Kaltyr solemnly stood above the bloody corpse of what used to be the first enemy she provoked into a fight. It didn’t matter to her that the beast technically began it all by trying to take her food—she would always remember herself as the aggressor, and she would grow from this experience.

But for now, she’d bemoan the world that encouraged such encounters.

The girl noticed the notifications in the corner of her vision, including the fact that one of them was distinctly different than what she was used to, but did not open them. She wasn’t in the mood and just wanted to leave.

She looked down at what used to be a beautiful long-haired cat, its gray fur oh so very soft. Bending down, she placed her hand atop of the body.

“Fur.”

Kaltyr ignored the conflicting emotions raging within, focusing only on her survival needs. The first night hadn’t been particularly cold, but neither had it been comfortable with how she lacked a pillow and was forced to sleep atop grass. If she could collect enough pelts from the no doubt countless creatures she’d kill in the future, her wilderness survival might even become pleasant. And the cat’s was to be the first in her collection…

Or not.

“Gaaah! Damn it!”

After the usual explosion of light and shower of confetti, what was left behind by the somewhat mangled corpse was merely a pile of…fur. Kaltyr dug her hand through the very soft mass, finding only grass and dirt beneath.

“Fuck this!”

The enraged girl hurled curses at the sky and swung her fists around like a child, even bending a leg back in preparation to kick at the pile of gray fluff, but ultimately stopping herself. Scattering the fur would only do her harm, as it would only further hurt her injured thigh and require her to collect it all again if she did find a use for it.

Thus, while rifling through her brain for ways of using the fur, Kaltyr collected it, grabbing large clumps of the stuff and compressing it to form denser clumps that could all fit in a single pocket.

“Next time, I’ll say ‘pelt’!”

With the fight and looting over, the lass returned her attention to the mystery that led to her dropping the fish that attracted the cat in the first place.

“Now, about those flowers…”

Kaltyr wasn’t sure if it was the combat that led to her epiphany, but nonetheless, she now had an idea of what the “fourth variable” to her Magic Sense skill was. She relocated the fish that she’d dropped and found the patch of flowers from there. Just like before, she could sense something different about the orange flowers, but it was as though the answer was stuck on the tip of her tongue.

“Well, it’s less a ‘fourth variable’ and more of…a change in how I see one of the magical qualities.”

Before reaching level 3, the Magic Sense skill allowed Kaltyr to sense the magical essence particles around her and mana within beasts and herself…but when the girl focused on a particular spot, it was as though she was looking at a painting. A painting whose paint floated and swirled about, but it was still only…

“Two-dimensional! That’s what changed!”

Kaltyr crouched beside the patch of orange flowers and focused as hard as she could, scanning each and every individual plant. In no time at all, she singled out a particular flower that grew in the center of all the rest.

“This is what I meant by seeing ‘deeper’, huh? I can now see depth to magical essence, and probably mana, as well. Before, all I saw was that everything had magical essence within it, but now it’s clear to me that this specific blossom has a little more than the average amount.”

The girl felt tempted to pick the flower to experiment on it later but held herself back. If there was really something special about the plant, then maybe letting it grow for a little longer would result in more findings. Who knew? Maybe this plant was in the process of refining its magical essence into mana. After all, the guidebook said that all complex life could refine magical essence, not only all “animals” or “creatures”.

“Anyway, I really have to get back. These notifications are probably important.”

Kaltyr eyed the special notification for a moment before returning to the fish scattered across the forest floor and picked them up one by one. When she came across the two that the cat had in its mouth when she first spotted it, the girl deliberated on whether she should take them. On one hand, the cat had bitten into them, and she didn’t know if that meant her food had been contaminated. On the other hand…

“Looting stuff seems to result in pristine products, so…taking them!”

……

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Fucking hell. There just HAD to be a battle between level 2 beasts directly between me and my base.

It had been around fifteen minutes since the end of Kaltyr’s conflict with the wild cat and the clearing was now within sight, but two unknown creatures were duking it out directly in her way. The girl immediately crouched behind a bush and made her body as small as possible whilst still carrying the stack of fish—an easy task considering her small stature.

Are you kidding me? One of them’s a bird?

Kaltyr’s skin began to itch as a bit of fear wiggled up and down her spine. On top of simply having the general idea that birds were almost always at the top of the food chain in the wild, she’d seen firsthand what a normal bird was capable of. Even when ignoring the one that stole a fish from her, she’d seen a relatively small bird have no trouble at all dive-bombing fish beasts as large as it and carrying them out of the water. Kaltyr felt that her fear of birds was reasonable in her situation.

Yet, from the mana signatures she sensed ahead, the level 2 bird was fighting something smaller than itself that repeatedly jumped at it from the ground and surrounding tree trunks and branches. Despite its maneuverability advantage that came with fast flight, whatever was darting around it so quickly was giving the bird a run for its money…

And I want no part in this. They’ll turn me into a shish kebab!

Ignoring the new words that so naturally rolled off her tongue, Kaltyr began adjusting her posture so that she could sneak away with a fast waddle while remaining crouched. She knew for certain that if the beasts weren’t busy fighting each other that they’d be able to sense her as clearly as she could them.

It was when Kaltyr had already crouch-waddled several meters away when the memory of the wild cat fading from her perception triggered a realization.

Was what that cat did a skill unique to it or can I do it, too?

The girl stopped in her tracks and glanced back, making certain that the two beasts were sufficiently distracted for her to stay where she was for a while.

It better not be a unique ability that I can’t possess!

With her heart set on learning a new skill, Kaltyr once again dropped the winnings she’d earned from the river, and sat down with her legs crossed and hands resting on her knees—the lotus position. Despite the foolishness of the whole thing, she closed her eyes.

I never would have tried this in such a situation had I not been sure that I could accomplish it.

Similarly to when she felt the sudden impulse to reinforce her body with mana, a feeling began to well up within Kaltyr that attempted to assure her… Well, she wasn’t sure what message this particular feeling was trying to get across, but she allowed it to consume her.

Slowly, as though she were lowering herself into a vat of water, a cool sensation spread throughout her body and centralized around what she knew to be her soul. The blazing spirit sitting in the middle of her brain was quickly wrapped in that cooling sensation, and slowly, its blazing came to a stop. Very slowly, because within the first ten seconds, Kaltyr couldn’t perceive much change at all, and only at the thirty second mark did it became clear that the fire-like flickering of her soul had slowed considerably while the presence it exuded had faded to a large extent. Another twenty seconds and her soul completely faded.

Whoa, I really can’t sense myself! It’s just like when I first awoke yesterday. That’s scary…

Upon opening her eyes, besides noting that her physical form was still just as visible as before, the most obvious change in Kaltyr became exceedingly apparent—her magical sense completely disappeared!

Oh shit, what did I do?!?!?

Panic welled up in the girl’s throat as she felt the need to curse out loud, but held herself. It was possible that whatever she’d done to her soul to make its presence fade subsequently turned off her Magic Sense and that it was completely natural… Though, it was also possible that she’d magically crippled herself for life, but it was best to stay on the positive side. And it was exactly that positive side that compelled Kaltyr to check the new notifications that had popped up since doing whatever she’d done to her soul. However, she didn’t want to be overwhelmed with all the notifications from that day.

How do I do this? Uhhh… Only reveal the notifications relevant to what I just did?

You have obtained the skill: Stealth

You have entered Stealth Mode

Oh, cool. That explains it.

Although she preferred having a little more information in an explanation of exactly what the Stealth skill did and what entering Stealth Mode entailed, she was used to being left in the dark regarding the video game-esque qualities of Manic. Seeing that what she’d done didn’t appear harmful to herself in any way, Kaltyr quickly returned to being calm and collected.

Anyway, that was pretty easy. I guess entering Stealth Mode is something everything can do. Now…I have to find those beasts again.

Kaltyr’s plan was simple: locate the creatures that blocked her path and circle around them. She wasn’t sure if utilizing Stealth Mode was sufficient for her needs, but what better time to experiment than on the battlefield?!

Any other time, truthfully, but safety be damned! I really am confident that this will work.

The lass picked her fish up and off the ground for the second time before returning to the bush she’d hidden behind when she first sensed the bird and whatever it was fighting. Without the use of her Magic Sense, finding the two beasts was much more difficult, but not impossible. Their movements and clashes could be heard even from where Kaltyr hid once she listened closely. Though she lacked visuals on her potential enemies, she could definitely tell that they fought just a few meters away from her clearing, placing them almost exactly at her base’s doorstep. Squeaks and shrieks resounded as the two beasts clashed while tree branches loudly shook from collisions—they really didn’t seem to be hiding their battle at all.

From here, it’s simple!

Whilst mindfully avoiding every stick and dead leaf in her way, Kaltyr gave the creatures a wide berth, walking solely on her tippy toes. It wasn’t very comfortable, nor fast, but safety was paramount!

Heh, lol.

The girl suddenly came to a stop, questioning her own thoughts. Words like “abracadabra” and “shish kebab”, although coming out of nowhere from her mind, still held some meaning to her. “Abracadabra” seemed to be a joke of some sort regarding magic, while “shish kebab” was a style of presenting food that required skewering cooked meat and vegetables. Yet…

What the fuck does “lol” mean?

The question persisted to plague her thoughts even as she reached the border of her safe zone.