I walked upstream alone. Which was very much expected, considering the situation. Still, I was upset about them not letting me sleep before kicking me out. To be fair, they had a reason for that. If there was an Eater following me, letting me sleep in the village could put the people there in danger. And fine, technically, it was my fault since I was the one who didn't want to talk to them about the System. But still I had a very long day and I really want some rest.

'I guess just you and me, Sys,' I said to my invisible companion without speaking out loud. In a sense, I would never be alone again. There's something comforting about that.

[System will always be with user. Removal of System is impossible while user remains alive.]

'You don't have to be so cold,' I rolled my eyes.

[Acknowledged]

'Why do I get a feeling you're just saying that to make me shut up?'

And of course, the System didn't give me an answer. Either way, I continue my path. The goal was to at least pass the creek where I turned when the Hunter Eater was chasing me. If I stopped sooner and something were to happen, the people from Madison would blame me, I was sure of it.

The problem was my exhaustion. And I had a good reason to be so tired. In one day I reached the Hidden Horn Village, ran away from it like crazy, came back to Madison while carrying pops on my back, had to lure a new type of Eater away from people, killed it, then went back to the village and got exiled. I don't think I ever had a day that was this eventful before in my entire life. Except maybe the day I watched my parents be eaten alive.

About 100 meters [382 ft.] or so after that Creek I found a large group of trees, all pines with thick and sturdy branches that were several meters from the ground. There were a couple who were even intertwined and would likely withstand my weight without a problem. Using {Compression} to get up quickly to that area, it didn't take long to find a place where I could sleep without worrying too much about falling back down during the night.

'Hey Sys, do you have any way of waking me up if a monster or something gets closer?'

[System is able to wake user up. However, System does not currently possess the ability to detect monsters or anything without utilizing user's senses. For that reason, System is unable to perform such task.]

'But is it possible? Could there be a skill or something that lets you detect the danger when I'm sleeping?'

[In theory, yes. Would user like to create a quest for such skill?]

'Not now. Maybe in the future it could be a good idea. Since we are on the topic, do you have any more information about the quest that I already have? The one to make a skill based on my title?'

[System is still in the process of organizing the necessary data to the creation of said skill. At this moment, System is unable to give a time frame for the completion of the quest.]

'Yeah, I kind of figured. I asked about this quest today, didn't i?'

[Correct.]

'Damn,' I yawned, trying not to make too much noise, 'I'm really tired. I'm going to try sleeping and if you notice I'm about to die for some reason just wake me up, okay?'

[Acknowledged. However, as previously stated, System is unable to utilize user's senses unless user is awake. The only thing System would currently be able to do is to warn user once something harms user. In such event, user's pain response would likely wake user up before the intervention of System.]

'Yeah, that's great. Good night.' barely able to think those words, I fell asleep. Too much had been going on and my body was just done.

But my night wasn't calm as I hoped. After some time, a similar feeling to falling in a dream woke me up. With a jolt, my eyes shot open, and I grabbed my staff from my bag, ready to attack any incoming creatures. At the first glance, there was nothing and this was just a scare. The darkness of the night surrounded the forest, with the small amount of moonlight showing just some of the edges of the trees and foliage. Something pulled my eyes to the left, where they found something that wasn't quite right. It almost looked like a bush, but it sat on top of the branches. The leaves of these pines shouldn't grow like that. As I shifted, making my staff grow enough to become a weapon again, something else came into view. A pair of glowing yellow eyes staring at me attached to that strange shape.

Could it be another mountain lion?

No.

Too small.

And a cub wouldn't be able to get up on this tree. The only way of it being a mountain lion was if it was a mutated version that turned the animal smaller. But I never had seen something like that. Mutations only made creatures bigger, stronger, or more menacing. Noticing how my staff was able to reflect the tiniest amount of light, I shifted it to see if I could get a better look at whatever this was. This idea was hardly a success, but at least it made the creature move enough for me to notice a pair of ears and very thin strands of fur coming out of their tip. Only one thing could have that feature around here. A bobcat. But they were usually a bit smaller than this one and therefore wouldn't be able to blend as well with the foliage.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

'Sys, how long has it been since I fell asleep?'

[User slept for 3 hours and 24 minutes.]

'And how long do we have until sunrise?' Despite the conversation, my eyes continue to follow the creature as it jumped from branch to branch, slowly getting closer. A gust of wind brought me a whiff of its smell and, for some reason, it confirmed to me that this was a bobcat. Maybe it was an effect of {Predatory Sense}. But being so sure like that still felt strange.

[It is currently 4:07 a.m. Sunrise will likely happen after 6:00 a.m. There are still, roughly, 2 hours until sunrise.]

'Fuck it. I'm going to consider this a nap and I'll just sleep when we find a better place,' the bobcat was getting closer and closer.

I turned to the side, trying to see if there was anything on the road and the creature seem to think this was the moment to strike. However, I could tell the branches were creaking with a strain, the smell was getting stronger, and there was a bit of wind that was blocked from reaching me. Without hesitating, I spun my staff, already triggering {Formless Nodus Swipe}. My attack came from below, my hands holding the middle of the staff since this wasn't exactly an open field. It hit the bobcat square on its stomach, sending him over my shoulder, slamming against one of the trees. A large branch pierced its torso, and I felt the SP entering my body. It was a good thing that the light wasn't bright enough to let me see things properly. But even then, I could already tell that the bobcat guts were spilling out, dangling above its head as it hang upside down.

With a sigh, I climbed down the tree using compression again. So much for having a good night of rest. According to what I knew, if I follow the road by the river, I would eventually reach a place called Fort Ennis. It was just on the outskirts of the city previously known as Ennis, but most of it was destroyed by the Eaters. pops always told me that going to a big city was dangerous. For one, we could never really tell if the place was free from the Eaters. With some always hiding ruined buildings. He even argued that it was possible the Eaters made their nests in the ruins of a city. However, considering how one of their hives actually looks like, I had my doubts about that idea. If every city had the heart like that, there will be more stories about those things.

The other danger was the people, of course. Everyone was fending for himself. Sure, villages tended to help each other, but most were very wary of strangers. Even if the people from the fort should be more used with the people of Madison. The supply crew used to go up there to barter for various materials or whatever the village needed. But it might be better if I don't mention the supply crew, just in case. The only problem reaching there was the distance. With the cart being pulled by a horse, people would have to spend a night out in the open during that journey. Although in the open wasn't exactly right. Marco mentioned that there were a few abandoned houses on the path to Ennis. They had already scavenged those structures for supplies, and a few were falling apart, but some of them should be stable enough to let me have some cover for a night. Or at least, that was my hope.

Once I started to follow the road, I heard a message from the system.

[Inquiry: Why has user left the bobcat corpse behind? Creature might have useful skills. In addition, consuming it will bring more Energy that can be converted into SP]

'I don't have any way to prepare it, and I'm not going to eat it raw. Carrying it with me until I can find a place to cook it properly is too much trouble for what it's worth. Not only will I be dragging something heavy that is bleeding, which will leave a trail, but the smell might attract other predators. Leaving it back there will, at least, make a few animals less likely to come after me. Also, don't expected me to eat everything that I kill. Eaters for one I won't eat, and sometimes, I just have to leave things behind,' I continued walking in the dead of night.

It wasn't easy traveling without any light. But at least the road was open enough so I wouldn't have to worry about hitting my head on a bunch of trees. Even 50 years after the world went to shit, nature still wasn't able to reclaim everything that it had lost. I passed by the bridge to the other side of the river. If memory serves me right, there was a house nearby, but it wasn't mostly broken apart and now being held by the hopes and dreams of whoever built that thing. If I were to sleep there, it would be better to just climb another tree and find a place to stay for the night. Which I wasn't about to do. Another 40 minutes went by before something appeared on the side of the road. Another house. This one, much bigger but it still had parts that were destroyed. The entire east wing of the house was destroyed as if a bulldozer had gone through it, or more likely, an Eater had passed by. But the west wing was still standing. Still feeling exhausted, I took a chance and headed to the house. The inside didn't look very good and I couldn't even see it properly. Only by using my staff as a cane I was able to find a door that seem to be closed. A closed room was more than I could hope for, so I pushed inside, making sure to pay attention to my senses and the new skill. Trying to see if there was anything that would trigger alarm bells.

This seems to be a bedroom, but checking the mattress was a waste of time. Anything that survived whatever passed here wouldn't have survived the test of time. Instead, I found a long bench in the corner of the room and laid down on it. There was only enough time to check if it would hold me before I collapsed once more.

I woke up a much, much later, with the sun already high in the sky. My face was facing the wall, while my own hair function as blinds to protect me from the light. This wasn't a comfortable night of rest by any means, but it felt so good to wake up properly rested. I turned to the other side to enjoy the laziness I was feeling. But right in front of me, rocking back and forth in a chair, was a skeleton wearing rags. It's hollow eyes staring into my soul.

'Holy shit!' I jumped up, already grabbing my staff. But the skeleton didn't move. It just continued to rock back and forth, being pushed by a light breeze coming from a broken window. Approaching the corpse, I noticed a large hole in the back of its it's skull. Behind it, the window was broken at the exact same height. Maybe something hit it from the outside, killing whoever this person was. But a blood splatter on the wall made that unlikely. It was almost as if whatever killed this person hit it from the front. With a shrug, I just grabbed my belongings and headed out while eating a few of the rations Gareth gave me. There was still a long journey ahead of me and I wasn't about to waste time playing detective for someone who died a long time ago. All I could do was make sure I wouldn't meet the same end and be killed by whatever killed them.