There has always been one point in every gamers life where he/she had wished that the real world is exactly like (INSERT NAME OF GAME HERE).
It is a perfectly normal wish to live in a world that is not this world.
After all, who finds enjoyment in such a boring world such as our world?
Wouldnt it be more fun if one can just get up and go on an adventure?
To see new sights, fight exotic creatures and use flashy magic. Surely, that would be much more enjoying that working like a robot on a 9-to-5 job?
Of course it is!
Even if our world is under the illusion of peace, it is still boring as hell.
But many have come to realize that such wishful thinking are nothing more than childhood fantasies, especially when reality gives you a painful boot to the balls.
Reality has always been a gamer's worst enemy. After all, money is require do pay for electricity, food, game console, internet connection, etc. And it goes without saying that games require a fairly large sum of money... Which unfortunately requires a gamer to work.
Hence the childish illogical wish of every gamer in the world.
However, as the famous saying once said: "Be careful of what you wish for... You might just get it"
For the gamers who desired the game world, the world responded with the Apocalypse.
But for a certain gamer, reality decided to give him the middle finger, a mountain of headaches and one hell of an adventure.
-:-
Day 1
Prior to the Apocalypse, Jonathan Doe was just like any other Elder Tale player in the world. After a fairly long day at work, he decided to play non stop until morning of the following day, which happens to be his day off.
Interesting enough, the implementation of the Novasphere Pioneers patch also coincides with his gaming fest. Quite a fortunate coincidence.
In anticipation of this, he and some of his fellow guildmates decided to welcome the new patch by exploring the new maps and contents the second it is available.
However, the moment Novasphere Pioneers went live was the moment when common sense was flushed down the toilet.
The next thing he knew, he was lying on the floor of a cave. For some reason, he couldnt talk or move as he wants. When he tried to check the state of his body, boy was he shocked
His hands were as small as a 5 month old child... And it was green!
Upon scanning his surrounding, he spots a large number (about 50 or so) of extremely ugly looking infants with green skin, sharp nose and pointy ears.
Amids the infants was one ancient looking fellow with similar greenish features as the infants. He went around giving names to each and every infant in the cave.
Judging from the older green skin, Jonathan deduces that everyone in the cave belonged to the Gremlin race, a common low level monster the American Server of Elder Tale.
For some unknown reason, Elder Tale's Gremlin looks nothing like the gremlin found in modern mythology. They are closer to the Goblin that was seen in the Lord of the Rings movies.
Then again, the American Server always did take a lot of references to John Ronald Reuel Tolkein (creator of The Lord of the Rings series) works so it really is no surprise.
While Jonathan Doe tried to make sense of his situation, the old Gremlin eventually reaches him.
"From this day onward, you will be called Grem Marx. Try not to die too quickly okay?" said the elder as he moves to the next infant
With no other means of gathering information, Jonathan Doe/ Grem Marx performed the only action that his body can do... Cry in despair and sleep like a rock.
-:-
Day 2
Marx (short for Grem Marx) cant help but think that the world is both amazing and terrifying.
In just one night, his infantile body suddenly grew into the standard size of a gremlin which is about the same as a 5 year old human child. But more importantly, HE CAN MOVE!
Yesterday, he feared that he might be stuck as an immovable infant for how many years to come. The fact that his greatest concern was solved after a good nights rest was a huge weight off his shoulders.
Marx assumed that gremlins are closer to animals than humans. With an ever present threat on their life, gremlins are forced to grow faster in order to survive. Well, that doesnt really matter at the moment.
In celebration, he ran, jumped, punched, kicked, rolled, summersaulted like no tomorrow which earned quite a few glares from his equally ugly brothers and sisters. But right now, Marx really didnt give a damn.
While basking in the glory of regaining his mobility, Marx accidentally slams into a wall like an insect into a windshield. Suddenly, a window akin to that of the standard Elder Tale Character Info popped out of in front of him.
The first thing he notices is that his status page is nearly blank except for his Race (which is Gremlin) and his Level (which is LVL: 1). He doesnt even have HP or MP.
In his equipment page, his only item is Makeshift Underwear which seems to pertain to the ragged piece of cloth tied to his waist.
And lastly is his skill page, which only contains 1 skill.
Devourer: Gains skills from eating q corpse that have been dead for a maximum of 24 hours. If the enemy is stronger than the user, the user will gain more skills. The user is also immune to any poison, sickness or curse that can be gained from eating contaminated flesh.
That piqued Marx's interest.
Obviously, he needs to level up in order to get stronger. However, it seems that the only way for him to get more skills is to eat other creatures.
"Well... I am a bit hungry..."
It didnt take him long to conclude that he has to go out of the cave and start hunting.
Before he could make his first steps out the cave, the old gremlin (which was named Grem Geezer) calls him out and asks if he was interested in learning about the dangers of the outside world.
Seeing how Marx know next to nothing about his circumstances, and considering that Geezer is the unofficial leader of this cave, a little know how can save him a lot of facepalms. He decided to squeeze whatever knowledge the old gremlin has
Surprisingly, Geezer was quite happy at Marx's thirst for knowledge. Apparently, most gremlins dont really value his warnings and ends up dead in a matter of minutes.
Seeing how Marx belongs to one of the weakest monster race in Elder Tale, he decided to take Geezer's words seriously.
First rule of the world: Death is not the end, but avoid it at all costs
Upon dying, a monster resurrects on a certain place at a certain time. Unfortunately, the monster's body resurrects faster than the monster's psyche, causing the body to act like a brainless idiot and wander around it's resurrection point. If the body dies before the psyche can recover, the time of the psyche's reintegration to the body is extended equal to the number of times the body died.
During this period, a monster cannot level up because the psyche is where experiences are recorded. This is the reason why a vast majority of monsters that wander in a designated area remains the same level all through out their existence.
At an average, the psyche recovers one week per death, which unfortunately, gives the body a lot of chances to die again. This often result the monster being trapped in idiot mode for the rest of its existence.
"Oh... So that's why monsters act like badly planned AIs... Makes sense"
Second rule of the world: The prize of not dying is great
If a monster continues to gain experience and level up, there is a chance that it can undergo Evolution, which results in the monster to be reborn into a more powerful race.
Gremlins, which is categorized as a Demi-Human, often evolve into Orcs. However, the evolution after that is dependent on the monster itself. For example, Orcs that prefers fighting physically may end up evolving into a Troll. There are many unknown factors to Evolution, thus no one is sure to which race they are going to evolve into.
Geezer strongly emphasized that Evolution is what all gremlins should aim for because a LVL 100 Gremlin is no match for a LVL 1 Orc. If he gets lucky, he might end up becoming a raid boss someday
At the very least, Marx has a goal that he can work for. Sure is hell better than drowning in despair.
Third rule of the world: Avoid Adventurers at all costs
Adventurers are extremely powerful, intelligent and resourceful beings with the ability to revive after death. While they level up slowly and are incapable of Evolution, Adventurers have many skills and equipment that gives them an overwhelming advantage.
In the case of gremlins, 1 low level Adventurer can slaughter at least a hundred gremlins before moving on to the next zone. The main reason why those monsters who have died once almost never recover their psyche is because Adventurers repeatedly kills them whenever they respawn.
Quite ironic really, considering that Marx was one of those Adventurers at one point.
After giving Marx the basics of the world, Geezer insisted that the young gremlin to stay within the cave for today. Seeing how Marx is actually capable of using his brain (something that many gremlins seem to be incapable of doing), Geezer suggested that he plan ahead.
Belonging to the weakest race means that nearly everything outside the cave can kill Marx in one go.
Convinced by Geezer's words, Marx made do with the mushrooms on the wall for food.
It's not much but it is better than nothing.
-:-
Day 3
No matter how much Marx applied his wisdom in games and IRL into his current situation, the only solution he could think off is to team up with someone else.
Like the good old words of wisdom once said: "Safety in numbers"
With that in mind, Marx spent the first few hours of the new day trying to recruit some hapless pawns... er... helpful comrades. Unfortunately, his overly erratic happiness the previous day made him look like someone with a few screws loose. Nearly everyone he talked to declined out of fear that he'll get them killed.
And gremlins were suppose to be idiots... Truly a miscalculation in Marx's part.
Out of desperation, he decided to approach female gremlins for help.
Mind you, its not like he is sexist or anything, but based on physical appearance alone, male gremlins are fairly muscular compared to females. This trait is ideal for meat shields...er... frontline combatants.
Another trait Marx wanted to abuse was the fact that males vastly outnumbered females. This way, he can allow himself a margin of error in commanding these idiots. Unfortunately, out of the 50 gremlins in this cave, there are only 8 females, thus Marx is not allowed to make any mistakes.
Besides, his upbringing in IRL has drilled the notion that females must be treated with care and respect. It hurts his conscience when women get hurt because of him.
With that in mind he approached a female gremlin that was separated from the rest.
Upon gazing at the female's face, Marx understood how cruel the world is to the male monster population.
Unlike the usual male which was bald with wrinkly green skin, sharp nose and ears, females actually looked presentable. Mind you, they are still ugly, but they looked loads better than the males.
The female that Marx talked to, named Grem Riz, had messy shoulder length light red hair. Unlike the standard male appearance, her skin is smooth and her nose is more akin to a human.
It is quite unfair if Marx say so himself.
Anyway, Marx tried his best to convince Riz to aid him.
Aside from telling him her name, Riz didnt really like to talk much. For most of the time, she simply listened to Marx's piece while nodding her head in occasion. Eventually she agreed to become Marx's lackey for the time being.
Unfortunately, Marx wasnt lucky with the other females. Apparently, Riz was considered a weirdo by everyone else, similar to how they viewed Marx.
It is just like what Marx's IRL grandmother used to say about dealing with other people: "You cant win em all... So make sure you do so good that they'll have no choice but to grovel at your feet!"
... Grandma did have a bit of a sadistic streak...
After a few minutes later, Marx and Riz took their first few steps outside the cave.
The environment is a very thick forest. Since the terrain was unfamiliar to Marx, he assumed that it is one of the new maps in the Novasphere Pioneers expansion. He was sad that he had to explore the new map in such a state, but decided push his worries aside. He has more important things to do.
It didnt take them too long to encounter their very first prey, a thing called Rhino Boar. As the name states, it is a wild boar with a very scary horn on top of its nose.
It looks like Geezer wasnt lying. While the Rhino Boar is about half the size of a regular gremlin, it really looked like it could kill a gremlin in one go.
For now, Marx decided to observe the boar in order to gather information about it. After a few moments, he gave Riz some instructions then proceeded to make their move.
Riz went out of cover and used a stone to grab the Rhino Boar's attention. The boar charged with every intention of impaling the red haired gremlin.
However, before it could reach Riz, Marx jumped from one of the nearby trees and shoved a sharp tree branch that they picked up earlier into its side.
While everything went according to plan, Marx underestimated how tough the Rhino Boar's was. The branch did enter the body but it wasnt enough to perform a lethal blow.
Marx quickly commanded Riz to hit the boar with something before it could recover from shock.
At that point, Marx discovered how unfair his assessment of the female gremlins was.
Copying Marx, Riz picked up a nearby branch and smashed it into the side of the Rhino Boar's face. Surprisingly, the force she used was so great that it snapped the Rhino Boar's neck in the process... And she did it without changing her ever emotionless face!
Quite a scary young gremlin.
Marx showered her with praise yet Riz didnt even bat an eyelash. He did notice a bit of blushing on her green cheeks. As long as she's happy, that's good.
Another thing Marx noticed about his silent companion is that she automatically assumed that she is below Marx in the hierarchy of their partnership. Despite the loud complaints of her empty stomach, she did not make a move on the feast that is in front of her.
That's good actually. Marx was a bit uneasy of the possibility that he had to punish her until she followed his orders. While he might enjoy playing a sadist, he would prefer not to awaken his inner S for now.
Anyway, he tried his best to skin the boar, then ripped the meat into smaller parts and gave half of it to Riz. They then proceeded to eat the meat with gusto.
Compared to the mushrooms in the cave, fresh meat tasted like heaven.
Suddenly, a window appeared in front of his eyes.
New Skill Acquired: Increase Physical Damage Resistance
Oh... So that's what the Devourer skill has to offer.
It seems that Marx has inherited the Rhino Boar's toughness. It would be very useful in the long run.
After that, Marx and Riz hunted and ate 2 more Rhino Boars before returning to the cave.
A full tummy, a few loots that he might be able to use and a new skill. Marx marks this day as a very productive one.
-:-
Day 4
Once again, the Marx and Riz pair went out to hunt for food, much to the surprise of the rest of the other gremlins.
Oh, just an update: out of the 13 brave gremlins that ventured out of the cave yesterday, about 11 never returned.
Geezer said that they most likely died while trying to hunt for food. While the ancient gremlin wasnt sure where they respawned, he was fairly certain that we may never see them again. If those who died are lucky, they wont die again for a week and recover their psyche... However such a thing is unlikely, seeing how gremlins normally sits at the bottom of the food chain.
Geezer wasnt really sad about it. Such a thing was expected when headstrong gremlins ignored his warnings.
He then started bragging about Grem Marx who took the time and listened to his words. Thanks to that, Marx was able to survive in the harsh outside world.
Mind you, aside from the basic rules of the world, Geezer didnt really teach Marx anything useful. However, Marx decided to let the old man have his limelight, seeing how Geezer's knowledge did help him understand the way the world works.
Who knows, he might actually impart some knowledge to the young gremlins that will help them survive. This actually works in Marx's favor as he eventually plans to subjugate the other gremlins into his rule.
Of course, he prefers if it can be done in a peaceful manner. It is too tiresome to fight all of them one by one until no one dares to challenge his command.
Besides, while Geezer already told Marx about it a few days ago, it was only now that the fact sets in... Gremlins are really idiots.
If they died from fighting a Rhino Boar, then they obviously did not recognize that it was dangerous enough to kill them.
To recognize a threat and understand how much of a threat is it is the very basics of survival in the harsh world. After all, when one knows the enemy, one can then develop tactics in order to fight and win in the most efficient manner.
Either way, Marx knows without a doubt that he needs everyone in this cave to get stronger so that he can survive in this world.
With that thought in mind, he once again led the red haired Riz in hunting for food.
On that day, the 2 hunted about 7 Rhino Boars. More than double than what they got yesterday. Thanks to that, he was able to gain pretty much every ability the Rhino Boar has to offer.
New Skill Acquired: Increase Melee Damage
New Skill Acquired: Smell Identification
New Skill Acquired: Increase HP Regeneration
At the same time, Marx made sure to gather up materials that could be used for crafting.
He would really like to replace this loincloth of his.
-:-
Day 5
Before the duo could leave the cave, a male gremlin named Grem Dor prostrated before Marx. Dor begged for forgiveness for rejecting Marx's invitation and asked if he could be Marx's apprentice.
While this action really boosted Marx's sadistic ego, he wasnt cruel enough to turn away the poor guy. After all, Marx needs all the help he can get.
Oh, by the way, Grem Dor is an anomaly among the gremlins of this generation. Unlike normal male gremlins, Dor sports a short light brown hair, smooth skin and human-like nose.
He has a reserved and gentle demeanor unbefitting his race. Because of this demeanor, Dor was easily influenced by the other gremlins to reject Marx's invitation.
Yes... These traits is normally associated with the females.
Truth be told, Marx initially counted Dor as one of the females, which means that the true number of females in the cave is actually 7 instead of 8.
... Well, there are bound to be traps sooner or later...
Either way, Marx gladly accepted Dor into his group.
After hunting 2 Rhino Boars, Marx understood his companions well enough to formulate a crude fighting formation.
Ironically, their front liner is Riz, the only female of the group. She has proven many times that she is the physically strongest and toughest among the 3 of them. While Marx cant tell if she is stupid or simply single minded, Riz seems to be inflexible to the point that her only known tactic is to hit her opponent with all of her might.
With a large two handed club in her hands, Riz takes the vanguard position and charges straight to the enemy.
Dor, on the other hand, is the opposite of Riz. While he isnt exactly fast nor strong, he has proven that his aim is top notch. With that in mind, Dor acts as their long range unit and keeps the enemy unbalanced with his support fire.
As of the moment, Dor uses small rocks and sharp branches for ammunition, but Marx plans on changing it once he has the time.
As for Marx himself, he took the midrange harasser similar to his position when Elder Tale was still a game.
Back then, he used a Swashbuckler class character and proceeded to perform hit and run tactics to pummel the enemy when they least expected it. The biggest advantage of the Swashbuckler class is that it is extremely flexible, allowing him to switch from damager to harasser to kiter in a moments notice.
Naturally, the main reason why he chose the Swashbuckler is because it can equip 2 one hand swords, which is cool.
With a long sharp tree branch as a spear, Marx strikes at the enemy's weak points in order to bring them down as quickly as possible. At the same time, he acts as a support if either of the 2 is in trouble.
Thanks to Dor's addition to the group, they were able to take down 2 monsters that Marx and Riz originally avoided.
First is the creature named the Plague Raven. As the name states, it is a raven that is naturally coated with dieses and poison. Seeing how it is capable of flight, Marx and Riz were ill equipped to take it down. Only with Dor's long range surprise attacks were they able to successfully slay it.
However, due to its vomit inducing stench, Riz and Dor refused to even try and take a bite out of even insisted to Marx that he should avoid it entirely.
Truth be told, Marx agrees with them, but for the sake of increasing his skill repertoire, he decides to be a man and shove it down his throat.
Surprisingly, it actually tastes good if you can get passed the stench.
New Skill Acquired: Plague Venom Coating
He was hoping to get something like this from the Plague Raven. While he isnt sure how poison works in this world, IRL poison has been used since the ancient times in order to bring down large pray using minimal effort.
As he expects to fight stronger enemies, Marx decided that the earlier he gets this sort of skill, the better.
The next monster, named as Blade Shrew, was a tough one. Ever seen Sandslash from Pokemon? It looked exactly like that.
It kept performing the annoying action of curling up into a ball of spikes as it hurled itself into the enemy. The trio had to retreat a few times to reassess their strategy against it.
Hilariously, they took it down in a very unorthodox manner. Instead of beating it down to death (which was impossible in their current state), Marx abused the fact that the Blade Shrew loved that cannon ball maneuver of his.
Since it couldnt see while it was curled up into a ball, they lured it into decent size river nearby and drowned it. Fortunately, it was heavy enough to prevent it from floating or being swept away by the current.
They then painstakingly pulled it out of the water using some very strong vines that grew in the forest.
After that, Marx carefully removed the armored spikes on the Blade Shrew's back by hacking through the skin beneath it. Since he didnt have the proper tools for the job, he had to do it carefully.
Due to the slow process, Riz and Dor had to endure a fairly long wait.
Dor meekly complained. It only took one glare from Marx to shut him up.
Riz, on the other hand, didnt utter a single word. But the loud grumbling of her stomach was more annoying than any form of complaint.
Well, its not like he enjoys making them wait, but the armored scale is an indispensable piece of crafting material that will save their lives in the future.
And besides, Marx is hungry as hell too!
Eventually, he finished his labor and distributed the meat equally among themselves.
New Skill Acquired: Spike Carapace - ability to grow an armor of spikes that hurts any opponent that attacks the user.
New Skill Acquired: Threat Detection- a passive skill that automatically detects anyone that desires harm to the user
New Skill Acquired: Intimidating Roar- lets lose an earsplitting howl that temporarily paralyzes the opponents with fear.
New Skill Acquired: Detect Living- scans the area for living things
New Skill Acquired: Whirlwind- spins like a tornado and damages everything caught in its wake.
Will you look at that!
It seems that the Blade Shrew was a foe that vastly outstrips Marx's currently capabilities. Because of that, he gained a fair number of skills on top of high quality crafting tools.
It goes without saying that Marx is extremely pleased with their accomplishment.
In particular, he was pleased with the Whirlwind skill. It really gave him a bit of nostalgia during his youth when he played Diablo 1, 2 and 3. Barbarians are awesome.
After that, they hunted 4 more Rhino Boars before going home.
Truly it was a day filled with progress.
-:-
Day 6
The weather is bad today. Outside the cave was a heavy downpour of rain which is unideal for any form of hunting.
Based on Geezer's understanding, there is a powerful storm in the area which could last a day or two. Better hunker down and wait it out.
While Marx wasnt sure if a gremlin could catch hypothermia from being exposed to the rain for extended periods of time, he had no intention of testing it out.
Why would he waste a day being sick while he had so much to do?
Since they couldnt hunt in such horrible weather, Marx decided to make use of their large stockpile of loot and start crafting.
First up, Marx wanted to address the annoyance he experienced yesterday. Without the proper tools, even the most basic action such as skinning an animal can become a real headache.
At this point, Marx showcases his knowledge that he has learned from watching movies, reading wikipedia and playing computer games.
While he wasnt sure what the title of the movie was, it stared Tommy Lee Jones who was some sort of trainer for military assassins. Ignoring the plot, Marx could remember that Tommy Lee Jones made a dagger out of stones that was picked up from a river.
With that in mind, Marx took the stones he gathered yesterday and slowly chipped them until the edges were sharp enough. As for the handle of the daggers, he wrapped it with the vines that they used to pull out the Blade Shrew out of the water.
He repeated this process until he produced 5 daggers. 3 for him since he will be using it for skinning, one for each of his subordinates.
Naturally, the noise he made attracted the attention of others. For a moment, the others gathered around him out of curiosity but soon dispersed out of boredom.
It was tiresome work but someone has to do it.
Marx also noticed that Geezer was looking at him with a smile. From the look of it, it seems that those who actually use their brains are extremely rare in gremlin society.
He decided to take a break after experiencing a bit of pain in his arms.
Along with Riz and Dor, they ate what little they could find in the cave. It was mostly insects and mushrooms which didnt really fill their stomachs, but it was all they had for now.
After that, Marx decided to teach Riz and Dor how to craft armor in order to reduce his work load.
Fortunately Dor seemed to have a knack for this sort of thing. His needle work was so impressive that even Marx had to ask for some pointers.
On the other hand, Riz had the dexterity and precision of a thermonuclear bomb. Her clumsiness was so apparent that he decided that she should sit this one out.
Despite not showing any emotion, Riz was clearly angry for being left out.
Marx tried to explain that everyone has different areas that they are good at, it just so happens that crafting was not Riz's strong point.
Obviously, this wasnt enough to calm the the sulky Riz.
In order to alleviate her anger, Marx and Dor focused on making Riz's equipment.
The end result was a intimidating round shield with spikes used from the Blade Shrew, thick leather armor from the hide of the Rhino Boar and an upgraded spike club using the horn of the Rhino Boar.
After being presented with her new equipment, Riz was emotionlessly happy. She spent a good amount of time looking and feeling her new equipment.
Well... As long as she's happy...
They decided to call it a day and went to bed
-:-
Day 7
Just like Geezer, the rain continued on through the next day. While it did weaken a fair bit, it's still in an intensity that can greatly hinder the groups progress.
With that in mind, Marx and Dor proceeded with their crafting.
Marx cant help but be happy with the feminine male gremlin. When it comes to crafting in general, the guy has the skill of a master artisan. Thanks to that, the 2 of them had a lot of beneficial discussion in relations to defense-to-weight ratio, how much armor are they willing to sacrifice for flexibility, consideration of the user's fighting style, and so on.
Dor was truly an unexpected diamond among the gremlin rabble.
On the other hand, Riz was doing what she does best in this types of situation: absolutely nothing.
For now, she sat silently beside Marx and observed their work. Wether she understands what they are doing or not is a mystery.
Anyway, the duo carefully produced a few apparels that allowed them to graduate from their dirty rags.
For Dor, a pair of shorts and leather armor made from the hide of the Rhino Boars. They were also able to make a weapon known as a Shepherd Sling using the strong yet flexible vines they found in the forest and a bit of Rhino Boar hide.
FYI: A Shepherd Sling is the weapon used by David to kill Goliath
As for Marx, his armor is similar to Dor's in order to maximize his movement. For his weapon, he made a saw-like short sword using a decently thick tree branch and the remaining spikes from the Blade Shrew's back.
Unfortunately, Marx soon discovered that wielding 2 swords at the same time required tremendous amounts of skill and dexterity, something of which he did not have. Apparently, his gremlin character was not blessed with such a proficiency.
Reluctant as he might be that he cant become a Swashbuckler once again, he decided to use the skull of a Rhino Boar as a makeshift small shield.
"Better not force to do what you cant do" was the words of Marx's boss IRL.
In his current world of constant life and death struggles, his boss's words ring true.
By the way, while they were working, he noticed that he was at the receiving end of a fair bit of glares. At first he thought it was just his imagination, but after sneaking glances around him, he noticed that the male population has been throwing him glares of envy.
Unsure of what it ment, he asked Dor for his thoughts on the matter. The reply he received was quite a shocker.
Based on Dor's words, Riz was an extremely beautiful female by gremlin standards. The fact that she followed Marx unquestioningly ment that he was to woo the best girl.
"Are you shitting me?!" Marx couldnt help but reply
To him, every last one of them (him included) had a face not even a mother could love.
While he wondered what the criteria for beauty is within the world of monsters, another question pops into his mind.
If they thought that she was that beautiful, why didnt they ask for her cooperation first?
Dor reminds Marx that Riz was considered a weirdo since the beginning.
Indeed, she received many invitations at day 2, but she did nothing but stared and listened. Mistaking it as a sign of pressuring them, all of them caved in and retreated.
Marx could actually relate to that. When he tried to convince Riz to join him, that steady silent gaze did make him falter a few times. However, he was already backed into a corner at that point so he kept pushing until either Riz accepted or flat out rejected him.
Looks like he was truly lucky to not only recruit a powerful front liner, but also a high class beauty (which he simply could not appreciate.)
Suddenly, another question popped into his mind.
By gremlin standards, how does Marx fare in the looks department?
Dor blushes and fidgets uncomfortably before replying that Marx is quite charming.
"Dude... Why are you blushing?"
-:-
Day 8
By morning, there was no longer any sign of the storm that raged for 2 days straight, thus their hunting can resume in earnest.
Thank God for that. Marx wasnt sure how long they could survive on mushrooms alone.
Thanks to their newly upgraded equipment, the Blade Shrew that gave them such a hard time 2 days ago can now be taken down with relative ease.
The strategy was simple.
First Dor would use a rock that was infused with Marx's poison and snipe the Blade Shrew's eye. Thanks to the shepherds sling, Dor could hurl the rock at fairly long distances, thus insuring that his first shot would always land at a critical body part.
Marx and Riz then charges at the enemy and forced it to move which allowed the poison the spread faster. In about a minute or so, the Blade Shrew collapsed, leaving it open for the 2 to beat it to death.
This strategy allowed them to hunt a staggering 13 Blade Shrews in a span of a few hours. Not only was their belly full, they also got more crafting materials than they know what to do with it.
As for Marx, he stopped learning any skills from them after eating the 3rd Blade Shrew.
New Skill Acquired: Increase Leg Power
New Skill Acquired: Heightened Reaction Time
While heightened reaction time is self explanatory, it is one hell of a skill. Anyone who has watched Sword Art Online and Accel World knows the value of this skill.
Marx might don a jet black overcoat and seduce practically every women he meets. He is already trapped in an MMORPG, so who knows what the future might bring?
Increase leg power was also a very good find. This skill allowed him to run faster and jump higher.
That may not look like much, but striking first and moving away before they could counter attack is the nuts and bolts of guerrilla warfare. This will definitely come in handy in the future.
With too much meat and crafting ingredients to carry with them, the trio decided to head back to the cave and deposit their spoils there before heading out again.
While in transit, Marx's Threat Detection pinpointed about 8 hostiles hidden within the bushes and trees. His Smell Identification allowed him to recognize that their would be attackers were all sibling gremlins from the cave.
He stealthily gave his comrades a few hand signs of their situation and commanded them to ready themselves.
Marx and Riz moved a few meters forward, their ambushers sprang their trap.
A big mistake.
First and foremost, the trio's gear quality vastly outstrips their ambushers whom was only carrying clubs.
Second and most importantly, the trio was considerably stronger due to overcoming many opponents that were stronger than them.
The outcome of their engagement was obvious: a one sided slaughter.
Riz smashed her spike shield into an incoming gremlin and turned it into swizz cheese.
Dor pinned the other 2 that tried to surround Riz by crippling their legs with precise shots. Before the downed gremlins could recover, Riz followed through by bashing their skulls in.
Not a pretty sight.
On the other hand, Marx made short work of his opponents.
He used Whirlwind to cleave through 4 gremlins in one violent go. It was so easy that it was boring.
The last gremlin fell flat on his butt out of fear. A natural reaction, considering that their numerically superior group was eradicated so easily.
Marx approached the terrified gremlin and gave him a choice.
They could do this the easy way... or the fun way (well, at least it would be fun for Marx)
Fortunately, the terrified gremlin decided to do it the easy way and began to sing.
Apparently, nearly everyone in the cave is in a horrible state due to lack of food. They were either too weak or too stupid to even kill a Rhino Boar, thus they were forced to stay within the confines of the cave and made do with the mushrooms that grew on the walls.
Naturally, the mushrooms became increasingly scarce due to having too much mouths to feed.
As to why Marx group was attacked, the entire gremlin community actually viewed him as an arrogant prick. Not only does he flaunt the fact that he has the most beautiful female under his thumb, but he also shows off that he has been eating like a king
FYI: Riz blushed profusely at these words, but Marx decided to ignore it.
He was wondering why she became so attached to him so fast. They've only know each other for a good 5 days. That is obviously not enough time to develop feelings. This isnt an anime/eroge you know?
But then again, a gremlins life is quite merciless where one can die only after a day or two after birth. In such an environment, the emotions induced by adrenaline can often be mistaken as love, so it shouldnt be no surprise that even the ever emotionless Riz has started to think of Marx as someone who was more than a comrade.
Marx has seen this many times IRL at work.
Got a bit sidetracked there. Back to the matter at hand.
With confidence in their numbers, the gremlins decided to attack the trio and force them to hunt for them. While the plan was not that bad if Marx say so himself, the gremlins obviously did not do their homework on how strong the trio has become.
Information is power and gremlins obviously didnt understand that.
Marx thought for a bit, then came to the conclusion that he could fast track his way up the gremlin hierarchy if he plays his cards right.
The trio + one prisoner went back to the cave.
Seeing how they had brought a large quantity of Blade Shrew meat, the gremlins in the cave assumed that the ambush was a success.
Marx quickly proved them wrong by giving a gremlin, who jumped at the sight of the meat, a very tasty knuckle sandwich.
With weapons drawn, Marx cruelly announced that he will not give anyone anything unless they have something of value that they can trade.
As expected, the rest of the gremlins cower in fear.
Surprisingly, Geezer did not intervene on the matter. In fact, he looked very pleased at Marx's action.
Marx was relieved actually. He didnt want to kill off his only source of information on this world
After a few moments of tense silence, Marx decided to play his aces.
"If you promise to follow my every command, I will not only give you these food, I will also give you the knowledge and strength to hunt on your own!"
It didnt take long for the gremlin community to fold into his demands. Hunger has amazing ways of influencing people.
As promised, he gave them all of the meat. He was too full to eat anymore anyway.
After the gremlins ate and recover their strength, Marx decided to turn them into not only competent hunter, but also soldiers that will do his every bidding.
With that in mind, there was only one thing to do.
Marx will make them undergo military training for this point onward.
For the rest of the day, Marx beat the basics into their skin and bones until everyone (including Riz and Dor) was too tired to move.
He also made sure to instill in their minds that he is their superior and his will overrides theirs.
Satisfied with his progress, Marx decided to hit the hay
-:-
Day 9
Marx spent the first few hours of the morning training his gremlin brethren. To start off, what he made them do were simple endurance building exercises followed by teaching them basic group strategies on how to take down a Rhino Boar.
He then dismissed them and went hunting with Riz and Dor.
Marx was fortunate this time around.
The first pray of the day are 4 Plague Ravens which they havent seen in a while. Maybe this forest isnt their natural habitat? Marx isnt too sure, but that would explain why there are barely any of them present.
As per usual, he endures their putrid stench and ate them with gusto, much to the discomfort of his companions.
New Skill Acquired: Poison Resistance
Seeing how he needs to eat 4 Plague Ravens to get a single skill, it must mean that the Ravens are much weaker than him.
Moving on, they hunted 2 Rhino Boars which Marx gave all his share to Riz and Dor because they couldnt eat the Plague Ravens.
The last prey of the day was something that nearly got them killed.
It all started just before they began their treck home when Dor discovered a cave about 1 hours from the gremlin home base. They decided to explore just for the heck of it... A big mistake
Thanks to Marx Detect Living and Threat Detection skills they soon realize that they just walked into an entrance of a Black Ant nest
A Black Ant is about the 1/8 of a gremlin's height and it doesnt posses much offensive strength, so it wasnt much of a threat. The problem is they swarm like an avalanche and bury their enemy in massive waves of fangs and claws.
The trio retreated post haste as 30 Black Ants were hot on their trail.
Marx used a strategy that abused the small space of the cave to their advantage. With Riz and Marx as the front line and Dor hanging a fair ways back as fire support, they made a slow retreat while killing every Black Ant that came their way.
Marx used Intimidating Roar to stop the Black Ant's movement then followed by Whirlwind in order to reduce their numbers as quickly as possible. He also coated his saw sword with lethal amounts of poison so that even if the enemy is lightly injured, it will not escape death.
While the opponent was still paralyzed, Riz went into a frenzy and bashed everything within reach.
Dor focused on eliminating the enemies behind the front lines while they were immobile. But when the paralysis wore off, he was to make sure that Riz, the slowest of the 3, was not to be surrounded by the enemy. He did his job exceedingly well if Marx says so himself.
Unfortunately for them, a larger Black Ant named a Queen Black Ant (it was about the same size as a gremlin) arrived with 10 more regular Black Ants in tow.
Marx was suddenly reminded of a thing that he wondered while playing the Fall Out New Vegas game. In the game, the weakness of the giant mutated ants was to shoot off their antenna in order for them to go in a frenzy and attack anyone within reach... Including their comrades.
Unsure if it applies here, he commanded Dor to aim for the Queen's Antennas.
While the effects wasnt exactly as Marx expected, it was definitely a life saver.
Upon losing its antenna, the queen thrashed a bit and charged straight at the trio with reckless abadon, accidentally killing a quite a few of its minions in the process. The minions themselves suddenly stopped moving as if they were remote control cars that had their batteries drained.
Riz stood bravely in front of the Queen and used her spike shield to stop the it on its tracks.
Dor aimed for the legs in order to limit its ability to move.
Marx jumped on the Queen's head and hacked it again and again and again until it stopped twitching.
After the Queen's demise, the unmoving Black Ants were easy prey.
Marx was pretty sure that this isnt how it works IRL but he was thankful that the situation ended that way. It was a tough and nerve wrecking battle but they won in the end. Their reward for such a feat was an all you can eat ant buffet.
Naturally, Marx got the Queen all for himself.
Surprisingly it tasted like chicken... How weird...
The skills he learned from eating 10 regular Black Ants were as follows:
New Skill Acquired: Increase Physical Strength
New Skill Acquired: Automatic Terrain Mapping
New Skill Acquired: Will of the Legion
The first skills seems to be self explanatory. Considering that ants have been known to lift objects many times their size and weight, this skill isnt much of a surprise.
The second is pretty much a auto map sketching ability that is saved directly to Marx's brain. A mini map if you will.
On the other hand, the third seems to be out of the ordinary. If a number of people belongs to the same group, the Will of the Legion will allow those people to instinctively know what the others want to do, thus allowing them to perform more efficiently with less verbal communication.
It seems to be similar to the concept of a hive mind, and is very useful in group combat.
Satisfied with his new abilities, Marx proceeds to feast on the Queen
New Skill Acquired: Will of the Ruler
New Skill Acquired: Imperial Right
New Skill Acquired: Blessing of the Earth
Another set of intriguing skills befitting their toughest opponent to date.
Will of the Ruler seems to work in tandem with Will of the Legion. This skill allows the user to impose his/her own will over the legion, thus acting like their ruler.
Well, Marx was planning to rule over his gremlin brethren sooner or later. This skill makes it easier for him to do so.
The second skill seems to be passive proficiency type. It seems that the user has been blessed by God to receive the absurdities that nobility from the old world enjoys. Example of this collection of taxes, mount riding, swordsmanship, fine arts, military tactics, etc.
It is, without a doubt, a very useful skill and it will help him greatly in the future, though he dislikes it a little. This is purely a personal bias, but IRL, Marx/Jonathan Doe has developed a fair bit of dislike for the rich and pompous brats that he was forced to get acquainted with due to his work.
Well, either way, he'll take what he can get.
The last skill, unfortunately, is a little bit annoying. Blessing of the Earth's description simply says that Marx has been blessed by the Earth Mother... That's it...
It is so vague that it gives him barely any context to reverse engineer its meaning.
The earth element in most mythos is normally associated with fertility, prosperity and life, but that doesnt mean that this skill pertains to it.
It's a bit annoying but he decided to leave it be for now.
After gathering what little they can from the Black Ants, they left the cave and called it a day.
-:-
Day 10
Marx cant help but be amazed at the gremlins absurd rate of growth.
Only 2 days ago, they were starving to death. Yet yesterday, after a few measly hours of training, they successfully hunted Rhino Bears with ease and efficiency.
As expected of the bottom feeders. Better learn fast or die even faster.
Once again, they spent a few hours in the morning for training, then they went their separate ways and began hunting.
Today was nothing special really. They hunted about 8 Blade Shrews and 14 Rhino Boars before they decided to head back due to excess luggage.
They did find a new prey, though it wasnt really that strong. It was called a Red Bunny, and as the name states, it is a bunny rabbit that has red fur. They had a bit of a hard time trying to kill it due to its high instincts and annoyingly nimble body.
Eventually they figured out how to best it and successfully ate about 7 of them.
As expected of a weaker prey, Marx only received one skill after eating 3 of it.
New Skill Acquired: Horny Bunny- the possessor of this skill now has unmatched endurance in bed
... Someone in Artharva Inc (makers of Elder Tale) must have hired a nut job and a pervert ...
Suddenly a thought hit him.
If he started out as a baby, does that mean that he has a mother?
If that is the case, then would that mean that there is a small chance that Marx can make use of the Horny Bunny skill?
... Fufufufufufu...
After deluding himself for a few moments, the group returned home earlier than usual.
Marx and Dor then spent the rest of their day crafting. They already have too much raw materials in stock so it might be better if they practiced their needle work.
As usual, Riz silently sat by Marx side. He has gotten used to it so he didnt mind.
He then checked on the other groups and was pleased with their performance. He promised them that if they gather materials for him, he'll craft them weapons and armor. That should give them some incentive to try harder.
He then turned in for the night after a boring yet productive day.
Level 100 has been reached
Unknown Special Requirementhas been satisfied
You are now allowed to Evolve into Orc: Genius Monster Variant
Would you like to proceed with your Evolution?
"Yes... Let me sleep already..."
Grem Marx Race: White Orc Variant
New Skill Acquired: Seed of the Demon King Asmodeus
-:-
Author's Notes
I dont like making authors notes so dont expect to see another one anytime soon.
I'll just outline some important stuff.
- This work has been greatly inspired from the manwha (?) The Gamer, the light novel RE: Monster and Log Horizon itself.
- Genius Monsters exist in the Log Horizon mythos and is considered the main antagonists of the series. Visit the Wikia for more info
- This work follows the Light Novel version of Log Horizon . This means it is much more brutal than depicted in the anime.
- This work also serves as an experiment on a different writing style. Normally, I prefer to put large amounts of detail in my works, but after reading RE: Monster, I decided to try out the same writing style. As you might have noticed, it does not really greatly on dialogues to move the story along. I'd like some feedback if this style is entertaining enough