Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

21 Royal Cooperation

About twenty minutes had passed after Alex had cut the communication. Sam sat at the Beacon Fire reading over the stats of all his gear and strategizing his next encounter with The Will of the Forest.

"Okay Sam, I fixed those glitches. Now remember what I said before."

"Oh, about human form. I'll just farm up some loose quintessence from the Stumpies."

"Those are called Seedlings by the way, if you cared that is." Alex answered back.

"To me they'll always be Stumpies." Sam added.

She sighed and Sam could imagine her shaking her head.

"You do love your creative names, don't you? I just want you to keep in mind that there are still even greater bonuses for you, should you find any more major glitches. Keep an eye out for them and as always, be careful."

She cut the line and Sam again wondered why her sendoff was so gloomy, especially when she did her best to keep him in good spirits. Whatever the case, he had his sights set on defeating that dragon, The Will of the Forest.

******

Sam spent a considerable amount of time farming the Stumpies and Mid-Boss the bear for solid and loose Quintessence as well as Stim Plants and souls. When he was done, he returned to Barrington, bought enough arrows to put him at an even hundred, then rested at the Beacon Fire. While resting, he leveled up a little in preparation for his rematch against the Will of the Forest. He first leveled his attunement to five so that he could equip the Sword Uppercut as an alternative to his Skyward Thrust. Strangely enough, the attunement upgrade increased his fire defense by a point as well. With only enough points to level up one more time, Sam chose to upgrade his speed to twenty-three. Once he got it to twenty-five he'd move on to the next stat. Once he was done leveling, he remembered to use one of his points of loose Quintessence to turn back to human form. It was good to see his health bar go back up to max. As he prepared to leave, the smith called out to him.

"By the way, traveler. Some strange man has found his way into my camp. He's out in the ruins. I'm keepin' Sedwin close should the stranger want to cause a ruckus, but if ye can, tell him to go away please. I don' need scary fools loitering about, losing their minds near my shop."

Barrington's words chilled Sam. There was a chance that Caesar had wandered to the north, chasing some strong opponent. Sam prepared himself for an unpleasant encounter and had the smith repair his weapons. As he went to leave, Sedwin halted him.

"Sorry, I forgot to give you this for your troubles earlier." Sedwin said nervously. He presented Sam with an enormous shield that looked to be made of the same material as his beautiful silver armor. All Sam could think as he looked at the shield was, how the hell is he holding that thing up? When Sam reached for the humongous shield, it turned into a tiny white light right in front of him. Once he grabbed it, it went into his inventory and he saw that it was called a Silver Great Shield.

"Uhh, thanks Sedwin."

"It's the least I could do for you. You've mended the rift between me and my master. I only hope that this shield will aid you against that intruder. The master made it for me long ago, but as you can see, it's more decorative than practical for a bear such as myself."

Sam was currently browsing its stats.

Silver Great Shield

Great Shield

A heavy silver shield that can block almost any attack. It stands taller than many men and is wide enough to fit a man and a half. Crafted by the famed blacksmith Barrington, it has never seen use in battle as its near pristine condition attests. Not only is the blacksmith famous for his fine craftsmanship, he is also known for being a rarity among the common folk for he was one of the few commoners to attain knighthood.