Fire Newt

Alluvia is a world full of beings and creatures of incredible powers: Sorcerers capable of summoning storms or destroying a warrior with a mere gesture of their hands, dragons of every element raining devastation over the land or guarding the few pieces of land monsterkind could call their own, warriors that cut entire ships with a slash of their swords, thunderbirds bringing rain and lightning over those stupid enough to provoke them, warlocks calling upon the creatures from beyond this realm to fight and destroy, champions of the Divine that carried Their will, demigods that reduced all those that challenged or offended them to ashes, creatures that reanimated bodies and commanded souls to do their bidding...

But you were not one of them.

You were Ika, the Fire Newt. Not... exactly impressive.

Living in the valleys of the Volcanic Peaks, Fire Newts were the weakest of the weak in this part of Alluvia; mere EXP for starter players to get with ease... if you bothered to read the small letter and warnings of the zone description.

You were like any other Fire Newt: A foot- long newt with green eyes, red and orange scales covering your body from head to tail. Clawless, you depended on bites and your fire aura to cause damage. Not a lot of options...

Then again, Fire Newts were creatures for starter players to farm...

Stupid players and their stupid farming, you seethed as you walked back and forth in your home. It was just a hole in the ground, but you didn’t need more.

The shrill of the sentry reached your eyes, and not a second later you were sprinting out, joining the growing crowd of newts.

Fire Newts were EXP fodder for beginners... as long as you didn’t go to the valleys around Mount Krakatoa. All around the volcano, hundreds and hundreds of newts dwelled, and such an amount was capable of swarming and defeating unprepared players of low level.

Of course, luck is a bitch when you are a monster, and the evidence was on the four powerful guilds of adventurers, mercenaries and sorcerers that were stationed across the Volcanic Peaks. Like most players, most of their members were impulsive idiots, bloodthirsty warriors, or downright bastards, so they appeared in large and prepared groups to farm on the swarm and remove a distraction when a rival group appeared.

You were soon joined by your friend Keenan.

“Any new partners on our group?” He asked, prompting you to shake your head.

Fire Newts were not sentient; their AI was primitive, simple preprogrammed actions and responses that could be predicted with ease. A bug had, somehow, given Keenan his own mind. A week later the bug repeated on you, and it had happened again twice in the last three months.

Four in hundreds of drone-newts wasn’t a lot, but you appreciated the company.

Whatever sentence Keenan was trying to say was drowned as horns of war resonated through the valley.

Ooooooooooh crap, was the thought in both your minds. They were being attacked by the Bloody Skull, bloodthirsty mercenaries that loved tearing things apart, not matter their size.

You weren’t sure how, but being killed by them hurt more than when the other guilds decimated your kind. And a wizard once disintegrated you slowly from the tail up.

Slowing down, you and Keenan let the other newts pass. You brought up your stats out of habit.

Ika

Fire Newt

Level 1

EXP: 0/40

HP: 30

MP: 10

Element: Fire

ATK: 2

END: 1

AGI: 7

INT: 1

PWR: 1

Skills:

-Fire Aura I: Engulfs the user in a red aura that burns any enemy in contact with it for 2 damage every second. Costs 1 MP per second. Does not affect enemies with the Fire element.

Closing your stats, you looked at Keenan, seeing the hope in his eyes, almost buried in his resignation. Hope to finally kill a player, kill their enemies and gain a level. The first step to change things.

You weren’t going to let your friend lose hope, so you let out your loudest battle cry, not knowing it was adorable due to your high tone and non-threatening look, and charged forward, Keenan right behind you.