“Huh. Isn’t that interesting.” Ander closed his notifications. He desperately wanted to sleep, and wanted to try out this walker of memories skill even more. However, that couldn’t happen. He was in an unknown place with unknown threats in a brand new world with magic. Who knew what kind of monsters lived in this place. And so, Ander pulled out his shortsword and shield and left everything else in his shelter.

Ander proceeded down the ravine, and the ravine began to widen, the moss and ivy of the walls retreating until there was about thirty feet between them. Ander tried to look for any sign of dangerous wildlife. He was unsuccessful until he saw, sneakily hidden behind a patch of moss, a little animal poo. It looked like a bunch of black pebbles, which he assumed meant something like a rabbit or a sheep. That said, goats would make a lot of sense given the terrain. That was both good and bad. Rabbits, sheep or goats would mean that he would have a food source until he could get out of this ravine. Good. But that also meant that there were larger predators to hunt the poor rabbits or sheep. Bad. Ander supposed it wouldn’t be too bad if there were rabbits down here. That would mean the predators would be foxes. Foxes might be annoying, but were unlikely to be dangerous. However, if it were sheep, he might be dealing with something like wolves or bears. Maybe even some big cat like a mountain lion. Of course all that was if magic didn’t get in the way.

Ander moved on, looking carefully at his surroundings. He only went some 500 feet from his campsite, before deciding he had scouted far enough for the day and started to head back. On his way he saw something he hadn’t noticed before. An area of moss was completely overturned. It was in the shadow of a boulder on the other side of the way he had come. Ander nodded slightly. This had been what he was looking for. Something tore up the ground here, something reasonably big if Ander had his guess. With that Ander felt that slight pressure on his mind again.

Congratulations! You have gained Skill: Tracking.

Skill: Tracking is level 1.

Skill: Tracking

Uncommon

Allows you to spot the evidence of moving creatures that they have left behind. Brings footprints, excrement, marks on plantlife, etc. to your attention. Helps you to identify what kinds of creatures passed the area.

As Ander gained the skill, details lept out at him. He could see hoof prints, and could tell that they weren’t from any kind of sheep. The two parts of the hoof print indicated that this was a boar of some sort. It went along with the scrapes along the rocks where bare stone shone through the moss. That was where the tusks had scraped the rock. Ander could tell now that there was only one. Which was kinda odd. Wild pigs tended to group up.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Ander looked to see where the boar had gone. The tracks were new, and led straight toward his camp. Ander groaned. Boars were dangerous, and killed a large number of people in medieval times, and they used spears. All Ander had was a shortsword and a shield. He had even left his knife in his shelter. Ander approached the shelter to find, as expected, a boar trying to pry away the pieces of wood Ander had wedged in the way of the entrance. The boar was not quite what he expected however. Instead of bare skin across its body, it had a coarse thick wool. Moreover, its tusks were huge, and shone dangerously at the tip as if made of metal. Oh, and it was huge, easily the size of a pony.

Not seeing any other option, Ander started forward, walking as quietly as he could manage, hoping to get a sneak attack on the boar. Of course that is when he slipped, a rock turning beneath his feet and giving off a very audible scraping sound. Ander stopped cold, hoping that the boar wouldn’t notice. The boar noticed.

Ander tried to think as the boar rounded on him and squealed with incredible volume. Then the boar charged. Ander managed to get his shield up a mere moment before the boar hit. Both tusks punctured straight through the wood, one going between the bones of his left forearm where it was strapped to the shield, the other one nearly hitting his chest. Ander was lifted up and slammed into the wall. He felt one tusk break one of his ribs as the other tore his arm open wider. Ander swung his sword with the strength of panic behind it, hoping to end the creature before it could charge again. The boar shook its head, wrenching Ander’s arm from side to side as Ander hacked at the neck of the boar. Ander saw the wound he was making. It was big, uneven, and Ander could see bits of the spine. Ander stabbed once, twice, three times, finally forcing his sword between the bones of the spine. The boar went limp.

Congratulations! You have killed an iron tusk boar, level 5.

XP earned.

You have leveled up! You are now level 2.

+2 Conductivity

+2 Wisdom

+2 Regeneration

+1 Beauty

+2 Presence

+20 free stats.

A rush of energy dimmed the pain from the tusk wound as Ander extricated the tusk from his arm and shield. He figured he was lucky. If he hadn’t had the shield, the boar would have run him right through. Of course, the shield now had two splintered holes in it, greatly reducing its usefulness. Though for now, he went back to his shelter and scavenged some cloth from one of the bags he had been storing food in. It would work for the moment, but unless he got some medicine of some sort, his arm would get infected. Ander sat down, woosy, and bandaged his arm. He needed medicine. He also needed to deal with that boar outside so that it wouldn’t attract anything more nasty.

Ander got up and went to the entrance to his cave, but instead of leaving, he pulled the wood into the entrance and wedged it into place as best as he could. With a groan, he fell to the rocky ground and passed out.