My next couple of days were mostly the same. Only two things of note happened. First, despite not needing to drink as much water, I noticed that my food intake was significantly larger than before. Maybe because I spent almost the entire day using {Body Regeneration} to fix myself up. Or it had something to do with the high level of Body I had in comparison with before.
Either way, this proved one thing. I couldn’t stay here as long as I expected. Well, I could, but I would need to find more food at some point. For now, going down the cave wasn’t a good idea. I still could see movement in the canopy of the trees. That should be an Eater. There was nothing else that would make the same kind of track when moving. Even bears had the decency not to push trees around.
The other option was to go up the mountain. Using the climbing nails it shouldn’t be hard to get up there. Or I could just use {Compression} the same way I did to get here. The problem was the risk. I had no way of knowing what was up there. It could be just the regular mountain, with the animals I already knew about. Or it could be another Eater waiting to devour me.
Then again, staying here and starving to death was far from being a fun idea. All that only reinforced my initial thought. I had to focus on recovering.
Once I woke up on the third day here, or fourth if it was before midnight when I arrived in the cave, the system also gave me the human skill it mentioned before.
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Mind of Possibility - Active - Human Exclusive
A human mind is always considering the various possibilities that lays before it. Once activated, this skill allows the user to take into consideration all outcomes of a situation.
By spending energy, this skill can increase the speed at which thoughts are processed.
Units of Energy stored: 0/24
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“Ok… So System, is there a conversion of like, 1 Energy is equal 1 second or something?” I asked out loud while I slowly tried to stretch.
[There is no conversion. The amount of Energy spent will be related to the speed and quantity of data processed during the skill.]
“Got it, and can I use that skill at any point if it has Energy?”
[User may only use skill {Mind of Possibility} if skill has a full Energy charge. However, if by the time user deactivates the skill, there is still Energy remaining in the skill, remaining Energy will not be consumed.]
“So it works like a cooldown, but it’s variable depending on how much I have to recharge? Got it. Can I send Energy from the {Energy Storage}?”
[User is able to convert Energy from skill {Energy Storage} to skill {Mind of Possibility} following the same conversion rate as to recover user’s Energy.]
I felt a tinge of pain on my left side and stopped the exercise. My body was getting better, but it was still a problem to move around. If I had to fight in this situation, things might get tricky.
“System, you don’t have to repeat my question every time I ask something. You can just say yes or no.”
[Acknowledged.]
For the rest of that day, I continued focusing on my health and the {Body Regeneration} skill to be as close as fixing me as I could. During the afternoon, my boredom got the better of me and instead of staying inside, I walked to the terrace with the metal pole in hand.
The idea was to practice fighting with it, since a weapon was always good to have. I never used a staff, but it was the easiest weapon to wield. The problem was that despite all the rust covering the metal, it was still shiny enough to reflect some sunlight back into the forest below.
It took just 15 minutes until I saw a large deer with a third horn grown on top of its head being attracted by the reflection. That made me stop and go back inside, but a few minutes later the cries of the creature echoed through the forest, together with the sound of grinding metal.
“Sorry monster deer. I wasn’t trying to get you killed,” I whispered while watching, from the back of the cave, as what should be the Eater moved away from my position.
Once night came and everything was quiet. I walked back out to the terrace and started practicing. This wasn’t my first time learning a new weapon. On the other hand, it was very different from a spear. The main benefit of a staff is not needing to worry about the pointy end. So I can attack while using the rotation without having to consider a bladed tip.
Training under the stars felt kind of nice, but it was also a bit confusing. Without someone to teach me, I had to try moving in ways that felt right, even if they might not be the right path. My mind drifted to the sky, and how people would use the constellations for guidance.
From this position, I could see one of my favorites. Draco. There were some really fun stories surrounding that set of stars. The Jormungandr from the Norse mythology, a dragon cast into the sky by the goddess Minerva from the Roman Mythology. Or Radon, one of the challenges that Hercules faced during his twelve labors.
But what I really liked about it was the image of a dragon in the sky. A creature from myths that ruled over whatever land they lived in. Having a dragon horde of something was a bit of a dream of mine. What I wanted? I don’t know, I just wanted a place filled to the brim with something I really loved.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
No, that wasn’t it.
The real reason why that constellation attracted me so much was the power behind those creatures. A dragon. A monster that could topple armies, and was free to do whatever they wanted. Something feared by all, and that had nothing to fear. That’s what I wanted. To sleep in the middle of a forest, surrounded by monsters without fear, without worry. Knowing that nothing could harm me even if they tried.
With Draco in mind, I continued practicing with the staff. Old martial arts took inspiration from animals and bugs. There was no reason why I couldn’t try the same thing by following the stars. Still, having to be careful with a few movements due to my injuries slowed me down, but I could feel myself getting the hang of things. Or at least, that was my hope.
That’s how I spent the next week. Using {Body Regeneration} every chance I got and making sure I could still move around properly. Training with the staff when I could and eating away at the supplies. On the 6th day, it rained, which allowed me to take a shower, clean up my clothes a bit, and gather more water to drink.
Once the 10th day rolled around, I grabbed the staff and started to climb up the wall on the terrace, taking the rope with me. At this time, all but one of the Eaters seemed to have left. Only the tree movement that was patrolling an area directly in front of the cave still remained. But I didn’t have another option. The jerky was about to run out, and I had no more honey. Water was the only thing that wasn’t much of a problem thanks to the rain, but that was about it.
Going up to the next level of the mountain wasn’t difficult, my body was now much better. There was almost no movement that caused me pain, and the stiffness was only present when I was stretching, not when moving around or even practicing with the staff.
Once I cleared the wall, my mind went to the next step. What was I going to actually eat? There were options here. Berries should be plentiful, and some animals still roamed the area. As long as the Eaters didn’t kill all of them. I could figure out how to prepare them later.
First things first, making sure I was safe. From this vantage point, I glanced down at the forest below. In the distance, there was a group of trees being pushed around. The Eater should still be around, but at least it wasn’t moving in my direction.
It was also far enough, so I didn’t have to worry. Turning back to the forest in front of me, I closed my eyes and focused on the sounds. The rustling of trees, the birds flying in the sky, insects doing their thing, the small critters moving around the forest; This wasn’t something given by the system, but one thing that all hunters in the village learned. Even so, I could tell that my senses were a bit better. Some of the sounds reaching my ears were more subtle, the type that I wouldn’t be able to notice before all this. After a while, I heard something bigger. My knee jerk reaction was to head back to the cave, fearing it could be an Eater, but paying close attention, the tension vanished.
There was a rhythmic grunt following the sounds of steps. Not a metallic clang that would be created by an Eater. It should be a large animal, but not a bear. It wasn’t loud enough for it. Another sound caught my attention coming from the same direction. Hooves scraping against a rock.
I would be dealing with either a deer of some kind or a boar. Those were the only two possibilities. Well, to be fair, they could also be mutated monsters, and in a world where the System exists, I guess anything was possible. Still, it’s better to focus on what I can predict. So boar or deer.
Slowly, I started moving towards that noise. The sooner I found my prey, the better. Once I saw it, I would decide if hunting was the option or not. There were pros and cons to eating both meat and berries, and before anything, I had to see if I was going after something I could kill. Not the other way around.
Carefully walking towards the noise, my eyes constantly scanned the ground for loose branches and dried leaves. I didn’t want to give up my position for nothing. After a couple of minutes, the source of the noise came into view. It was a large boar, much larger than a regular one. It also had a twin set of tails, and two pairs of tusks instead of just one. But there was still a good 5 meters [16 ft] between us.
[Mutated boar - Tier 0]
Before asking the System what that was all about, the creature shifted, and its eyes landed on me.
I jumped forward, using the staff as a spear since it was what I knew better, but the creature rushed ahead, evading my attack and turning while running. Refusing to let up, I followed the monster, trying to hit it with my weapon. The next two strikes missed, but the third struck true just as the boar stopped moving. However, I severely overestimated my strength, as the animal barely flinched even after being hit by a heavy metal pipe.
With a loud shriek, the mutated boar rushed towards me, his tusks aimed at this person attacking it. Luckily, it was still small in comparison to a human, and the movement of its head wasn’t wide enough to reach my legs. Even so, I had to jump away to clear the path of the attack. Only then, an opening for another hit with the staff appeared. But as the metal pipe slammed against the monster’s back, it continued moving. At least this time I could see some damage, his torso was bleeding thanks to the blow, it was clearly just a scratch but that was something. It quickly turned around, trying to gore me again, but the tusks hit the wooden shin guards that were on my leg. The ones I got for my birthday. Still, the impact made me spin. Taking advantage of the momentum, I leaned into the motion and brought the staff down on the mutated boar’s head with all my strength.
Finally, it seemed like I was doing some damage. The creature stumbled back, shaking its head, and glared at me. That opening was enough for another two strikes and a stab that hit the monster’s nose, creating a large cut as I ripped the nostril open. The pole might not have a pointy tip, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t wound the beast.
The problem was that we were already making too much noise, and the attacks with the pipe were clearly something unnatural. An idea popped into mind. A way to finish this quickly and that seemed to work against the more hardy creatures. I pivoted, narrowly escaping the tusks once more, and rushed away from the boar, getting a good distance between us. With a use of {Compression}, I made the staff as small as it could become and pressed it against a tree behind me. Turning to the side, I held the staff there as the boar started its charge. The precious few moments I had between the monster starting to move and reaching me were used to aim the to the proper height.
In essence, this was just a game of chicken, but I was the only one that could lose. Once I thought the boar was moving fast enough, I took a step back and triggered the {Compression} skill once more. This time making the pole bigger, big enough to close the gab between the boar and me.
A loud crashing noise echoed through the forest as the pole became even bigger than it was the first time I used it, and the boar slammed head first on it. The force behind the impact was so strong that the staff became embedded into the tree while the monster had its skull crushed at the same time. Once the body plopped to the ground I quickly used {Compression} once more to retrieve my staff and felts something entering my body. It was an effect similar to when a skill was done, even if the feeling lasted considerably longer, but before I could even think. A far away sound of metal clanged back, almost in response to the noise I just made.