The trouble with my training and hunting is that my Scavenger Class slowed to a stop at mid-apprentice. I was not scavenging anymore; I was actively hunting. If I came across a carcass, I would not stop to feed on it like I used to. Now, I would start hunting the hunter.

My tracking skills continually rose as I improved, and Olfactory was a fantastic support for it.

My breakthrough came when I ran down a young elk. I used stealth to get close and a thrown stick to wound it. I was annoyed I missed the kill shot, but it was bleeding, and I followed it for kilometres and got two more sticks into it before closing in a sprint and leaping onto its back. My claws slashed, and I finally got the artery in the neck, and it collapsed under me.

I was exhausted but exhilarated, and I told the world of my triumph in a mighty roar. I carved the hide off an area with my claws and sunk my teeth into the hot meat. I savoured that meal. I cut the young antlers off and saved the best of the hide to clean as I could.

When I had eaten my fill, I cut some of the best meat and used the hide as a bag. Scavengers were starting to congregate—crows and an eagle. I smelled a fox somewhere nearby. I packed out the hide with some snow and then left the carcass. My training had paid off.

My scavenger class changed to Hunter Scavenger. Instead of three points per level, there were now four and the fourth was a free point. The class level had dropped back to 5, to the beginning of the Apprentice levels, but there were five free points I could allocate.

If I put all the points to Spiritual Perception, I would get the required level for Clearsight, but I would have to wait for the Physical Perception to get to 30 before I could choose another perception skill. You can only have one every 10 points in Physical Perception, and I had Nightsight and Olfactory. It would need seven class levels to get there.

No, less than seven, as I get a free point for each, so four class levels if I dedicate all the points to it.

On the other hand, I needed Spiritual Agility for the ice-breaking skill. This is a hard choice. It was almost better when I had no choice.

What else could I use Spiritual Perception for? I don’t know, but I assume there are a lot more perception skills out there.

Ice is a constant and being able to break it is useful and more useful than just out on the ice shelf making me a fishing hole.

This is hard. I was mulling over the options all the way home and then did what I did best. I slept on it.

When I woke, I pulled out some frozen elk. I would give myself a day off. I looked at the meat. It would be better to warm it, but I had no way to do that. I know most races cook their meat, but that sounded very foreign to me. I would like to try it one day, but it won’t be today. I was in my bear form and bit into the meat. It was still good.

As usual, my sleep clarified things for me. Clearsight was a long way off, but it would come with levels. I could get the ice-breaking skill today. I put all five points into Spiritual Agility. I then got up and wandered out onto the ice shelf, still in my bear form. Even though I might have the attributes, I still have to earn the skill.

When I got near where I would dig a fishing hole, I started to repeat what I did to break the ice but using two attributes at once was difficult. I could tell I was not doing it right. I spent an hour experimenting with how to do it, and I was getting very low on Spiritual energy, so I lay down and had a nap.

I woke with new ideas of what to try. Sleep therapy was the best. This time, I channelled Spiritual Strength and then used Spiritual Agility to move it and disrupt it. Eventually, I got it to vibrate slightly, and I could tell I was close. The trouble was I also needed another nap.

When I woke, the wind had picked up and was cold and cutting. My bear form withstood it easily, but it was getting unpleasant. It was time to get this done.

Getting the spiritual energy vibrating was the key, and then timing it with my strike. Less than half an hour later, the skill Tremor was added to my skill list. It was limited in area and the amount of tremor by the skill level. It was not an ice skill, and I could use it on the ground. It was costly in spiritual energy, but that was OK as I didn’t have any other skills using spiritual energy directly.

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I caused a Tremor in the ice, and if I got it right, it would cause a crack. If I didn’t, I would have to move or try again, hoping it was now weak. It would be helpful if I could look into the ice to see where it was weak, but Clearsight is a long way off now.

I tried it on a rock, but it was not strong enough to do anything. It loosened up the earth if I wanted to dig a hole. I would find uses for it. This was the beginning, and it was only level 1.

We started to have days again, so I decided it was time to start travelling. I would like to find a settlement for a while. Maybe I can find someone to train me properly.

I set out from my winter cave and started to wander again. I mostly kept to the coast but ranged inland to hunt. With skills, things were much easier. My class started to level again, although apprentice-level classes were slower to level than novice-level classes, the same as skills.

I mostly travelled in bear form as it was easier and more comfortable for me, particularly when the weather was poor. I mostly trained and hunted in my Humanoid form. I added Tremor to my practice to level it, and when it hit the apprentice level, I got an extra point in Spiritual Agility. I would train and hunt for half the day and then relax by walking the shore.

I had to take a big detour when I came to some cliffs and realised it was a griffon nesting ground. Griffons were monsters and had the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. For all my improvements, I would be killed easily by a youngling. I travelled in stealth for days to avoid them, keeping one eye on the sky at all times. Griffons would come and go at odd times, and they were nesting in the cliffs above the ice shelf. That meant I had to go inland to avoid them as they had the keen eyesight of the eagle.

There were some close calls, but I kept moving.

I hunted a deer one day and was just starting to enjoy it when I heard a low growl. I hadn’t smelled anything, so I checked downwind, and a large sabre-tooth tiger was crouched, ready to pounce. It was an old one, and they were also monsters with abilities. I must be further south than I thought.

I was in my humanoid form, and I slowly stood, keeping eye contact with it. All monsters had abilities of some type, and I used Identify on it. All I got back was that it was way, way stronger than I was. My Identify skill is too low for any decent information, but it did give me more than enough information.

I backed away from my kill carefully and slowly. I hope the deer is enough for it. When I got to the edge of the bush line, the monster came forward and sniffed the dead deer. It crouched down and took a bite.

That was my cue to leave, which I did carefully, watching the monster all the time. Once I was well out of sight, I turned and ran as silently as I could. I used my knowledge of tracking and scent to confuse my trail in case it was still hungry after it finished the deer off.

I didn’t stop running for a long, long time. That scared me and could easily have been my death. I don’t know why it warned me it was there; it could have just pounced, and I would have never known what hit me. I am happy it just wanted the free meal.

The wilderness is dangerous, and I am near the bottom of the food chain for all my training. I doubt it would have taken on my mother, so I have a long way to go. The Ice Cats took on my mother. I have a long way to go, and I do need some proper training.

From then on, I was more cautious. I had been acting like I was invincible, which is the weakness of youth. The Griffons were my first warning, and I didn’t heed it. Most people don’t get a second warning. The sabor-tooth tiger was what drove home that I was not invincible nor anywhere near the top of the food chain.

I didn’t get much sleep that night as I was too shaken. Was it hunting me? I move quickly and carefully away.

We have days now as summer approaches, but I don’t bother keeping count. What does it matter? I climbed to the top of a cliff in my humanoid form to get some idea of where I was headed. There was a large bay in front of me and a number of islands. In winter, you could walk to the islands, but there is now a lot of open water.

What fascinated me was the large three-masted ship tied to the ice shelf by ropes. Ramps were lowered from the ship, and people carried goods across the ice to a campsite. I sat and watched for a while and wished I had taken Farsight.

The camp was newish. Certainly, it would not have been here over winter. I don’t think the boat has been here long, or there wouldn’t have been as much activity from it. Or maybe I was wrong. What did I know about these things?

I did know I wanted to check this out, but I also knew some people would kill and enslave, so I would be very cautious.

I made my way down the cliff, keeping off the crest and then into the scattered trees. There was still a dusting of snow, so my fur would blend in. Should I make some throwing sticks? No, I was too close already. The camp would have scouts with senses stronger than mine.

I exercised every trick I knew to approach unseen and not leave a trail. I found a tree that should have a good view and carefully climbed it without disturbing the snow in the branches. I found a spot with a good view of the camp and settled in to watch.