I killed him. I killed Keith. I mean I have killed before but that was the first time I have killed something that was actually so like me. All I have killed so far are wild animals and I feel nothing. Nothing at all. I just killed a guy in cold blood and I'm not even fazed. I feel like that's bad but I am not too sure. But anyway, I got away. Now I have to deal with the hell that is trying to survive in a forest where I get attacked by a bloodthirsty animal every twenty seconds.

Speaking of bloodthirsty.

[Light Wolf - Lvl.14]

I clutch the last arrow I have left in my hand. It’s been with me for so long. It somehow survived getting washed away in the river and hopefully if I used it right now it would not get lost or damaged. The Light Wolf paws the ground, apprehensive, a few meters in front of me. Undecided on what to do. Not giving it the chance I draw back my arrow.

“[Mana Bolt]”

Like every time before I used [Mana Bolt], the arrow thrums with power as it hurtles towards the Light Wolf. But unlike each of those times instead of being an instant kill it doesn't even hit. Right before the arrow looks like it was about to connect a thin barrier of yellow light blocks the attack. The arrow manages to pierce the barrier, cracking it, but gets stuck half way through. With a growl the Light Wolf lunges towards me, all apprehensiveness gone. I draw my knife as the Light Wolf closes in. It darts forward, paw swinging towards my head.

I raise my dagger blocking the strike. The blow is surprisingly weak so I strike at the Light Wolf's fur clad body. My knife digs into it, but barely breaks the surface. The Light Wolf jumps back in surprise but doesn’t seem worried. My attack did almost nothing. I’m too weak. I still have nine stat points from my last three level ups so if I put them all into strength it will go up to fifteen. This means I might be able to kill it or at least hurt it enough to get away.

Putting all my points into strength turned out to be a good idea. The next time I struck, my dagger dug deep into the Light Wolf's side. The Light Wolf slowly staggers away from me while I get a breather. Glaring at me, the Light Wolf starts charging what looks like a ball of light in its mouth. I stare for a few seconds before my gut tells me to move. Lunging to the side, I barely dodge the condensed ball of light the Light Wolf flung directly at me. The Light Wolf, following up its attack, starts running towards me, going for the kill, as I move my body to get out of the shock of almost dying. I managed to focus on the fight again but it's too late. The Light Wolf's teeth dig into my left arm.

The Light Wolf tries to tear my arm off but before it can I plunge my dagger into the side of its head.

[You have killed a Light Wolf - Lvl.14]

[You have leveled up Elf from Lvl.12 - Lvl.13]

[You have gained 3 stat points]

My arm hangs limply at my side, blood pouring out of the bite wound. Pain races from my arm to the rest of my body. I barely register it before I hear something in the bushes.

“I’m sure I heard something over here”

“You better not be wrong”

It’s getting closer and closer. Grabbing my knife from where I dropped it I quickly looked for my bow. It sits on the ground a few meters away. I put my knife in my pack before grabbing the bow.

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Exiting the clearing, I break into a sprint before coughing up blood. I look at my bite wound and it's still bleeding profusely. I quickly start to stagger away. Blood pouring onto the ground. Behind me I hear the yelling of something communicating. Probably humans, they’re everywhere. I listen as I stagger away but one shout makes me stop.

“Over here! Look at all the blood and the footprints”

“Good find. Come on boys let's get going”

Pulling my hood over my head I pick up the pace. My arm aches in pain, the blood finally beginning to falter. I hear them getting closer behind me. But up ahead I see what could be my saving grace. It looks like a hill. The side I can see is completely rock and very steep, almost going straight up. But there are plenty of foot holes all over the rock. Reaching the rocky wall I start to climb.

I brush past the leaves of trees, struggling to make my way up. I can move my left arm just enough to grab handholes. But I only have enough strength to hold on for a few seconds. Thankfully my right arm holds strong, but I tire quickly. I’m about three quarters of the way up when I see them. I was right, they are humans. They all clutch weapons or nets in their hands. They follow my blood covered tracks to the wall. One of the humans with a bow starts complaining.

“Where the fuck did they go?!” The tracks are just gone”

“Hey asshole look at the rock”

I can see through the thick foliage so I can assume they see me as well. Moments later my thoughts are confirmed.

“I can see them, look. They're wearing green which makes it harder but I can see them”

After a few more seconds of painfully slow and tiring climbing I reach the top.

Below me I hear “Damn it, I was hoping they would fall”

As soon as I am a safe distance from the ledge I collapse. Lying on the warm rock. Panting, I feel the warm embrace of the sun as my blood litters the ground. Pulling myself to my feet I look around. There is much more space up here than I thought. There's even some trees and a bit of grass. But the bit that really draws my attention is the mountain of stone in front of me. It looks like what I thought was a hill is actually a mountain and I only climbed the first tiny bit of it. The mountain just keeps going up and up into the sky. I can’t see the top. Thankfully it's not as steep as it was before. There are still some steep parts but apart from those you could probably get up fairly easily. Well at least the parts I can see.

“Almost there” someone grunts.

I sit up. Getting to my feet I look down towards where the humans are. One of them is climbing up and he's almost made it. Grabbing my dagger I ready myself. I wait just out of his line of sight. As soon as I see his hand grip the top. I prepare myself. His head emerges into view. I stab with my dagger.

"Huh?” is all he manages before he falls back, blood pouring from his head. I watch as he plummets towards the ground, breaking through the foliage.

[You have killed a Human - Warrior - Lvl.17]

[You have leveled up Elf from Lvl.13 - Lvl.14]

[You have gained 3 stat points]

Below me I hear the horrified voices of the humans crying out in panic.

“Now they’re mad” I mutter

How was I gonna get out of this? The mountain was massive but that would mean there was life, both predator and prey, and it was only a matter of time before I encountered the former if I stayed here.

Staggering to my feet I set off at a slow pace toward the towering mountain. I need to get stronger. But in my current state I would struggle to have even a chance of winning. But I need to get stronger. From what I know, repeated use of a skill levels it up.

“[Identification]”

[Rock]

It has been boring but as I started my climb I repeatedly used [Identification] on everything and it has worked out.

[You have leveled up Identification from Lvl.2 - Lvl.3]

So far not much of a difference, but I assume it lets me see higher level people. I also tore off some of my robe and wrapped it around my wound and, like every time before my robe was damaged, it fixed itself. The only problem was my body still aches in pain and was exhausted. I had managed to find a few ledges but I could see clouds in the distance, thunder clouds, and I didn't fancy being rained on while I recovered. So I was climbing towards what looked like a cave in the rock. The only problem was that there was no ledge or anything right outside the cave entrance. Just a long long drop as soon as you take a step out.

Clambering up towards the cave as fast as I could, without dropping to my death, was terrifying by itself but the fact that a storm was heading in our direction made it even worse. If it got here before I was in the cave I would lose my grip on the wet rock and plummet to my death. It was still a long distance away but the terror of the storm wetting the rock and me losing my grip was at the front of my mind.

I kept getting closer and closer. I was almost there only a few meters away. Heart pounding, I stretch my hand forward and grasp the bottom of the cave entrance before hauling myself up. I stare into darkness.