I had no clue how long I had been walking far but I had managed to keep up a steady pace, the climate was not as warm as what I was expected, my surroundings certainly more forrest like and less a jungle. Still that didn’t stop me from breathing out of my backside as I continued to push my way through the trees. My feet would occasionally snag on the shrubs and bushes that covered the ground, causing me to trip but as things stood, I had managed to keep myself upright. The last thing I wanted was to break an ankle or something.

My white open collar shirt was open and the neck damp with sweat, as was under my arms, the blue chinos and shoes that I was wearing were less than ideal for walking in, making it especially tricky whenever I reached any kind of embankment or slope. My feet ached and my throat was dry and realising I would need a drink and some food soon enough I started actively looking for a stream of water. What I was going to eat however was a different story in its entirety.

The forrest was still well lit despite interlocking branches above creating a canopy of leaves of which Ravens decorated the ground. Seeing a large boulder embedded in the ground I decided to take a moment to catch my breath, my legs and back ached and I felt I was more than deserving of a rest.

Perching on a little ledge in the stone that seemed to be perfectly placed I let out a sigh. I kicked of one of my shoes and raised my foot over my knee so that I could massage it, it helped with the ache but not as much as I would have liked. These shoes were pathetic when it came to hiking through a forrest and I wished for a moment that I had a pair of walking boots instead.

I wasn’t the most active of people, but when I did go out I did enjoy the fresh air and mindfulness that good walk could bring. Here the air didn’t taste fresh and as for mindfulness, well all that was playing on repeat in my mind was Fidget’s parting words obout how dangerous this place was. And other than the clothes on my back I had absolutely nothing to protect myself with, not that I could even protect myself.

A searing pain gripped my ankle and I let out a yelp of pain before looking down at my foot, my other foot still shoeless.

An and sat at the foot of my shoe, its pincers digging into either side of my ankle, a real big ant. It was about the size of a hedgehog and the rear of it was glowing red, under dark brown translucent skin. It chittered loudly as its grip on me tightened and my ankle started throbbing as though it had had a rock thrown at it.

“What the fuck!” I yelled as I started shaking my leg around as I flailed helplessly to get it off me. The ant held firm when I noticed something above it.

*Fire Ant Lvl 1 *

It was right there in my vision like the screen that Fidgetched used to talk to me, the words moved as I did but as I focused on the ant the letters could be seen clear as day. In small red letters hovering above the giant fire ant.

This is crazy, I have lost my mind and when I wake up from whatever this is I am likely going to wake up in a psychiatric hospital. I shook my leg again, this time even more vigorously but the fire and still held firm. Finally I slammed down my heel on my shoeless foot onto the ant, after the third blow it finally loosened its grip enough for me to shake it off. Leg throbbing I staggered back away from it as the fire ant chittered, a high pitched noise that sent a chill down my spine. It moved quicker than I expected and raced across the ground towards me as I continued to rush backwards away from it until my back hit a tree. As the fire ant got closer to me it stopped when it was around five feet away giving me the briefest of moments to see if there was anything around that I could use against it. There was nothing I could see, and before I had time to process and as I looked at the words fire ant hovering above it the red glow cat its rear end intensified and travelled down its body towards its head. It spat a literal ball of fire at me and I dived out the way as it blasted the side of the tree, showering me in bark, the warmth was intense and my heart raced as adrenaline coursed through my body.

Of course its a literal fire ant capable of spitting fire at me. As if this world could not get any more batshit. Scrambling through the dirt I crawled as fast I could to get some distance between me and the ant until my hand planted onto of a rock which was about the size of a brick. It was better than nothing and as I clambered back to my feet I stood my ground holding the rock tightly as the fire ant scurried towards me once again. Biding my time I waited for the opportune moment and as the fire and stopped and started loading up its fire ball again I roared, part in frustration, part in fear and when I say roar it was more of a warble than a battle cry as I lunged forward and slammed the rock onto the head of the fire ant as hard as I could. With a satisfying crunch a little red bar underneath the word fire ant depleted quickly to near empty, so I brought the rock down a second time.

The ant squealed loudly for a split second before ceasing to move, above it more words appeared.

*3 exp*

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It floated up form it and disappeared in the blink of an eye and my vision flashed brightly before the words

*Silus*

*Level 1*

Pinged up at the the bottom of my vision before disappearing. Wait wait wait, had I just levelled up? Like I was in some form of game? What I did realise is the fear I was feeling when the ant had attacked me subsided and the confidence in me grew with the realisation that I had been able to kill this bug, monster thing, whatever the hell it was.

*New skill point unlocked*

The worlds flashed up like a notification followed by a strange symbol to the upper right, as I looked on it, it was as if I had selected it as another menu seemed to open listing some traits.

*Primary stats unlocked*

*Streghth*

*Stamina*

*Health*

*Mana*

*Chrarisma*

*Wisdom*

Their was a token symbol that flashed next to each of the words as I read them, Fidget’s words lingered in my mind as I read, about how she had described me as scrawny and weak. Without realising I found myself focusing on strength for a good few seconds until with the sound of a click I heard the words.

*Skill point added*

*Stregth 1*

I don’t know what I was expecting but nothing else happened, like what did I think would happen? I’d suddenly be ripped with shredded muscles all over my body. Letting out a sigh I turned to leave, looking up for a gap in the trees to find where the suns were so that I could get my bearings and get back on track. Then I remembered my shoe and spent the next five minutes looking for it, it was near the charred tree, I must have kept hold of it until I dived out of the way of the initial fire blast. When I picked it was charred with a small hole singed into the side of it, the leather of the shoe melted away. If I thought they were bad for this terrain before, they were even worse now. Still it was better than having a bare boot so I slipped the shoe back on looked up at the sky and settled on a general direction to walk in.

Reach level three to unlock skill tree, I thought to myself as I set off walking, I wonder what that will look like. I didn’t have much time to gather myself when a familiar chattering noise caused me to look behind me. There wasn’t just one fire ant this time, there were four of the bastards and they were all moving towards me. This time I noticed that the names above them were in green.

*Fire Ant Lvl 1*

I wondered if this was because my level matched there’s but a quick firing fireball hurled past me around a metre away. I slammed into the ground spraying dirt up in the air as I decided I wasn’t taking any chances and made a run for it. The ground churned up behind me as the fire ants continued to unfurl a volley of fireballs at me, earth continued to spray up in the air as if I was running through a battlefield. Each time one blast missed me I braced myself for the next one hitting me square in the back and that was something I knew I din’t want to experience.

My adrenaline was in full flow as I continued to rush past the trees, a blast of fire exploding right next to my head.

“Shit” I said out loud as I flinched, using my arm to shield me from the bark, shrapnel that splintered everywhere.

With a jolt I felt my foot snag against a root or something and It caused me to tumble forwards, unfortunately for me down an embankment too. The world around me spun like I was in a tumble dryer as the dark brown of the earth and the green of the trees blurred into one and I felt every single stone and branch that jabbed at me on my way down to the bottom. As I slammed into something I gasped for air, winded and bruised, my body ached like I had been jumped by a gang of thugs.

To my horror above the sound of my wheezing breath I could still hear the sound of the chattering pincers of the fire ants that were chasing me.

I don’t know where I found the energy or the grit but I managed to haul myself to my feet faster than I should have been able to, and now carrying a heavy limp the realisation dawned on me that I would not be able to out run the fire ants any longer.

I reached for a branch and swung from it, my ribs ached but I had no other option, I used my weight to pull down on it until it snapped free. Then I braced myself and waited for the fire ants to come Ito sight. As they bared down on me and drew close a whacked the first one with the branch and swatted it away, it bounced of a nearby tree and its red health bar depleted to nothing as it sat motionless at the base of the trunk. The other ants continued to advance and to my surprise, non of them were blasting any fire balls at me, then the thought dawned on me. They had used up all their mana. A new wave of energy gripped me as I began swatting the ants with the thick branch in my hand until only one fire ant remained. As I stared into its big, black eyes I saw only my enemy and this time when I roared I felt as though I was one hundred men, crunch of its head reminding me of the breaking open of an egg. When I raised my stick and slammed the end of it through the remaining fire ants head and into the ground. Slowly the fire in its rear flickered like a damaged lightbulb before the fire disappeared and I knew I could breath a sigh of relief.

*3 xp x 4*

Flashed above the corpses of the fire ants as I stood breathing like a wild man, wired and expecting even more fire ants to defend on me. These bastards were not going to take me down however.

*Silus *

*Level 2*

*Skill point unlocked*

The fire ants bodies disintegrated into ash clouds that blew away with the light breeze that gusted through the forest. Something caught my eye however, a strange orange orb that glowed with a pulsating life, it sat where the largest of the fire ants husk was just a few seconds ago. No soon did my eyes land on the orb did it flash up with some text that I was not expecting.

*Legendary item*