As the pair poled across the shallow lake mostly in silence, Joe found himself lost in wonder as he took in the beauty around him.

In the last few years, he could have someone take him outside on good days. The hospital had a Serenity Garden, which was nice, but it was a small spot of carefully tended nature amidst tall clinical buildings and saturated by city air. He found some peace there but there was no way it could compare to what was around him now.

They were sliding the raft across smooth, still waters. Below the surface, Joe could clearly see the waving streamers of lake grass. Fish and turtles would flicker away from their poles, disappearing into the floating vegetation.

On the surface, the fiery-looking phoenix-flamingos picked their way through the water on their long, red, stilted legs. Above that, a panorama of pastoral trees and fields stretched beautifully away from the edges of the mere.

Even further up, a bright blue sky slid fluffy clouds from one horizon toward the other.

They were aiming for a spot of shore on the grassy side of the watery expanse where a large field and a thick copse of trees intersected each other. The Dourfore, the woodlands, was definitely dour-looking. The trees were packed together, blocking out the light and creating a lair of tangled shadows. The border was marked by woven patches of deep red brambles.

“Don’t get near that stuff,” Kaid said when he saw Joe looking at the crimson briars. “That’s Blood Thorn. It’ll drain you dry in under a minute.”

“Good to know. Thanks,” Joe replied as he stepped off the raft onto the muddy edge of the lake. Thankfully, his new boots were water-tight; Joe hated having wet feet. “Anything else we need to watch out for?”

“Gnaw Rats. They’re big and mean. Worst part is their coats are mottled yellows and greens. Makes them damn tough to spot in the grass. They’re fast, too. They can burrow into your gut in seconds. Get them off you as fast as you can, Joe.” Kaid took a deep breath. “Now, this is the bad part. If they dig in, you gotta stab em before they burrow too deep, even if it means stabbing yourself. Keep that goblin knife handy.”

“That sounds awful,” Joe muttered as he pulled the raft further from the water. Kaid hopped over the marshy edge and stood at the edge of the tall grass. “So what does saddleleaf look like? I know it’s big and dark green. Anything else?”

“It’s pretty common stuff, so we shouldn’t have to look too hard. The leaves look like mittens about the size of a plater.” The gnome held his hands about two feet apart.

“Oh wow. That big. That should make it easier.”

“Yeah. If we find some leaves, one of us harvests while the other one stays on lookout. This should be a skip on the lawn. Just don’t make the mistake of going into the trees even if you think you see some saddleleaf in there.” The gnome stated emphatically. “It won’t be. It will be a wisp. Will-o'-wisp mess with your head. They show you what you are looking for. If you follow one, you’re toast. So don’t.”

Kaid pushed aside the long grass stalks that were taller than he was. Joe followed into the waist-high vegetation. Unable to see Kaid, he watched the stalks sway, revealing the gnome's path through the high grass.

They were making a loop toward the woods, around an area filled by a wall of deep scarlet brambles. Once they had moved past the Blood Thorn patch, they could start looking for the saddleleaf. Kaid would appear periodically when an occasional bush thinned the grass. The rest of the time, Joe was following the unseen swishing sounds in front of him.

Finally, they reached the border of the trees. Joe stuck to the grassy edge and began to look for the large leaves. Which was almost impossible, given that the grass was now above his waist. He had to search by sweeping his staff through the stalks.

When he heard a rustling to his left, Joe figured it was Kaid until the stalks parted, revealing a large, glossy black shape a few feet away. It was a beetle. A really big beetle. One about the size of a labrador retriever. Green highlights allowed it to blend into the tall weeds. Once in plain sight, there was no mistaking its hard chiton and massive mandibles.

Joe had a second to assess the creature before it charged.

Grassward Stag Scarab: Level 1: Vermin: Brute: Vigor

Without thinking, Joe used one of the moves Kaid had taught him, stabbing the end of his staff towards the beetle, more like a spear than a quarterstaff. The creature crashed into the tip of the pole, sending a shockwave through Joe’s arms and nearly knocking him on his ass.

There was a loud crack that Joe feared was his weapon breaking, but a screech from the massive insect indicated the sound was its chiton breaking, not the wood. A spatter of pale goop ran down from under its eye as it shifted its head, sliding the staff away from the wound. It continued to shove forward, pushing Joe back through the grass. Joe tried to dig in his feet only to have the bug-propelled staff in his hands start to lift him upward. Knowing he would be off-balance any second, Joe was not sure what to do.

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Going on instinct, Joe kicked off the ground, attempting to vault himself up over the beetle, which turned out to be a terrible idea.

He found out why pole-vaulter poles are flexible, not rigid. The unbending staff skid off the hard shell of the creature and onto the ground. The giant scarab shoved the bottom backward as Joe jumped. He managed to get a couple of feet off the ground but no higher. He would have come down on his back had the creature not plowed straight onward, sweeping the staff from the ground and placing its carapaced body under Joe’s feet.

Joe managed to plant a foot on the creature’s back, even taking a second step forward before his boots slid on the hard shell. He came down hard on his butt, right on the back of the beetle.

With an aching ass, Joe was basically riding the stag scarab backward. Groaning, he half-jumped, half-shoved himself off the carapace, more on instinct than by plan.

As he was sliding off its shell, the stag beetle spun around in a lightning-fast whirl. Joe's haphazard dismount saved him. Had he still been seated on the bug’s back, he would have been thrown into the weeds and probably fallen in a heap.

Even so, the edges of the giant insect’s shell had pointed barbs that ripped a large tear in Joe’s thigh. The Tasset had blocked a bit of the damage, but not all of it.

A Grassward Stag Scarab has injured you. You have suffered 4 points of damage.

He hopped backward as the stag beetle reoriented and scuttled straight for him. Joe decided to jump again, this time in a more logical sideways leap. He avoided the mandibles but again was caught by the barbs on his sides.

A Grassward Stag Scarab has injured you. You have suffered 5 points of damage.

Immediately, he bounded to the side once more, this time spinning himself so he would land facing the massive bug. The beetle skittered in a circle, trying to find Joe. Just as it locked onto him, it took a second staff blow to the face. This time, Joe added his skill to the blow.

Your skill [Swift Strike] has increased to rank 5.

The staff accelerated, capitalizing on Joe’s twirling momentum. He felt the shock of the staff blow travel up his arms. Thankfully, his attack managed to stun the insect long enough for a final [Swift Strike] enhanced blow to kill it.

As the beetle fell, Joe was greeted by a chorus of horns and a scintillating flow of illumination. A wondrous warmth flowed through his body, removing all his fatigue and injuries. Unlike Joe’s healing spell, it removed all the lingering pain as well. There were no ghosts of wounds-past at all.

He felt amazing.

You have slain Grassward Stag Scarab.

You have reached level 3. You have gained 1 unassigned attribute point.

Joe had been expecting the new free attribute point, but he wondered about the lack of a new skill.

‘Hey, Hawking? What’s with the single point at this level?’

Not every level provides the same number of attribute points. At every level from 1 to 10, you will receive one unassigned attribute point. This rate of growth will diminish as you reach higher levels.

Additionally, on even levels for this range, you will receive the option for a class skill. Whenever you receive a class skill from leveling, you also receive the attributes required for that class skill.

‘‘Ok. I had been hoping for more, but one is better than none. Thanks.’

Joe saw he had an additional alert: a new achievement.

Achievement: You have just soloed your first monster. Your actions have awarded you the following choice of Traits:

[Hobbler] It’s all about the footwork. Your successful empowered attacks reduce your target's movement speed by 15% for 10 seconds.

[Bug-Slayer] Ugg bugs! +15% damage to vermin.

This was another easy choice in Joe’s mind. Bonus to a single creature type didn’t seem worth it. Additionally, these beetles were fast. If Joe could slow them down, he might be able to avoid more wounds. He assumed that ‘empowered attacks’ meant those he had infused with [Swift Strike] or another such skill if he got one.

As he grabbed [Hobbler] and was about to loot the beetle’s corpse, it occurred to him that Kaid had not shown up during the fight. Worried, Joe jumped straight up as high as he could, hoping to see further in the long grass. Nothing caught his eye.

He quickly engaged [Coin Catcher], coming away with a few copper pieces and some beetle chiton before wading through the long stalks in the direction he had last seen the little man.

Joe debated calling out to Kaid, but he was afraid that would attract monsters though. As he now was on his own, calling enemies to him was the last thing he wanted. He crept quietly forward for a few minutes, keeping his eyes peeled for beetles, rats, or Kaid, but not finding any of them.

He did manage to stumble across a patch of fat-leaved plants. The leaves were just as they had been described. The dark fans looked a bit like Elephant Ear Hosta, but the big leaves had a pair of mismatched lobes that made them look like mittens.

He was about to grab the goblin knife off of his backpack when he heard a rustle in the grass a few feet away. Sweating with tension, Joe suddenly had a moment of inspiration. While shuffling his feet, he activated the minor enchantment in his boots. No sound came from under his soles, but a louder-than-expected grass crackling echoed from around a dozen feet off to his left.

Two screeches answered the illusionary sound. Joe watched as two lines part the wavering stalks, converging on his phantom footsteps.

He had two beetles and one missing gnome to deal with.

Joe took a deep breath and readied himself for another fight.