They moved through the forest slowly, with Thomas taking point and Jake bringing up the rear. In between them were Jack, Alyssa, and Alex. Thomas's sword was drawn, as was Jake's axe.

Jack had an arrow gripped in his hand, one of the 30 in his quiver, which were jammed in. Alex and Alyssa, having nothing to wield, began scanning the sides, looking for anything and everything.

They had been walking for about 5 minutes when something sprang out of the thick bushes in front of Thomas. Thomas's heart raced. Was this some horror? An incredible threat that they'd have to slay.

The answer was no. Because right in front of them was a rabbit. Thomas's gaze focused on the rabbit, and as it did shimmering golden letters appeared above its head.

[Vicious Rabbit, Level 1]

The rabbit hissed, baring its teeth, than lunged for Thomas's face, aiming to bite deep. Thomas raised his sword in alarm, and the blade caught the rabbit right in its face, instantly felling his furry foe.

25xp earned flashed in the corner of his vision, then vanished. Well, that was anticlimactic to say the least, Thomas thought, then refocused on his surroundings.

Jake began slow clapping, a short monotonous beat, and before long Jack had joined in, with both of them having goofy expressions on their faces. Thomas chuckled, then winced as he thought of what he might have to do.

Bending down to the corpse of the rabbit, Thomas tapped it, and sure enough a notification asking him if he wanted to loot the rabbit popped up. Quickly Thomas mentally selected the yes option, and immediately became one pound of rabbit meat, a rabbit hide, and 5 copper coins richer.

A king's ransom to be sure, Thomas thought wryly, then realized that for something that easy, it was probably a pretty good haul.

Shifting his attention to the rest of the group, he informed them of the loot he had received, as well as the coins and xp.

They quickly reformed and began to move again, only for another vicious rabbit to pop up five minutes later.

With lighting quick speed, Thomas began to hack down with his sword, but he was a bit too late. At the same time that his sword bit into the rabbit, Jack's arrow struck home, which might have been a bit of overkill.

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20xp earned.

"Hey," Jack shouted, "What gives? I only got 5xp there!"

What had happened was quickly uncovered, along with the discovery that there apparently was some sort of contribution system that the system used when more than one person contributed.

In this case, Thomas must have done more damage to the rabbit, so he got a greater reward.

Stepping forward, Thomas tapped the rabbit, receiving the same amount of meat and hide, but only 4 copper coins.

Jack stepped forward next, and reported receiving a full quantity of meat and hide, but only one copper coin.

They quickly moved on, coming across a few more rabbits, which Thomas mostly killed.

+25xp

+25xp

Level up! You have 5 free stat points

+25xp

+15xp

By that point his inventory was full of rabbit meat and hide, and he was 18 copper coins richer, with a total of 27 in his inventory, along with a total of 6 pounds of rabbit meat and six rabbit hides.

After that he quickly retired to the center of the group to let the others gain xp.

The day continued like this, with each person reaching level 1 except Alex, their healer.

Even after they stopped fighting the rabbits, they continued moving, looking for a campsite where they could rest safely. They trekked for hours and hours, Thomas hacking at tree branches with his sword to clear the way. Finally, as the sun was beginning to touch the horizon, they came across a massive clearing.

It stretched for hundreds of yards in each direction, in an almost perfect circle, and with a steep climb to the top of a plateau in its center.

The grass was lush and green, and at the very top of the plateau was a single, solitary tree. It seemed to glow in the afternoon light, and it stretched high into the air, as if trying to touch the sky.

There was something almost magical about the tree, and Thomas, along with the rest of the group, was instinctively drawn towards it. Slowly they made their way up the slope, as if in a trance, and at one point or another each of them stumbled and fell.

After what had seemed like the longest few minutes of his life, Thomas rose above the crest and saw the tree up close.

His gaze fixed on it, and up popped a notification. [Lesser Tree of Paradise (Rare)]. The others were close behind him, and Thomas turned back just in time to see their jaws drop one by one.

Obviously, finding something this early could only be a boon. And this wasn't even something uncommon. It was rare.

Quickly, Thomas spoke, "Hey guys. I think we know where to set up camp."

The others nodded, and they began to sit down.

Quickly it was decided that they would need some wood for a fire, and something to boil the rabbit meat with.

Thomas was quick to propose that they spit roast the meat, and everyone was quick to agree, seeing no reason to argue and in good spirits from finding the tree.

As Thomas headed towards the woods to gather some wood to make a fire, he reflected on the tree. While it could only be good that they'd found it, no one was quite sure what it did.

Shrugging off the thought, Thomas returned with the lumber some time later, soaked in sweat.

The group was cheerful around the fire, their spirits roused by the rabbit meat, a safe first day, and the tree.

Before long had passed, Thomas was trying to make himself comfortable on the ground, and he soon slipped into a deep sleep.