Sweat dripped from her brow as she climbed the tree. Her hands burned as she gripped the branch to steady herself and grabbed the other one to pull herself higher.

"Faster!" Silas yelled from down below. "No dinner if you fall."

As nice as the man was otherwise, as a teacher, he was a straight-up bully. He reminded her of Mrs. Kaur, their old caretaker. She was strung up so tight it was a miracle she could breathe. Everything had to be done right, and her dad was all about teaching his kids discipline, so he left Meera and her brother in her care after their mother passed away.

"Move it!" Cossus imitated his brother, which was actually spot on.

Meera couldn't help but chuckle. Oh God, I'm getting along with Cossus. Save me, please.

She focused her attention on the next branch. It was just out of reach. She stood on her toes, and her fingers brushed against the branch. She almost had it. I just needed a little more of a lift. She tried harder to reach it. I almost got it…

Right when she looked like she got it, her other foot slipped. Instinctively, she tightened her grip on the branch she was still holding, and that was what saved her.

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Tree Walker has reached Level 3]

The sound of the bell almost made her lose her grip. But after the level-up, she quickly found her footing. She breathed in a few deep breaths to calm her pounding heart. She wasn't far from the ground, maybe three meters at best. She didn't know if she would die at this height, but even if she didn't die, it would hurt a lot.

"What in Aetheron's scales was that?" Silas barked from down below. "Do you have the Climbing skill or not?"

"I do," Meera squeaked.

"Then use it! Stop trying to rely on yourself and let the skill do its work. Remember, you didn't earn these skills, so you must let them do their work. That's the only way you'll acclimatize to them."

"That's right," Cossus added. "Climb, little monkey. Climb."

"I hate you," Meera grumbled.

"I heard that."

"Good. You were meant to."

Meera heaved a heavy sigh. Must let Climbing do its thing. Whatever that means.

She looked around the tree for a different route up and found nothing that would let her continue or help her reach the branch. Aside from the tree trunk, of course. Unless I hug that thing and crawl on up.

With no other option, she thought of giving it a try. With a shrug, she shimmied over to the tree trunk. Never in a million would she have imagined that she would be learning to climb trees from a medieval assassin.

She hugged the trunk and did her best impression of a worm wriggling up a tree. It was slow going at first, but then she decided to do as Silas had said and let the skill take over. Then climbing became smoother. She pulled with her hands and held with her knees and legs. She got splinters all over, but she was making progress. She reached the intended branch and then went past it.

When her legs couldn't take it anymore, she moved off to a branch and began climbing as she was doing before. But trusting in the skill and her body made it seem like she had climbed these trees since she was a toddler. It honestly felt like climbing a ladder. She moved the smaller branches aside and kept going up at a steady pace. When she looked down, she couldn't even see the ground. All she saw were leaves and branches.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It was exhilarating being this far up. She was almost at the top. Now, she had to finish this climb. The foliage was thicker up top here, slowing her ascent, but she could easily keep her footing thanks to Tree Walker. The notification bell went off, but she decided to look at it later.

She balanced with her feet as she moved the leaves aside and continued up, and finally, she was through. Sunlight fell on her. Mirithia was to her left, which meant it was morning still. She could see Ealisto and Gethys as well. Gethys was overhead, a ball of yellow seas with a green landmass. Then there were Ealisto's polar ice caps which went far south and north than they had any right to. To the point that she was sure that the only habitable zone on the planet was near the equator. The science of it all astounded her. She couldn't wait to get to a city, find some professors or scholars, and talk to them about it. See what sort of insight they had besides superstition.

She looked around, and for the first time, she realized how big the Forest of Rothedon was. It was like she was adrift in a sea of green. To the east, this green sea was all there was. To her west, far in the distance, the forest ended close to the horizon.

We still have some distance to travel, thought Meera. But that gave her more time to spend with the brothers and learn from them.

After taking in the morning view, she headed down. The way down, surprisingly, was less complex than the way up. Once she cleared the topmost branches, which were the thickest of them all, she headed down, almost hopping from one branch to the next.

Silas met her with a beaming smile. "See, now that wasn't so bad."

"Thanks."

"Now, do that twenty more times."

"What?"

Cossus laughed. "Scurry on up, little monkey."

"You heard me," Silas said. "But not just this tree. Find more difficult trees and keep on going up and down. You'll level up your Tree Walker and Climbing skill. Once you have that down, we'll work on your combat skills. Speaking of skills, you must have gotten a level or two from that."

Meera remembered hearing the bell, so she pulled up her notifications.

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Climbing has reached Level 7]

"Tree Walker reached Level 3, and Climbing went to 7," Meera informed him.

"See now, that wasn't so bad," Silas said. "Now, let's keep this momentum going."

"Also, while you're climbing these trees, I want you to keep your Eagle Eye active. Let's get you used to that skill as well."

Cossus snorted. "Get ready to hurl your breakfast."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

"Haha. Hilarious pun."

Meera turned from them, walked to the next tree, activated Eagle Eye, and almost tripped over her feet. Her vision zoomed in a hundred times to the point where she could see the ant, carrying a part of a leaf down the tree, twenty meters away. But it wasn't like she stood twenty meters away watching the ant. No, it felt like she was standing on top of the ant, with her face a few inches from it. All the colors became more vibrant too. It was like she was blind before and had just begun to truly see.

Something moved in her peripheral vision, and she snapped her head to it, and she almost got whiplash from the speed at which everything moved. But then everything came into crisp focus so fast, like she had not moved at all. What had moved was a snail going about its way on the ground, between the leaves.

Something else moved, and she turned her attention to it, and that was when she fell to the ground, huffing. She noticed her stamina had taken a hit as well. The system never mentioned that this skill used stamina.

Cossus sat on his haunches beside her. She would have thought he would be laughing at her, but he was mostly grinning. "Seems like you just got a taste of what it's like to have the eyes of an Eagle."

She didn't say anything and continued to steady herself. There was a numb pain at the back of her head.

"See, the thing is, there are two more levels of this skill before Eagle Eye," Cossus said. "You stole a master-level skill, something you're not prepared for. So, take it slow. Turn it on and off, and don't even think about moving with it, despite what this lumbering oaf says. You're not ready for that yet. Oh, and another tip, you can choose how much the eyes zoom in. Start slow. That's all I got. Oh, and one more tip, this skill guzzles stamina like a thirsty camel, so keep an eye on your stamina, or you'll find that all of a sudden, you can't move. Now, I'm done."

Meera stared wide-eyed. "Thanks."

"See, now don't say all I did was make fun of you." He patted her back. "Now, get to it. Climb those trees, little monkey."

Meera sneered. "Just when I thought you weren't a douche."

"What's a douche?"

"You." She got up and moved to the next tree—without activating Eagle Eye. She got in position, began climbing, and immediately got many more splinters. Ugh, I hate this place.