The Chaotic Gamer

Chapters

1 - Learn, Change, Survive
2 - Finding my way
3 - Cue the training montage.
4- Chaos inbound
5 - One boss, one kill

1 - Learn, Change, Survive

As my foot got tangled into another root, I cursed to myself.

"Fuck my life. What did I even do to deserve this shit?! One moment I'm home, and the next I'm in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere! And to boot-" I tripped over another root, and had to take a few seconds to gather back my balance. "-to boot, it's getting dark too!"

What little of the sky I could see between the foliage was slowly turning from blue to red; I needed to find either shelter, or a way out of the forest. I was also quite thirsty, as I hadn't had the chance to drink anything in several hours. The hunger was light for now, but if I couldn't manage to feed myself within tomorrow, it would become a problem.

I wandered for another ten minutes, in the vain hope of finding a way out. No such luck, and as I hadn't found any shelter either, I was forced to sleep in a tree. I didn't like it, probably the tree didn't either, but there wasn't much that could be done about it.

After I climbed the branches with the utmost care possible, I settled on a relatively thick branch about seven meters high, which wasn't that impressive as the trees in that zone were quite tall, and prepared myself to see the one thing that was probably my one lifeline in all my troubles.

"Status."

And with that single thought, a light grey screen appeared in front of my eyes. When I'd fist seen it hours ago, I was left baffled, thinking that it was all a feverish dream. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Name: Nicholas Pascaru
Age: 23
Species: Human (+5% effect to all skills)
Class: Adventurer lv: 1
LV: 1
HP: 100/100 (+10/min)
MP: 100/100 (+10/min)

STR: 5
VIT: 5
DEX: 5
INT: 5
WIS: 5
LUK: 5
CHA: 5

Chaos points: 0
?: 0

I also had skills, you know.

- Skills:

Chaos affinity - innate skill - no cost
* You are particularly attuned to the forces of chaos.
* +25% effect to Chaos-based skills
* -10% cost to Chaos-based skills

Analyze - active - 5 MP
* Element: N/A
* Gives the caster information about anything, as long as it is within the caster's line of sight.

Gamer's body - passive - no cost
* Any damage your body takes will be detracted from your HP, and then healed immediately. You still feel pain, and have bodily needs.

I did try to get other skills, but it seemed that I couldn't get them easily. I honestly had no idea about a lot of things, especially related to the stupid game. What I did know, was that if I leveled up my class, I would get more skills related to it. How did I know that? Well...

I opened my eyes, fighting against the throbbing headache I felt. Slowly, I managed to focus my eyes on the environment around me. I was in no place I could recognize. Trees were all around me, and it seemed that I was alone. While I sat there, trying to make sense of the situation, and waiting for the headache to lessen, something appeared, grabbing my attention.

It was... a screen, of sorts. Even if I moved my head, it stayed firmly in my line of sight. Eventually the pain lessened enough that I could read what was on the screen clearly.

Greetings, young man!

Unfortunately, I don't have much time, so I'll keep this message short. You are here because I need help. Whenever I can, I'll send you some other messages telling you what to do in order to help me. For now, know this: don't trust the beings of this world. They are all liars, and will try to get you on their side. I leave you with an ability, so that you may protect yourself.

I must go now, but I will contact you again soon. Remember, I'm the only one you can trust.

I frowned. "Isn't this just the best way to begin a day? Sitting in a random forest, no idea were I am exactly, random magical screens popping out of nowhere! Just great. Might as well listen to it, probably my best choice now."

Nothing popped up to answer me, of course. Grumbling, I tapped the small 'X' button on the top left corner. As soon as I did that, a new screen popped up.

Class has been set to: Adventurer

Skills gained:
* Analyze
* Gamer's body

Unique skill unlocked:
* Chaos affinity

I blinked.

I blinked again.

I closed also that screen, and slapped both of my hands on my face, groaning in annoyance.

"Whyyyyyyyyy..."

After a while, I had come to terms with my situation, somewhat, and decided to find my way out. Several hours later, there I was.

The sunset was finally over, and light was starting to become scarce. Since I had really nothing else to do, I just decided to sleep.

The day after, I climbed further up the tree I'd slept in, trying to see if there were any landmarks or cities anywhere nearby. On one side, which I assumed to be west, basing myself on the sun's position, was a hill, which didn't allow me to see much into that direction.

Towards the south, instead, I could see some ruins. Maybe not the best place, but I could reach it within noon. That would give me some time to secure a place to sleep, and maybe scavenge something there; from what I could see in the distance, it seemed to have been a castle sometime in the past. With some luck, I could find a weapon that wasn't competely rusted.

With some semblance of a plan in mind, I set off.

About fifteen minutes in, I started humming to myself one of my favourite songs: 'No rest for the wicked'. Surprisingly, a small screen popped up in front of me.

Music player activated

As soon as it appeared, it was gone, and I could hear the notes of 'No rest for the wicked' sounding in my head. It didn't impair my thoughts or hearing in any way, so it was a welcome surprise.

Fiddling with the music function, I understood how to make it activate at a moment's notice, along with making it play whatever song I wanted, and also some I didn't, as long as I knew what atmosphere I wanted it to have... although that worked mostly for game music.

After a long while, and a whole lot of music later, I reached a ravine. On the other side of it was the castle, and the only thing connecting the sides of said ravine was a small, rickety rope bridge.

"Why does the universe do this shit to me?" I mentally complained, while trying to find a way to cross without using the bridge. Unfortunately for me, it seemed that the world wouldn't be lenient with me; I could either grow wings, and fly over the ravine, or grow a pair and cross the bridge.

I chose to crawl across it.

Don't give me that look! Crawling spreads one's weight better, lessening the chance of the planks breaking!

...or that's just what I told myself to keep my dignity intact.

Nonetheless! I crossed the bridge, and was ready to search trough the castle for anything useful!

The first floor yielded nothing more than dust and cobwebs, along with a couple mouldy books. 95% of what was written on them was unreadable, while what was visible was incomprehensible to me; think of ancient greek multiplied by persian. Yep, whatever language that was, I wasn't learning it anytime soon!

I wasn't ready to give up, though. I took the stairs leading underground, hoping to find some sort of armory or what-have-you. I'm not an expert on ancient castles.

After around twenty minutes in the veritable labyrinth that was the underground of the castle, I opened a door to find a bunch of weapon racks. The racks themselves were rotten, and the weapons were rusty as all fuck. I tried using my Analyze spell, just to be safe.

Rusty steel sword - Rank: Trash
* This thing can't even be considered a weapon, it can't cut worth a damn and it's likely to give you tetanus.
* DUR: 3/70

Rusty warhammer - Rank: Trash
* This thing can't even be considered a weapon, it'll break as soon as you hit something with it. You're liable to injure yourself if you try to use it.
* DUR: 4/80

Rotten shortbow - Rank: Trash
* This thing can't even be considered a weapon, it'll shatter as soon as you try to notch an arrow.
* DUR: 2/50

And so on, and on...

I decided to just leave the armory, hopes dashed.

I was exporing the upper floors, looking for a good room for myself, at least temporarily. Surprisingly, I spotted a gaping hole in the wall. I approached the hole warily, as I was currently on the third floor. Turning around, I found that multiple walls were broken, and I could trace the path of whatever destroyed them down to the throneroom. It was probably the most wrecked place in the castle, to be honest. Something massive might have happened. Bombs? Magic? Lasers? Who knew.

The worst part wasn't the destruction, though. On the ground, I could see a multitude of skeletons lying around, in various states of integrity. The creepy thing was that most were severed cleanly at about chest height. No burn signs, no shrapnel, just... a clean cut. The magic theory was becoming more and more likely.

In the skeletal hand of one... soldier, I suppose, was a sword. It was in surprisingly good state, considering all the others. It was extremely dusty and tarnished, but I believed some cleaning and it would be perfectly serviceable.

I grabbed the sword, and pried it from the skeleton's grip. "I think I'm gonna need this, dude. Don't mind if I take it right?"

I got back up on my feet, Analyzing my newest find.

Magisteel sword - Rank: Rare
* A blade made of steel, which was then infused with magic. It is sharper and sturdier than a normal steel blade. It is enchanted. This kind of blade is reserved for higher-ranking officials, or very rich people.
* DUR: 130/130
* Ench: Maintenance (item will stay pristine as long as the enchantment is in place)
* Ench: Power (DMG increases by ×1.5)
* DMG: (STR+35)×1.5

I was surprised. What were the chances of finding such a great weapon right off the bat? At least I wouldn't have to worry about predators around... once I got a hang of how swords were used. Plus, the damage of this sword was great for my level! Already, I'd inflict 60 base DMG! Fantastic!

During my wandering I'd found my inventory, and I learned how to send stuff in there and retrieve it with a thought. The item would always appear in one of my hands, so it was great for surviving ambushes.

Thus, after sending the sword to my inventory, I decided to go back inside the forest, to find something to eat: I was starving.

P.O.V. shift

At last, my long travels were reaching their end. Soon, I would be able to reach a new home, away from the dangers of my old land. This forest seemed like a good place to settle down.

I peered down to my map, locating myself easily. Everfree forest... a deceptively alluring name; then again, Zebrica is much worse. Worst case scenario, I'd have to deal with manticores here, maybe a lone hydra if I got very unlucky. In Zebrica... it's a good day if a hydra is the only thing you have to deal with.

I shook my head. I was far away from those dreadful lands, and was ready to begin a new chapter of my life. With those thoughts firmly stuck in my head, I ventured further into the trees, dragging my cart behind me. The tinkling of bottles, and the occasional sound from an animal were my only company, as it had been for several months during my journey.

I did appreciate the presence of others around me, of course, but sometimes I'd find myself desiring peace and quiet more than anything. This was definitely my place in the world: lots of ingredients for my potions, relatively calm, and with a small town not too far away I shouldn't worry about anything I might need.

Immersed as I was in my thoughts, I took a bit to notice that the environment had become extremely quiet. Whirling around, I took ahold of one of the vials I kept strapped to my belt. Inside, was a potion that would cause a cloud of noxious gas the moment it was open. I prepared myself to throw the vial at whatever would try to attack me. It wouldn't actually hurt anything, but it would incapacitate them enough for me to escape.

Unfortunately, I hadn't had the time to make more lately, so I was down to my last two. I could also use my whip, but if it were anything like a manticore or a cragadile then it wouldn't do much more than irritate them.

Of course, Lady Luck decided that this wouldn't be my day, and threw not one, but two manticores at me.

I immediately threw the vial in front of the two manticores, and proceeded with high-tailing it. After a few minutes I couldn't hear them anymore, so I slowed down. Hopefully they'd given up.

Back to Nicholas

"Still nothing... what a pain"

My searching had been for naught, and thus the day was turning into evening without me having eaten anything yet. While I had seen some... beasts, I decided to steer very far away from them. I wouldn't get anything to eat out of wooden wolves, and I supposed that the 'cockatrice', as the game called it, wouldn't be very healthy. Plus I didn't feel like eating snake.

As such, I was still wandering. Avoiding the denizens of the forest granted me a skill, at least.

Sneak (minimal) - passive - no cost
* Your movements are slightly quieter than most.
* +5% chance to be ignored
* +1 DEX

I was quite happy with it, actually. Even though I had close to no idea on how to change its... rank, I suppose I could call it? The small stat boost was appreciated. Considering that is appeared only when I was starting to understand what to do to be quieter, I could assume that it would become better as long as I got actually better at it.

I was going to see if I could do something also for other stats, but my stomach came first.

I was pulled away from my thoughts as a new sound attracted my attention. There was someone up ahead, and... she, from what I could tell, was breathing kinda heavily. Might have ran away from something.

A screen popped up before I could do anything.

New quest - Terrors of the wild
* Objective: Help ? get rid of the manticores
* Bonus: ?

Reward: 150 XP, 20 ?, 10 Chaos points
Bonus reward: ?

I closed the screen, and went to find the woman. If the manticores that the game mentioned were anything like the mythological ones, then we were in for quite the hassle. Better get a move on. And if she knew the way out, all the better for me.

Pulling out my sword to be safe, I walked out of a bush, surprising the woman in front of me. She moved her hand to her hip, where I could see a bottle hanging. Was she planning to throw it at me? Still, immediately she calmed down and straightened up.

"And who might you be, that roams the trees of the Everfree?" She asked. I quirked my eyebrow at the rhyming, but thought it best to not mention it.

"I was about to ask you the same, but we don't really have the time right now. There's some manticores around, so I suggest getting somewhere safe. We can talk after that, ok?" I looked around, making a mental note of the small cart behind her, and inspecting the surroundings for signs of danger.

The woman nodded gravely. "What you say is true. Of the beasts, I have seen two. We'd best move, and make haste; else, our efforts would be a waste." She motioned for me to follow her, and she started walking away, dragging her cart with her.

Since it didn't seem like we'd be in trouble at the moment, I shot a quick Analysis at the woman.

Name: Zecora
Age: 27
Species: Sebra (+15% resistance to heat, +20% effect to alchemy)
LV: 24
HP: 1.380/1.380
MP: 1.520/1.520

STR: 13
VIT: 18
DEX: 21
INT: 32
WIS: 29
LUK: 17
CHA: 25

"Wait, so she's not human?! What?" I snuck another glance at the now-named Zecora. She seemed very much human to me! Dark brown skin, black hair styled in a mohawk, pretty normal to me! Well, except for the fact that her clothes seemed more adapt to a desert than to a forest, but who was I to judge?

And what was up with those stats, anyway? Had I been weakened, or was she just that strong and smart?

...and lucky.

...and charming.

Okay, it might be me. How humiliating.

While I shambled along, thoroughtly humbled, Zecora stopped all of a sudden.

"They sure are a persistent lot... it seems we must fend them off."

My eyes bugged out hearing that. "Are you out of your mind?! How are we supposed to fight off even one manticore, let alone two?!"

She gave me a knowing smirk. "I know what we must do. Just act when I tell you to."

I gave a suffering sigh and hoped for the best. Not one minute later, the two manticores jumped out of their cover, and I took the chance to see what we were up against.

Name: N/A
Age: N/A
Species: Manticore
LV: 11
HP: 750/750
MP: 650/650

STR: 25
VIT: 20
DEX: 15
INT: 10
WIS: 10
LUK: 5
CHA: 5

Definitely not as bad as I'd expected, but still way over my level. I just hoped that Zecora had an actually good plan.

"Listen closely," she whispered "once I throw the vial, flank them and try to chop off the tails. I will keep them distracted." I was surprised that she had dropped the rhyming, but I could see that it wasn't the time for something like that.

I nodded my head and got ready, hoping that my pitiful sneaking abilities would be enough.

No one dared to move for a minute, the air growing tense. One manticore tried to take a step, and immediately Zecora threw the vial towards them, causing a cloud to emerge. The manticores started hacking and pawing at their eyes, while I carefully made my way to their backs.

Considering what was happening to them, I reminded myself to not breathe in the gas, and charged at the manticore on my left. I combined what little I knew about swords with all my pitiful strength, and with some luck I struck right between the chitinous plates of the manticore's scorpion tail.

Critical hit! -120 Hp!
Inflicted status: bleeding
Inflicted status: crippled limb

While the manticore roared in pain, and the tail flopped down uselessly, I rushed to the other one, who was trying to turn back, but was kept steady by several hits from Zecora's whip, which had come from who-knows-where, but I wasn't complaining.

Zecora's strikes had managed to give me the perfect opening, and I thrust my blade right trough the tail, adding my momentum to spin the sword and severing the tail outright.

Brutal hit! -200 HP!
Inflicted status: severe bleeding

I retreated back when that was done, and observed my handiwork. One manticore was trying to maneuver around with a limp tail, doing nothing more than stumble around, while the other one was turning to me, enraged.

I gave a quick look at their status effects, while getting ready to move if needed. The bleedings sapped away HP, at a rate of 5 per second and 20 per second. The crippled limb, instead, would lower the afflicted's DEX, and of course, they wouldn't be able to use said limb.

If we were to wait for two minutes, they would be both dead anyway, so I decided to put them out of their misery. In the time it had taken the tailless manticore to take a couple steps, it had lost another 100 HP, making it stumble and fall.

A quick stab was all I needed to kill it. Hitting the brain dealt an insane amount of damage, plus anything would die from that.

The remaining manticore, though, was still up and ready to swipe at any who came near it. We had no need to do so, though. It probably realized that too, as it seemed to just give up and laid down with a huff.

I approached slowly, and placed a hand on its mane. It didn't react, so I took a few seconds to pet it.

"It isn't anyone's fault, is it? You tried to kill us. We defended ourselves. That's how the game of life works, and you were the ones who lost. Well, might as well not make you suffer more than needed." I quickly stabbed its brain too, and it fell limp like the other.

Battle log
Manticore LV: 11 × 2 slain
Gained: 180 XP
Leveled up! (1 - 4)
+3 VIT, +6 WIS, +6 LUK

Quest complete - Terrors of the wild
Reward: 150 XP, 20 ?, 10 Chaos points
Bonus reward: Beastly Medallion

Leveled up! (4 - 5)
+1 VIT, +2 WIS, +2 LUK

Class: Adventurer has reached level max! You can now change classes!

I blankly glanced at the screens. I didn't want to deal with that stuff, so I moved them to the edge of my vision to deal with later.

I don't know exactly how long I stood there, staring at the unmoving body of the manticore. In my head, I knew what I did was the right thing, yet... why did I feel so bad?

"I suppose it is human nature to question one's actions. I grew up thinking that killing is evil, and yet... I know I've done the right thing. Oh, well. What is done is done, I suppose."

Zecora stood next to me, quiet. I'm not sure what she was thinking about, but after a while she moved to leave, and I followed.

During our walk all I could think of was the fight. Since nothing I did could keep me from thinking about it, I pulled up the screens.

When I realized that I couldn't choose how my stats would grow I was left quite miffed. Still, I let it go, in favor of other things. First, my stats had increased quite a lot. Second, I could choose a new class. My choices were: fighter, mage and rogue.

In theory the game didn't say that I couldn't change my classes whenever, but I still decided to go for something that would be the most useful at the moment.

A rogue was good for avoiding enemies, but knowing the game it wouldn't be easy. Thus, that went to the bin.

A mage? I did have an affinity for magic, but... I had no idea how it worked. First I'd check if I could learn magic on my own. If not, I could go for it.

A fighter... I lacked a lot in the physical department, but I had a fantastic sword for a beginner, and it was pretty much the reason why I was alive. Knowing how to use said weapon would really save my ass.

I had chosen! I would become a Fighter!

Class changed! Adventurer -> Fighter

Skills gained:
* Sword mastery (minimal)
* Blade rush

I immediately checked my new skills.

Sword mastery (minimal) - passive - no cost
* You can swing a sword with some modicum of coordination.
* +5% damage with swords
* +1 STR

Blade rush - active - 100 MP
* Dash attack that slices enemies in half.
* Dash for 4 meters
* DMG×2

Not bad at all! Sure, my first attack skill was very expensive, and with my new levels up, I could only do it... three times, before having to rest, but it was still a powerful skill for my level! Plus, maybe I could hit multiple enemies with it! And even if it was only one, whatever! It was strong anyway!

I was jolted out of my thoughts when Zecora spoke up.

"This is where we must part. But do not worry, you have found a place in my heart."

I blinked at the odd choice of words.

She seemed to have picked up on my confusion, as she hurried to explain. "I will still be your friend, but now our journey together must end. I have things to take care of, you see. As such, I hope you do not think less of me."

Now that, I understood.

"Don't worry, Zecora. I get it. I wasn't planning to stay glued by your side the whole time anyway. As long as we meet again, I'm ok with saying goodbye now. Although..." I gestured to the trees around us "Do you know how to get out of here?"

She chuckled a bit at my expense, and pointed to my seven. I wordlessly nodded, and with a quick wave I left.

I liked her, she seemed like a cool woman. Better to not get too affectionate, though. You never know.

I walked out of the forest with a gigantic grin on my face. I was finally out of that hellhole, and now I had two objectives: find shelter, and-

*growllllll*

-and find some food.

I marched on, aiming to the small town in front of me. Passing a sign, I learned how it was called.

"Ponyville, huh? Wonder why they'd call it that..."

Author's Note

Hey all! Silver here, and firstly, I want to thank everyone for reading this. Secondly, I will say immediately that I won't have a specific schedule for uploading chapters here. You see, I have another story on FF that takes up most of my time, so I will concentrate on that. I'm hoping to post at least once a month, but I think it will be more than that.

Still, thanks for your time and let's see this wreck of a story in action!

P.S. Can you find the reference?

Edit: I changed some of Nicholas's mannerism, and will do the same for the other chapters soon. I was thinking of him being a good guy and slowly progress into chaos incarnate, but I decided to scrap that idea and made him more neutral. That will make the passage to chaos much easier.

2 - Finding my way

I walked down the street, taking in the sight of the rural-style town around me. The atmosphere was quite homely, to say the least. In my childhood, I'd spent a couple years in the countryside before moving to the city, so the place felt familiar, in a way.

People were walking all around me, some giving me a look, but none really seemed to care much about me. I also got some polite nods, and the odd smile from the friendlier people.

As it could only be useful, I popped an Analysis on a random person.

Name: Time Turner
Age: 35
Species: Terran (+25% effect to plant and earth-related skills, +50% HP)
LV: 27
HP: 2.400/2.400
MP: 1.760/1.760

STR: 23
VIT: 25
DEX: 38
INT: 41
WIS: 20
LUK: 10
CHA: 13

I furrowed my brow at the different species. What was up with that? I used Analysis a couple more times.

Name: Vinyl Scratch
Age: 29
Species: Magi (+25% effect to all magic-related skills, +50% MP)

Name: Ditzy Doo
Age: 34
Species: Avian (+25% effect to all weather-related and DEX-reliant skills)

Those three species kept repeating, to the point where I theorized that I was in a settlement inhabited by only those three species.

In my aimless wandering, I had reached what seemed to be the town's marketplace. There, I could see many people milling about. Straining my senses, I learned that the currency here was called 'bits', and that they had the aspect of metallic coins; I could see copper and silver being traded around, in fact.

"I need to get me some money, some way. I'd rather not resort to stealing. The people here seem pretty nice," I thought, still walking around, occasionally giving a look to one stall or the other to blend in.

A screen popped up.

Currency added: Bits
Bit counter added to Status

Out of curiosity, I decided to open my Status and give it a look.

Chaos points: 10
Bits: 20

Wait, so that's what the question mark meant! Well, at least it was there, and it was one less thing for me to worry about. And since I had gained some money from the quest, maybe I could buy myself some food.

I gave a more careful look around, and came to a conclusion: bits had about the same value as an American dollar. Well, that was good for me: I just had to remember to say 'bits' and not 'bucks'. Heh.

I'm hopeless.

Nonetheless, I proceeded in buying as much food as I could, at least the ones that I could eat without cooking. So fruit, bread, cheese, and a small pie. A decently healthy meal, and I had enough to last me for the day. Maybe even tomorrow if I were to be careful.

While I walked away from the market, I thought back to one interesting woman I'd met there.

"Here's yer apples, sir. Five bits."

Under the pretense to dig in my pocket, I pulled the coins out of thin air, and deposited them in the woman's hand.

"Thank you, ma'am." I was about to leave, when something else caught my eye. "Actually, how much is it for that pie?"

She looked down to where I was pointing. "Oh, the small one? Five bits too."

I glanced at my counter: that would leave me with only one bit, but... I really needed something to clear my mind, and sweets tended to do it for me. Then again, I could need the money for something more important...

"Is sumthin' the matter?" She asked me. I had been stuck deciding what to do for a bit now.

"Oh, no. Not at all. Just deciding if I can allow myself to get it. Trying to cut a bit on the sweets, you see," I lied as naturally as I breathed. Or maybe not.

"That's a lie if I ever heard one. Now," she leaned forward a bit "I can tell sumthin' 's eatin' at ya. You ain't got to tell me, it ain't my place to pry anyway. Still, try to not lie to my face, or anypony really, like that."

I grimaced at being reprimanded like that. I felt like a little kid, for crying out loud!

Although, one part of what she said surprised me. 'Somepony' ? What in the hell?! What happened to someone, everyone, the things that make sense?! Something was very wrong with my life.

I was ready to put all that behind me, though.

"You know what? I think I'll take the pie, after all." I placed the coins on the table and picked up the pie. "Thank you for everything."

Thus, I left.

I may have been a little rude at the end, but whatever. She had no right to say that kind of stuff to my face. "Try not to lie to my face! Yeah, sure. What's with her? I'll lie if I have to, she can't stop me."

Bah, whatever. One reason less to think about her, and to concentrate on other stuff.

First, I had finally eaten, so I was happy about that. Secondly, I had to find some new money, which would be a problem. I should find myself a job, but what could I do? I could swing a sword, but just barely. I could be quiet when walking, but that wouldn't help much. I was allegedly good with Chaos magic, but I had no idea where to even begin with that.

I hanged my head in desperation.

All I could think of were four possibilities: find someone, or 'somepony' kind enough to take me in while I look for a job, steal money, go kill things in the forest to get stronger and apply as a guard or something (I had seen some, and they seemed rather medieval in their armaments), or try to find Zecora, and hope she would take pity on me.

Stealing and going to Zecora were two things I really didn't want to do, for two reasons: I was too prideful to crawl back, and stealing would bring with itself a whole load of trouble, more than a few bits was worth.

Killing stuff... I thought back to earlier that day, and grimaced. I didn't enjoy that prospect. Sure, we had been attacked, so I was forced; I would rather not go looking for targets.

My only workable choice was to beg, huh? It left a bad taste in my mouth, but... needs must.

I was currently sitting on the railing of a bridge, watching the river's water flow by, when I heard the sound of a cart coming from the town. I turned around, hoping to see Zecora, but was left disappointed. It was the apple girl. It actually sounded quite rude to call her that, I should probably ask for her name. First, though...

"Er, hello again," I started. "I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. I'm not really used to people worrying about me, so I took it the wrong way. I'm really sorry." My pride was making a racket, but I had to suck it up and act like I meant it.

She looked at me for a bit, proably trying to remember where she'd seen me. Then, her eyes lit up in recognition.

"No, no, don't ya worry. I get where yer comin' from. As ah said, it ain't my place to pry. We both messed up, so let's just forget it, aye?"

I was glad to do so. "Sure thing. I'm Nicholas," I said, as I stretched my hand out to her.

She shook it with enough power to make me worry if she dislocated it. "Name's Applejack. Nice to meet'cha. Now, if ya don't mind, I need to get the cart home." With that, she continued to pull the cart.

I tool the chance to commit her looks to memory, if only because I tend to forget people after a short while. Golden locks under a stetson hat, vibrant green eyes, some freckles on tanned skin, a good amount of muscle, just enough to be attractive, flannel shirt, mid-tight jeans shorts, and some worn boots. I already had and idea of what I'd see if I Analyzed her.

Name: Applejack
Age: 22
Species: Terran (+25% effect to physical and earth-related skills, +50% HP)
LV: 47
HP: 4.275/4.275
MP: 2.600/2.600

STR: 65
VIT: 50
DEX: 45
INT: 25
WIS: 40
LUK: 15
CHA: 30

"Welp, let's not get the Apple pissed at me, ok?"

She didn't seem to object when I decided to walk alongside her, so I decided to strike up a conversation.

"You have to lug this cart around everyday? Must be exhausting." Real smooth there, Nick.

She chortled a bit, probably amused at my pitiful attempt. "Not as much as ya'd think, it ain't that heavy to me. And even then, me and mah bro take turns at this.

"But that ain't what ya wanna talk about, innit?"

I grimaced. I really didn't think this trough, did I? Should I tell her? My shoulders sagged. Yeah, might as well. I had nothing to lose at that point.

"You're right. But for that, I need to go back to yesterday. You see, I'm not from anywhere near here."

"Guessed as much, with the name and whatnot."

"...Ok. Anyway, I'm not sure what happened, but I randomly woke up in the middle of the forest over there. 'Everfree', I think it's called?"

"Wait, ya were there for a whole day? How are ya still in one piece?" She exclaimed.

I shrugged. "Luck, mainly. I had some help. Still, I wandered for a whole day, as you said, and run into one 'Zecora' pony." I shuddered inwardly. It felt very weird to say that. "She helped me get out, but we had to part ways. Still, I don't know how I got there, or even where we are right now-" I hurried to finish before I was interrupted "-in relation to my home. I didn't live anywhere near a forest, I've never even heard of the Everfree before!"

Applejack's brow furrowed, processing what I told her. "So, you're lost, without a place to stay, and nothin' on ya?"

I nodded my head sullenly. "Yeah, pretty much. Had some money, at least. It's all gone now, though."

I felt Applejack's hand on my shoulder, and I rose my head a bit to look at her. Wasn't too difficult, as I was taller than her. "Hey now, at least ya got some food in ya, right?" I nodded. "Good. Now, I think I can help ya fer a while. We've got an extra room at the farm, jus' lemme talk a bit with mah folks."

I was moved by her selflessness. Or was it kindness? Or maybe she was generous? No matter, she was being useful. I might just have to forgive her for before. Might.

I was sitting outside Applejack and her family's house, on the porch. I could hear some voices from the inside, but couldn't make anything out. Probably for the better, intruding could ruin my chances.

In the meantime, I was admiring the setting sun over the orchad. It would definitely make for a nice picture. Maybe I could draw it? I'd rather avoid letting my skills rust.

I never really talked about my past, have I? Well, there ain't much to say about my childhood, it was pretty generic. The important stuff was that I was about to graduate from Uni, planning to become an artist. I also had a little brother, who was about to start Uni himself; wanted to become a physicist, that little bugger.

While I was stuck in the past, I failed to notice the door opening, but I did notice when someone sat next to me. I turned to the person in question. She looked like a mini-Applejack, except for the red hair.

"Hi" she begun.

"Hello."

"Why are you sitting here?" she asked, voice flat as her stare.

"I'm waiting for Applejack. You?"

"They started arguing. I didn't wanna listen to them." She shrugged, and looked away.

"Hm. I see. Who are you, anyway?"

"Applebloom. Applejack's little sister."

"Nice to meet you, I guess. I'm Nicholas. Some poor shmuck that your sister decided to help."

We both sat in silence for a while, when the sounds coming from inside settled down.

"It seems like they stopped," I piped up.

"Yup."

"Do you think I should leave before the mountain of muscle inside comes out and punts me away?"

"Nah. Mac's not that violent. He'd probably just tell you to go."

"I see. Any chance they'll let me stay?"

"I dunno. Mac seemed on the winning side when I left."

I sighed. My hopes took a big hit from that.

Soon, the door opened, and I heard steps from behind me.

"So, I've got good news and bad news." I recognized Applejack's voice. "Good news is that ya can stay. Bad news, is that Mac wants to have words with ya."

I huffed, and stood up. "Let's not make him wait, then." We went inside.

There, sitting at the table, was the man in question. I know I said he was a mountain of muscle, but I wasn't joking: he was about 6 ft 8, and was twice as wide as me! I felt puny just being in the same room, and I was the one standing!

He gave a look to the girls, and they went outside, Applejack giving me an apologetic look.

Mac gestured for me to take a chair, and I did so, sitting right in front of him.

"I dunno exactly what ya told mah sister, but I don't trust ya in the slightest," He began "so I'll make it clear now: mess with my sisters, or grandma, and I'm punting you outta here faster than ya can say 'buck'."

"Called it," I muttered. "I understand, and to be honest, I can't blame you for it. I'll do my best to not waste this chance."

"You better," he said, and went upstairs.

I remained sitting, pondering just what were the chances of both of us saying the same thing. While I was doing that, Applejack and Applebloom came back in.

"So, what'd he say?" Applejack asked me.

"He said that if I were to mess with any of you, I'd get punted out of here." I turned to look at Applebloom "Called it.."

She gave a chocked laugh, to my amusement.

The next morning, I was woken up by someone knocking on my temporary room's door.

"C'mon Nicholas! Up and at 'em! Just 'cause yer a guest it doesn't mean ya can slack off!"

I grumbled some sort of half-assed response, and rolled out of bed. Opening the door, I saw Applejack looking ready for the day.

"Go clean yerself up, breakfast is almost ready. An' after that, we've got work to do!" She left on that note, prompting a new screen to pop up in my vision.

New daily quest - An apple a day...
Objective: Help around the farm.
Reward: +10 XP, +5 Bits

Well... that was a way to get money and XP without going out to steal and/or kill. It was a low pay, but appreciated. Actually, could I increase my physical stats trough training? I understood that my levels would add points to my stats on their own, but could I influence them on my own?

Things to add on my mental list.

I went to clean myself up as I was told, then joined everyone downstairs. There, I met someone new. She was an old lady, with her gray hair kept in a bun, and with a spark in her eyes which showed the youth in her. I assumed that that was the 'granny' Mac warned me about.

"Oh, an' who 're ya?" She asked, getting a look at me. She immediately turned to Applejack. "AJ, ya didn't tell me that ya had yer coltfriend over! Ah didn't know ya even had one!"

Applejack started stuttering, trying to force out words at a speed her mouth wasn't meant to, ending up to sound hilarious. Applebloom cackled at her sister's embarrassment, while Mac didn't seem too impressed and proceeded to place his plate in the sink, leaving presumably to get to work.

I couldn't help but let out a couple snickers myself, while sitting down and grabbing a plate.

"I'm sorry to say that we aren't a couple, ma'am. Your granddaughter just let me spend the night here," I informed the older woman, after which I stated eating. "Apple fritter! This might actually be a good day."

"Oh, I thought it was sumthin' of the sort, sonny. Ah jus' couldn't not take the chance to mess with lil' AJ here."

"Call it a gut feeling, but I believe we'll get along quite well, ma'am."

"Oh, none of that formal stuff! Call me Granny Smith! E'ryone does!"

The rest of the morning was relatively peaceful: tending to crops, feeding animals, tilling the fields for the next crops. It was relaxing, in a mind-numbing way. Sure, the sun started grating on my nerves after a while, but I pulled trough. All the hard work helped, though. You see, my theory was correct. I could, in fact, increase my stats with training.

I sat on a barrel, panting hard. My arms were burning, and fingers were shaking.

I rested for about ten minutes, doing my best to bring my breathing under control again. Apparently my HP regeneration affected also my fatigue, as slowly but surely I was feeling much better. After another five minutes, I felt as good as new.

A small screen popped up in the lower left corner of my vision.

Working your muscles until they collapsed increased your STR by 1!

Expending all of your stamina increased your VIT by 1!

I grinned. If getting gains was so easy now, I could go on indefinitely, getting stronger with every break!

Of course, if I had no skills, then it would be a problem in the long run. Call it a hunch, but for what I knew of games, I wouldn't have much until the true shitstorm began.

"Alright, back to work."

With all the grueling farm work, my STR went up by three in total, and VIT increased by two.

Quest complete - An apple a day…
Rewards: +10 XP, +5 Bits

I grinned a bit, and finished lunch.

The Apple family was a very nice bunch… except for one, but I could see where he was coming from. Still, it didn't feel right to leech off of them for too long. Also, I needed the XP. Quests and fighting, to my knowledge, were my only ways of increasing my power in a substantial way.

It irritated me, but I hadn't much of a choice: I would have to return to the Everfree later on. Possibly at night.

For the half-day I had, instead, I wanted to try to learn magic. It may be wasted effort, but let's put it this way: I learned stealth without having a rouge class. Who said I couldn't learn magic without a mage class?

The written language had become a non-issue, as in my room I'd found some books that I could, in fact, read. At first it was the usual jumbled mess, but a moment after everything seemed to snap into place, and I could read perfectly. A message popped up in front of me, telling me that something called a "translation matrix" was back online, and apologizing for the inconvenience.

I excused myself from the table, and directed myself into town, looking for a public library. Not too long after, I was standing in front of a gigantic tree, with a door and windows on it. I could see even a balcony with a telescope poking out, so I assumed someone lived there, probably on the higher floors.

From what I was told, the library should have been open at that hour, so I knocked and let myself in.

"Hello? May I come in?" I asked, as I stepped inside. One could never be too safe. The walls were chock-full of books, and in the middle was a round table with some chairs around it.

Someone popped their head out from a door on the side of the room. It was a kid, about 14/15 years old, with wild green hair and purple eyes.

"Can I help you?" He asked back.

I shrugged. "Well, I suppose so. I was looking for some books on magic."

The kid gave me a deadpan stare. "About a quarter of the library is about magic. I'll need you to elaborate."

I shuffled awkwardly. "Look, it's a long story. Just get me something about the basics and I'll be out of here."

He quirked a eyebrow at my request, but otherwise showed no outward reaction. He went to a shelf on the back, picked up a book and handed it over to me.

"Bring it back within two weeks, or drop by to let us know that you need more time, mr. Basics." He said after I signed my name on some book I assumed was used as a register.

I wanted to be offended, but he hadn't really done anything wrong, so I replied with: "I'll be sure to do that. Goodbye."

I slipped away, but took the chance to Analyze him at the last moment.

Name: Spike
Age: 15
Species: Drake (+25% effect to fire-based skills, +100% HP & MP)
LV: 12
HP: 1.460/1.460
MP: 1.580/1.580

STR: 11
VIT: 13
DEX: 15
INT: 19
WIS: 22
LUK: 5
CHA: 10

Sheesh. Kid had some low luck on his side. Well, it's not like I could do anything about that, could I?

I was currently sitting under the shade of a tree deep in the orchad, so that no one would disturb me. The title of the book I was given, 'Magic for dummies', had left me quite miffed, but I was surprised that the 'for dummies' series existed even here. I wasn't exactly complaining about that fact, though. The descriptions were detailed enough to let a magical n00b like me understand what we were talking about.

The book talked about what magic was, how to harness it, and how to give it a shape. Such a way to cast, as the book said, was very inefficient, but the high energy cost would help foals (I still narrowed my eyes at reading that, for multiple reasons) increase their control and magical capacity due to the strain; along with lowering the possible damage.

As I could do barely anything with magic, it was best for me to learn step-by-step, like a child. Or foal. Whatever.

The first step was to locate your magical core. That was easier said than done for me, as I had no idea how to go about it.

Then, I had an idea spark in my mind: in many media, a low reserve of magic can be felt to some degree. Thus, if I were to deplete all my mana, or MP, I should've been able to feel some sort of emptiness inside.

Devising a good strategy increased your WIS by 1!

Even the game agreed.

Thus, I brought out my sword, and readied myself to use for the first time a combat skill. Fortunately, just thinking the skill's name was enough to activate it; having to yell it would've been… counterproductive.

Anyway, I could feel my legs and arms filling with energy, propelling me forward extremely fast, at the same time swinging my sword extremely hard. It was over in less then a second, and I was left almost falling down at the sudden deceleration.

Using so many MP in one sitting wasn't something I was used to, and as such I could feel some sort of empty feeling somewhere in my chest. I couldn't exactly pinpoint where, but I knew that I was getting close to my goal.

Another use of Blade Rush and the emptiness gave way to pain. It wasn't incapacitating, but definitely annoying.

I feared using the skill once more, but I needed to see what would happen if my MP got very low.

I crashed down to the ground as soon as the skill cut off, grasping at my chest, slightly above my heart. "I regret everything…" I groaned, while bursts of agonizing pain stretched out from that particular spot.

After several minutes, the pain lessened enough that I could sit up. With some mental math I came to a conclusion: "If I go lower that 70-75%, I feel empty. If I go lower than 50%, it hurts. If it's less than 20%, it becomes agonizing. At this point, if it gets to 10%, I might black out. I don't know what would happen even less than that, but I definitely don't want to try."

With my assessment done, I went back to resting to refill my MP, putting away the sword.

Once I felt ready, I tried to feel out my mana core. It took some tries, but I could feel a light warmth spreading from above my heart to all of my body. The core didn't seem bigger than a peach seed, but then again I knew I had very low MP reserves.

The book detailed that to bring the mana out of one's body, they needed to coax it out, making it follow the body's natural paths.

I tried doing just that, grabbing a small part, but all I succeeded in was moving it a bit, before it slipped out of my 'grip'. I tried again and again, trying different methods until I got it just right. I brought the mana to my hand, and observed what I had done.

My hand was shimmering in a very slight grey tint, almost white. My MP was ticking down slowly, so I went on to follow the book's next step: telekinesis exercises.

I located a pebble, about fifteen grams all in all, and tried to coat it in my magic. I managed to do so. Now came the moment of truth: could I lift it? I could! Well, for a couple seconds, then I had to set it down.

I was ecstatic: I had managed to cast a magic spell on my own! After a lot of pain, sure, but still!

I opened the book again to see what else it would say, but I had apparently finished it without noticing.

Since you learned multiple new things, your INT increased by 3!

New skill learned:
Mana affinity (minimal) - passive - no cost
* You can use some mana, if you concentrate a lot.
* +5% spell damage
* +1 INT

With ever-growing glee, I returned to practicing with my telekinesis, testing my limits and trying to improve my efficiency.

About one and a half hours in, I made a breakthrough: I didn't need to coat the objects fully in mana to make them move! It was enough to coat the underside, like a bowl, and to put some extra mana in the direction I wanted the item to move. That increased my efficiency a lot!

My current limit for lifting was one item, no heavier than one kilogram. I even gained a skill with that!

Telekinesis (minimal) - active - 50 MP/item/minute
* Move things without touching them! Spooky!
* Maximum weight: 1 Kg
* Maximum items: 1

I couldn't keep it up for too long, as even ten minutes was enough to push me to less than half of my reserves.

It would still be a great asset, if used correctly! It could be a diversion, or I could fling something in an opponent's face to disorient them! It was an all-around great skill to have.

Author's Note

So, we've got some more skills, Nick is on the way to get stronger, and be assured that you'll get your dose of action in the next chapter.

Silver out.

Edit: Changed a few details on Nicholas's thoughts, story didn't really change. Fixed a couple typos. Added an explanaition as to why Nicholas could learn when last chapter it was mentioned that he couldn't.

3 - Cue the training montage.

Everyone in the house was asleep, but not me. I was preparing myself for what I had to do.

"Do I absolutely need to kill something? Can I just knock them out? Would the system count it as a win? Possible. But last time it said specifically 'killed'. Would it penalize me for showing mercy?" I shook my head. "No sense in just thinking. I'll have to test it out. If it doesn't work, then I'll just have to suck it up and finish them. They're just animals, anyway."

With my mind made up, I slowly started sneaking outside. Painstakingly, I controlled where I put my weight, doing my best to avoid any creaking floorboards. I breathed only when absolutely needed, and stepped very slowly. Bit by bit, I got more comfortable with that gait, and started to pick up speed. It was definitely slower than a normal walk, but noticeable.

Skill evolved!

Sneak (minimal) -> Sneak (basic)

Sneak (basic) - passive - no cost
* Your movements are quieter and more careful than most.
* +10% chance to be ignored
* +3 DEX

"Huh. Nice."

Soon after, I had left the house, and went on to the edge of the Everfree. Just as I got there, the Game reared its head again.

New quest - Trial by fire
* Objective 1: find a dungeon.
* Objective 2: gain 10 levels.
* Bonus 1: gain 15 levels.
* Bonus 2: level up two classes.

Reward: 150 Bits, 25 Chaos Points
Bonus 1 reward: 50 Bits, 10 Chaos Points, +5 to one stat.
Bonus 2 reward: one (rare) item for the secondary class.

"The rewards are… pretty nice, admittedly. I may as well go after them. Plus, it mentioned a dungeon. If it's like an actual game, it will have endless enemies. Thus, the enemies are probably fake. As such, there shouldn't be problems with me killing them!

With that moral conundrum solved, I readied to take my first step back into the forest. First, though, I remembered something important.

I fished out the 'Beastly medallion', and Analyzed it.

Beastly medallion - Rank: Unique
* An old medallion made of parts better not specified. The mark of a true hunter.
* DUR: Indestructible
* Ench: +20% DMG to beasts

Considering what I was planning to do, it was for the best to wear it momentarily.

With my preparations done, I took a deep dreath to calm my rising apprehension and entered the Everfree.

For a while, I wracked my head, trying to figure out where a dungeon could be.

"So, what is a dungeon? A place with lots of monsters, normally either a structure or a set of caves. There are exceptions, but for now let's go with the main two. I don't know anything about structures around, except for the castle: that's a no. I searched pretty much all of it. The only other possible choice would be something like a den." I clapped my hands. "Let's get tracking!"

While I wasn't a hunter, or anything of the sort, I had an idea of what to look for: broken branches, footprints… excrements, if needed. I was probably missing something, but I didn't have a book about tracking on hand.

I did my best to stay silent, and keep a close eye on my surroundings. Most importantly, I tried to gauge what beings would be at an affordable level for me. Cockatrices, I observed, could petrify with eye contact, so I chose to stay away from those. Manticores… maybe another time.

I wasn't exactly sure about all the beings which lived inside the forest, but I got a surprise when I stumbled upon what seemed to be a very old tree. I was going to turn away, and search in another zone, but a series of sounds caught my attention. I crouched down to hide, and observed the zone. From my 2 o' clock, a group of beings that could only be called wood-wolves poured out from between the trees. From amongst the wolves, a much bigger one emerged. I would say that the normal wolves were between 4' to 4'6" tall, while the big one, probably the leader, was 5'3".

Name: N/A
Age: N/A
Species: Timberwolf (As long as MP remains, the body can repair itself)
LV: 8
HP: 580/580
MP: 470/470

STR: 16
VIT: 18
DEX: 20
INT: 7
WIS: 6
CHA: 3
LUK: 5

Name: Arbore
Age: N/A
Species: Elder Timberwolf (As long as MP remains, the body can repair itself)
LV: 30
HP: 1.860/1.860
MP: 1.750/1.750

STR: 32
VIT: 36
DEX: 40
INT: 25
WIS: 45
CHA: 5
LUK: 2

The elder was way over my capabilities, but the smaller ones could be doable. If they had a den, it might have been registered as a dungeon. In that case, the elder might be the boss.

I made no move, of course. They were way too many for me to even consider. And even then, what would I do? I didn't want to fight them. I was somewhat alright with the dungeons, but this? No.

Meanwhile, the elder had moved closer to the tree, and a soft green light emanated from the tree's roots. The elder leaned down, towards the source of the light. When it pulled back, another timberwolf rose alongside it. I was sure it wasn't there before, so maybe that was how they reproduced? The pack surrounded the new timberwolf, and they started moving.

I didn't want to be left behind, nor did I want to get too close. My best choice was to give them some time, and then follow their tracks. After about a minute, I started moving again.

It took about five minutes of sneaking around, but my luck held up and i found the timberwolves' den. When I got close to it, a new window popped up.

Warning! You are approaching a dungeon!
* Time won't pass inside a dungeon.
* You won't be able to contact anyone outside of the dungeon.
* Recommended level: 8+

Are you sure you want to enter? (Y/N)

I pondered my chances. On one hand, I had some decent equipment. On the other, my level was lower than recommended. But I needed the levels…

I shook my head. I would try, and if things were too hard I would get out, rest, and try again.

I pressed the 'yes' option, and the world shuddered around me. When things calmed down, I found that my surroundings had changed: the trees looked much more ominous, the den's entrance was much bigger, and the sky was barely visible anymore.

You can escape from a Dungeon by leaving its borders, or saying 'Dungeon escape'.

I tested both ways for safety. Once I was sure that they worked, I made my way towards the den. It was dark in there, but my Telekinesis cast enough light to navigate; it wasn't optimal, but I could make do until I had a better way to make some light.

Something moved at my right, and I only had time to put my sword between myself and it, before the timberwolf slammed into me. I was slammed into the ground, wolf following along. The wolf was impaled on my sword, but didn't seem to even notice.

When we'd fallen I had lost concentration on my spell, causing our surroundings to fall into darkness. My sword was stuck in its abdomen, so all I could do was punch the wolf. It barely budged, but it gave me a bit of leverage. I rolled around, shoving the wolf away from me.

I couldn't see my sword, but I could see the timberwolf. It was circling me, waiting for an opening. I took my chance to levitate a pebble, and spotted my sword: it was still stuck inside the wolf. I had an idea.

I flung a stone at the timberwolf. It avoided it, but I expected it; while it dodged I charged it, and threw my strongest kick at its jaw. Its head flew back, and I took the chance to flip the timberwolf on its back. I presses with all my weight on its neck, and pulled out my sword. I kept stabbing and slashing at its body as much as I could, even though I couldn't see it anymore, I kept going only when I didn't feel it move anymore.

And even then, I heard no chime, nor did any notification appear to tell me I had won.

I then remembered what the timberwolves' ability was: they regenerated. I threw an Analyze at the timberwolf underneath my foot.

HP: 217/580
MP: 253/470

I immediately resumed my stabbing. No sense in letting it recover.

It took almost a full minute, but finally the wolf crumbled away.

Battle log
Timberwolf LV: 8 slain
Gained: 75 XP
Class Leveled up! (1 - 3)
+4 STR, +4 VIT, +2 DEX

Well, I definitely felt the increase in power.

...I had a long way to go. At least, with the increased stats I would have less of a problem for when I inevitably tried to fight more of them.

I left the dungeon, rested up, and went in once more.

An hour or so went by like that: get in, kill as many timberwolves as I could manage, get out, rinse and repeat.

Just five wolves had increased my level by three, my status showing:

Name: Nicholas Pascaru
Age: 23
Species: Human (+5% effect to all skills)
Class: Fighter lv 6
LV: 11
HP: 770/770 (+38/min)
MP: 640/640 (+32/min)

STR: 18 (+1) [19]
VIT: 22
DEX: 10 (+3) [13]
INT: 8 (+1) [9]
WIS: 16
LUK: 15
CHA: 5

Killing timberwolves had definitely become much easier, but the lower mobility was a big problem for me. I could get around that somewhat by using Blade rush , but it still bothered me. I also needed a better way to light things up, as it would've been much easier if I had constant light without having to split my attention.

So, I had a new idea: retreat for now, learn a light spell (or buy a lantern), and return at a later date. I had no actual time limit on my quest, anyway.

Quest complete - An apple a day…
Rewards: +10 Xp, +5 bits

The morning had gone by without much trouble. Sure, I had slept a bit less than I would've liked, but I could deal with it: I'd listened to lectures while running only on coffee and three hours of sleep more often than I'd want to remember.

Applejack was impressed by my sudden increase in strength, but chalked it off to me having recovered from my time in the forest. I said nothing, and let her believe it. She was too damn observant; why couldn't I have gotten someone more distracted?

No matter. With my work done, some extra coins in my pocket, and one extra STR, I was ready to accomplish my goal for the day. 'Magic for dummies' had nothing more that could help me, so I went to the library to give it back.

This time, it wasn't Spike who answered the door. This time, it was a young woman, about my age. She had long purple hair with a magenta stripe in it, which matched with her eyes. Her glasses gave her a nerdy look, which actually fit her. She was actually pretty cute, all things considered.

"Hello. May I help you?"

"Yes, I wanted to return this book, and if possible borrow a new one."

"Of course, please come in." She gestured for me to get inside. "What kind of book did you need?"

"Well, I needed a spell to light up my surroundings. A torch spell, if you will. If there's more than just that one, I'd also appreciate it."

She adopted a thoughtful expression for a moment, then levitated a book from a higher shelf towards me.

"There it is. 'Utility spells for the adventurous magi'. It has a number of spells that you'll probably find useful. If not, it has what you need at least. Although, I'm curious as to why you would need to learn that one: it's a basic spell, every magi learns it by the time they're ten."

I avoided answering the last part. I just thanked her, and made my way out. That is, after sending an Analyze her way.

Name: Twilight Sparkle
Age: 22
Species: Magi (+25% effect to all magic-related skills, +50% MP)
LV: 38
HP: 2.050/2.050
MP: 4.275/4.275

STR: 15
VIT: 15
DEX: 20
INT: 95
WIS: 15
LUK: 20
CHA: 10

Either a nerd without any common sense, or a mad scientist… neither sounded too good for my health and/or sanity.

The torch spell was so easy to learn that it was downright embarrassing, but at that point I was too stubborn in my desire to learn magic to care.

I picked up also a couple more simple spells, like the 'show me' spell: it pointed me the direction where something was in relation to me. Pretty much a glorified compass, but still useful. The other spell was 'magic blast': the name says it all.

There were a lot more spells on the book, but they required a level of control I lacked. Literally, if I tried I'd get a pop-up saying 'you do not meet the requirements for this spell'. It was either my low INT score, or my low-ranked Mana affinity .

Well, nothing to be done about it for now.

I'd recovered some sleep in the afternoon, so I was fine to go again that night. It went much easier, with me able to see my enemies. Sure, I was not a seasoned fighter in any way, but I could swing a sword and hit things. It got much easier when I reached level 10, as I gained a new skill and my Sword mastery increased in rank.

Drain stab - active - 75 MP
* Healing trough suffering.
* DMG×1.5
* Half of DMG is added to your HP

Sword mastery (basic) - passive - no cost
* You can swing a sword with decent coordination.
* +10% damage with swords
* +3 STR

With the extra damage, and the chance to heal myself, fighting timberwolves became so much easier! I decided to change classes too, so that I could increase some other stats. Magic fuckery, here I come!

Class set to: Mage
Skills gained:

Mana affinity (minimal) - passive - no cost
* You can use some mana, if you concentrate a lot.
* +5% spell damage
* +1 INT
[Skill already obtained! Changed to +1 INT!]

Telekinesis (minimal) - active - 50 MP/item/minute
* Move things without touching them! Spooky!
* Maximum weight: 1 Kg
* Maximum items: 1
[Skill already obtained! Changed to +1 INT!]

Well, that was a letdown. But I wasn't going to say no to extra points, anyway.

Another hour and several levels later, my quest was finally complete!

Quest complete - Trial by fire
Gained: +150 bits, +25 Chaos points
Bonus 1: +50 bits, +10 Chaos points, +5 to one stat
Bonus 2: Focal ring

Focal ring - Rank: Uncommon
* A ring made to help newbies to the arcane arts focus their magic.
* DUR: 20/20
* Ench: Focus (spell effect ×2)

Congratulations on exceeding level 20! From now you can use Chaos points! They have various uses: you can get 5 extra stat points by spending one Cp, you can improve your skills with them, or you can spend them to create new skills (only those that you can't learn from leveling up, though).

Firstly I put the extra five points into DEX, as I really needed more mobility, then thought on how to use the Chaos points…

It seemed that I could only improve rank-less skills, so my Sword mastery, for example, was off-limits. Looking over my skills, I decided to improve Drain stab and Mana blast for 10 Chaos points each and leave the remaining 25 for later use.

Drain stab (+1) - active - 300 MP

Healing trough suffering.
DMG ×6
Half of DMG is added to HP

Mana blast (+1) - active - 100 MP

A war-mage's best friend.
DMG: (INT)×4

With two overpowered skills at my disposal I felt much better about my chances, both in the dungeon and in future. Sure most of the populace had the raw stats to take me on and wreck me, but I operated on game logic, so as long as my damage output was big enough it wouldn't be a problem.

I was walking back to the farm to catch some more sleep, but a new window popped up in front of me.

Well, I'll be damned kid! You really went all-out in this short time! I'm impressed, honestly. Now, pleasantries aside, I told you not even four days ago to not trust the denizens of this world, and what do you do? You move in with them!

I'm disappointed. What could have possibly possessed you to do such a thing?

While I was glad that the entity was back, I was a tad miffed. "What else was I supposed to do? Take my chances in the Everfree, where so many things could kill me? I know what you told me, but what other chance did I have? And besides, who even are you? You may say you're an ally, but you could be some random villain using me as a pawn for all I know."

Hm… I suppose that you're not entirely wrong, you're still a mortal after all. And as for me being the good guy… I'm not, plain and simple. I'm not exactly evil either, though.

You need to understand how this world works in a metaphysical sense. The two main forces in this world are Harmony and Chaos… cliché, I know, but bear with me here. Most beings here on Equus try to maintain Harmony, but just don't seem to understand that chaos is just another part of the world, labeling it and all that comes with it with 'evil'. Normally, I wouldn't concern myself with their opinion, but as it happens I am kinda stuck as a garden ornament, and Harmony is going rampant. I can't do much here, but I could muster the energy to call another chaotic entity here… it seems I had to be more specific, as I didn't summon a chaotic being, but a being that thrives in chaos.

Bah, same difference. Point still stands: you need to cause enough Chaos to counterbalance Harmony. At least until I can get out and return to my job. Of course, you could choose not to, but that would spell doom for the world. Take it as you will.

I shuddered at the last line. I didn't trust this being entirely, but... did I really want to take my chances? No.

"That's all well and good, but… what does 'causing chaos' entail? I mean, what am I supposed to do?"

Ugh… I'll have to guide you trough this, don't I? Fine. As a general guideline, whatever you'd consider 'abnormal', or even 'illegal' works. I'll even throw in an incentive.

Before I could even ask what the incentive was, a quest appeared in front of me.

New quest - Rules are meant to be broken
* Objective: Cause as much chaos as possible within one week.
* Bonus: Throw a whole town into chaos.

Reward: Bits and Chaos points depending on your actions.
Bonus Reward: 10 levels spread randomly throughout your active classes.

I hummed. The deal seemed good, but there was one detail that we hadn't touched upon.

"And when am I going back home?"

Ok, how about this: you do as we agreed, then, when I'm free and if you still want to, I'll send you back home. I'm a God of Chaos, but I'm also a man of my word.

Without much else to go on other than the 'God''s word, I had to take his promise.

"One last thing. What should I call you by? Say, if I had a question for you?"

Every 'pony' calls me Discord. You can do that too, I suppose. Although, I'd prefer 'your Godliness', 'Lord of all things Chaos', or even 'Master'.

My face sharpened at his implied request. "I refuse."

Wha-

"The thing I love most to do is to say no to those who believe they have power over me. So I will not by calling you by any of those self-appointed titles. Now, I am off to sleep."

Either Discord had remained baffled by my impertinence or he just didn't care, as he did not respond anymore, letting me go back to sleep easily.

Author's Note

Took a while, but it's here. Finished it just this morning, in fact.
...I honestly never planned out too much of this story, and what little I did seems to be far from where this story is going... I'll have to change the summary later on.

Edit: Fixed some formatting and typos. Nick's discussion with Discord was altered a bit, and so were parts of Nick's thought process. Now that this is over with, I can write the new chapter without problems.

4- Chaos inbound

A new day, and a new objective to plan for.

I needed to cause chaos, but how would I go about it in order to not get myself in trouble?

Spread rumors? Nah, that wasn't my style, plus it could get traced back to me pretty easily.

Stealing stuff? Maybe, but let's put that as an emergency plan. Unless I stole something valuable and high-profile, there wouldn't be much chaos to be had there, and I didn't feel like getting thrown in jail.

Could I sabotage public buildings? That would be possible with some Rogue levels, and if I was careful no one would know it was me, nor should they be harmed… badly.

I'd need both a lot of DEX and LUK to pull it off, though. Hopefully the Rogue class would give me what I needed.

I had also the perfect way to test what stats it would give me! I quickly equipped the class, waving away the skill alerts after taking note of them.

Class set to: Rogue
Skills gained:

Sneak (minimal) - passive - no cost
* Your movements are slightly quieter and more careful than most.
* +5% chance to be ignored
* +1 DEX
[Skill already obtained! Changed to +1 DEX!]

Dagger mastery (minimal) - passive - no cost
* You can use a dagger with some coordination.
* +5% damage with daggers
* +1 DEX

Nothing unexpected about those. Now, all I had to do was complete both my daily quest and another one. It should be easy enough to find someone to help around town.

The day was starting off on a bad note for the Apples. And for me too I suppose, since Big Mac fell right on top of me while he was fixing the barn's roof. Took about half of my HP, too.

Then again, I could recover easily. Mac, on the other hand, found himself stranded on his bed and unable to work, bue to injuring his arm when falling. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if I were lazy) Granny Smith prohibited me from working as well, sustaining that "Ya don' want a back like mine! So when Ah tell ya to stay put ya stay put!"

Applejack was pretty apologetic about the whole thing, and wanted to 'make it up to me'... get your head out of the gutter. She's pretty and all, but I'm not interested. I waved off her concerns. Sure, it could've been useful to have her feel indebted to me, but then she would've ended up prying into my business more.

At least the daily quest was considered complete, allowing me to get some of that oh-so-important XP.

After a few minutes bargaining with Granny Smith, I convinced her I felt good enough to head into town. It was… harder than expected. That woman was very stubborn, let me tell you. At least I had my chance to find another little quest, and to scour around the town for some possible targets.

I kept my eyes and ears open for any chance, while observing the buildings, hoping for some kind of fallacy I could take advantage of. I came up with only one possible target: the town Hall. The roof didn't seem very sturdy, so a few touches would do the trick. I could possibly rig it so that it would be even more precarious, but not broken just yet. That way I'd have a chance to be somewhere completely different when it eventually broke.

...I'd also have to make it untraceable back to me.

Who knew, maybe one day I'd be able to teleport and do stuff in other places, that way they wouldn't have a chance to pin it on me.

Actually, I could spend Chaos Points to buy skills! So, how much would a teleportation skill cost?

[Teleport] is not a purchasable skill. Required Mage LV: 80

I was so getting that.

Ahem, moving on. In the end, I couldn't find a side-quest. I wondered if it was because of my low LUK, and remembered a quick fix to it: I could exchange 1 Chaos point for 5 Stat points. I quickly used 5 Chaos Points, bringing my LUK to 40. I hoped that with that I would've been able to find something.

Nothing seemed to be changing, so it appeared I'd been duped. Just great!

...I should've put those points into DEX. What was the saying? Live and regret? No? Well, it fit in that case.

With that idea down the drain, I started heading back to plan my next move. My thoughts were interrupted by a shrill scream and a rumble in the ground.

"STAMPEDE!" Someone screamed, with people diving left and right, doors being slammed, and the rumble getting louder.

A big cloud of dust appeared in the distance, and I just realized I was left alone in the middle of the road.

"Shit!" I yelled, as I got out of the way. Just in time, too, as the bunch of cows passed by me. I turned around just in time to get a glimpse of Applejack running behind them fast enough to keep up.

"Wait, wha- no, they aren't really human. I need to remember that." I moved away trough the side streets, trying to find something that could help in my plan tonight.

+5 Chaos points for causing a stampede trough town! (In an indirect manner)

"...wut."

You were supposed to fix the cow's fence today, but you didn't! So a snake got inside, the cows got scared, and the rest is history.

I wouldn't really award you just for that, but I chose to be nice this once and give you a push in the right direction.

"Thanks, I guess?"

Oh, one last thing. If you're planning to sneak around, you should look into some gear for it. Bye bye!

Discord was very weird, but he was useful when he felt like it.

So, I needed sneaking gear: dark clothes, gloves, a mask, and maybe another pair of shoes. Where would I find those? I couldn't buy them, as it would be suspicious as fuck, so illicit ways it had to be. At least my inventory would make stealing stuff hella easy. I still wasn't a fan of the idea, to be honest, but I was already planning to destroy public property: what was stealing some clothes when compared to that?

Even though multiple people pointed me to one Rarity woman, I heard also of an actual shop, which was definitely more up my alley.

When I entered the shop, whose name I didn't bother reading, I noticed there weren't any people other than me and the woman at the counter, who was looking royally bored. She did perk up when I came in, though.

"Welcome to Quick Threads! Can I help you?"

I pondered quickly if having her around was a good idea: on one hand, if I said no she might keep her eyes on me, so I couldn't pick up stuff that easily. If I said yes, I'd have her around, but I might be able to distract her.

"Why yes, actually. I was looking to expand my wardrobe a bit, and I'd appreciate some suggestions."

She snapped her fingers, giving me a cheeky grin. "I've got some things that would look amazing on ya, give me a moment!" She excused herself, heading in the back of the shop.

Perfect! As soon as she was gone, I went to look for the stuff i needed, and tossed it quickly in my inventory… I was actually going to pay the rest of the clothes, though. No reason to take more than I needed, after all. The lass didn't really deserve that monetary loss, and it would be a better alibi if it came to that.

On an unrelated note, the clothes I picked up actually gave a small bonus.

Black sweater (male) - Rank: Common
* Made of wool, will keep you warm.
* 5% less chance to be noticed at night
* -5 ice damage

Black sweatpants (male) - Rank: Common
* Great for working out in the cold.
* 5% less chance to be noticed at night
* -5 ice damage

Black beanie - Rank: Common
* Classic winter wear.
* 5% less chance to be noticed at night
* -5 ice damage

Black scarf - Rank: Common
* It's a scarf. It's black. It's made of wool. 'Nuff said.
* 5% less chance to be noticed at night
* -5 ice damage

Black gloves - Rank: Common
* Descriptions are boring.
* 5% less chance to be noticed at night
* -5 ice damage

While I waited for the woman to come back, I picked up a few other clothes to buy.

When she came back she had me try a few different things, giving comments for each of them. In the end, I took a few clothes with a small CHA boost, and a nice pair of fingerless gloves. They even added a little more 'oomph' to my punches!

The total came to 200 bits exactly, which was unfortunately almost all I had… I felt it was worth it. I said goodbye to the woman, and got out of there. With my bags in hand I returned to the farm, had lunch, and left once more. I had enough hours to grind some levels.

Well, I could only say one thing: Drain Stab is OP. Really, just one hit almost one-shotted a timberwolf, and that was while counting their regeneration! They just kept going down like flies!

Name: Nicholas Pascaru
Age: 23
Species: Human (+5% effect to all skills)
Class: Rogue lv 13
LV: 34
HP: 2000/2000 (+60/min)
MP: 1960/1960 (+42/min)

STR: 27 (+3) [30]
VIT: 30
DEX: 61 (+3) (+1) [65]
INT: 25 (+1) [26]
WIS: 21
LUK: 52
CHA: 17

Skills gained:

Sneak (Basic) - passive - no cost
* Your movements are quieter and more careful than most.
* +10% chance to be ignored
* +3 DEX
[Skill already obtained! Changed to +3 DEX!]

Lockpick (Minimal) - passive - no cost
* You picked up the bare minimum of lockpicking.
* Unlock Easy locks 100% of the time
* Unlock Simple locks 50% of the time
* Unlock Intermediate locks 25% of the time
* Unlock Complex locks 10% of the time
* Unlock Hard locks 5% of the time
* Unlock Expert locks 1% of the time

Yep, that was a lot of XP. Now, I needed lockpicks. Some clips I 'borrowed' from around the house would do the trick.

Although... I didn't feel confident in my ability just yet.

"Ok, fine. Tomorrow night, I'll be back. Get the next set of Rogue skills, and then go mess up that roof. No need to rush."

The next morning...

Applejack and I were lugging the cart over to the town, but we had to stop to let some kids pass. The problem was, that they didn't move. Instead, they stopped right in front of us, yelling excitedly something or the other about one 'Trixie' person. They seemed to be fans of hers for whatever reason. They left soon after, and Applejack was left flabbergasted by their words.

Me, on the other hand, barely registered she hadn't started to move yet and tried to pull the cart. A futile endeavor, considering that most of the strength used to pull the cart was hers. I turned over to her, confused.

"Why are we still here? Weren't we supposed to set up the stall, or something?" I asked.

My words seemed to snap Applejack out of whatever funk she was in. "Oh, yeah right." She started pulling again. "Say, ain't ya curious?"

I quirked my eyebrow. "About what?"

She narrowed her eyes to me a bit. "This Trixie showmare the colts were talkin' about. Made 'er sound like she's the best thing since Zap Apples. Weren't ya listenin'?"

I shrugged, my eyes half-closed. "Not really. Too sleepy to care. Still don't know why I should care."

She took a moment to consider my words. "Fair 'nuff," she muttered, and we returned to lugging around the cart.

We'd arrived at the market, but apparently we were either too early or no one had decided to come today. Really, it was deserted: not one stall nor person. Applejack seemed as perplexed as me, so it was definitely out of the norm.

"Wonder where everypony could be," she muttered.

"Methinks they're somewhere over there," I said as I pointed over the flashes of light coming sporadically from a few streets away.

And so we went to check it out, after securing the produce and the cart.

When we got there, we found a crowd of people staring at a stage. On the stage, was a woman dressed in a very... provocative show-woman attire, who was manipulating an astral bear of some sort, possibly an illusion, and telling a story. Either a travelling storyteller or just a display of illusions... maybe both?

"Analyze"

Name: Trixie Lulamoon
Age: 24
Species: Magi (+25% effect to all magic-related skills, +50% MP)
LV: 23
HP: 1.320/1.320
MP: 1.835/2.160

STR: 15
VIT: 17
DEX: 19
INT: 29
WIS: 27
LUK: 10
CHA: 33

About what I'd expected at that point, really: high intelligence and wisdom to make the illusions and control them easily, and high charisma to enthrall the public. Pretty fitting for a show-woman who specialized in magic... or was she a showmare, going by the equine terminology that seemed to be the norm here?

Well, no matter. She was good at her job, and I found myself hanging by every word she said, weaving the tale of a great battle she had supposedly won against the astral bear... I doubted it, but who cared? She was doing an impressive job nonetheless.

Unfortunately it seemed that very few shared my opinion, as people were grumbling. In particular, I noticed AJ's discussion with some other girls, who I assumed to be her friends.

"Ah'm tellin' ya, that sounds like a buncha hooey to me."

And I immediately lost interest. Didn't they get that it was a scripted performance? It was obviously fake, that was the idea in the first place! Tsk. Numbskulls, the lot of them.

I returned to watching the performance, wondering what this Trixie person would do next.

Author's Note

Yes, I'm alive.

I've been editing a bit the previous chapters, if you missed it. Not too much to mention, you can just read the notes I left at the end of the A/N for those chapters.

Well, I could've written more, but I decided I'd left you waiting enough. So, I cut off here, and will rewatch 'Boast busters' again just to be safe. I may mess up without it.

So, see you all next time I suppose.

5 - One boss, one kill

"Well, well, well. It seems we have some neigh-sayers In the audience. Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie?" The performer began, pacing along the stage. "Do they not know that they are in the presence of the most talented Magi in all of Equestria?!"

The situation was getting worse, as several people were muttering stuff. Trixie definitely caught wind of those idiots' words.

"Let's be real. That Twilight girl had around double the amount of raw magic this woman has. Talent without the raw magical pool can only get you so far. Even I have just a bit less magic than her! ...Well, I'm kinda cheating." Absorbed as I was in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed that the show-woman had issued a challenge to the audience.

What I did notice, was that I couldn't see Applejack around me anymore. In fact, she had stepped up onto the stage and started performing tricks with her lasso, finishing her small performance by pulling an apple from a tree and taking a bite out of it.

"Top that, missy!" She taunted.

I honestly didn't think she could: from what I'd seen, even with telekinesis you'd need a big amount of coordination. She might've had it, sure, but she didn't strike me as such. She seemed to be an illusionist more than anything.

...Or at least I thought so until I saw AJ get hogtied by her own rope.

"So that's how she's going to play it? humiliate others? That's just pitiful. I'm out." I turned around and marched away, not interested anymore in the scene. "What should I do with my time, I wonder? Maybe work out a bit? I could use the extra stats. Now that I think about it, the stealing plan might not be without merit-" That was as far as my thoughts went, before a certain stage magician interrupted me.

"And who dares turn their back to the Great and Powerful Trixie? Are you perhaps scared, now that Trixie has shown how superior she is to you poor little hayseeds? Maybe-" This time it was my turn to cut her off.

"Ok, you're really getting on my nerves now. Not only does your modus operandi for hecklers consist of publicly humiliating others, now you also have to go and taunt others for not wanting to take part in it?" I started making my way back, glaring at the dumb girl. "I was enjoying your show at first, you know. I never had much experience with magic, so even just this was a novelty for me. But you just had to go and ruin the experience for those who were actually liking it!" At some point in my rant, I'd jumped on the stage, and was towering over her, menacingly.

"Yeah, tell her!" Came from the audience. I quickly turned around, spotting the culprit. It was, unsurprisingly, one of Applejack's friends.

Really, she was a smart woman. Why would she choose such imbeciles to hang out with?

I pointed over to the winged girl hovering a meter or so off the ground, directing my glare at her. "I have words for you all as well! Just wait until I'm done with her!" I turned back to Trixie. "I'd like to think you can be reasonable, so I'm giving you two choices. One, you apologize for your rudeness to the public and we go on with our lives. Or two, I'll have to knock some humility in you, and then you apologize."

Trixe didn't say anything for a while, but after a moment she started whispering. "Trixie is really sorry for this situation, but Trixie can't just drop the façade now! If the public were to see the true Trixie, her reputation would plummet! Is there really no alternative?"

My anger dropped severely when I saw her state. She was trembling lightly, craning her neck up to look at me, but fatiguing to look at me in the eye. "Dammit, what's going on with me lately? She's just a girl trying to do her job! But I can't just stop now, can I?"

"Fine then," I whispered back. "I suppose I've exaggerated too. How about this: you smack me away with some magic, and then we duel a bit? I'll hold back, but make it seem real, ok?"

I got a hesitant nod back, and then felt a force pushing on my stomach, flinging me to the side. I regained my footing in time to not fly off the stage.

"So that's how you want it?" I taunted, my hands lighing up with magic. "Let's dance."

I let a Mana Blast fly, though I did my best to use as little mana as possible when doing so. The effect was that the blast was much thinner than usual, to the point where Trixie's own blast completely overpowered mine. I made a show of being surprised, and barely being able to get out of the way in time.

Trixie was actually no slouch, it seemed, as whe kept up the pressure easily with multiple blasts. When I dodged all she threw, an even started taking potshots, she added some variety. I was pretty sure most of those spells were just illusions, but I still did my outmost to avoid them.

Just as I jumped to avoind a red blast, I was met with another hit to the chest. This one had enough force to send me flying a few meters, though I wasn't really hurt.

I pretended to hold my chest in pain, and got up. I looked at Trixie for a moment, and then laughed. The onlookers seemed curious as to my actions.

"You know, I was wrong. I suppose that your bragging has to come from somewhere, and we just witnessed the proof. I'd say that you've definitely won this time. But I'm telling you!" I pointed to her with my free hand "I'll be back for a rematch!"

Trixie puffed up her chest, and turned up her nose haughtily. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will show you just how outmatched you are as many times as needed. But for today, the show is over ponies! Please come back tomorrow!" And so, she disappeared, a burst of smoke covering her retreat.

I made to turn away and leave, but I found my path blocked by a powerful pair of arms.

"An' where do ya think yer goin'? Don'tcha think ya owe us an explanaition?" Applejack sounded... rather angry. That wouldn't spell anything good for me.

"That's fair. But... can we not do it here?" I asked, hoping to prolong my time so I could come up with an excuse.

+2 Chaos Points for causing a big scene in a public place! (Big fan of your acting, have you considered a career on the big screen?)

"Fuck off."

As soon as the library's door closed I let go of all pretenses, and walked to the center of the room on my own, looking back to the others when I stopped.

"Wait, wait, wait," began Rainbow Dash, as my Analyze identified her, "you were pretending the whole time?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry to have made you worry, but I had to do it-" I put my hands up, signaling the horde of ladies to wait "-let me explain. You see, that Trixie woman is a performer. Her main way to attract audience is to brag, and spin grand tales: it's a penchant of many others in this line of work. Admittedly, humiliating you was the wrong way to react, but you are no better." I pointed at the group. "Stage performers of all sorts tend to embellish the truth, if not outright lie. You should have seen it coming."

Most of the girls looked offended at my words, as if I'd said unspeakable things about their mothers.

"Um... I think I understand..." Said a quiet voice from the group.

The rest of the girls turned to the owner of the voice: a pink-haired avian called Fluttershy. She didn't seem to be a fan of the attention, as she shrunk into herself as soon as our gazes turned to her.

"Yeah, I get where he's coming from too." added Spike. I honestly hadn't noticed the lad until now. He moved to stand next to Fluttershy. "She was putting up a performance, and we were very rude in interrupting like that. Even though she may very well have been lying, it doesn't make us any better than her to crash her performance like that-" He turned to the girl next to him "-right, Fluttershy?"

The pink-haired girl gave a more convinced nod, visibly glad to have someone else on her side.

"Glad we got that figured out. Now, if you will excuse me-" I went for the door, but was stopped again by an arm around my midsection.

"That still ain't explainin' why ya had ta go an' fight the gal."

I shrugged. "Had to come up with something to preserve her reputation and give her a reason to get away from everyone. That was the first thing that came to mind." I squirmed a bit. "Now, don't we have apples to sell or something?"

The arm lingered for a moment, before letting go. I heard a sigh behind me. "Fair 'nuff. See ya later, gals. Gotta make sure this numbnut doesn't get in any more trouble."

With that, we were finally off.

The rest of the day went by rather smoothly, if awkwardly. Applejack tended to most of the sales, though I did manage to sell a little bit and got 1 point in CHA for my trouble. After packing up, we pulled the cart back to the farm (+1 STR), took a quick lunch, and I excused myself.

Now, I was wondering what to do. I could train my physical stats, or try to study some more spells. As it stood, I really wanted some more magic. Thus, I started my usual slew of trial and error when it came to magic.

New skills learned:
Ember - active - 50 MP
* A weak fire spell used to start campfires
* DMG=(INT)/4
* 10% chance to inflict [Burn] status

Fire affinity (minimal) - passive - no cost
* Try not to get burned, ok?
* +5% Fire magic damage
* +1 INT

The spell was nice, certainly, but... weak. Was it worth to use my CP on it?

...who was I kidding? It was fire magic, of course it was worth it.

Ember (+1) - active - 200 MP
* A weak fire spell used to start campfires
* DMG=(INT)
* 20% chance to inflict [Burn] status

I still needed to cause chaos in the city, but with the little scene I caused in the middle of the town today I didn't feel like attracting attention to me any more than needed: I'd go get some more levels that night and then, just before returning, I would do some damage around town.

As one would expect of wooden beings, the timberwolves were very weak to fire: so much so, that as soon as their HP dropped to 0, they wouldn't regenerate anymore. It simplified my life by a lot, so I didn't complain. It was going so well, in fact, that I decided to keep pressing and conquer the dungeon. I'd been waiting for too long.

The labyrinthine structure of the den would have been difficult to navigate, but with my Compass spell it was beyond easy. Soon, I found myself in front of a great entrance, much bigger than the rest of the corridors: definitely the boss room. Before entering, I checked my equipment and stats again, just to be safe.

My magisteel sword was clutched in my hand, and I was wearing the Punk Gloves on, just for added safety. My Beastly Medallion was tucked under my shirt, and my stats were looking pretty good, all things considered.

Name: Nicholas Pascaru
Age: 23
Species: Human (+5% effect to all skills)
Class: Fighter LV: 13
LV: 43
HP: [2.510/2.510]
HPR: [74/min]
MP: [2.540/2.540]
MPR: [50/min]

STR: 34 (+3) [37]
VIT: 36
DEX: 77 (+3) (+1) [78]
INT: 38 (+1) (+1) [40]
WIS: 25
LUK: 54
CHA: 20

My stats were rather biased towards DEX and LUK, but what could I do about them, really?

Anyways, on my way to the boss room I'd taken the chance to increase all of my classes: Rogue was at 15, Fighter at 13, and Mage at 10. Mage's tenth level increased Telekinesis' rank, increasing how many items and how much weight I could lift: still rather low, but better than before.

The most important thing was the spell I was casting on myself just now:

Oakflesh - active - 500 MP
* Strengthen your skin, be one with the wood.
* Take 25% less damage for one minute

There was no outward effect, except for a slight shimmer to my skin for a few seconds, but I could feel the change: my flesh 'contracted', becoming tougher and yet not blocking my movement in any way. It was disorienting, but I managed to get used to it after a couple of times using it.

With my preparations complete, I stepped in the room.

Looking at it, it was more of a cave, and less of a room. Stalactites and stalagmites extended from the ceiling and floor, making it look like I was stepping into the jaws of a predator. Inside, the cave was much bigger than I'd anticipated. I didn't need to create light here, as several luminous fungi served that purpose well enough. The ceiling and walls were riddled with roots, creating a chaotic weave that was in some way still pleasing. From the gaps in the roots, more fungi appeared. The floor, instead, was littered with leaves of all shapes and sizes.

And in the middle of all that, stood the elder.

Name: Arbore
Age: N/A
Species: Elder Timberwolf (As long as MP remains, the body can repair itself)
LV: 30
HP: 1.860/1.860
MP: 1.750/1.750

STR: 32
VIT: 36
DEX: 40
INT: 25
WIS: 45
CHA: 5
LUK: 2

I was overleveled for this, really.

Arbore and I kept observing each other, neither making the first move. It high INT probably meant that it could speak, but even if it did, it knew that I was not going to negotiate.

Neither was it, apparently, as it immediately lunged at me. For others, that would've been unavoidable and it would've spelled their death... not me, though. I made use of my full speed and used Blade Rush.

I reappeared behind Arbore, and heard scrambling behind me. I turned, and threw my free hand into a punch. The timberwolf didn't seem to register the hit, though it was enough to knock it off-course. Before it righted itself, I cast Ember at it.

I might as well have not done it, for all the good it did.

My attacks didn't seem like they were doing much damage, so I had to pull out the big guns. I stepped closer to the wolf, thanks to my DEX which was about twice its own, and used Drain Stab. Normally I'd have used that skill as an emergency heal, but with its defenses I needed something stronger.

My sword pierced precisely through the wolf's midsection, spilling yellow-green sap all over the floor.

I wondered: was this sap flammable? I just had to try. Thus, another Ember was cast.

Critical hit!

The resulting flames were absolutely beautiful.

Oh, and so was the HP slowly ticking down. I'd inflicted a Severe Burn to Arbore, so it was suffering quite a lot. It still hadn't given up, though, and a glow came from its body... aside from the fire, that is. The eerie green glow surrounding the wolf caused it to grow big, way bigger than me. At the apex of its growth it stood around ten feet tall, and was peering down at me with fire all over its back. Not a pleasant sight.

I jumped back as fast as I could, narrowly avoiding a bite.

"It got faster... but is MP is dropping even faster. I just need to play this defensively." With that plan in my mind, I kept dodging.

Claws, bites, charges. Arbore tried all that, and then more, but it was useless. The fire was weakening it as it went, and I was always a step ahead of it. I managed to get another couple of nicks in with my sword, before it finally collapsed. The flames covered almost all of its body, only part of its face being spared for now.

It looked at me with its glowing eye, the light slowly fading. It spoke, in a wizened and raspy voice.

"What... what are you? What are you, who hunts our kin so savagely?"

It would've been a great moment for a one-liner, to proclaim a new title for myself. But I couldn't come up with anything. I stepped closer to the timberwolf, and gripped my sword tighter.

"The dead have no right to ask questions." I swung my sword down, ending the old wolf once and for all.

Just as the head stopped rolling and the flames simmered down, notifications appeared in my sight.

Battle log
Elder Timberwolf: Arbore LV: 30 slain!
Gained: 925 XP
Class: Fighter leveled up! (13 - 16)
+6 STR, +6 VIT, +3 DEX

You have completed the [Timberwolf] dungeon!
You gained +5 to all your stats!

"...I expected something better. Maybe a little more fanfare, or a cool item. Oh, well. Now I need to find myself a better place to train at. Great." I began trudging out of the dungeon. Before I could go far, another notification popped up.

Warning: leaving the dungeon without obtaining the boss' [Magic core] will result in its permanent loss.
Leave anyway? [Y/N]

I blinked. So there was something else to be gained. Immediately, I turned around and started poking through Arbore's body. Or rather, the pile of charcoal that was left in its place. After a few seconds, I found the stone. It was about as big as my fist, and radiating a pale blue light.

I picked up the stone carefully, avoiding the last few dying embers. I turned the stone this way and that, trying to work out what I was supposed to do with it. Discord's Game came to my aid once again.

You have found a Magic core! Will you assimilate it? [Y/N]

Without thinking, I pressed 'yes'. The stone shattered, and my head felt on fire like I'd never felt before. I clutched the sides of my head in agony, fearing that it may explode if it were to hurt even a tad more.

After an hour, or maybe a minute, the pain lessened. It was still there, but I could think again without much of a problem.

"Why do I do these kinds of things to myself?" I wondered.

When the pain finally left, one last notification appeared.

Skill assimilated:
Nature's wrath - active - 1% MP/second
* The primal energy of the world at your call.
* Multiplies your physical stats by 1.5
* Cannot be upgraded

New class unlocked: Druid (prerequisite: Mage LV MAX)

Author's Note

Yes, it's late. No, I don't have an excuse.

I hope you enjoyed this.