Jericho The Bard A VRMMORPG Story 26 Competitive Kittens For Ren

(Revenge!) Ken playfully shouted once princess was out of sight. He pounced Lux.

Jericho let out a laugh. "So secretive." He said aloud to the two felines that were once again wrestling. {You really enjoy that, don't you?}

One of the kittens replied. {Yes, No. Argh take that! I hate feeling so cute and that the skill is backwards of what I wanted. Hahaha I got you!} He shouted as he pinned the other cat. {But strangely it also feels very liberating having the skill reversed like this. I haven't had fun wrestling with someone in ages. Normally I get yelled at when I do something violent. These heightened senses are also enjoyable.}

The bard smirked. {So you are going to keep your current character?}

Ken hopped off Lux. {Yep, even though it feels a bit embarra.s.sing to be this cute and cuddly, and ruins the cool guy image I wanted to have in front of Moira, I think I have enjoyed playing more these last few minutes then I have before this. If I became bigger and less cute that would also help. Don't tell her that I like this form okay?}

The bard nodded. {Do you know the conditions for you to get stronger?}

Ken sighed/mewed. {For my lynx form to get stronger I have to increase my animal skills. I don't know what the requirements are for me to strengthen my human transformation so I can be human longer. But both will probably take a while.}

{I see. Then I have an idea on what we can do for the next few hours before you come over for dance lessons.}

The door to the crafting room swung open. "I'm finished!" Princess cried out happily. "Ken, come over here." She crouched down.

The housecat sized lynx kitten came forward.

Princess started scratching and petting her friend.

He resisted the urge to purr the game system had given him. Before Ken knew it, something was synched around his neck.

[You have been equipped with 'Ken's pet collar. Do to your appearance being relatively close to a domesticated cat, others will likely mistake you for someone's pet. You are Ken, the feline this collar was intended for. This collar will give you +10HP while worn. To others, Dancing Princess, Jericho the Bard, or both are now labeled as your owners. As no pet contract is in play, you do not actually have an owner.]

(Lux come over here! It is your turn!) Princess called out and repeated the same process.

"There, brother now you can tell them apart. Ken has the green collar and Lux has the yellow one. They look even cuter with collars don't you agree?"

Ken grumbled inaudibly a bit.

"Indeed." Jericho replied casually.

"I want to keep crafting. I have a lot of things I want to make. Brother, Ken you two go and have fun without me for now." She gave them a slightly crazed enthusiastic look.

Jericho nodded. "I'll message you for dinner and dance lessons later."

"Thanks!" She shouted as she slammed the door shut again.

{This collar is stupid. Can you take it off? She put the latch out of my reach.} Ken had his paw and claws against the strap. He was trying to get them in the right spot to pull it off.

Jericho shook his head. {Nope, it will actually help with my idea.} He picked up the empty box of supplies Princess had left outside.

{What plan?} Ken asked lowing his forepaw.

{You are not against hunting things down, however your current form makes it difficult to have the freedom to do so, right?}

{Yeah. It would be dangerous for me if I became hunted while hunting other things especially with the aggro rules.}

{Hop in. I am going to take the two of you somewhere where you will be able to train your skills to your heart's content. Wearing the collars will help reduce the chance you will be attacked by other players.}

{Even I don't know such a place. How do you know of it?}

Jericho let out a chuckle. {You do know of it and my idea will make sense when we get there.}

{Fine.} (Come on Lux, let's go into the box.)

(Okay!)

Jericho carried the two 'house cats' away from the market area. {By the way, Ken what is a Patch? Purai mentioned one happening earlier.}

{Right, you don't know. A patch is additional content and a few changes to the current content of the game. I read about it, for a few hours tomorrow the game will go offline and can't be played while they apply the new changes.}

{Oh, okay.}He walked west towards the farmlands.

{Why are we going over here?} Ken asked. {Wait, the rabbit infestation quest? Those creatures are all low level. How is that supposed to help us?}

The bard kept looking forward. {Do you need experience points to increase skill proficiency?}

{You have a point. So the goal will be to blitz through these low level enemies to raise our skills?}

{Yep.}

{If we do that…} Ken's feline eyes brightened.

"h.e.l.lo there, young man. Did the mayor send you to help out with our rodent problems?"

Jericho shook his head. "The mayor didn't send me but I heard you were having a problem and brought with me a potential solution."

"Oh? And what is that?" The farmer asked.

"My two cats have been feeling rather energetic lately. I am willing to rent them to you for a few hours."

{Renting us? This was your plan?} Ken asked. {How does that help?}

Jericho looked at the in-game clock. "Three hours to be exact. They can hunt down these rabbits for you."

"Oh it isn't just rabbits. We have had all sorts of critters eating our crops." The farmer replied.

"Then they can help by hunting all of them."

"How much you are asking to rent these two fellows?"

The bard smiled. "How about you reward us based on kills rather than hours; wouldn't that be more useful to you?"

"Well, we don't have a lot we can reward you with but we can give you a copper per kill. You can also have all the loot dropped from the creatures."

[Contract available: Rent your 'cats' and let them loose into the farmer's fields for a time. You will get 1 copper piece per kill. You get to keep all loot. This contract can be paused and re-engaged at any point as long as the farmers are having a pest problem.]

"That is acceptable." Jericho replied.

{No it is not! One copper per kill? That is exploitation! I refuse.} Ken exclaimed.

The bard rotated the box and tipped the felines out. {The goal isn't the money. You two being for rent is just an excuse for you to two to have free reign to train your skills, remember? If you are under contract the farmers will make sure the other players don't attack you. Now you and Lux go have fun hunting. I'll send you a message when it is almost time for dinner so you can come back.}

Ken received a notification. [You have received a special monster quest. Ma.s.s Hunting: You and Lux have three hours. Kill as many pests as you can within that time limit. Rewards will be given depending upon your shared performance. Your kills and Lux's kills are both recorded separately and together. You are not allowed to see any totals except for your personal ones.]

Lux snarled playfully. (Brother Ken, I challenge you! Let's see who can hunt the most!)

Ken bore his teeth. (I accept, but what will the winner get?)

(You can speak that weird whoosh speak with Jericho. Ask him to give a reward to the winner. Other than that, if you win you can brag about it.)

Ken turned back to Jericho. {Lux and I are competing to see which of us can get the most kills. You should reward the winner.}

Jericho nodded. {Compet.i.tion can be a good motivator. The reward is a grilled fish. Unless you don't want that Ken, then you can take the copper pieces.}

{Sounds like a good plan.} He turned to Lux. (Winner gets a grilled fish all to themselves.)

[Sibling compet.i.tion: You and Lux are brothers and both have compet.i.tive streaks. Compete to see who can kill the most pests. Difficult pests will award more points. Lose: No reward from Jericho the Bard, Lux has bragging rights. Win: Gain a grilled fish as a reward and bragging rights.]

Lux rushed off. (Ready? Go!) He shouted back.

The kid gave chase and their compet.i.tion began.

[Lux and Ken have started a compet.i.tion to see who can kill the most prey. You have chosen to reward the winner a grilled fish.] [Lux 2 kills] [Ken 1 kill] [Total 3] [Time remaining 2:57:07]

Jericho laughed as he watched the two run through the fields as sudden inspiration hit him. He split himself, turned on the recording feature of the game, and pulled out his piano. "I challenge you!" Jericho said to his doppelganger. "You're on." The two Jerichos started playing a very playful compet.i.tive sounding duet.

Jericho turned off the video feature. "I think I will label this new song, Compet.i.tive Kittens. It has some kinks to work out but I think writing and performing this duet shouldn't be that hard. I should start an alb.u.m of songs that I make from inspiriting moments in game. Let's refine it a bit further." He repeatedly played the playful compet.i.tive duet, refining the composition for three hours. He recorded himself one final time. "This should be a good enough recording for me to refine it in real life later."

[Piano skill has improved. 2/10 Grandmaster]

Ken was having a blast. (Most of my animal skills have already reached 3/10 beginner. If I do this about four or five more times I should be able to get one of them up to Adept. I wonder if I won, that grilled fish is sounding kind of tasty.)

Jericho sent a message. [Time's up. Grab Lux and come back.]

The two kittens returned.

Jericho looked at the expectant eyes. "Shameless cats." He laughed. He pulled out the grilled fish. "Lux won by 8 kills. It was close. Sorry Ken." The bard placed the fish in front of Lux.

The one lynx ate happily.

[You have lost the sibling compet.i.tion. Lux has bragging rights. Lux has won a grilled fish.]

Ken received an unfamiliar notification.

[You and Lux have completed the monster quest, Ma.s.s Hunting and have earned your 'owner' great rewards. You have gained 300 MExp. Please allocate if you want to use them to increase skill proficiency, be transferred into monster currency, or changed into Exp.]
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{MExp?} He questioned aloud.

Jericho nodded. {Yeah, when you complete quests as an in-game creature you gain that special Experience. Since you are worried about looking cool in front of my sister, I would suggest using it to increase your skill levels.}

The farmer came back over. "Your cats are fantastic hunters killing 218 pests in the last few hours. That is way more than the adventurers the mayor has sent in the last few days. Here is the 2 silver and 18 copper you earned and all the corpses."

"Thank you." The bard received the payment.

[Contract completed.] [Your inventory is not large enough to receive all the items dropped.]