New Beginnings

07-30-1012

My clothes seemed completely out of place here. I was so glad to shed them and adorn the "race specific gear" I was finally issued--they even gave me a real sword! I met several of this world's other races that first day. Galkas, one of the many races of this world, live here in Bastok as well. In only the few days I have been here I have noticed how unfairly they are treated by some of the townsfolk, as if they are lower citizens then humans ("Humes" they call us). I never could understand that.

I was really excited on the first day that I got to go out and use my sword. I soon grew much more experienced at battle and was easily slaying ... (*sarcastic drum roll*) worms and bees. Oh boy, I thought. Woohoo. I could squish those things back home, although much smaller, mind you. After fighting many pesky worms and lizards I acquired various ore and something called fire crystals. I visited the local Goldsmith’s Guild to see if they could explain how it worked. Indeed, Reinberta and Fatimah were able to just that for me. I soon learned how to smelt the copper ores I had found into copper ingots and then later how to combine some copper and zinc ores into brass. I must admit, my first few attempts looked like shiny animal droppings, but Fatimah was able to show me how to fix them and do it right the first time. If I wanted more practice but had run out of ores from the worms I killed, I could even buy more ore from Teerth or Visala. The guild members who ran the shop were all very helpful and very courteous, but I suppose any business would want to treat its customers kindly. I’m not yet sure if it is heartfelt kindness or just a façade to get more of my gil. I’ve only been here for a few days, so I have not yet had time to gain anyone’s trust.

A lack of gil and thirst for more strength compelled me to go back and fight more of the vermin outside. Though I felt like I had grown stronger, I sure didn't feel like I had accomplished much. I wanted to rid the land of the real pests--the growing problem of the local beastman hordes just outside of town. One of these strange beast races was called "Quadav" -- massive humanoid turtle-like creatures that packed a mean punch. Anything that could swing a sword at you with what seems like the strength of a five oxen must surely be avoided until you have gained the strength of seven bulls--or until you can get a few of your friends to help take it down.

To my amazement, there were even "Goblins" here -- something I thought only existed in comics about web-slinging super heroes and what not. These little punks fought dirty, doing things like lobbing bombs and wildly charging at their opponents. Sometimes they would knock me right off my feet for a moment. They weren't that difficult of a monster, as long as I choose the easier looking ones. (Dear me! It felt strange saying "monster" when I had first started as an adventurer.) If all else failed, I'd simply wind up next to my Moogle, stunned. Still, time brought more and more of these Goblins across my path and I began to form quite a grudge against them. The infamous "Dunes" and those blasted Jungles didn't help any. (I'm sure you've all heard of these places by now. That horribly bright sand always had a way of getting under my skin and making stubborn monsters harder to fight. And I hated navigating those confounded jungle trails--I got lost more than any good adventurer ever should have.) I've lost count of how many times those darn Goblins have knocked me out cold. And those little boogers just love to sneak up on you when you're in the middle of beating up something else. Much later in my adventuring career I finally reconciled my differences with the goblins--at least to some extent. In Jueno, one of them aided me by magically increasing the size of my backpack, while another crafted me a wonderful new set of armor from some simple patterns I found around the world. In a land far away from Bastok called “Aht Urhgan,” I even fought along side them, aiding the town in its defense against the great and many evils of that land.... But I digress. Those are other stories far ahead of this one, to be told some other time.

I still enjoy beating up the evil Goblins every now and again, but I don't target them anymore than the other local monsters. At one point I was so furious with them that I wanted to come back to the dunes when I was stronger and slay as many of them as I could find. (This startled some, while others suggested I take up the Dark Knight profession). It was a long and hard journey up to my warrior’s twentieth level. After all, it was my first job and learning the ropes is not easy. After increasing my warrior skill twenty times over, I talked to an old coot named Isacio that wanted some kind of magic skull, a worm and a crab shell. I didn’t understand why, but I happily obliged. Something about proving myself worthy was the only way he would teach me his fighting techniques. After giving him what he requested, he taught me how to wield the abilities of multiple job classes. I didn’t feel any different, so I had to test out this newfound skill. I returned to Bastok, laughing at the garbage that tried to attack me on the way back. I had tried out each of the jobs I had learned for a few hours when I had first arrived in Bastok. Each seemed interesting, but Warrior had caught my fancy first, as had Monk, albeit much more briefly. When I arrived in The Dunes as my Warrior, I was asked to distract the mobs away from everyone else and focus it’s attention on me. I was happy to take the heat, as I had plenty of good healers during my time there. Monk’s naturally high health and vitality seemed the perfect support role to my warrior class, and vice-a-versa. Too my surprise, I felt stronger playing Monk with this new support role ability than I felt beforehand. After increasing my monk skill just ten times over, I suddenly remembered how to provoke a monster’s anger against me. It was quite thrilling!