By now, the sky had begun to lighten with the coming of dawn. Enough for Nick to make out the shadowy forms of trunks all around him.
As the sleepy sun crested the horizon, the hoots and howls of animals resounded across the canopy as they awoke and began to stir. With a groan, he rose to his feet and walked down to the water’s edge, where the visibility was better. He watched the sunrise while checking out the strip of coastline visible from this angle. As he had thought, he was standing at the boundary of the forest, above where the bay had been before the water rose.
He could see a piece of the shipwreck lodged between two massive trunks further to the east, although it would be useless as firewood until the debris had time to dry. Examining the surrounding terrain, Nick could already tell that it was going to be harder to travel across the island now that the sandy beach was submerged. At least until he found a trail that let him cut across the forest instead of walking along its edge. Not that he was willing to explore the deep woods until he knew what was living in there.
His preparations complete, he drained the water from his canteen, rearranged his gear, and then started walking west. He followed the new shoreline as he made his way over to where he hoped the spring still stood. At least it was easy to keep himself oriented. Even when he lost sight of the ocean, he was able to use the giant tree and the mountain to determine his direction.
Two hours later, Nick found signs that the lurk had passed through the area sometime within the last twenty-four hours. A reeking turd the size of a beachball sat beside a pair of massive tracks stamped into the mud. Part of him wanted to turn around and avoid the area, but to do so, Nick would have to enter the domain of the spiders or shrooms.
The lurk’s territory is the whole island. It has no reason to stay in one spot unless it’s setting up an ambush. If it was hunting here yesterday, it’s probably somewhere else now. Prey will scatter once they catch wind of its presence.
The lurk wasn’t the only beast to have left its mark on this section of the woodlands. As he hiked, he discovered numerous signs that the beasts living on the beach had survived the flood. He came across tracks left by swordclaws and komos and could hear the lemur tribe calling out to one another in the distance.
The sound warmed Nick’s heart, glad to know that his furry friends were still alive. Better still, their presence told him that nothing nasty was living in the trees, which lowered his chances of being ambushed by something lurking in the canopy above.
On several occasions, he discovered more of the pawprints that he had first seen running alongside the stream. Judging by their size and prevalence, he decided that they likely belonged to whatever species of beast had claimed the southern section of woodland—the stretch running between the spiders and the shrooms. Nick needed to figure out what they were, where they were laired, and where they hunted as soon as possible, then decide how to deal with the situation. But not just yet. For now, reaching the spring and then the obelisk was more important.
Three hours later, he stepped into the grove surrounding the spring, keeping an eye out for both the lurk and the stinging butterflies that frequented the region. Fortunately, the ground here was still several feet higher than the new sea level. While half of the streams were gone, the spring itself was intact and did not seem to have been contaminated by its proximity to the ocean. Judging from the plethora of tracks that ran all along its muddy border, the grove was now frequented by more beasts than before. Nick would have to be careful whenever he was in the area.
As the last thing he wanted was to be forced into a fight, he drank his fill, refilled his canteen, and then continued on his way before any beasts found him. Although he wasn’t happy about these changes to his environment, at least water wouldn’t be a problem in the short run. He hoped that food would be easy to find as well, as his stomach was starting to grumble.
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Two hours later, Nick pushed his way past a pair of ferns and then stepped into the sunlight. He broke into a broad grin when he spotted the familiar profile of the black pillar contrasted against the sea. After taking several detours to find the right trail, he had finally made it back to the obelisk.
What had been a prominent rise overlooking the western beach was now a lonely little peninsula rising just above the waves. A long sandbar led from the edge of the forest over to the base of the obelisk. Nick was thrilled, since he had been afraid that the monument had been completely submerged, or that he would have to swim part of the distance in order to reach it.
After making sure that nothing was lurking nearby, he walked across the sandbar and stopped in front of the obelisk, reflecting on how much had happened since he last stood before it. Shaking his head to dispel the unpleasant memories, he stepped out of the sunlight and activated the display.
Nick started off by reading the prompt for the tutorial quest. He skimmed the description to make sure that nothing had changed until he got to the timer at the end.
Remaining time: 22 days, 16 hours, 17 minutes.
Time until the tutorial’s third phase begins: 20 days, 16 hours, 17 minutes.
After reading the message, he knew that he had a little less than twenty-one days until the final phase began—a span approximately three times the length of the first phase. Given the extent of the changes that had occurred on the island in his absence, Nick was glad to learn that the final phase would only last for forty-eight hours. Although he was worried that the disparity indicated that the conditions for the final phase would be that much more severe.
Then, with a great deal more enthusiasm, he moved on to the pile of notifications that was awaiting his perusal.
Congratulations. You have accumulated enough experience to reach Level [3].
Congratulations. For completing your first dungeon, you have been awarded one free attribute point.
You have two free attribute points awaiting allocation at your discretion.
Through rigorous training, you have conditioned your body and improved the following baseline attributes:
Toughness has increased from [5] to [6].
Dexterity has increased from [5] to [6].
Through use, you have improved the following skills:
Foraging has increased from [2] to [3].
Size Up has increased from [2] to [4].
Wand has increased from [0] to [2].
Nick was thrilled to discover the extent of his gains, especially when he learned that he had hit Level 3 after his battle with the leeches after all. He suspected that his showdown with the foreman had nearly taken him to Level 4 as well, given the difficulty of the fight.
While the point in Toughness wasn’t too surprising given the extensive beatings that he had taken, he hadn’t expected his Dexterity to go up as well. My fights with the rats, especially dodging the foreman’s sword, must have been enough to let the attribute tick up. He noticed that the wording was different this time, giving a nod to the fact that conditioning attributes above five required rigorous effort instead of simple exercise.
He hadn’t been able to check his skill gains before entering the dungeon, but Nick suspected that his Foraging skill had increased thanks to his impromptu grilling session and that his gains to Size Up had occurred in the dungeon itself.
While it was awesome every time his skills went up, what really had him excited was getting his Wand skill off the floor. The wand had gone from useless to vital during his stay in the sewers, and seeing the skill go up at last was immensely satisfying. Although he didn’t understand the mechanisms governing it, Nick was certain that the skill was the reason why he had known when and how to use the tool effectively. The wand had already saved his life twice, and he was certain that it would do so again before long.
He still needed to raise his Strength to 5, but he wasn’t worried. It should happen over the next few days if he kept up the exercise routine he had begun before his involuntary detour into the dungeon. He wasn’t surprised that it hadn’t gone up, as nothing that he had accomplished in the sewers had required raw power.
He was eager to spend his free attribute points and finish consolidating his gains. But before he did, he was going to spend his knowledge points to get a better sense of how each attribute worked.
Nick had already decided to use all three KP on unlocking the primers on his physical attributes while he was hiking back to the obelisk, so he proceeded to spend them without having to stop and consider his options. He unlocked them in the same order that they appeared in his profile and then eagerly began to read.