Chapter 8: Fog of War

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Aquila left the forest and the lake behind pretty quickly. A hard and dirty path had been carved out through the grassy plains; after it passed the area he was familiar with, it then began to snake around the mountains. Though there were only mountains on the one side. On other side there were fields, and green trees and even a tranquil stream that flowed several hundred meters from the road.

When Novus Town was no more than a spec on a hill in the distance, Aquila stopped to take a break by the stream. It was true, moving at a walking pace didn't drain his stamina – and players didn't really get physically fatigued in the game, but there was something mentally exhausting about walking and travelling for a substantial amount of time. And he knew players weren't supposed to get sleepy; but he'd caught himself longing for a bed on multiple occasions.

The stream was shallow, barely ankle deep, and crystal clear. He could see each smoothed over pebble that lay on the surface of the riverbed. Aquila unequipped his boots and dipped his feet in the water, which was cool but not cold, then he sat back against the grassy bank, took a loaf of fruit bread from his inventory and began to pick at it casually. The bread was soft and sweet and as warm as if it had just come straight out of the oven.

Aquila looked back down the road from where he had came, as he chewed. He could barely see the tops of the purple trees that made up the mushroom forest (which was what he called it now) where he'd nearly gotten himself killed. And Novus Town itself was now nothing but a light glowing in the distance.

Aquila turned his gaze back to the stream in front of him, and the valley beyond. He noticed that in the field, on the other side of the stream, there were several white horses dashing through the green and golden grass. No. Not horses, the tags appeared above the creatures: Unicorns. Level 5. Yes. He could now see the large white majestic horns that protruded from their skull. They pranced playfully, and looked peaceful, and placid. He doubted they were aggressive. As he was watching the unicorns bounding through the fields, a red light appeared in front of him. A fairy. It buzzed around his head and the flew off into the distance. As the sun was setting, they were all beginning to appear through the fields. Blue, white, red and gold. Aquila couldn't help but smile.

An abrupt hiss wiped that smile right off his face though. Aquila jumped to his feet and dropped the bread which disintegrated instantly (but didn't reappear in his inventory because he'd already taken a few bites). In front of him, crouching in the shallows of the stream, was a turtle-like creature with large claws, a beak, and what looked to be a pool of water on its head. A tag appeared above it. Aquila instantly drew his silver sword.

Kappa, level 4.

The mob stared him down with its now glowing yellow eyes. It hissed again, not looking away from him for a second. The creature wasn't advancing, but neither was it backing away. However Aquila was backing away. Slowly, but surely. But for every inch that Aquila stepped back, the Kappa crept an inch closer to him. He was worried that if he ran, the Kappa might chase him. And he really didn't want to get into a fight right at the moment.

Aquila let go of his weapon and it disappeared; hoping to ease the creature's tension, and show that he wasn't a threat. To his surprise, it worked. The Kappa turned its tail and began crawling back through the stream away from him. A text appeared.

Animal handling level increase - level 2.

Aquila had never known how that skill had worked – and he'd certainly had no idea how to level it up. But he now assumed that it had to do with the way a player interacted with mobs and animals. The placid ones and the aggressive.

Darkness was beginning to cover the plains now, and Aquila didn't want to test his luck by sticking around the stream any longer. He equipped his shoes and continued along the road.

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