Pay Day left soon after I named myself, quickly taking to the sky to follow after his wife and daughter. Dad soon followed as he still had to get to the forge for work. Saying his goodbyes he gave me a flat stare before telling me to behave for mom. I wholeheartedly agreed, there’d been enough crazy today and I didn’t want to add any more to it. After giving mom a kiss he left, leaving me and mom at home.

Not sure what to do with myself at the moment I followed mom into her enchanting workshop which was the basement for our home. It was quite spacious, high enough for dad to stand comfortably with multiple tables covered in different tools, chisels, various metals, bottles of ink, quills, and paper is all strewn haphazardly around. Mom definitely had the mad scientist vibe going on here.

“Sorry about the mess sweety, I’ve been working on an important project for a client and they keep trying to rush me.” Mom apologized as her magic quickly grabbed multiple items and organized them into their rightful places.

“It’s okay mom. What are you working on?” I asked, genuinely curious about what she was doing. She looked at me for a second, her forehead furrowed in thought before she spoke.

“I’ve been contacted by a merchant company. Their caravans keep getting attacked by bandits and they’re losing goods and money so they’ve asked me to find a way to protect their caravans from harm.” She said, looking through a folder of papers while she talked.

“But it’s extremely tricky and I’ve been having trouble. They want a shield to encompass their wagons to stop the bandits from even getting close. The problem is shield spells require regular adjustments and upkeep or else they start to fall apart and can only be adjusted by the unicorn that cast the spell since every unicorn's magic is different.” She explained.

It made sense, from some of the few lessons on magic mom taught me magic was like a fingerprint, you can’t fake it and certain enchantments were kind of like finger scanners. If the spell was cast and wasn’t the caster with the right signature, it wouldn’t work. Mom sighed as she put the papers back in the folder and sat down.

“It’s more of a problem than it’s worth. It’d be cheaper to hire a unicorn to travel with the caravans but they want something permanent so they came to me but honestly, I’ve hit a roadblock and don’t know what to do.” She sighed in defeat as her shoulders slumped.

PING

Quest!

“Problem Solver”

Objective:

Find another solution to you mother’s problem

Give your mother inspiration for her project

Rewards:

250 XP

+15 Rep with Midnight Blaze

Failure:

Permanent -20 rep with future contractors for Midnight Blaze

Midnight will receive no payment

Accept?

Y/N

I gulped and pressed yes. No pressure, no pressure at all. I started wracking my brain for a way to help mom fix this. Like she explained to me the shield was out, since it could only be used by the caster, so what else was there. Mom started working again while I leaned against the door frame trying to think of a new answer.

After fifteen minutes I was no closer to an answer and now very aggravated that I couldn’t think of one. I shook my head, being frustrated wasn’t going to help me so I need to keep calm. I saw mom walking back and forth between the different tables with a slightly annoyed look on her face.

“Now where did I put my jeweler's loupe? I swear that thing has a mind of its own with how often it's disappeared,” she grumbled as she ducked under one table in her search. I glanced around the room and saw it, somehow, nestled in the far corner, hidden away.

I opened my mouth to let her know but paused as mulled over mom’s words and what I had just thought.

“Disappeared... Hidden… not shielded but covered by…” All the gears clicked into place and my eyes widened.

“An illusion,” I said out loud. A bang and a soft curse drew my attention to mom she had found the loupe but had smacked her head on one of the table corners when she stood up.

“What’d you say, Deviant?” Mom asked me. I smiled widely at her.

“Mom do illusion enchantments have the same problem you’ve been trying to tackle with the shield enchantments?” I asked. Mom gave me a confused look but answered my question.

“Not that I’m aware of, while shields need constant management an illusion just needs a set of parameters to meet and the magic to maintain it, why do you ask?” This was just what I wanted to hear.

“Maybe you’re going about solving this problem wrong mom, maybe instead of giving the caravans a solid barrier between them and harm, you need to hide them from problems altogether,” I said. Mom rubbed her chin in thought, the gears in her head-turning. She didn’t outright dismiss my idea so that was good.

“Go on.” She said, clearly interested as walking over and sitting next to me her eyes focused and her ears perked straight up as she wanted to catch every word.

“Well it came to me when you were looking for your loupe, you were annoyed how it always seems to disappear and it got me to think that you should try to hide the caravan instead of shielding them.” I paused to think about how best to explain my idea.

“If you want to hide, you make others think you’re not there. I’m thinking a screen or dome the covers the wagons and shows the surrounding area around it, but leaves the image of the wagon out, rendering them invisible.”

As I waited for mom’s response a small smile sprouted on her face and grew larger and larger by the second. I did a mental fist pump in victory. I was brought out of my mental victory dance by mom giving me a big hug.

“That’s brilliant Deviant! While it doesn’t solve everything it gives me a place to start from.” I hugged her back happily.

PING

Quest Complete!

“Problem Solver”

Objective:

Find another solution to you mother’s problem

Give your mother inspiration for her project

Rewards:

250 XP

+15 Rep with Midnight Blaze

Failure:

Permanent -20 rep with future contractors for Midnight Blaze

Midnight will receive no payment

I willed window away, not really caring much for the quest gains, just happy with helping my mom out. I noted that her fur smelled of blueberries and lavender, it was a comforting smell. She released me from the hug and quickly trotted to her workbench, levitating multiple items and tools around her in a storm of movement.

“Thanks for the help Sweetie but now it’s time for mommy to get to work. Go outside and play while I get this done.” She said with a determined look on her face. I voiced my agreement and goodbye before quickly climbing the stairs and heading outside. I’d learned early on, never disturb mom while she’s working, if you value your soul… ever. But I found myself in every child’s worst nightmare. I didn’t know what to do.

Boredom was my mortal enemy, in this life and my last and I was not going to let it get the upper hand again. I slowly spun in a circle as I thought, hoping something I saw would trigger an idea. It worked because soon my eyes landed on the small wood about half a mile behind the house.

It wasn’t very large by any means. At most, it was around 250 acres if you wanted to stretch it a little. While not large the trees grew thick and it always had this aura of mystery to it, making you want to explore and find what was hidden. Or that could just be my 'kid-level' sense of curiosity that’s talking, I’m not sure.

I began a slow jog in its direction, exploring it would give me something to do for a while. I remembered searching through a small portion when I was a bit younger and finding some flowers to bring to mom but I never went in far.

About a minute later I was standing on the outskirts of the wood. The trees were taller than I remembered, reaching around sixty to seventy feet in height at their tallest. I peered as far into the wood as I could trying to see if I could spot anything interesting but I couldn’t see far with the thick undergrowth. With a shrug, I took my first step into the wood.

PING

Huh?

Natural Dungeon Discovered!

Natural dungeon [?] - Small forest Dungeon LV 1-10

Do you wish to enter?

Y/N

I saw the question mark and pressed it wondering what it was about. A screen popped up in front of me and I read it quickly.

Guide has been updated!

New category “Dungeons” has been added

I waved it away and opened my guide window and saw that there was indeed a new tab for dungeons clicking it I was shown a description and list of dungeons.

Dungeons:

Dungeons are areas in the world where monsters, creatures and all manner of things gather. They are usually created by someone or thing and can be as simple as a large network of mining tunnels to complex sewers and catacombs. They have a higher chance of dropping loot in the forms of weapons, armor, clothes and all manner of hand made things. The bigger the settlement the larger the dungeon, the stronger the enemies.

Natural dungeons:

Natural Dungeons are areas in the world where monsters, creatures and all manner of things gather. Unlike their counterparts, Dungeons, which are made by someone, Natural dungeons are usually centered around magical hot spots, where the world’s magic is stronger than normal. The stronger the magical hot spot, the bigger the natural dungeon, the stronger the creatures and beings inside.

Natural dungeons are rare as not many Magical hot spots exist and have been discovered. They have a higher chance of dropping loot in the forms of plants, building materials, natural resources and all manner of things found in nature.

Dungeons Discovered:

-

Small Forest Dungeon

I was very excited about this. Even if it was small I had just discovered a natural dungeon! Talk about luck. I waved the info screen away and pressed yes, eager to enter and see what I could find. The screen disappeared and I walked into the woods.

As I walked I kept my head on a swivel, not wanting to miss anything that might be interesting. I started using observe on most of the vegetation around me but didn’t get much since they were just regular plants and trees.

Minutes passed and I was starting to get annoyed. Where were all the monsters? I had never played many RPG’s but weren’t dungeons supposed to be filled with monsters to fight? I’d heard some people complain on forums about how some dungeons you couldn’t take two steps without getting into a battle.

This was frustrating, not to mention boring. Murphey’s such a jerk. When I don’t want something to happen he throws everything and the kitchen sink at me but when I want something to happen he’s as quiet as a dormouse. Well, Screw you, Murphey!

With a grunt of annoyance, I turn to head back in the direction of my home. After the first step a loud scream of pain echos in my ears, making them snap up and twist to find the direction it’s coming from. A loud thumping sound is coming from further in so I make like a bee and head straight for it.

I soon burst into a clearing filled with flowers of nearly every color in the spectrum A few butterflies are fluttering around, not caring about the noise as they flit from flower to flower. All this was a stark contrast to what drew my attention. There were two creatures on the opposite side of the clearing.

One was this kind of small pig/imp thing with dark brown skin, large, pointy, floppy ears, small beady black eyes, and a pig's nose. It was wearing a dirty loincloth and had a small wooden club in its hand. It raised its arms in the air and gave a victory bellow.

I looked around near it and saw a small mass of light green and white next to a tree. Said tree had a good-sized crack in it and I guess the thumping was it being slammed into the tree multiple times. Using Observe on the imp thing first, I got the rundown on the situation. And I was very upset with the info.

Level: 3
Name: Mobunga
Occupation: N/A
Race: Moblin
Title: Luckiest of Moblin's (grants +3 to luck)
HP: 500
MP: 100
STR: 5
END: 7
DEX: 7
INT: 1
WIS: 1
LUK: 4

Mobunga is a Moblin, a weak race of monsters. They typically hunt in small groups hoping to overwhelm their prey with numbers but some can be found alone. Moblin's aren’t smart and will blindly chase after their chosen prey, even if it’s off a cliff.

Current thoughts

He is happy he can eat his prey alive this time

Hidden fact

Mobunga’s only survived till adulthood because of his high luck for a Moblin.

I was disgusted. I wasn’t above killing something for sustenance, that was just part of nature and how the world worked. But to eat something while it was still alive and could feel everything? That was just sick. I opened my inventory and pulled out Last Breath. I went into sneak mode and crept up behind the cheering Moblin.

I was right behind him, close enough that I could smell his stench of piss and rotten food. I felt this morning's breakfast threaten to venture back outside my stomach but barely managed to keep it down.

Placing both hands on the hilt I brought it next to my right hip before thrusting it forward. I was surprised when the Moblin jumped to his left. I guess he wasn’t the luckiest Moblin for nothing. But his luck didn’t beat mine since my dagger still stabbed him, it just wasn’t anything fatal.

I got him on his right side and it didn’t help him any since his momentum ripped the blade out, tearing a chunk of his side with it. He left out a yell of pain and clutched his side as he rolled away from me. He looked at me with shock and anger as I stood between him and whatever he was trying to kill.

A panicked look showed on his face and he reared his head back and let out a bellowing screech. I didn’t wait for him to finish as I rushed in and thrust my dagger into his throat as his screech lost volume.

citricial strike - 35 + 195 = 230

It wasn’t enough so I pulled my dagger out and stabbed him again in the chest where I thought his heart was.

Critical strike - 35 = 195 = 230

With a third and final stab, the Moblin fell to the ground with a dull thud, his luck finally had run out. I panted, not from physical exertion, as this fight hadn’t been very hard, but from the fact that I had just killed. I had just taken a life, regardless of the fact if he was a monster or not, I had just snuffed his life out like a candle. I… I wasn’t sure how to process this.

PING

Mandatory Quest!

“It's a Mob!”

Objectives:

Moblin's killed - 0/5

Protect injured creature from attackers

?

Rewards:

1500 XP

Rare loot drop

?

As soon as I read the quest I heard multiple yells getting closer and closer by the second. It seems the Moblin I killed called for backup. I tightened my grip on my dagger. I asked Murphey to give me something and he delivered. I really need to learn to keep my big mouth shut.

Author's Note

Deviant is in quite the pickle isn't he? Wonder what will happen? Who can say.

So you have a frame of reference, Moblins look like this but without the horn and only stand at about 2 1/2 feet tall. roughly.

Just so you all know, the poll is now complete and the votes have been counted. so I will no longer be counting or taking votes. If you want to know what won, than you can either wait till the next chapter comes out or you can go check out the poll results in the author notes of R.I.P. Me.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I am looking forward to reading your thoughts in the comment section. Until next time and don't forget,

Evil, always finds a way.