The fish tasted of charcoal, its scales adhered to my mouth like honeydew to leaves. They slid across my teeth but never away from them. The constant cartilage coming from the fish-meat was annoying to remove, but at least it satiated me. I stared at my surroundings, at the now dying bonfire ⁠— its crackling branches with billowing smoke that rose up high into the clouds ⁠— at the calm lake and the swimming fish schools, and finally at the quiet forest behind me. My vision trailed across the horizon line, and saw nothing in the distance.

A sigh left me, it wasn’t there anymore. It truly was a different world. The World Tree was gone. It had been gone for quite some time. I felt detached towards it even though it was technically the highest form of authority in nature, or in my planet rather. The System made everything look like a joke in comparison. The ability to become stronger by killing other beings seemed ridiculous to me, and yet. It was happening. It was actively happening and I was living it.

I shook my head and grabbed my bow from the ground, all my other possessions were neatly arranged around my belt. The quiver being the exception, it was perched on my back. The lake was tempting to me, feeling the grime and leftover blood on my body, but I didn’t wash myself ⁠— not when I was unsure of my safety. I stared at Glim, it was silently floating after I asked it to let me eat in peace. Which it dutifully complied. Though at that moment, Glim began to bob up and down rapidly, it shook and jumped. I raised my brow. Did it want to say something?

“Glim, you can speak now.”

It shook in acknowledgement. [Enemies nearby, get away from the campfire!]

I drew a sharp breath. “Get away, where? How many?”

[Climb a tree, I don’t know! Just any place away from the smoke!] Glim said in a hurry. [Actually, just follow me instead! You will run into them!]

After he said that Glim flew away, and I followed after it in a light jog. At that moment, my ears twitched and I heard the distant rustling of the forest. The sound of branches breaking echoed in the distance, a march of rhythmic steps resounded in my ears. I didn’t know what thing was coming closer, or if there was more than one thing. But the sounds gave me a sense of foreboding. It reminded me of the Everwood Moose from last night. With that unpleasant memory, I upped the pace into a sprint.

The rocks of the lake’s shoreline crackled after every step, in nothing but a few seconds we had crossed the entire body of water and entered the grassy entrance to the forest. Glim floated up on a tree bobbing in the process. The tree seemed normal to me but I wasted no time to climb it, I still found it hard just like all other trees. It was simply too thick, but with the growing familiarity of the process, I reached the lowest branch faster than ever before.

As soon as I could catch my breath, I looked at Glim with a frown.

“Why didn’t you alert me sooner?” I asked in a hush.

[Because I cannot disobey commands!] It pleaded. [Look, they are coming out!] My mind turned to look in the direction that Glim pointed at. It wasn’t pointing so much so as a sense of where to look.

Three shadows left the forest. One was much bigger than the other two and walked in front towards the campsite. Its body was massive, just as big as the Moose from before. But it had thick fur and a snout with tusks in its front, and yet it seemed to have paws instead of hooves. The other two were mammals, elongated ones that walked close to the ground. They had bushy tails that were as long as their body. The biggest one sniffed the ground and traced along until it eventually reached the campfire. It walked around and when its eyes finally landed on the smoke. The fur around its forelegs began to glow on an orange color, and in an instant it pounced.

The ground rumbled, and its two companions tensed and stepped back. A cloud of dust exploded from the campfire as rocks and rubble flew through the air. At that moment I felt a cold chill run through my neck, and rapidly drew my bow. One shot through its eyes⁠— if it went through its skull⁠—

[Wait, wait!] Glim interrupted. [Use inquiry. You know, the intrinsic skill you have. That every initiated being has! Universal inquiry⁠— it’s not a foe you can face!]

Universal inquiry? “How?” I asked in a hushed voice.

[Just think that you want to know more about them! It’s like an instinct of curiosity and desire, try to peer past their being. Well that’s how someone else described it⁠— point being is that it lets you know more about your opponent!]

I nodded and stared at the two companions. What were they? I stared with the intent of trying to know about them. What level were they? What was their race grade?

[Loa Vulpe. Lvl. 4]

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

[Loa Vulpe. Lvl. 3]

Oh, that was useful, though it didn’t tell me their grade. The two beasts were something that I could deal with. But Glim seemed overly concerned, so I turned to look at the hulking thing that was at the campsite. It sniffed the air and at the broken stones and charcoal. Dust still floated all around the air. Just what was it?

[Knell Boar. Lvl. 7]

My heart skipped a beat. It was higher level than the Everwood Moose, but for some reason I wasn’t afraid of it. No, it was a different feeling to fear. Curiosity? I did not know, but even though my knowledge was limited. I wanted to fight it, I was level 2, but there was a level 20 not too far away from here. There was a being much stronger than that not too far away from here. I didn’t know what race grade it was ⁠— fully knowing that it meant a difference in strength, even if I didn’t quite know what was the difference between grades was ⁠— I drew my bow against Glim’s protests. Then I paused.

I couldn’t kill the Knell Boar. I had no idea how strong it was, but part of me simply knew I could not kill it. It was simple instinct. Moreover, even if I had a better bow this wasn’t the same beast as the one from last night. I was sure I could slay the Everwood Moose no problem, but this one? It could probably knock down the tree with a few hits. I took a deep breath and tried to decide what to do. I couldn’t keep wasting time, and part of me felt that not doing anything right now was wasting time. I closed my eyes, and at the very corner of my mind I saw familiar words. The quests.

[Ecology Dissection (Common F): When in a strange land, one must first investigate. Reward: 1 Shard of Ambition. Condition: Kill Beasts of equal or greater level than you. (0/5)

I stared back at the beasts by the campsite. We were perhaps about 40 meters away from the campsite. There were two beasts that I could reasonably kill to progress my quest. Moreover, I would gain experience from doing so, and after I could run away from the boar. A new plan was formed. I smiled to myself and switched to a metal arrow before redrawing the bow with utmost strength. This time aiming at the level 3 Loa Vulpe. It was perhaps the longest shot I had done yet, but with the new bow and its power I felt confident. I carefully aimed accounting for the light breeze, and took a final deep breath.

The bow stabilized. My fingers let go with a flare of pain as the string pushed forth. The arrow whispered along with the wind and turned into nothing more than a gray streak. A yelp came as the arrow hit its bushy ear, and with a crack it impaled the beast into the ground with force I had never seen before. Its body flailed around throwing rocks and dust into the air, it spasmed and soon a weird white foam started to come from its mouth.

In the meantime I had already nocked another arrow and aimed at the level 4 Loa Vulpe. I took yet another deep breath, and a second later I let go of the arrow as the beast stood frozen from the dying throes of its companion. Its fur stood on end, as the deadly whisper of the wind came. It backed off, and at that moment the arrow connected with its neck. It whimpered from the sudden pain and rolled on the ground.

I fired another arrow, this time hitting its head and killing it instantly.

[You have killed: (E) Loa Vulpe. Lvl 3.]

[You have killed: (E) Loa Vulpe. Lvl 4.]

I smiled to myself as the sweet voice came.

[Level up: You have achieved level 3.]

“Victory,” I mused, self satisfied with the shots I had achieved.

[Ecology Dissection (Common F): When in a strange land, one must first investigate. Reward: 1 Shard of Ambition. Condition: Kill Beasts of equal or greater level than you. (2/5)

But aside from quest progress, something else happened. Something that made me pause and forget all things. It was an unexpected reward, but one that brought me joy.

[Skill Learned ⁠— Proficient Archery (Uncommon Passive) ⁠— You have displayed superb skill with a bow, but your path is just beginning. Small perception and accuracy bonus based on your agility.]

My eyes widened with small surprise upon learning I had earned a skill. It was said that The World Tree had blessed all of its children with great archery skills, but it seemed that they weren't pure rumors after all. Still, even if it wasn't an impressive skill, I was still overjoyed. I couldn’t help but grin to myself, it was a never before feeling of satisfaction. My first skill, a passive skill.

Name: Blair | Level: 3

Race: ??? (E-Grade)

Feats: [Lone Survivor]

Basic skills: Universal Understanding (NaN),

Universal Inquiry (NaN)

Free attribute points: 2

VIG: 23 | END: 35 |

STR: 22 | AGI: 39 |

PER: 34 | WIS: 13 |

Skills: [Proficient Archery (Uncommon Passive)]

Attunements: Dark plants (I)

Prime Currency: 100

I took a deep breath trying to erase my grin from my face, before putting the two attribute points into Vigor once again, bringing it to 25. Wisdom, even if it was my lowest stat, was of no use to me at the moment. I barely understood what mana was, let alone being able to use it⁠— Dark Elves were never known for having a lot of shamans, which used mana.

Suddenly, Glim screamed — buzzed in my ear, reminding me that there were more important things. I quickly regained my bearings, remembering my original plan, the one that required me to run away. As I prepared myself to jump off the tree, I felt the trunk shake, nearly throwing me off the branch. I felt my chest tighten and looked down, only to see the Knell Boar staring right at me, its eyes were a crimson red and its paws were coated in an orange glow. It pounced on the tree once again, tree bark flew through the air. At that moment, cold water poured down, and a sense of regret overcame me.

I should've looked at the notifications later.

I nocked an arrow and braced myself for a fight, a fight that I could’ve avoided had I stuck to my plan much more rigorously.