Lance sat up off the ground. Even though he only had one video he gained a few hundred thousand subscribers on Viewcube. He didn't really know where to begin with it, because he never had a job. 1240 dollars was infinitely more than he ever imagined he would make. He had to input banking information which again he didn't have. But after a few minutes online he just linked an online banking service and was set to go. He next began to read comments and wanted to reply to them. After reading a few, some just made him face palm while others were a bit over the top. There were also obviously trolls in the mix, so without falling for any sort of traps he opted to just like comments. This went on for a while.

  Lance still had a bit over an hour before he could log in. So he searched ViewCube for a specific video. The roles of a restaurant. He knew the obvious ones like chef, waiter, dishwasher, busboy, and cashier. However he thought there were bound to be more positions and responsibilities that he could learn of. Another reason is even though he could throw food on the pan.. he knew that there were some pretty serious basics he didn't have. Outside of making sandwiches, cooking in the microwave, or boiling ramen or noodles, he could only attempt to imitate. He began to dive into the basics through many videos. With self-reflection he knew his cutting and chopping techniques were plain and wasteful, he obviously never cared to worry about the sterilization of utensils or ingredients. He used improper temperatures which is why his meat either stuck to the pan and burned, or were barely cooked.

  He began to notice a trend. It all pointed to the environment, and the utensils. Lance had the most basic knife, not even a kitchen knife, a plain knife like one that would be kept on a hunters hip. And a pan. A cast iron pan that most people would have. That's it, no soap to wash his hands or utensils, not a quick access to wash the ingredients found. He had bitten into sand plenty while there. " Maybe these small steps could really help improve my overall bottom line."

  Lance couldn't help but realize that also using the pan as a weapon was a quick way to ruin this ideology. Not to mention, the pan itself only gave him a defensive bonus. He's basically been swinging a shield. The knife he had was also so small that he hardly felt it would serve him well enough. Even though he could be sneaky and it would work well in those cases, it was also a good kitchen utensil, and a very important one at that. That left little choice but to get over the fact that the hand axe felt not as at home with his style of fighting. He chuckled that the pan felt better. He promised himself that he would use it with the pan, and use the pan more so as a shield next time he played. That time quickly approached.

  Lance had been waiting all day and was so eager to log in. He grabbed his helmet and lied down. He pressed the button and closed his eyes. He felt the weight of his body leave with his breath and in the next inhale he opened his eyes. Again the blank pure white void appeared before him. All that was here was the living room furniture he used last to watch his recording.

  " Spex, You there? "

  A moment later Spex stepped in front of Lance from seemingly nowhere but passed his shoulder. " I'm here. How are you doing today Lance? Would you like to hear about the updates I have made?"

  " Oh. Uhm Sure, Also What else can you do with recordings? You made the highlight reel but can I add some commands? Would you be able to use them while I’m in the game? "

  " Yes and no, monitoring the game's performance, recording, and emergency alerts are all that I can do. Would your commands fall under those categories?"

  " Yes, When I ask, can you add things to the highlights? There are some things that would be easier to find in that way. Also please use voice altering on my voice whenever applicable. That's basically it. It will help when I edit. Anyways what were the updates you made? "

  " Since your last play I updated your game Wish Legacy. A new menu can be accessible through the app store as well as in game. Only in game currency is available to be spent on our app store. Also and most notably the console time has been improved with the data collected from your first use, now up to twelve hours can be played before you must take a break. Originally the maximum at launch was set to ten hours, but with all of the applicable data, a performance adjustment has been made and as time goes on progress shall continue to be made. I have also identified 2 new items for you to use here in your home space. Would you like to see them now?"

  Lance was ecstatic more game time! Also items for his home space? " Yeah sure, let's see them! "

  Spex summoned a table and on it was his pan and knife. She waved her hand over them as if presenting them for show.

  Lance looked at them, surprised but not at the same time. Nearly his entire journey in Wish Legacy yesterday was made with these in hand. He chuckled and then said

  " Thank you. How exactly do you create items for this space? What warrants the reason to fabricate them here?"

  " After reviewing your emotional responses, these items held significance. We want you to have a warm home screen full of things that help showcase who you are. Overtime additional factors and other things may continue to provide more options and help you fill the place with more of, you."

  Lance looked at the pan and knife. He picked them up examined them and set them down.

  " What am I supposed to do with this alone? Next time get at least some ingredients. Thanks though they're great uh... decorations. "

  Spex closed her eyes and nodded. she then pulled up the app store and showed Lance the updated menu. " Here is the game item shop. And when you would like to enter the game simply say so." With that she bowed and stepped away. Lance watched her walk, eventually she just disappeared.

  He stepped up to the menu screen in front of him. He saw a tab marked Barter and another Sell. Clicking on the Sell tab in which only two sections were available Consumable and Gear. Within each tab a tier list appeared, giving Lance some wonderful insight.

  Barter-

  Sell-

  Consumable-

  Gear-

  -Shame (728903472)

  -Praise (52678)

  -Honored (0)

  -Renowned (0)

  -Regal (0)

  -Law (0)

  Realizing the actual depth of which item tiers there were made Lance wonder how astounding the items could be. The abundance of items on the shame list were boggling and yet understandable. He began to browse a plethora of Shame tier items. Most were basic class starting gear. It seems either folks are dying or around other people who were dying. There was a trend here and many of the items were being sold for simply one dull experience gem. That notion again gave Lance some great insight. He hadn't an idea of what categorized the experience gem what he expected was size considering he had met beasts of different size experience gems. The goblins had small rock sized gems and the bats had finger nail sized stones. Reilly even gave him pieces that were more cylindrical. Assuming that size didn't matter he began to think of the gems themselves, and indeed none of them really held any luster. Clicking over to the Barter tab Lance's expectations were shocked. There was again another list of things here but they were all professions or skill sets. The tabs were as follows.

  Smith, Apothecary, Page, Doctor, Bounty Hunter, Chef, Body Guard, Mender, Tinkerer, Hemming, and Gatherer. Lance quickly clicked over to the Chef tab. Laughably he stared at the page and its few inserts. The majority of them offered bat meat skewers; a few standouts tried to claim they were TheDungeonChef and we're trading goblin meat on a stick. The lack of creativity left him feeling like the superior Dishwasher tier eater. Clicking over the other tabs he became a bit more disappointed. Nothing new was available but it was to no surprise, it was barely day two anyway. Buying or selling or improper use of time seemed likely to be a big blunder. On the other hand if there was any way he could monopolize the fact that he knew how to gain experience selling things for gems would be great. But the lack of useful things made him realize that this would only really evolve with the player base.

  " Better not jump the gun on anything. Anyways let's go read that rule book, Spex launch Wish Legacy." The scene once again darkened and he felt himself begin to float. Then in front of him a bright light flashed then dimmed into the shape of a door. Once again his feet touched ground but in the darkness all that could be seen was the door. Opening it Lance could see the inside of the bar where Wellyn was in the back just wiping out another mug casually. Lance stepped in the door from the darkness, the door closed behind him.

  " Hey there ladd. Ready for another round? " He said as he placed the mug on the counter and grabbed another.

  Lance looked at him and then around the empty bar again. " Who're you cleaning the cup for? And actually I need to read the rule book."

  Wellyn's eyes opened wide." *ahemm. It uh just gives me something to do. Anyways the rule book? You mean the Laws of the Landing? " He reached behind the counter and popped a large blue book and placed it on the counter. " Might take you quite a long time to read this kiddo. What exactly are you looking for? There's a generalized section that should give you what you need to know in the front. To be upright with ya a bunch of it won't matter for quite some time for you. "

  " Oh yeah why's that?" Lance said dejectedly.

  " Ahahaha, well you've not even made it to the Identis Bay. Level 5 is when actual law and common place fellowship begins. Everything b'fore that is all about just trying to live. Piece it out over time, What you need now is experience. Have you earned any?" Wellyn winked at him as he asked.

  Lance grew upset. "This damn barkeep is tryna gate keep me from the rules? And now he's baiting me with the fundamentals. Okay well, I'll play your into your charade." he thought and with a face displaying eagerness he spoke out

  " Oh the experience gems yeah I saw those, how do you use them?"

  " Haha, now you're thinking. Well you have an easy answer, Get an alchemist to make you a potion. Your first and closest alchemist should be somewhere in level 5. Just gather as many as you can now and reach there."

  " Are you sure that's the earliest you can use them?? Do you tell this to everyone?" Lance responded.

  " Only those who ask or those who want to learn the book here. And most likely the case is yes. The rest is for you to discover" Once again Wellyn winked at Lance.

  "Ahhh... So this guy's like the little game icon thing that gets put in the training mode that gives you tips and tricks. What the heck last time he basically... oh no I just ran in didn't I. Fuck. Okay let's keep him talking." Lance thought. " Okay so let's say I have some items in my menu to claim, how long do they stay there? and what are Tavern quests?" Lance said as he pulled up his menu and clicked around. Seeing that he still had his reward from the goblin kills.

  " They last for thirty days. And tavern quests can be accepted here in the tavern with the proper party size and requirements met. Think of it as a side quest. Everyone involved gets a reward but the difficulty is considered much more than the average Query. It will not progress you any further than the level it was given but you have the ability to earn much more! Anything else?"

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Lance began to think yet again. " Okay so it's like a Boss battle dungeon que thing. Everyone gets a reward though... Hmmm Requirements? Maybe he means the way i killed the goblins to receive it. Interesting. I wonder how many bats you would have to kill. Or would that even matter? Wait... Does everyone need that requirement?"

  " Hey, does that mean everyone in the party needs the requirement?" Lance asked.

  " Depends on the quest but likely yes. Do you have one? If so, hand me the scroll. "

  Lance accepted the reward for the Natural Predator achievement. A moment later a scroll appeared in his hand. He handed it over. Wellyn then unfurled the scroll, in the parchment the words and writing was in an unfamiliar language but it looked quite amazing. Wellyn followed the text with a finger and when he finished the text began to glow faintly. Then Lance got an alert.

  " Natural Predator"

  Party size: One.

  Time limit: 1 hour

  Objective: Kill at least 5 Creatures with the environment.

  Location Level : 1

  Reward: Praise tier drop, Skill- Appraise

  Start: Y<-/N

  " Hey Wellyn my man... you uh can still die on these quests right? "

  " Well yes of course."

  " Cool"

  Chapter 8 Bricked up

  Wellyn stared at Lance and then grabbed him by the shoulder. " Some good rewards ladd, S'worth your troubles. Says it's limit one, it was nice meeting ya kid. Get after it."

  " Huh? " Lance responded looking up at Wellyn who then squeezed the scroll and it caught into a quick flame. The menu in front of Lance blinked. As if asking for an answer. " Shit.... Fine! " He pressed yes. The door next to the counter opened slightly and the dark like miasma that was usually there was replaced by a shaded blue miasmic aether. The color reminded Lance of the Praise tier reward. " Oh shit!"

  Lance quickly clicked through his menu. and accepted the reward. He closed his eyes in anticipation....

  " Eh?"

  Sitting in front of him was a small rock. On the rock was a small etching of a goblin holding hands with another goblin. Lance picked it up.

  " Goblin Stone"

  Bobble - Praise tier

  Use: Sharpening an item ( Stick, Weapon, Etc) Gives the item + 1 Damage for the next 5 Strikes and a shiny edge.

  Character Bound.

  Description: Yeet

  " What the.. You're joking.." Lance looked up at Wellyn.

  Wellyn looked at Lance. "Nice.. Rock"

  Lance walked into the quest level aether, cursing under his breath.

  Stepping through Lance entered another cave however this cave was well lit. It seemed to be no larger than your average recreational field. From where he was standing and intermittently through the space were a bunch of pillars made of stone. Between them every so often we're stalactites. Lance stepped forward into the area. As far as he could see there weren't any monsters around. He kept walking through and once he was halfway the torches along the walls began to blink in unison from red to yellow then green. Sections of the wall on all four sides began to rise with a stony grumble. Stepping out of it in all directions around Lance, small goblins walked out. At once they all began to speak and charge towards him yelling obscenities.

  " Oh everybody? Shit!" Lance began to run around. All of the goblins had spears or daggers and they were quickly catching up to him in pinching maneuvers.

  Lance ran as hard as he could dodging and weaving, the occasional pan smack of a blade or spear being knocked away.

  " There are too many of them!" Lance running forward was looking behind him as the pack began to consolidate. Without paying too much attention he ended up running smack into a pillar and onto his bum. The pillar began to sway. Lance looked up in fear as it began to topple towards him. He quickly rolled away and the pillar crashed on the ground next to him into the next pillar into the next into the next then BOOM. A long line of pillars fell in succession across to the far wall. easily taking out at least a tenth of them. Lance stood in the dust

  level 1 Goblin killed --989/10

  1/5 monsters for "Natural Predators" quest achieved

  " Ooohhh... Yeah I guess I should have ahggh * PUNG*" Lance realized how to deal with the situation and in that moment a goblin stabbed him in the arm. He turned and quickly slapped the goblin in the head with the pan. " Asshole" he said

  The goblin dazed " Hue speaks gob"

  Lance, also realizing he understood the goblin, swung forward with his axe directly above and onto its head.

  " I guess so " Blood sprayed and more goblins began to see Lance and charge again as the dust settled now below their eye line. Lance darted off. Following the line of fallen pillars he eventually began to get cornered again and quickly hopped onto the large chunks of rubble and over to the other side where even more goblins were. " Damnit!" He darted off again already out of breath. Running for what felt like eternity he finally began to make his move. Behind him were a large congregation of goblins . He quickly stopped and turned around a pillar and with his weight began to push. Eventually it gave and toppled over, he tried to keep it from knocking into a line of pillars but almost against his exertion the pillar just toppled diagonally into a line of pillars that direction. Zero goblins died.

  "Agh CRAP" Lance darted off again.

  This process continued over and over again for many minutes. In the end he only ended up killing three goblins with this method.

  Randomly scattered pillars stood tall amongst the almost chalk filled air of the cave, lit through the green glow of the torches at least twenty some goblins gave Lance chase all ready to stab and pierce him as soon as they caught up. The good thing was as he grew tired so did they. Every so often he would lose them and take a quick breather hunkering below the stone rubble until a goblin sniffed him out and it would all start again. Lance decided he would start taking a more cunning approach. From the wound he received earlier he began to swipe blood on random sections of stone as he made his rounds. Eventually he became rather faint and decided to cauterize it with his pan. Lance ended up at ten health before long. He knew this needed to end.

  Finding another now lone pillar Lance crept, awaiting a goblin to find him. Staying low and away from the eyes of the few who decided to become lookouts above the broken rubble, he waited. Eventually he could hear the sniffs and footsteps of a lone goblin. Before the goblin could get too close, he hopped out around the side of a stone outcropping and with a hearty swing of both hands he swung his pan on its side first, and followed the swing with his axe, hammering the back of the axe head right at the goblin's closest leg. *Pung PANG* Like a hammer to nail and a high pitch squeal the goblin leg shunk to the side, knee cap backwards and leg contorted, It screamed for help. Lance stepped back and then pushed over a pillar.

  "4/5 ONE MORE!" he darted away quickly trying to stay as low as possible. The next closest pillar still far off in the distance. On the way there though Lance had to stop in a dead end. Behind him Another group of goblins hot on his heels. Trapt and cornered quickly, he didn't dare give them his back. " Shit." He was stuck. Five goblins stared him down. They fanned out and tried to keep him in a corner.

  " Hahaha Gots you now"

  " Yeaaash stinking rabbit!"

  " Hu's taste good *slurp*"

  " Yeah hahahahah"

  " Stickem in the bricks break his manhood's"

  " Whoa, Frognaks that's not nice"

  Three others in unison

  " Yeah not cool" " Who hurt you gro?"

  " Gro come on"

  Now blushing Frognaks - " We're nots nice remember! "

  " Oh yeah... Stick'em in the bricks! "Manhood's!"

  " Huh, where'd he go?"

  The goblins turned back and realized Lance was gone. With a large crackle they looked up. Lance pushed with all his strength, once again using the stalactites a large stone spear came falling down tumbling sideways it landed amongst the group killing two instantly and injuring another. The other two ran away screaming " He's got big bricks aaaaaah"

  Lance landed down near the dead goblins and rolled the stone a bit further, squishing the pinned goblin who lay there unconscious. The torches in the room dimmed and then brightened again the still running goblins disappeared and from what he could tell no longer did he hear any of them. Looking down at the corpses he quickly cut into them grabbing out their gems, He also took their small spears and one small knife made from crude stone chiseling. None of these goblins wore armor aside from shoes sometimes made of toad and a loin cloth. After cutting their ears he got up and looked for the exit. Off in the distance he could see a door.

  He stepped through and was back in the tavern. Dirty and covered in dust, limping, he made his way to the table and plopped down. Staring at the pile of ears he threw down he let out a deep sigh. A moment later Wellyn came and set a mug in front of his face. It was frothy on the top and bubbled voraciously.

  Lance didn't say anything and just drank it.

  The blue liquid entered his mouth and foamed wonderfully releasing a berry-like flavor tingling on his tongue. It went down smooth, sweet and tangy, with a zest similar to a citrus fruit. Lance's eyes widened and a moment later he felt all the bubbles in his stomach burst sending a huge burp up and out of him. The waft of air from his gut came up and swiped away all flavor left in his mouth. Lance realized it was beautifully crafted and could be used as a pallet cleanse. He looked up at Wellyn who was just laughing at him. " What is this drink?"

  " Hahaha Good one. It's a Slime Soda, should patch you up. How was it? Did you enjoy your first Tavern quest?"

  " Slime soda.... huh ..Well.. I suppose it was... exhilarating. Every step I took there was death looming over me but in the end I got through it. Stupid goblins." He pulled out the gems in his pocket and looked at the pile of ears, and crude weapons. Outside of a harrowing and narrow victory the tavern quest seemed ridiculously lucrative. He wondered if perhaps the goblins were that easy to deal with normally. This was level one after all.

  Even though a large part of the quest forced him to use the terrain as a means of fighting back. It greatly improved his sense of kiting the little fiends. Having been chased by them he got to know their top speeds, sometimes slowing to even push them to try and run faster. It was like being chased by a 9 year old, quick, but awfully clumsy. Sharp turns were their enemy. Goblins were honestly quite weak, their strengths lie in the nimble bodies. Swiping at their midsection or arms and they would shrink or dodge. Their head was the only real target as it was rather large for their size. They were very good at using their range, sometimes even stabbing out with a spear or dagger at seemingly impossible lengths for their size. They also naturally cornered when in chase, sometimes seemingly guiding your movement like herd dogs with stabs at air conditioning you towards dead ends or other goblins. When they were together in small packs they almost instinctively worked well together but when they got complacent or were sure of victory they let their guard down, which was possibly their biggest weakness. Lance only confirmed it, after being trapped into that dead end. Thinking back to that and replaying the time he saved Reilly, as well as the time he dropped the stone on them in their "bathroom" outcrop. Surprise attacks were relatively easy when they were calm. While in pursuit and locked on to you good luck but devastating attacks could happen to them caught off guard. The last thing was their scent. It wasn't too difficult to trick, knowing they were also blind to darkness using their nose was their next best move but with the smells all around it would be useless.

  Lance knew exactly what to do to defeat the first level. But he knew he would need help. Lance opened his menu drinking more soda. He then accepted the reward for completing the Tavern quest. In front of him a Praise tier Gacha ball landed and rolled on the table towards him. And then he got an alert.

  "Appraise" skill learned

  Description- Examine objects found in levels to determine attributes, abilities, and value (*based on a gem economic value*) by holding them for a minute in good lighting. Can be used at range for 2 mana.

  "Whoa wait what?!" Lance looked over at the table and grabbed the goblin spears.

  " Sharp Stick "

  +2 Damage

  Description: It's a stick.

  Value: Worth about a stick.

  Lance sat back. "What the heck, why does a stick have more damage than my pan???"

  Wellyn began laughing so hard he folded at the waist. After a moment he sat down across from Lance. " Well, it's good to see you learning, boy. Let me answer that for you. Your base strength is what's applicable to your hits, with your weapon's a top that. Slicing, Bashing, and piercing will have different uses against certain foes, Something there may even save your life. To top it off, you're wielding a mundane pan like a force of virtue. Purely charismatic truly. But I'd wager you're better off using an actual weapon. All though I have known a man to use manacles as weapons quite well. Who knows, perhaps it's just your style. You can always look for ways to enhance or enchant your gear."

  Lance closed his eyes and sighed. Deep in thought. " Hmph well the pan works. I'm not gonna stop using it, but maybe I should take care of it a bit better.. " Lance looked down at the pan. Even though it was thick and heavy, there were obviously dents and dings. He had curved the rim a bit with all the slamming. " Without this I lose pan sear.. I guess I should be a bit more respectful to my gear."

  " Well shall we open this then? " Lance tossed the Gacha ball in his hands.