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Ch. 88 - Horace’s Plan (Pre-Beta)
🕑 Added 2024-09-10 16:28:48 +0000 UTC“So, what's the plan? How do we catch a baby allosaurus?” Jack asked. His heart raced just thinking about it. He knew this would be the most dangerous quest he’d tackled.
“It will take a lot of preparation. I already have the trap for the infant ready. We must find a nest, scout the surroundings, and look for a place to build a trap for the parents.”
Jack gulped. “Can those things even be trapped?”
“It won’t be easy. If we choose the right location and make them come to us, there’s a chance we can trap them, at least temporarily.”
Horace's eyes lit up as he explained, clearly excited to show off his leadership. Jack noticed the shift—usually, Amari took charge. It seemed Horace was eager to prove he wasn’t just a follower but a capable leader, too.
“Okay, so we lure the adults away from the nest, grab the baby, and then what? We just... run?”
“Exactly,” Horace replied, grinning like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Jack blinked. “Wait... that’s it? That’s the whole plan?”
“The beauty of simplicity,” Horace said with a shrug.
Jack hesitated. He had expected something more... sophisticated. “But the baby is going to make noise, right? Won’t it call the parents?”
Horace’s grin widened. “We’ll be long gone before that happens. And we’ve got a secret weapon anyway.”
Jack perked up. Finally. Something practical, like a trap or a gadget. “What secret weapon?”
Horace paused, building suspense. “Your bard profession.”
Jack’s face fell. I'm the secret weapon? We're so screwed.
“You’ll be playing that ‘Running Wind’ melody while we sprint away. That way you can keep our stamina up so we can outrun any trouble.”
Jack groaned inwardly. “It’s called ‘Sitting Wind,’ but sure...”
Horace shrugged. “Whatever, same thing. Hey, maybe you should think about renaming it.”
Jack snorted, shaking his head. Yeah, he could see why Amari was the one in charge most of the time. Jack couldn’t help but feel a knot tighten in his stomach. At the same time, a simple plan wasn’t necessarily bad. “OK! Sounds like a solid plan. And what exactly do we need a bushcrafter for in all this?”
“Prepping takes time. I’ll need you to weave ropes and set up traps. Plus, without you, I’d be stuck buying overpriced meals from the nearest camp. Your cooking buffs will help, too. Especially if you can make us something that boosts our speed and stamina.”
Jack sighed. At least he wasn’t completely useless.
Jack’s stomach flipped with excitement. He was actually about to hunt an allosaurus—a baby one, but still, it counted. He thought back to his first solo attempts at a quest and how an allosaurus had chewed him to death and felt a shiver go down his spine.
“Okay, so let’s imagine an allosaurus does catch up to us...” Jack suggested.
“I’ve got us these,” he said, grabbing an item that Jack knew well. It was a [Dung Bomb].
Jack grimaced. When he and Amari invaded the compies’ nest to retrieve pottery shards. Back then, the bomb was barely enough to contain the little pests once he and Amari got closer to their nest.
“Horace, what if the parents get so mad that this bomb doesn't work?”
“We’re toast,” Horace replied, looking at the bomb in his hand, still grinning. “But hey, I’ll try to buy you enough time to escape.”
“Now that I think about it, there's this item I can craft that might come in handy during the quest.”
“Which one?”
“[Smoke Bomb],” Jack answered.
Horace frowned. “Right… now that you mention it, you told us about it when you shared the details of your hidden class. Are they good?”
“I'm not sure. I haven't made any yet.”
“Okay, what do you need?”
Jack sighed. “Clay, sugar, and bat poop.”
“Come again? What was that last one?”
“Bat poop.”
“I beg your pardon. I don’t think I heard you right.”
Jack let out an exasperated sigh. “Bat droppings. Bat feces. Feces dropped by bats,” Jack repeated.
Horace burst out laughing. “Man, being a bushcrafter is gross.”
Jack sighed, shaking his head.
“But you’re right, Jackie. Smoke bombs could give us an edge in distracting the allosauruses. If it doesn’t work, I can use these bombs, but each cost ten gold, so I’d prefer to avoid using them. If I’m not mistaken, there are some caves not too far from here. We can harvest it there.”
“Where are the caves, exactly?” Jack ventured.
“Don’t know. But we’ll find one. We just need to look for a rocky terrain. When you start finding more rocks in the jungle, that’s how you know there’s a cave nearby. Before I forget, join the quest and my party.”
Baby Allosaurus Hunt (Uncommon)
A master tamer residing in Embersgate has developed a new taming method and would like to experiment on an allosaurus infant.
Mission objectives:
- Capture a baby allosaurus.
- Make it back in one piece.
Restrictions: Trapper.
Recommended players: 10+
Recommended level: 25
Quest issuer: Leon, the Master Tamer.
Jack scanned the details. This quest was obviously way beyond their capability. They were severely understaffed and under-leveled. But seeing Horace’s unwavering confidence, Jack couldn’t help but believe they might just pull it off. He packed his pot hive and signaled Horace that he was ready.
*
Horace pressed deeper into the jungle, where the first hints of dawn painted the sky in shades of pink and orange. The jungle itself was unusually quiet—nocturnal creatures retreating to sleep while the daytime animals hadn't stirred yet. It was an odd in-between moment, making the place feel more like a sleeping giant than a jungle.
As they walked, Jack’s mind buzzed with thoughts about the quest. "What if the parents leave while we’re prepping?"
"That’d be ideal," Horace replied. "Then we wouldn’t have to worry about the big guys anymore."
Jack chewed on that. "Then why not bring in one of the lake's hunting parties to deal with the parents for us? We grab the baby after."
Horace chuckled. "Because no one’s that stupid, Jackie. Allosauruses near a nest get frenzy bonuses—they go berserk. It's chaos. Hunting parties prefer to hunt them at the lake shores. See that bigger boulder up ahead? Good sign. Let’s head that way."
“By the way, how does it work with nests?” He’d only ever seen fully grown allosauruses charging through the jungle, and they always seemed to come out of nowhere. The idea of them having nests and young... it seemed too real for a game.
“I see what you’re thinking,” Horace said, reading Jack’s face. “It’s kinda like reality, but way more sped up. Two parents lay an egg; one usually sticks around until the baby’s grown enough, while the other goes hunting. Then, the baby grows up and leaves, only for the parents to repeat the cycle.”
“What if you clear a nest? You know… slay both parents and baby.”
“Then, the system spawns a new one somewhere else, baby and all.”
Jack scratched his head. “Do the nests move every time?”
“If all allosauruses in it have been killed, yes. It happens more often than you think. Many players come to this map precisely to do quests similar to ours.”
They trekked deeper, Horace steering them from rock to rock as if following some invisible map only he could see.
“We’re getting close,” Horace said. “By the way, how are you getting sugar?”
“I’m sure someone near the lake can sell me some.”
“Good enough.”
Overhead, a flock of creatures flew by, their wings fluttering erratically.
Jack squinted. "Are those bats?"
"Yup."
"For a second, I thought they were oversized birds. They’re huge!"
Horace laughed. "You haven’t seen anything yet."
As the sky brightened, they finally spotted the cave entrance. Jack had expected a massive, ominous opening into the earth—something fit for a dragon’s lair. Instead, it was a small, discreet hole, more like a rabbit’s burrow. But as they descended, it revealed a surprisingly large, if cramped, cavern.
"Okay, let's go over the plan," Jack suggested.
"There’s no plan!" Horace declared cheerfully. "We go in, the bats are asleep, we scoop up your gross bomb materials, and we're out."
"And if we wake them?"
"We fight. You buff me with stamina and damage, and I’ll handle it."
"You’re going solo? You sure you can handle all that?"
Horace grinned. "Guess we’ll find out."
Jack was about to protest, but Horace was already heading toward the cave with a torch. Jack shook his head, grabbed one, too, and entered the cave after him.
The cave’s entrance was barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The air inside was thick and musty, laden with the smell of damp earth and the faint tang of something rotting. The walls glistened in places where moisture collected, and faint echoes of dripping water created a slow, rhythmic pulse. Every footstep Jack and Horace took seemed to magnify, as if the cave was listening, amplifying their presence.
The cavern opened up just beyond the entrance, its ceiling stretching higher than Jack had anticipated, jagged and uneven. As their torches flickered, the soft glow revealed clusters of bats clinging to the roof—motionless, but packed so densely together they resembled a thick, black velvet cloth.
Jack’s heart skipped a beat. They were massive, easily twice the size of normal bats, with leathery wings folded tightly against their bodies. The light glinted off their slick, glossy fur, and from their mouths, Jack could just make out the gleam of tiny, razor-sharp teeth. The bats skittered occasionally, rustling in their sleep, but none of them stirred fully.
“Are you sure it’s okay to have the torch on like this?” Jack whispered.
“Of course. Bats are blind! They can’t see whether you have a light or not. What matters is staying quiet. Their hearing is very sensitive.”
“Fine, fine. I get it.” Horace remained on guard, watching for any unusual activity among the bats. He was trying to look vigilant, but Jack could see right through the act. He pretended to look busy so that Jack wouldn’t recruit his assistance in scooping up the bat dung from the ground.
With a sigh, Jack knelt, his boots squelching into the filth. He could already tell there were spots deep enough to swallow his feet.
You’ve gathered 2x[Bat Guano].
+30 bushcraft XP.
Jack grimaced. He remembered when his dad worked as a plumber, fixing sewers in some rich man’s mansion. No matter how much his dad scrubbed, he’d come home reeking of waste. The smell clung to him. His mom had been so frustrated back then, battling that stench every day. Now, here he was—scraping the bottom of the barrel. Worse than his dad ever had it.
You’ve gathered [Bat Guano].
+15 bushcraft XP.
At least the XP made up for it. He noticed that despite the guano being a common material, it earned him more XP than usual. Perhaps this was the game wanting to reward people willing to get their hands dirty.
Just as Jack was about to scoop more guano into his pouch, there was a yelp from his side, shattering the fragile silence. Jack froze, his heart leaping into his throat. He turned toward Horace, who, while moving around, had fallen into a pit of guano. He stood completely still, waist-deep into bat poop, wide-eyed, a guilty look plastered across his face as he studied the ceiling.
The noise reverberated through the cavern, bouncing off the walls, and for a moment, the bats above them remained motionless. Then, slowly, like a wave rippling through the ceiling, the bats began to stir.
Comments
Coleman
Run- that cyberpunk music cue.
Cássio Ferreira
:D
Cássio Ferreira
Haha. Thank you for leaving a comment.
ByLAWphoto
Oh, BATS! Blah ha ha ha
Julia Pennoyer
Horace, you ding-a-ling 🤦
