Zectas Volume I: Enigmatic Village of Nanahuatl Page 2

  Once he stepped inside the safety of the village a magical barrier blasted the horned rabbit away. The horned rabbit didn't receive any damage and went back towards the hole that he was digging.

  Smoke was breathing heavily glad, he was glad that he could run fast enough to escape. He checked his health he only had 37 health remaining a couple more attacks and he would've died.

  He sat down and rested he noticed that when sitting down the regeneration rate is slightly higher than just standing up. He continued resting for about 10 minutes waiting for his health to regenerate completely. After having full health again he found the nerve to try facing the 'monstrous' horned rabbit.

  Smoke realized that there was no other way to kill the horned rabbit but to have dual exchange blows with it. He readied his knife once again and headed out to the fields.

  Smoke spotted another horned rabbit digging a hole. He thought to himself that they must be either looking for food or making burroughs to sleep in.

  Without hesitation he drove his knife towards the body of the horned rabbit anticipating the possibility of it dodging. He finally struck it's body.

  + Attack hit horned rabbit. Damage 6.

  Smoke noticed that a life bar appeared on top of the horned rabbit and indicated that it had an hp of 30. 5 more strikes and this guys dead.

  The horned rabbit got a lot of hits on Smoke as well.

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -2

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -2

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  Not cowering to the pain of being attacked Smoke continued on stabbing the horned rabbit.

  + Attack hit horned rabbit. Damage 6.

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -1

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -2

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  + Attack miss horned rabbit. Damage 0.

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -2

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  + Attack miss horned rabbit. Damage 0.

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -2

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  + Attack hit horned rabbit. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 10.

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -2

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -2

  - Attacked by horned rabbit. You've taken damage. Health -3

  Critical Hit? Wow that had amazing damage. A few more hits and I can finally have this horned rabbit as my first trophy.

  + Attack hit horned rabbit. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 12.

  The horned rabbit fell dead on the ground. The body slowly faded away leaving a rabbit foot as loot.

  Smoke opened his status window in order to check how much experience he got from killing the horned rabbit. He had mixed feelings when he saw that it only gave him 30exp.

  "Well at least I've gained some experience. Another 200 more horned rabbits and then I can finally be level 1."

  Smoke proceeded on his way towards the city of Coatl. After playing for 3 hours he noticed that it was already night time and he surmised that 1 hour in the Real World would be 4 hours inside ZECTAS.

  Smoke also spotted armored armadillos and tried attacking them. He found out that their HP was 80 and no matter how many times he hit them even on critical hits all he could manage to do was a damage of 1. The armored armadillo would however attack him for 1 or 2 damage points.

  After killing the armored armadillo it gave him 50exp. He then decided to avoids armored armadillo since it took a much longer amount of time just to kill one.

  He sometimes saw a dire fox here and there but knew that it was beyond his level. So he decided stay away from those.

  After playing for almost 6 hours he checked his map. He was only 20 kilometers away from Nanahuatl village.

  "I guess it would take me more than 100 days to reach the Coatl City then."

  Smoke didn't mind though he was enjoying the game so far. He noticed that by anticipating the movements of the horned rabbits he could somehow manage to dodge some of the horned rabbits attacks.

  After playing for so long he felt that his body was some what sluggish even though his health was above 80%. While sitting down and resting. A system notification popped up.

  - Satiety: Hunger has conquered your body. Thirst has conquered your body.

  Agility reduced by 75%

  Strength reduced by 75%

  Dexterity reduced by 75%

  "Hmm. Even in ZECTAS people still get hungry and thirsty."

  Smoke tried eating a piece of bread and noticed that it somehow increased the satiety bar. He also tried drinking the small stream that was near him at the moment. He was glad that he found it because he felt the real feeling of thirst as well.

  "The world of Zectas feels more than just a Virtual reality. It really feels like I'm in a different world."

  So far Smoke had earned 1200exp from hunting the 'monstrous' horned rabbits, found 5 rabbits foot and 2 pieces of rabbit meat.

  Smoke decided to call it a day and went to sleep.

  In the morning Nash woke up and started making breakfast for the whole family. Prepared his younger siblings' lunch for school. Woke them up and told them that he will be heading out to his first job at the small diner. He needed to keep the 2 stable jobs that he has left since the manager at the arcade didn't mention just how much they will pay him for posting his game plays on ZECTAS.

  Nash also thought that it would most likely be less than the amount he got as an attendant at the arcade. He doesn't mind though because he knew that it was just the manager's way of trying to give him a chance to relax.

  In the diner he started talking to the cook about his experience inside ZECTAS. He told her about how everything felt real there. Maybe this was the reason for the mysterious age restriction. Since everything would feel real the player who is too young or too old could be placed in a traumatic situations. Just imagine what you may feel when dying inside the game. That could cause the ZECTAS company some serious lawsuits.

  After working at the diner he took a quick a nap and headed out to the construction site. He was assigned the usual assignment of welding together the top most beams of the skyscraper.

  As Nash was standing on top of the unfinished skyscraper. He felt the longing to go back into ZECTAS he couldn't wait to start his new 3rd job of being a player in ZECTAS.

  Before logging in to ZECTAS he had to make sure though how much he was gonna get paid and how often he should post his videos. This also troubled him since he was still a beginner in the gaming world he wondered if his videos would gather much attention.

  The arcade manager assured Nash that no matter how many views his videos may be he will still have the same salary as an attendant of the arcade and also if the videos do make some revenue he would get a percentage of that as well. With this Nash looked forward to playing ZECTAS once more without the fear of losing his regular income.

  Nash readied himself to enter the pod that would usher him to the wondrous world of ZECTAS and with his usual excited feeling closed the pod.

  Smoke awoke to the place where he had logged off previously. He then smiled and readied himself to take on the challenge of the monstrous horned rabbit once again.

 
With the drive to get to Coatl City faster Smoke started to concentrate more anticipating the attacks of the horned rabbit. He got to the point where he could take out a horned rabbit without being hit at all.

  "This will greatly decrease the time needed while resting to regain my HP."

  Smoke continued slaughtering the horned rabbits. After his 200th kill it happened...

  + Level UP!

  You have 10pts of stat ready for distribution.

  Your HP has increased by 100.

  Your MANA has increased by 100.

  Fame has increased by 1.

  "Wow! My hp and mana practically doubled and there is even an increase in fame as well. Level ups are really amazing. For a sure one shot one kill strategy, I think I'll use 5 points on STR and 5 points on DEX. I can manage dodging the horned rabbit's attack on my own now anyway."

  Smoke enthralled by his first level up continued forward at a faster pace than before. He could now deal with the cute cuddly horned rabbits in 2 to 3 hits on average all thanks to his high crit rate.

  On the third day of playing Zectas, Nash's energetic smile could be seen once more. Everyone around him was happy for him. His grandma asked him what changed and he answered that being in ZECTAS felt like he was in a world that was made for him.

  After killing so many cuddly horned rabbits Smoke had gotten a big head. He was now level 2. Smoke's HP was now 300. He also decided to proceed with the 5 STR and 5 DEX stats.

  Smoke thought that he can take out a dire fox now. He took out his beginner knife and went behind a dire fox. Stealthily he got closer to the dire fox. He immediately drove the knife with all his might towards the neck of the dire fox.

  + Attack hit dire fox. BACK STABBED. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 35.

  The dire fox immediately snapped right back at him and started biting him for all his HP.

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -28

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -26

  + Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

  The life bar of the dire fox indicated that it had a life of 400 HP. He need at least 14 more hits at his maximum critical damage in order to kill this dire fox!

  + Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -25

  - Attacked by dire fox. MISS.

  With his experience from dodging the horned rabbits He somehow managed to dodge some of the attacks from the dire fox.

  + Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

  + Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

  - Attacked by dire fox. MISS.

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -25

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -28

  + Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

  + Attack hit dire fox. Damage 8.

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -25

  - Attacked by dire fox. MISS.

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -26

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -28

  + Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

  + Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

  Learning his lesson from turning his back from the horned rabbit. Smoke knew that if he started running it would mean certain death. He decided to face this dire fox head on. Even if it means death.

  + Attack hit dire fox. Damage 7.

  + Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -28

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -22

  - Attacked by dire fox. You've taken damage. Health -25

  - Attacked by dire fox. MISS.

  After the dual exchanges with the dire fox it was clear what would happen next, Smoke knew what was coming. Even after knowing that the fact that he was gonna die he gave his last remaining strength into attacking the dire fox.

  + Learned Ability: Suicide Attack

  Active

  Level: Beginner Level 1

  Experience: (10/1,000)

  Deals 5x your maximum Critical Damage on your Enemy.

  Ability can only be activated when you have less 10% HP remaining

  Using this ability would KILL the user.

  Nash got out of the ZECTAS POD. Dazed by the influx of the system messages. He had gained a level but lost a level as well. He also gained a new active ability SUICIDE ATTACK. He wanted to try spamming out the skill to increase its level but with the penalty of not being able to log in for the next 24 hours seemed to much of a drawback. This skill could really be considered as the last ace in the hole.

  Since Nash couldn't log in anymore he decided to start uploading some of his game videos on their Arcade site. Since the site was mostly about Arcade games and had only a small window about ZECTAS he thought that people would most likely just think of it as another ZECTAS promotional banner. After uploading his fights with the horned rabbits and the dire fox Nash went to sleep.

  Nash got up early as usual and did his daily routine of preparing breakfast and lunch for his brothers and Grandma. With that done he headed out to to the diner. He enthusiastically told the cook about his first time dying in ZECTAS. About how it kinda hurt but felt like more like falling in your sleep and actually falling out of bed.

  Up on top the unfinished skyscraper Nash pondered about what to do next in ZECTAS. He wondered where he would respawn again. Would it be the site where he died? Would it be in Nanahuatl Village? Or maybe in the City of Tezca where he originally wanted to start in.

  Smoke awoke besides a familiar fountain but this time there was no friendly old man that greeted him. This village truly feels like a ghost town now that only a few people are left. He checked his items and equipments once more. He decided to check on his Status Window as well. He found out that He really did go back one level and was now level 2 again with 10 attributes ready for distribution. He decided to stick with his 5 STR and 5 DEX allocation.

  Smoke knew that the dire fox was really well beyond his level, at the moment his only targets are the horned rabbits and the armored armadillos. He decided to continue slaughtering the cute cuddly horned rabbits since it was faster killing them than the armored armadillos.

  Smoke groaned at the idea that he needs to travel the same distance that he had travel in the last 3 days but he smiled when he also remembered that it would be faster now that he has gotten use to the attack patterns of the horned rabbits.

  No longer needing to rest to recover his HP. Smoke now only rested when ever he felt hungry and thirsty and this doesn't really happen until after 6 hours of non stop slaughtering of the horned rabbits. He indeed got further today than he did on his first day and gained another level. Smoke was now level 3. Satisfied with his level up he went to sleep with a smile.

  Nash awoke and did his daily routine. He wished that the hours he was away from ZECTAS would run faster. He wished that the time difference between ZECTAS and the real world was reversed. He wished that he would only need to spend 6 hours in the real world and spend the rest of the 18 hours inside ZECTAS.

  Smoke once again started hunting his favorite cuddly horned rabbit. He suddenly noticed that he didn't get as much exp as he did before. He expected to get at least 30exp with each horned rabbit killed but now he only got 28exp. He thought that this must be the game's way of saying to move on to another creature since you've already hunted enough of this creature. An experienced gamer would have thought that it was because he had leveled up that's why the horned rabbit now gave a smaller amount of exp.

  Smoke endured his field towards Coatl City it has been 10 days since he restarted his journey. He checked his map he was impressed with his progress. He had already travelled 40% of the way. He then realized that it would take less than 100 days to reach Coatl City. Maybe that old man was talking in ZECTA days. Of course that was it! That old man
said 100 days, and since that old man is an NPC naturally he would count a day using ZECTA time.

  Smoke laughed at himself for such a simple blunder. He was relieved that after a couple more days he would finally reach a main city and then would be able to properly start the game of ZECTAS. He would take on quests, find a job, he could learn magic, he could explore dungeons, he could finally get upgraded items. There are a lot of possibilities to look forward to once he would reach Coatl City.

  After another 5 days Smoke had travelled 60% of the way. The experience that he would get after killing a horned rabbit was now 1 exp. He had killed over 9999 horned rabbits. His backpack was filled with rabbits feet, and plenty of small rabbit meat. He was glad that he invested on STR and DEX. He was now level 9.

  Smoke saw his favorite horned rabbit. On a whimsical coincidence he needed just 1 exp more point to level up. He swiftly dispatched his 10000th horned rabbit.