Trials of a VRMMO Healer

Chapter 3 - Empty Nest

I wasn't entirely sure how to go about clearing out the scorpion nest, so I decided my next in-game day would be dedicated to doing some prep work. While I could sleep in-game, I decided to leave my avatar sleeping and eat some lunch and general deal with some real world stuff. I had to force myself to avoid reading any guides. I had a few ideas to check out once I was bad in EO, though. It was evening when I logged back in, which meant the shops were closed. The common room was packed with villagers, though, including the man who had greeted me earlier that day.

"Hey, you all need to stop looking so surprised to see me every time I come back," I told him, though I tried to give him a grin to let him know I was just joking.

"Sorry, Miss, it's just you're the first one to stick with us this long. Travelers, they usually go to the bigger cities to start, or at least to towns more prosperous than Ourth. We don't even have a guildhouse here. When we do get some, the scorpions drive them away."

"Is it that bad? Can't you get the military to clear them out, or post a quest or something?"

"We'd need to get through the pass to do that and it's been weeks since we've been able to. We tried asking Travelers to ask for us, but I don't know if none of them made it or none of them took the quest, because they're still here. Military? Pah. They don't care about us, 'specially not to send soldiers to deal with creatures as dangerous as them scorpions."

"I suppose they're pretty dangerous, though honestly, I don't know how dangerous most monsters are."

"Hm. I'd reckon they're about the most dangerous you're liable to run into in the countryside. In the deep forests or dungeons or such, well, that's another matter. And there's the wandering calamity monsters, of course, but really, it's just bad luck we got a nest so close to the road. A few traders have made it past, with Traveler escorts, but no Travelers would fight any more than they had to."

"How many are there in a nest?"

"A few dozen, I'd think. Any more'n that and they'd run out of food to hunt. I'm surprised they've lasted this long."

Well. That was two pieces of bad news. I could barely kill one at a time, killing dozens seemed... yeah, that wasn't going to happen. But the fact that they hunted livestock to feed themselves was also bad. Eventually, they'd run out of game or easy prey and head towards the village. I didn't know when that'd be, but I didn't want to risk leaving the villagers to their fate.

"Say, what's your name?"

"Ah, yes, my name's Bill, I'm a leatherworker and I tend to deal with the new Travelers, though that's more or less just because nobody else wants to."

"Nice to meet you, Bill. I'm Meiana. Oh! I have a question for you. Can you do anything with a scorpion's carapace?"

"Eh? I suppose so, they can be molded, if you have the know-how. But that'd mean killing 'em, of course."

"Excellent. I might swing by your shop tomorrow."

"I'm no armorer, but I'll be glad to help."

We chatted for some time, until it was time for Bill to go. The common room was quiet, and I settled down in a corner to survey my skills.

Currently, they were:

[Light Magic] 5 (2)

[Magic Manipulation] 2

[Magic Capacity] 1

[Staff] 4 (2)

[Crushing] 5 (2)

[Fast Reflexes] 3 (1)

Skill Points: 45/60

Right off the bat, I noticed three things. First, I only took the penalty one time. So it didn't stack in terms of effects (though it reset the duration on every death). This seemed to be a weak penalty, but I supposed it was because I was at a low level. Second, not all the skills had a penalty. It looked like only those related to combat did. Which was what I had read, but I wasn't sure what counted. Finally, I'm pretty sure my skill points increased. Probably when I hit 20 total skill levels. Now, I could take a new skill. In fact, there was a 'Train Skill' button beneath the display. I browsed the available skills.

Sure enough, there were tons of skills, and I could filter them in different ways. It recommended more magic skills, but I searched for [Mana Infusion]. The description for it read:

Mana Infusion

15 Skill Points

Active

Allows the user to channel mana to an attribute or weapon, increasing its power proportional to the amount of mana infused.

Ariadne was right, this would be a useful ability. While the power gained was probably less efficient than a dedicated buff and it could only be used on myself, the flexibility would make up for it. I went ahead and took it. It seemed easy enough. I could select Str, Agi, Def, and Wpn. I wondered what the difference was between infusing my strength vs my weapon, so I gave it a try. Long story short: Weapon infusion boosts that weapon's damage, while strength infusion boosted damage and weapon handling and probably worked for all weapons. It took a few seconds to switch infusions and my mana ticked down steadily once I did. Despite playing with it until my mana ran out, the level never increased. Maybe it only got better if I was using it in combat or something like that. The next morning, I headed out to make some preparations.

At Bill's shop, I brought him the carapaces from the three scorpions I'd killed and asked if he could reinforce some leather with it. He told me it'd take a while, but he'd do me a favor and do it for free in a rush, on the condition that I kept hunting the scorpions. I agreed and a little while later, I was outfitted with [Crude Scorpion Shell Leather Armor], both as a chestpiece and leggings. They were definitely a step up, defense-wise, compared to my robes. They were a bit heavier and harder to move in, but the increased protection seemed worth it.

On the road to the nest, the scorpions had ramped up their security. While before I only encountered a few lone ones, now they seemed to be on alert, patrolling the roads. I didn't remember scorpions being social, but then I also didn't remember then being the size of a VW Beetle. They didn't seem particularly intelligent while fighting them, though. Maybe they had a queen that was directing their actions or something? I didn't have too much time to wonder when I was spotted and two of them and started skittering towards me.

This was as good a time as any to put my skills to the test, plus my death penalty had worn off. I started by putting the maximum amount of mana I could into Str and charged. The hammer and armor felt nearly weightless with my boosted strength. I sidestepped the first scorpion's swipe and smashed my hammer into its side. It flipped onto its back with its legs flailing in the air. Circling, I put the body of the downed scorpion between me and the second one and landed two more hammer strikes square into its belly. [80] popped up above the scorpion's body each time. It stopped moving and began to dissolve, so I switched my infusion to Wpn and, charging through the particles, took an overhand swing at the other scorpion's head... or head area, whatever, it's kind of all one piece. [120] came up this time. Its stinger struck me in the arm, but it was a glancing blow and didn't penetrate the armor. A second strike was enough to down this one. My mana had dropped to just under 50% during the fight, but now it was time to retreat, recover, and hunt other wandering scorpions.

Without the death penalty and with my increased skills and knowledge, I had no problems picking off a number of wandering scorpions, but a display was notifying me that back in the real world my body needed food and rest, so I went back to the inn and called it a night, satisfied with my skill gains.