I was next greeted by a sleek black and white interface which was... sad and empty, to say the least. It listed my species as both dryad and human, reaffirming for the umpteenth time I was at least partially no longer human, and listed my name as "Unset." So, it seems I'd have to come up with a name for myself at some point, though as of right now I'm relatively unconcerned about it.

Aside from those, it listed two attributes; perception and constitution, as well as the fact that I had 11 distributable points.

Their scores sat at 0.5 and 1 respectively, so I suppose I had started at 0. Nothing, zilch, nada. Which made very little sense, as I was pretty sure I was perceiving things before finding the chest. My abilities developed before the system aren't considered? That seemed the only logical explanation.

Regardless, fiddling with the menu revealed that I had some bonuses for leaving humanity behind.

Enhanced Mana Sensitivity

Tough Skin

Optimized Regeneration (slow)

Without further elaboration, I was presented some "talents" upon tapping on the dryad portion of my species. Tapping on them seemed to do nothing, so I tried tapping on human instead.

Perserverance

Adaptation (slow)

Enhanced Skill Learning

Nifty. I'd gladly take more random boons where I could, especially while lost in the woods. And mana sensitivity? Mana? The word was unfamiliar. It seemed like I'd heard it before, but I couldn't think of an exact definition. I'd have to ask someone later. Or something; if trees could talk, who's to say other things can't?

Regardless of my pondering, my status menu refused to tell me anything more. Moving on, I swiped to the left instinctively, which dismissed the menu. Interesting. I was rather hungry and thirsty, and there just so happened to be fruits lowered down for me to take from a nearby tree. Being a dryad is convenient.

They were still rather high, even with the tree kindly lowering them to me, and I strained my injury a bit reaching for them. Ouch. They weren't of a variety I recognized, which was slightly off-putting. It was very orange, a stark contrast to the dark and dreary world around. Only one thing to do now, and it's trust the sapient tree. Again. Taking a bite, I found it to be thoroughly unpleasant, but edible. It was mushy and had varying consistencies throughout, like taking a bite out of a garbage pile with wrappers and leftover foods scattered within. That being said, the taste itself wasn't bad; it was reminiscient of avocado.

I wanted to avoid being forced to eat these again, however, and for that I needed to either hunt and cook, or find civilization and trade for some food. I suppose I could be on the lookout for both if I follow the river I was told to find, and that way I wouldn't run out of water either.

Having a plan already felt nice, though it seemed fairly obvious to chase after my basic needs. Maybe I'd even find another chest or whatever else is in store for "subjects." My mind set, I began walking towards the sun. Though my meal left much to be desired, I felt much better about moving around with something in my stomach.

Checking around for animals to hunt, chests, and the river, I noticed that bushes, flowers, and trees seemed to part or sway away from my path. To test this, I stopped walking forward and turned left. The bushes ahead of me parted, and those that were no longer in my path returned to their original positions. Yet another perk of being a dryad, it seemed. I wonder if they could tell me where I could find a rabbit or a deer or something. One could only hope.

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After a full day of walking, I couldn't help but feel I'd been had by that damn tree. Not only had I not seen any more fruit trees, there was no river, either. It was only after seeing a light in the distant fog that my mood had been upturned. I had finally found a semblance of civilization between the fog and trees. I quickly curbed my enthusiasm as it dawned on me that it could also mean an intelligent enemy, or that it could simply be a bioluminescent plant.

In my quiet approach, I found the light to be a fire, as expected. What I only partially expected was that the beings tending the fire were not human or dryad. Crouching low and glancing past leaves and vines, the plant life did not part for me. Instead, it tucked itself closer, hiding me and giving me a subtle hole to view my potential frenemies from.

There was not much to see, honestly. There was a single makeshift "tent," a flimsy thing of leaf and twig that could only barely protect you from wind, occupied by a greyish small humanoid. There were two more, roasting the meat of a boar over open flame. They did not seem to speak, or make very much noise at all. One sat atop the hide of the boar, clearly the biggest of the three, and the other seemed to have no bedding to speak of, and was instead eagerly awaiting the meat. His mouth open and drooling revealed many sharp, prickle teeth of varying lengths.

It was incredibly unnerving to watch these creatures, as they were so quiet and still that I had trouble believing they even breathed. After a few more moments, clutching my dagger, I worked up the courage to at least try and speak to them before resorting to a sneak attack and ruining any chance of diplomatic relations.

"Ah, hello friends. I was wondering if you maybe had some water-"

I was cut off by a horrifying screeching sound from the previously drooling creature, beady eyes untelling of whether it was staring at me or past me. The largest turned around and stared at me for a moment, before joining the first in a horrible cacophony of noise. The third began stirring in the makeshift tent as the two closer to me began standing up, still screaming. They began to take a running position, but demonstrated restraint when they resorted to picking up rocks and lobbing them at me instead. Clearly, they didn't want to leave their prize unattended.

And just as clearly, they were enemies. Even more clearly, those screams were something I never want to hear again. But damn, that boar looked tasty. Though it had already been hunted and cooked, I had found one of my goals: food. And I am very hungry.

As much as I hated getting closer to the creatures, I hated the noise even more. I rushed the biggest of the group, still entire heads shorter than me. At this, it began to reach for a straight stick that laid on the ground, but far too slowly. As it leaned, my knee connected with its head, and I felt something buckle. It fell to the ground, unconscious.

Next, the other screamer. This one was more prepared, already having grabbed its melee weapon and poised it to bludgeon me. Stepping to the side out of its reach, and then inward as it swung wide, I was able to stab it solidly in the chest. I did not, however, account for its ribs partially stopping my dagger. It tried to swipe the bludgeon horizontally once again, and I stopped it long before it gathered force. Letting go of my dagger and wrenching the stick from its hand, I noticed the third creature, previously sleeping, advancing silently with something in its hand. With a swing of my newly acquired bludgeon, I silenced the second screamer.

The final creature abruptly stopped advancing upon the deadening of the noise, and instead began slinking backwards. The light of the fire shone on the object in its hands, a broken, sharp shard of glass. Being stabbed with glass would not make for a fun time. Having reach, and a weapon to adequately abuse my superior strength, I figure I might as well finish the third. It seems more intelligent than the other two, and it may be gunning for backup. Though, backup may have already heard the screeching.

Once again sprinting towards the creature, its eyes widened, and it turned to run away in a panic. Unfortunately for it, I was much faster. In a single blow to the head, it fell. Hitting it once more to make sure, a part of its skull caved in. Very dead.

After making sure all of the screamers were adequately unalive, I helped myself to the now slightly burned boar meat over the fire. I retrieved my dagger, and cleaned it off using the leaves from the makeshift tent. After eating my fill, I took the boar hide and journeyed a few more minutes on foot towards where the now-set sun was to rise from. Finding a nice spot where two bushes slightly overlapped, they parted, and I laid the soft boar skin down between them. Laying down, the bushes covered me like a blanket, and I felt surprisingly warm as I drifted off into sleep.

I could get used to this.