The Mad Lad of Russia 1 (Patreon)

The Mad Lad of Russia - or ‘I refuse to be just a Mad Monk, I shall become the Maddest of Lads’ (Wholesome Rasputin, Historical Gamer!SI)

EDIT: Due to the Gamer element, stuff like Dungeons and Fantasy Creatures are a thing.

From, ‘The Chronicles of the Mad Lad, a Biography of Grigori Y. Rasputin, 1991’:

The name Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin bears a large footprints upon history.

Many have tried to understand the ‘Mad Lad of Russia’, but only a handful ever got their hands on relevant info about this individual. In the matters of his Childhood and Early Adult Life, Historian Douglas Smith was able to retrieve an old journal confirmed to have been written by the local Church Leader of Pokrovskoye,  the village where Grigori was born.

The first pages detailing Rasputin are not exemplary as they detail a child with interest in intellectual books and tales, straying from the usual group of children looking deep into tales and being more ‘intrigued’ by the matters of the Divine and of the Science world. Something that would define him in his future.

Yet, the first sign of Grigori’s anomalous feat started on O.S. (Old Style Calendar) January 11 1879. While it hasn’t been confirmed this was the first ever deed that would define his status as ‘Mad Lad’, the official records would confirm this was the first recorded feat.

Just two days after his tenth birthday, Grigori had decided to do something in regard to the village’s growing issues tied to the decaying woods that slowly destroyed the houses. The good wood was not available with what was present in the local treasury, and the taxation was already intense for many.

Grigori, by many saw as a dutiful child, was reported to have told his mother, Anna Parshukova, that he would have ‘found gold’. The idea was silly, and, for a time, it was greeted with light teasing.

The next two days would prove to be quite telling of what kind of man little Grigori was shaping to become:

A Mad Lad, someone defying expectations and human limitations.

—-------------d-d-d—--------

Usually reincarnation happens within the lens of occupying a fantasy character and hardly an historical one.

To be put in the newborn body that would become the Mad Monk of Russia was indeed a shocking development for me, especially considering that Grigori Rasputin had some of the worst reputation a man could have. And that is by even removing all those bad rumors he had to his name- he just was not a good person.

So, to be reborn as him would have been a rather dreadful occurrence if not for a chance to make the difference and… shape the world’s destiny altogether within due time and effort.

Name: Grigori Y. Rasputin

LVL. 1/50

Age: 1
EXP: 00/10

Title: Little Grigori

Money: -
HP: 10/10
SP: 5/5
MP: 0/0

STR: 1
MAG: 1

DEF: 1
SPD: 1
INT: 1
LCK: 1

I am a Gamer, which means I could do a lot depending on how limited the system was. Or rather, how unlimited the system could get. Nonetheless, I couldn’t exactly do much during the first four years of my life.

I was a baby, in Siberia, with a father that was busy most of the time with the multiple jobs he was taking care of, and mother being occupied by house chores by the time I was able to walk and somewhat function semi-independently.

If I have to be honest, it was bad. Quite bad. It was the mid 19th Century, it was Siberia and, with Russia just now dragging itself into modernity, things were quite basic at the village. A single well, a single small church, several rudimentary wooden houses, and jobs could only be found far away from the village. And those that existed were not paying a lot.

I had siblings- or used to have those as I realized that Rasputin’s survival rate at birth and slightly beyond were astonishing considering how many of those kids my parents saw losing. So, it would be fair to say mom was mixed between worrying for me and ‘resigning to another bad end’.

Sad, but not overall disappointing since I had the Game which should have covered me for most illnesses early on. Plus, I had something to keep me busy anyway, the Game giving me the means to already starting my career somehow.

- Daily Chores (Repeatable - Age 4/5) -

Difficulty: 0

Conditions:

-Help Around the House;
-Be a Good Boy;

Time Limit:

-24hrs;

Reward:

-1 EXP;

-Improve Relationship with: Mother;

-Improve Relationship with: Father;

Failure:

-None, it’s not that easy;​

As the Quest suggested, it was a repeatable one that would be evolving the older I would get. It was the only one I had each day from the Age of 4 to 5, with the end result being that I was slowly leveling up through it.

By the time I was five, I had gotten to Level 9 and, by reading some books I got from the local Church and starting to do some exercises, I also boosted my STR, DEF, SPD, and INT points a fair bit together with a few Support-Related Skills.

Name: Grigori Y. Rasputin

LVL. 9/50

Age: 5
EXP: 05/90

Title: Little Grigori

Money: 20 (Silver Rubles)
HP: 90/90
SP: 45/45
MP: 0/0

STR: 89
MAG: 16

DEF: 71
SPD: 84
INT: 77
LCK: 16

(Gamer’s Body) - Your body follows game logic.

(Gamer’s Mind) - Your mental factors follow game logic- your thoughts are protected by this skill’s effect.

(Russian Language - A2) - Your knowledge of Russian is ‘Elementary’.

(Religious Knowledge - Basic) - Your knowledge of the Divine is ‘Basic’. You are now aware of some mythological creatures.

(Crafting - Basic) - Your ability in Crafting is ‘Basic’. You can currently produce Wooden Items of Common Quality within the proper resources.

(Speed Limit - 8/10) - Your Running Speed receives a 80% Boost.

(Ax Affinity - Basic) - Your ability with an Ax is ‘Basic’. Receive a 10% ATK Boost while wielding an Ax.

(Mighty Lad - 8/10) - Your Strength Level allows you to currently carry 80% of your current weight with ease. Skill Level is attributed through STR for each 10 points.

(Sturdy Lad - 8/10) - Your Defense Level allows you to currently lessen damage by 80%. Skill Level is attributed through DEF for each 10 points.

(Studious Lad - 7/10) - Your Intelligence Level allows you to currently improve your INT-Skills by boosting the Skill Progress by 80%. Skill Level is attributed through INT for each 10 points.

It wasn’t much, but considering how little things I could do at the current age I had, it was fair to say that I was improving relatively fast. Plus-

- Daily Chores (Repeatable - Age 5/6) -

Difficulty: 0

Conditions:

-Help Around the House;
-Do 5 Push-Ups;
-Be a Good Boy;

Time Limit:

-24hrs;

Reward:

-4 EXP;

-Improve Relationship with: Mother;

-Improve Relationship with: Father;

Failure:

-None, it’s not that easy;​

The Daily Chores were getting even more intense and rewarding. So, I knew that, despite the relatively dull and peaceful life I had in my new home, I could still evolve into a ‘monster’ within patience and constancy in my actions.

So, In five years, I ended up achieving a lot considering what was available to me.

After hitting Level 50, I was able to ‘Prestige’- resetting my stats and increasing the necessary EXP to level up, I would receive a perma-boost in terms of Attributes per Level and an increase on Levels for some Skills. I did so after noticing I was getting ‘too strong’ and that I could not level up beyond 50 at this point.

The next Prestige was at Lvl. 100, so I started to work my ass off and, at Age 10, I was at a respectable level.

Name: Grigori Y. Rasputin

LVL. 15/100

Age: 10
EXP: 25/280

Title: Little Grigori

Money: 160 (Silver Rubles)
HP: 280/280
SP: 140/140
MP: 0/0

STR: 156
MAG: 56

DEF: 144
SPD: 154
INT: 147
LCK: 56

(Prestige - 1) - By forfeiting previous progress, you attain a boost on your powers.
Current Benefits:
- HP per Level = 20
- SP per Level = 10
- Attributes per Level = 4
- Skill Level Limit = 20

(Crafting - Advanced) - Your ability in Crafting is ‘Advanced’. You can currently produce Iron Items of Rare Quality within the proper resources. Anything less shall be craftable within a lesser price and effort.

(Speed Limit - 15/20) - Your Running Speed receives a 150% Boost.

(Ax Affinity - Advanced) - Your ability with an Ax is ‘Advanced’. Receive a 50% ATK Boost while wielding an Ax.

(Mighty Lad - 15/20) - Your Strength Level allows you to currently carry 50% more than your current weight with ease. Skill Level is attributed through STR for each 10 points.

(Sturdy Lad - 15/20) - Your Defense Level allows you to currently lessen damage by 150%. Skill Level is attributed through DEF for each 10 points.

(Studious Lad - 15/20) - Your Intelligence Level allows you to currently improve your INT-Skills by boosting the Skill Progress by 150%. Skill Level is attributed through INT for each 10 points.

I was planning to soon leave the village to find a ‘job’, when in truth I wanted to see if I could stop the assassination of Alexander II and prevent any counter-reform in this time period. I could be a government official? A soldier or an officer?

Maybe go the Monk path but be a legit force of good- there were so many paths to take, but I could feel that none of those ‘felt’ right. I had yet to understand why, but I just felt it was going to be more important than any of those.

Still, while I had set my steps for my departure, I also realized one thing that I couldn’t exactly ignore: Something was happening in the village that hadn’t happened in the last ten years.

The wood of the houses… were breaking down easily. It was molding faster, it was putting extra costs in the maintenance for some of the people that did woodworks to patch this sort of issue and… it wasn’t normal.

Oddly enough, as I looked around the houses, I did notice what could be causing the issues. It wasn’t magical, but it was definitely something anomalous. Vines that reached from the ground, looking like weed, but clearly stabbing into the wood and ‘throbbing’ just so slightly as if they were slowly drinking from the woods.

It was drying up the houses, making those weaker to mold and humidity. Whatever was causing this couldn’t be solved by just fixing the houses but, I had to get an excuse to start looking into this matter.

So, I told mom I was going to find ‘gold’ to pay for the costs. She didn’t believe me much, but at least she didn’t flip like she would have had I told her that I was looking for a plant monster that was destroying our houses.

I made sure to save up some water in special canisters I made by the local smith, a ‘fine craft’ by the old man in charge of the forge, and sufficiently important to have around for lengthy trips. And considering I was meant to go underground…

Well, I don’t know how long that was going to take to clear out.

After getting myself two torches to keep around for the underground stroll, I finally went off to try and find the entrance from where I should start checking for this ‘plant monster’. I ended up finding a tunnel that had been mostly covered in dirt that led down. I slowly dug the dirt out and shifted down until I found myself standing in an underground hall that led back to the village from below.

And, if I had any doubts about this being some sort of Monster’s work, I was given confirmation when ‘this’ came to my attention.

Warning! Entering the Young Dryad’s Lair. Be careful of monsters patrolling these grounds.

“Thank God I brought my Ax with me,” I hummed, preparing a torch on one hand and the ax in the other. “Let’s see what’s going on here.”

I was quite unaware that this would actually become the beginning of my real ‘destiny’ so to speak.

—-----d-d-d-d—---------

AN

Ra-Ra-Rasputin, the Mad Lad of Russia is here! And things will get spicy by Chapter 2.