Sensations surrounded Salim, flashes of pain, sickening crunches, it all seemed to blend together as he floated in a void of feeling. He could not act, nor could he think, all that was left for him to do was experience. Death was a foreign concept to him now, not in the way of a child’s lack of understanding, but a wide ravine that he might never cross.

As nothingness began to bleed into light, Salim opened his eyes, squinting at the light which projected across the edges of a shadow that was leaning over him. The long rectangles of a goat’s pupils stared down at him. His eyes opened wide at the sight as he shot forward, his forehead colliding with the goat.

“Ow, what was that for? That really hurt!” The voice sounded like a child's, and as Salim’s eyes finished adjusting, he saw a young boy rubbing his forehead in pain. Atop his head was a pair of horse ears, which flitted across grassy green hair as the boy seemed to hold back tears.

Salim’s hands shook as he took in the boy, even with the oddities of his appearance, there was a genuine person standing in front of him! Not a facsimile or some messed up undead abomination but a genuine person.

I’m not going to be alone.

“Hello?! Did you hear me?!” A loud voice rang in his ear. The boy, having stood up on the stone wall to talk into his ear and was now looking at him impatiently.

“What?” His voice came out cracked and painful, like a bolder scraping against a cliff.

“I said, Did. You. Hear. Me?!” The boy pointed at him, pushing his index and middle finger towards him with each enunciated word.

“Yes… Yes, I heard you. Where am I?” Salim felt strange, asking a child important questions, but the burning desire to know more about people was overwhelming. I really am desperate.

“I am Brook! And we are in the field, why are you asking me that?” With a confused look on his face, the boy must have thought Salim was crazy.

Salim thought for a moment longer, considering the situation he was in, stumbling out of the forest and finding himself at the edge of a field. Whoever this kid's parents were hadn’t warned him enough about strangers, judging by the inquisitive look in the boy's eyes. Or maybe the kid didn’t understand the dangers associated with it.

“I got lost, I was trying to find my way home and ended up wandering into the forest.” Salim pointed his thumb in the direction of the white and purple trees, trying to suppress a shudder. He didn’t really want to lie to a kid, but he was likely going to tell his parents, who would be much more suspicious.

“You got lost in the forest?! Did you see a monster, was it as tall as a tree, how did you survive the killer bees?” The boy barraged him with questions.

“Killer bees? I didn’t see any, no monsters either.” He couldn’t imagine much surviving in that forest for too long.

“Really? Aw.” He seemed disappointed at the answer. “My parents told me what was in the forest, and that I should never go past the edge of the field.” He stood precariously on the stone wall.

“Well…” Salim felt incredibly awkward. “Your parents are right to it-”

A small rock cracked him in the face, not fast enough to cut or break anything but leaving him stunned for a second.

“Get away from my brother!” A voice yelled, the owner standing a few yards away holding another rock in his hand. It was an older boy, a teenager judging by his voice, although he still looked incredibly young in Salim’s eyes.

The teen chucked another rock, but it flew wide, landing softly in the grass behind Salim.

“Look, I wasn’t trying anything, I promise. I just got lost and was asking for directions.” Pointing his hands at Brook, Salim took the moment to observe the teen. While his hair was similarly grassy green hair, yet no ears adorned it. Instead, his skin seemed to have a strange wooden appearance, like his skin was interlaced bark, head to toe.

The teen looked at him warily, hopping over the wall to place himself between Salim and Brook, another stone primed in his palm. When did he pick more up?

“Oak, he's telling the truth! He was resting on this side of the wall when I found him!” Brook's high-pitched voice broke the tense silence, Oak taking a moment to look back at his brother.

Salim couldn’t help but think their parents were a bit cruel with naming conventions. He watched as the boys huddled up, Brook hunching down on the wall to get closer to Oak’s ear. After a few moments of hushed whispers, they broke apart with serious looks on their faces.

“If my brother is telling the truth, we can help you out.” Oak spoke with a serious look that didn’t fit his face. “You have to walk in front of us so that we can watch you.” Brook nodded in agreement.

While there were several flaws in that plan, Salim didn’t feel the need to point anything out. With a simple nod, they scooted over the wall, Salim in tow as he took a few seconds longer to clear the rocky barrier. The stones were well-worn, a layer of moss keeping them wet even with the sun beading down up above.

The boys took him through their field, not overly large, but a good acre or two of land which had several sheep like animals roaming around. He was hesitant to call them sheep since their wool looked strangely glossy from far away, sunlight reflecting off of their backs. The wall that he had jumped over seemed to extend a good distance, not covering the entire perimeter but instead acting as a deterrent, so that errant sheep wouldn’t wander into the woods.

Whispering in front of him, Brook and Oak looked like two conspirators, walking side by side and taking the occasional glance back at him while they moved further through the field. Not minding their silent conversation, Salim kept looking around, taking in the sight of civilization. The stone walls slowly curved in before ending abruptly halfway through the field, Salim couldn’t see any mountains on the horizon, so he could imagine that the stones might be in short supply.

Having a moment to himself, Salim decided to finally address the notification that had covered his face while he was trying to push himself through the forest for several days straight. Pulling the menus back into focus, he contemplated whether he should wait to upgrade his stats.

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You have shown an incredible will to continue living

Major Event has been Logged.

You have gained a Level!

You have gained a Level!

He felt like the levels were well-earned, although he couldn’t help but feel like he had been cheated out of a few extra levels. Had he chosen [Wanderer] or [Trailblazer], maybe he could already be at level seven.

Doesn’t matter, I’ll get there regardless. It’ll just take time.

Meditation has reached Max Level.

Event has been Logged.

You have gained five stat points.

This notification was both a surprise, and not at the same time. He had been in a trance for most of his journey through the woods, even when talking to himself. The fact that it counted as [Meditation] was unexpected but incredibly welcome. He would never say no to more stat points.

Skills

Meditation (Class)

Lvl. Max

Calm against the disruptive chaos.

Open Mind (Class)

Lvl. 6

Think true, see the world as it is.

Discussion (Class)

Lvl. 2

Convince others of your view.

His eyebrows raised slightly as he read his skill window.

Wow, [Meditation] really did shoot past [Open Mind]. [Discussion] gained a level too, was it because I was talking to myself or to the kids? If it was because of the kids, did the system know that I was going to meet people, or would it just be a useless skill sitting in my list?

He could feel a headache forming as he contemplated the system being omnipotent to some degree, and what reason it could even have for helping him. It had always been cold, like a video game, never giving him any information except for what he could determine himself. Did someone give him the system then?

What a nightmare.

Throwing his ideas to the side, Salim pulled up his stats and making the decision to assign his points right away.

Lvl. 5

Stats

Confirm

Might: 17 (20)

-/+

Finesse: 18 (20)

-/+

Resilience: 20

-/+

Acuity: 13 [15] (18)

-/+

Resolve: 14 [17] (19)

-/+

Depth: 0

N/A

The balanced approach still seemed like the best, at least until he had a proper goal and exact idea on how each stat worked. Attempting to stay as quite as possible, Salim didn’t let out a sound as his body shifted uncomfortably but familiarly. Pushing through the pain, he was able to keep in step ahead of the boys without alerting them to slight movement of his flesh.

They came upon a dirt path, the ground worn where people had walked hundreds of times before, guiding the small group through a small crop of trees and revealing the village. It wasn’t anything grand, not like Salim was expecting it, the clothes of the two kids put the level of technology fairly low, although he wasn’t sure where exactly it was at.

Wooden walls stood tall, twice the size of Salim and encircled the houses of the village. Several fields stretched out from the walls, the green tips of newly sown crops attempting to peak their way out of the ground. Still walking towards the village, Salim saw a few people standing atop walls, tending to the crops, and wheeling small wagons filled with stuff inside the walls.

The boys sped up and overtook him, Salim taking longer strides just to keep pace, even with his exhausted body screaming complaints. In just a few minutes, the boys had jogged down the road and ended up in front of the walls, where everyone had turned to stare at Salim. As if just being an outsider was enough, his nearly nude appearance didn’t help keep attention away as the boys ran up to a surly looking man at the entrance of the village.

Oak whispered something in the man's ear as he nodded, seeming to glare harder at Salim, who was already feeling incredibly uncomfortable from all the stares. A group hadn’t formed around him, but Salim could tell that people were keeping an eye on him, wondering who he was and what he was doing there. Finally, the man stepped forward.

“Oak tells me that you claimed to get lost in the forest, and that you did not see any monsters. Is that correct?” His voice was gravely, and he stood a good couple inches taller than Salim, his arms looking like they had enough strength to snap his bones. Salim couldn’t help but focus on his mouth, as sharp canines seemed to protrude out, giving the man a vicious appearance.

“Ye- cough -yes, I got lost in the woods…” He thought about his alibi, “I was hunting for food and my prey had wandered into the forest. I tried to chase after it, but I just ended up getting lost.” Trying to act as sincere as possible, Salim didn’t attempt to smile or anything, he just projected all the exhaustion that he was currently feeling.

“...” The man stared at Salim for a moment, possibly weighing options in his head before he opened his mouth. “Alright, I’ll take you to the head, he’ll know what to do.”

“Thank you, I feel like I’m about to fall over.” Relief flooded through Salim’s veins.

The man waved it off, “Come with me, you boys get back to your parents, I’m sure they are pleased at how you two decided to skip out on chores and wandered out to the fields.”

Oak turned to leave with an eye roll, but Brook didn’t follow, he looked up to the wolf teethed man. “But I want to stay with the funny man!”

“No. Go back to your parents, I am sure they want to see you. Delaying is only going to make punishment worse.” Brook’s attempt to appeal to the main failed, as he gave the two kids a look, Brook decided to finally scamper off with his brother into the village.

The man turned back to Salim, shaking his head before motioning him to follow. “Come, stay close to me as we walk through the village.”