Ragged outfits, rusted weapons,
unwelcoming facial expressions and mean stares your standard low-level bandits.
Some would jump and do something. Run away, fight, cry - even beg. Heck, anything!
While the remainder would have thought twice before lighting a fire in a dark forest.
Alone. Being of a lower level.
Oh, Wail! Pleasure seeing you here in the woods, moving up in the world, eh? One
of the bandits said after noticing who was sitting by the bonfire. His grouchy
expression quickly changing into one of intimacy and respect.
Wail felt relieved. Another of his beliefs just proved itself lightning never strikes twice
in the same place!

His negative reputation was finally paying off as well, since the bandits showed a
completely different attitude towards him than the last time they met. Last encounter
almost turned into a death-match over a few copper coins found lying on the ground.
Poor people have it rough. Did not end too well either.
What a pleasant surprise, come friends sit, sit! Have some bread Wail replied
with a humble smile, worried that even that much might just scare them off. He
welcomed the unexpected guests with open arms and even offered food. The cheapest
food there is, but even this much was quite unlike him.
The bandits sat down around the bonfire and happily accepted the hospitality. Once
the mood was set, they started sharing adventure stories mainly consisting of
robbing and harming those less fortunate. Just like Wail.
*Your intimacy with the bandit group increased
+50 relations with local bandits.
All that free bread finally paid off. If Wail couldnt increase his standing with the
villagers, he would at least do so with the opposite side.
These circumstances brought additional results though
Oh right, Wail. Its quite lucky that we just happened to meet you here. Mind helping
us out with something? Bob, the same bandit who previously spoke asked the host.