Alex slept into the early morning of the next day, undisturbed by the roars and cries of monsters in the distance. While he slept, his Orbs continued to slowly float around the small cave, diligently watching over him. V.V, however, decided more progress needed to be made. She left Alex and the Orbs and headed towards the forest opposite from where they had entered the large clearing. Night had already started to bleed across the sky, but V.V. paid no heed to the potential dangers. The path that Alex had noticed was a viable option but cutting directly to the center may still be needed. V.V. began the cathartic task of ripping, cracking and slicing foliage into fresh kindling. Her primary goal since she was transported to this world and plopped down beside her meek but capable companion was to protect him and see that he grew to his full potential. If they didn’t get to the center of the island in the next two or three days at the maximum, she wasn’t sure that she’d get to see him reach any heights at all. She continued into the night, devastating one evil, path blocking shrub after another.

Time passed by as V.V. cleared a new path through the dense forest, occasionally eviscerating small rodents, lizards and at one point a very strange creature she knew to be a beetle. It was strange because bugs usually didn’t survive in Mana dense zones, at least not in the beginning. But here this thing was, gross even to her more than acceptable sensibilities. Alex was a mushy, fleshy, pink looking creature but to V.V.’s fair eye, acceptable enough to look at. The other creatures she’d seen were of course all unfortunate creatures with fur or flesh that was weak against the elements, blunt objects and of course stabbing. How any species would evolve in such peculiar ways was a mystery to her. Disregarding the fact that most of the cosmos’ sentients took on these same traits wasn’t any concern of V.V.

The night continued to tick by as the path continued to lengthen. If Alex wanted to go down the already existing road, this endeavor could ultimately prove pointless but the occasional new plant, fungi or animal body part to add to her collection made the trip worth it. Nearing what V.V. believed to be the middle of the night, roars from creatures engaged in battle could be heard ahead of her. As the noise was coming from where she intended to go, she pushed forward. No creature large enough to cause her any real trouble could fit between the brush and tightly packed trees anyway. A few more minutes and the sounds were very close now. V.V.’s deforestation wasn’t exactly silent, so she decided it was finally time to take a peek before cutting more of the path. Floating up high enough to clear the thick bushes and weave between the trees, she floated steadily towards the battle.

Two large creatures slammed into each other just as V.V. was able to get a decent view of them. The monsters were similar in size to the Turkey and just as fierce. Biting, clawing and roaring at each other as V.V. watched over them with intrigue. If she’d had popcorn, and a mouth, she’d have been set for the show she was watching. By her very astute estimations, the creatures were most definitely mammals. Without Alex viewing them first, V.V. wasn’t able to place their species. That was something she’d found out after Alex’s Class was acquired and she’d gone through her own change. If he knew something, at least in a general sense, she knew it too. If he knew what a turkey was, she knew what a turkey was. The issue was that she needed to be near him when the new creature, plant or object showed up. As he was nearly half a mile back by this point, the creatures were mammals, had four clawed feet and very sharp teeth.

The slightly larger beast had thick gray fur that covered most of its body, including its rather long tail. Its snout didn’t protrude as much as the Skunks, but it wasn’t too different. V.V. considered that this creature may be a type of skunk as well, but the body shape made her doubt it. The other animal was more rotund than the first but not as long and its feet were longer, almost hand-like in appearance. Its face was more angular and mostly white, while the rest of the fur was gray and a lot more floofy than the other creatures. Its ears were smaller in size, and its eyes were more beady, almost lifeless. V.V. decided that she was rooting for the first animal to come out victorious. Of course, both were enemies that would need to be put down if they posed a threat to Alex but there was no sense in not betting on a winner.

As V.V. watched the death battle, she detected other creatures lurking on the outskirts of the clearing that was made by the fight. Scavengers that didn’t care who won as long as they could grab a bite for themselves afterwards. The Mana Crazed nature of most of the animals didn’t seem to fully wipe away the nature of certain beasts. The larger the animal, or possibly, the larger the brain of the animal before Mana returned may have been why some of the creatures were able to retain an amount of their previous selves. As she pondered over the oddities of the different species, the animal she’d been rooting for took a nasty bite to its front right leg and let out a pained cry that would have made Alex’s head ring. The fatter beast began to shake its head back and forth violently in an attempt to maim its enemy, but it had made a mistake. Although in great pain, the longer beat dove down to latch its teeth directly into the other creature’s neck. It too began to shake its head violently back and forth but to a far more vital area.

It didn’t take much longer for the victor to be decided. Wounded but victorious, V.V.’s chosen beast stood above its kill, albeit on three working legs. She watched as the winner set in to claiming its well fought meal even with its severely injured limb. It wasn’t long before the other creatures on the outside decided that it was their turn to have a piece of the spoils. Several new species darted in to take a nibble for themselves before rushing back into the cover of the forest. The wounded animal could do nothing more than growl or fake a lunge at the thieves. V.V. thought it a shame that the winner wasn’t able to enjoy its dinner, but such was life. The more pressing matter at hand for her was that the fight had occurred directly in front of where she was trying to make her path. Annoyed, V.V. began to float around the outside of the clearing, making sure to stay high up and inside the tree-line. She detected almost twenty different animals moving around her at one point, but she may as well have been a large leaf blowing in the wind to them.

She made it halfway around the battle area when she started to notice the trees becoming less packed together. The thick bushes became scattered, and the ground opened up to allow thick grass to grow. The biome itself seemed to change into something more like the woods that they’d been in when the System had returned. Alex knew very little about the different types of forests and woodland areas on his planet, let alone his own homeland, so unfortunately so did V.V. During the day, Alex would be able to make up much more ground to get to the center but that also meant that freedom of movement would extend to larger animals as well. Even though most of the larger predators hunted at night, that didn’t mean there weren’t any in the daylight.

After exploring the area a bit more, V.V. decided to head back to the path. Ting! Something bonked against her body as she approached the area that would return her to Alex. Whatever the thing was, it had hit her hard enough to push her towards a tree which she barely avoided hitting. Spinning around she didn’t see or detect anything in her vicinity. The closest creatures were several yards away and didn’t seem to be predators but smaller prey trying to hide through the night. Scanning the ground for whatever had hit her didn’t result in any clues other than the object was probably a rock. As there were quite a few small rocks on the ground all around her, she wasn’t sure which one belonged to the culprit. Her Map and Scan Skills worked in conjunction together, which allowed V.V. to see beings and other notable things around her with great accuracy. For a rock to have hit her from above and as hard as it had been she was at a loss to how it might have happened. If something hadn’t thrown it from a position higher than she was then maybe it had been dropped from a flying creature far above her.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Still confused and now wary of flying monsters targeting the shiny bobble, she slowly continued towards her destination. She’d not gone ten feet before another rock flew at her again. This time she was prepared and plucked the projectile directly out of the air with her telekinetic ability. She turned towards the direction the rock had come from but again, nothing was there. Examining the rock, she found nothing especially interesting about it other than it being just a simple rock. Backing away from the area but keeping her eye trained on the spot the attack had come from, she saw it. Another rock came whizzing towards her and for a split second a creature was visible clinging to a thick branch higher in the canopy. As soon as the rock was launched, the new foe blended into the tree as if it had been absorbed by it.

Part 2

V.V. was intrigued by the creatures’ camouflaging capabilities but knew she didn’t have time to examine an interesting new specimen. Alex was in a relatively safe spot, but she’d already been gone for more time than she’d planned. Where she had been gently floating through the trees before, now she shot off towards the direction of the path with a burst of speed. Outrunning the creature wouldn’t be an issue and she’d be able to study it later once she was with Alex. It was too bad it would most likely be a corpse when she examined it but what can you do. She contemplated acquiring binding or paralytic skills as the trees rushed past her. The path was only a few meters away when something unexpected happened. Where V.V. had just been flying through the trees less than a second before, she was now firmly embedded in loose, muddy soil. The attack had completely caught her off guard even though she’d had her skills active. Assessing her body, she found that she didn’t appear to be heavily damaged, but she’d been hit by something hard and fast.

Dislodging herself from the muck, V.V. rose only a foot or so off the ground to observe her surroundings using all of her available abilities. Even the combination of Map, Scan and Detect returned no results as she panned through the area. It seemed that whatever was after her preferred to attack her while she moved and that suited her just fine. - -Zzsk- - A sound rang out as a black marble shot into the trees above V.V. Branches were splintered and leaves rained down all around the densely wooded area. A moment later, the tiny ball shot back towards V.V. and then back up again. On the third blind launch of the Orblet, V.V. noticed a slight disturbance in the air near where the latest attack had been focused. Deciding to capitalize on the mistake of her enemy, she had the Orblet shoot in the direction of the shimmer instead of returning to her.

The hidden figure must have been surprised to see the angry ball switch directions abruptly and head towards it, as it abandoned its ability to hide in favor of clambering higher up the tree it was clinging to. The animal that was only about the size of Alex, even dropped the thick stick it was holding in its desperate scramble upward. The Orblet slammed into the tree only inches below the enemy. Reversing course, it pulled itself out and shot after its prey once more. Watching the show unfold before her was satisfying for V.V. but she knew she couldn’t be held up for too long. Her tactic had worked, no surprise to V.V. of course, but now she needed to leave while the creature fled.

It was yet another mammal-like animal but different to the others she’d seen. It was predominantly grey in body like the most recent animals she’d observed but it also had some interesting striped patterns on its rather bushy tail. Curious as it was, V.V. quickly floated away from the creature running from her Combat Orblet. She was fairly sure she’d be able to disable or even kill this one, but she was also wary of the other one. There was no way the one that had been throwing rocks at her was the same creature as the one who’d hit her with a freaking branch. That was obvious by how slowly it was scampering away from her Orblet. Her summoned companion was walloping the animal over and over, but it didn’t seem to being doing much damage to the sneaky bastard.

If there were two, there could be three. If there were three then who knew how many more could be clinging to trees, just waiting to bonk her in the head with another rock, stick or worse. Getting back to the path and making it back to Alex was the right choice. These creatures weren’t nearly as large as the predators she’d seen fighting but seemed to have too much intelligence for creatures that should have been warped by Mana. That thought alone was worrying to V.V. as she stayed low to the ground and moved further and further from the scuffle. The Orblet had some autonomy, but it was nothing compared to Alex’s Orbs, those things were weird. She had commanded it to keep attacking the designated target and to avoid attacks. While not an overly complex command, the Orblet could only do so much without its owner watching over it. Assuming it would give her enough time even if it wasn’t extremely effective, V.V. continued moving closer to the path.

Even though V.V. expected another creature to appear as she rushed back, she wasn’t prepared for the hailstorm of rocks and pebbles that started to bombard her from above. It was hard to tell how many of the little monsters were around her, but she wasn’t keen on staying to count them all. Flying rocks and the occasional stick came soaring at her as she finally reached the cleared path. One thought plagued her mind as she made her escape, and it was where were they keeping all those rocks? Wasting no time, she zoomed down the path back towards Alex. It took her only a few more minutes before she was free of the forest and the hail of debris and in the clearing once more.

Right as she was about to head towards the collection of boulders where Alex and the Orbs were hidden, she froze. Standing on one of the larger boulders, only a few yards away from the hideaway where her companion was sleeping, sat something that looked like the winning beast from earlier. It was nearly four times as large as Alex but luckily, nothing compared to the massive Turkey. Another foul encounter would have been too much for even V.V. to cope with. A moment later another of the creatures moved from behind the boulder the first creature sat on. Scanning the area, V.V. could make out one more of the giant animals creeping through the darkness.

The last of them sniffed at the ground as if they’d picked up the smell of something. It was clear to her that they’d picked up Alex’s scent but weren’t sure where he was. She was struck with the dilemma of what to do with these new threats. Hanging around on the edge of the forest, just waiting for them to move on was technically an option but she didn’t want the other creatures to come this far to toss more rocks at her. There was also the possibility that they didn’t move on and instead figured out that Alex was right below them. That was a stressful thought for her as Alex really needed his rest and shouldn’t be burdened with having to kill a bunch of giant fluff monsters. Sure, she didn’t doubt Alex and her ability to take down this minor threat, but her companion needed his well-deserved nap.

Could she take them all on, alone, by herself, no backup at all, sure! But that would make a huge commotion and possibly wake Alex. She definitely couldn’t have that, so she’d need to do something a little more covert. After pacing back and forth in figure eights for several minutes, thinking of what to do about the creatures if they didn’t leave, something happened. The one that had been sniffing at the ground suddenly yipped and started to paw at the ground. The ground directly outside of the hideaway. V.V. was shocked that they’d discovered Alex so easily. Yes, his scent was around but he was several feet inside solid rock. How did this stupid skunk adjacent creature figure out he was in there! She began to float higher into the air and was about to rush towards the creatures when the one that had started to dig pulled its head away from the hole with a stick in its mouth. V.V.’s panic turned to confusion and then annoyance as she watched the creature chomp on the prize it had dug up, it was a bone.

The issue of the animals not leaving remained as V.V. hovered near the top of the trees. These were yet again examples of creatures that weren’t rabidly rushing towards anything that could be remotely considered food. They exhibited behavior that would be more common in areas where Mana had already stabilized. If they didn’t leave though, she’d have a tough time getting back to Alex and she didn’t want him crawling out of the hidden area directly into sharp teeth. Over an hour went by as V.V. waited for the intruders to leave but they seemed perfectly content to hang around all night. To pass the time, she slowly rotated around, took in the clearing and thought of potential options. Her eye passed over the path she’d made earlier many times while she waited but finally, she stopped and stared at the path. If she’d had a mouth, she’d be smiling. Focusing back on the fur monsters, then back to the path, she made up her mind.