A dense fog hung low, obscuring a canopy of twisted branches overhead as Vex and his Shadowlings wandered through the dark forest. Hours had passed since they'd set out from the cave, and their journey thus far had been marked by aimless wandering. In his determination to make sense of this new world, Vex found himself testing his survival and foraging skills at every opportunity.
"Okay, guys," Vex said, addressing his Shadowlings with a playful grin. "Let's see what we can rustle up in this eerie undergrowth."
The Shadowlings stared at each other blankly, their excitement long since lost to Vex's overwhelming curiosity. As they ventured deeper into the forest, Vex was examining the various plants that surrounded them. He squinted in the darkness, struggling to discern which flora might be safe to consume.
"Ah, what have we here?" he mused aloud, reaching for a cluster of leaves. The plant's foliage was an unusual shade of deep purple, edged with a faint luminescence that seemed to glow in the darkness. "I’ve got a good feeling about this one... What do you think, my shadowy friends? Edible or deadly?"
The Shadowlings tilted their heads in unison, staring in disbelief. Vex furrowed his brow, deep in thought. His naivety in this magical world was causing him problems, but he was determined to learn and improve. The skills he had purchased only a few hours ago were giving him vague impressions about the usefulness of certain plants, but not necessarily how to use them. Deciding to take a risk on these particular leaves, Vex plucked a couple and was greeted by a new notification.
> Your gathering skill has reached level 1.
Blinking in surprise as he read, Vex looked to the Shadowlings as he queried, “Did you two find it relatively easy to gain the first point in a skill?”
Both of his companions nodded in unison at Vex.
Curious, Vex followed up, “How about the second level? Does that seem more difficult?”
Sir Sneaks made a noncommittal hand wave, but Strikesies nodded in ascent to Vex’s question.
As Vex's understanding grew, he put the pieces of his thoughts together. "That does make sense. It's likely simpler to acquire the first point in a skill if you have a method for practice or training. But as you advance, it becomes increasingly difficult to master a skill."
Returning to the leaves he just plucked, Vex muttered, running his fingers along the textured surfaces. "If only I only I had a means of identifying plants..."
Grinning, and deciding to test his new theory, Vex closed his eyes, trying to recall any fragment of information from his past and his recent skills that might prove useful. With each passing moment, his frustration grew. It didn't help that his sight was limited in the darkness, making discerning colors and details all the more difficult.
With a gentle touch, Vex ran his fingers over the velvety texture of the leaves, tracing the long, spherical edges with care. As he did so, a subtle and alluring fruity scent wafted into the air, tempting him further. On a whim, Vex plucked a small piece of one of the leaves and placed it on the tip of his tongue, savoring its delicate flavor and letting it dissolve slowly on his palate.
As Vex slowly concluded that the leaf likely wasn’t poisonous, two new notifications flashed in his vision.
> Your identify skill has reached level 1.
>
> You have identified a moonlight plumb leaf. This is said to be a delicacy, fit for a princess.
With a scornful glare at the prompt, Vex grumbled under his breath, "You mocking bastard of a system. I know you did that on purpose." He opened his eyes and stepped away from the plant in frustration. Although he wanted to toss the leaves aside, he had no luck finding any other edible plants for hours now.
With a bit of forced resignation, he asked his Shadowlings to help him gather the leaves. His Shadowlings nodded, their tiny forms casting eerie shadows on the forest floor as they moved to follow Vex’s lead.
At first, Vex simply held onto the leaves that he plucked. At least until he looked over and realized that the leaves seemed to be disappearing as soon as the Shadowlings pulled the foliage from the plant. As soon as he realized they were using the etherial vault trait, Vex tested his ability to store and retrieve the leaves.
After a moment of mental gymnastics and overthinking how to utilize his trait, Vex found that willing items into a storage space and then retrieving them felt like second nature. It didn’t require the same firm mental commands that his augmented reality did. Satisfied with his ability to access the space, Vex willed the system to display the items in storage.
— Personal Storage —
Moonlight Plumb Leaf - 13
— Guild Storage —
Apocalypse Shard - 6
Jagged Teeth - 2
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Moonlight Plumb Leaf - 48
Sharp Claws - 9
Funds Available: 214 Copper, 15 silver
— Other Guild Storage Spaces —
Sir Sneaks (Summoned Minion)
Strikesies (Summoned Minion)
Surprised to find more than the leaves in storage, Vex pulled out one of the claws. After a brief inspection, attempting to focus on the identification skill, Vex was reasonably certain that the claw came from one of the gremlins. Which, for him, likely also explained the two levels and his healed injury. Willing the claw back into storage, Vex mentally thanked the system for his traits as the group finished harvesting the purple leaves.
Trudging onward with the Shadowlings, Vex’s eyes scanned the dark landscape for any signs of edible plants, while attempting to piece together the scraps of information he had. As they continued their foraging quest, a soft splash reached Vex's ears, piquing his curiosity. He blindly followed the direction the sound had come from until he stepped into a shallow bog.
"Water, at last," Vex sighed in relief as he stepped out of the water and knelt down. Cupping his hands, he scooped up some of the cool liquid and brought it to his lips. The water immediately tasted stale, with a distinct hint of sulfur that caused Vex to immediately split out the semi-foul liquid.
With a deep sigh of resignation, Vex realized that he was being too hasty and hadn’t thought through his actions. Contemplating what he should do, while attempting to draw on his skill knowledge, Vex immediate realized that he would have to boil the water. That meant starting a fire and finding or making something to store the water in.
After several more minutes of trying to figure out what to do in a survival situation, Vex realized that he may be able to find or make a couple of cupped rocks. He also had the vague impression that he might be able to make a bowl out of some of the mud near the bog. However, Vex wasn’t certain why it would have to be the mud in this area or exactly what he needed to do.
As Vex prepared to stand and begin gathering foliage for a fire, a strange feeling of being watched gave him pause. Carefully looking around the bog, he soon understood why as he spotted the barely perceptible white fuzz hiding at the base of a tree along the far edge of the bog. The system immediately confirmed that his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him with a new notification.
> Your awareness skill has reached level 1.
Groaning, Vex looked down at his Shadowlings and revised his previous mental plan. Being reasonably certain that he could run away from the gremlins, at least based on the previous night, Vex sent the Sir Sneaks out to deal with the distant intruder. He then tasked to Strikesies to search the immediate area for gremlins, and if it was lucky enough to find one, add a rock that could be used as a bowl to the guild storage.
While Vex’s Shadowlings each left on their individual assignments, Vex went about gathering branches and twigs. At first, he carried them to the spot by the bog that he wanted everyone to return to. Then, he remembered his personal storage trait and quickly made use of it to gather larger pieces of wood, handfuls of dried plant matter, and anything else of interest for building a fire.
Once he felt he had a sufficient stockpile, Vex returned to the bog and unloaded some of the smaller handfuls of dried plant matter, twigs, and sticks from his personal storage. Instinctually, Vex knew that all he needed to do was rub a couple of the sticks together to start a fire. However, with his limited survival knowledge and lack of any specific fire-making knowledge was worried that simply rubbing the sticks together was a gross over-simplification.
After nearly an hour of simply rubbing sticks together, and a few experience notifications from his Shadowlings’ kills, Vex finally realized that with his technique was never going to produce a fire. Almost on cue, the system chimed in with a notification.
> Your fire starting skill has reached level 1.
>
> Exasperated, Vex added a couple more points to the fire starting skill and waited for the system notification.
>
> Your fire starting skill has reached level 3.
As newfound understanding of where he went wrong flooded into his mind, Vex rummaged through his piles until he found a stick that hadn’t been freshly pulled from a tree and didn’t have any bark. He also found one of the long dead branches that sat relatively flat on the ground. Changing his position to better leverage his weight, Vex drug the stick across the branch in a straight line, working to make a channel while building up enough friction.
While his tools were far from ideal, Vex was eventually able to build up a bit of wood dust that eventually turned black. The pile then went to the kindling Vex had gathered where he gently blew, attempting to coax together a small flame. After a few more hours, and several failed attempts, Vex’s newfound knowledge proved its value.
Exhausted, Vex tried not to focus on his parched throat, his blistered hands, and his aching arms. Instead, he put his attention on his next task, checking the guild storage. While the number of items had increased, there was a lack of any sort of stone or rock. So, Vex slowly crawled to the edge of the bog, and gathered mud that he shaped into several poorly constructed bowls. Assuming they would need to dry out, he set them in and around the fire, while closing his eyes to rest.
Before Vex’s mind could drift off, the mud bowls were sizzling, then popping and cracking. In a fun twist of fate, the bowl at the center of the fire exploded, peppering Vex and the area in a spray of hot, dirt and mud before the system chimed in with a new notification.
> Your pottery making skill has reached level 1.
Cursing up a storm and rushing to get the small chucks of debris off of himself, Vex quickly added a couple more points to the survival skill, determined to find a different way of boiling the water.
> Your survival skill has reached level 5.
As the notification faded, Vex stomped into the woods to find a few specific sized rocks. Several minutes later, Vex returned to the fire, dropping in a couple of fist-sized stones. Then, he grabbed a suitably sized branch that he had found early and took his frustrations out on it by pounding a trough into the center using a larger stone that took two hands to hold.
Once Vex felt satisfied with the trough in the branch, he scooped handfulls of water from the bog into the trough until it was full. Finally, he carefully removed the stones from the fire using a few of the sticks to lift them, and dropped them into the water in the branch.
Vex observed the water as it bubbled and popped, stepping back to allow the stones within to continue heating it. As his initial fury at being powerless in this unfamiliar land faded, a new notification appeared.
> Sir Sneaks has slain a gremlin.
>
> You have received 7,284 experience points.
>
> You have gained a level! You are now level 4.
>
> You have become a bit stronger.
>
> You have gained 5 training points.
For the first time, Vex felt a little less overwhelmed in this unfamiliar world. Reaching for a handful of moonlight plum leaves from his personal storage, he munched contententedly as he waited for his water to cool down to a drinkable temperature.