Chapter 2: Hunt and Shelter
The moment the window appeared, Steve heard a small gust of wind behind him. He felt his cat instincts firing only a fraction of a second later, as he launched himself to the side. His claws touched down on the snow again a moment later, but lost grip on the icy surface, and sent him tumbling to the side. He barely saw bird claws rake across the ground where he’d just been before he started tumbling.
As he slipped and fell to his side, Steve slid slightly further, reaching the incline, and instead of slowing, he started to build speed, rolling down the slippery slope in a bundle of fur and wild screeching. Every time he smacked into the ground, he felt his Hp take a slight hit as he reached out to try and stop himself, and eventually, after a few hits, his claws found purchase in the ground. Instead of snow, though, he felt wet grass and soft earth under his paws.
Somehow, he’d made it into the forest, the canopy of the first few trees hanging protectively over his head. Every bit of his body felt sore, and he meowed a little in protest, but still raised himself up to his legs and made his way a bit further into the shield of branches.
He honestly felt a little sour hobbling ahead like that, and like the whole “grace period” might have been a bit of a trick, but then again, he could certainly count himself lucky he’d received a quest at all. Quietly grumbling a little, he stepped further into the forest, until he heard another notification.
[Random Quest "Escape from the Bullet Eagle!" completed.
Reward: 50 Exp.]
[Level Up!]
Immediately, Steve felt… much better. So much so that it was very clearly not quite natural. He gave his status another quick check, glancing over the numbers.
Status:
|Unnamed|
Lv.: 1 -> 2
Species: Common Mopaaw
Titles:
Hp: 8/13
Mp: 4/4
Sp: 11/17
Strength: 4 -> 5
Vitality: 6 -> 7
Dexterity: 7 -> 8
Agility: 8 -> 9
Intelligence: 3 -> 4
Wisdom: 4 -> 5
Willpower: 2 -> 3
Luck: 8
Ability points: 3
His attributes had almost all increased, which was already very good, but then in addition to that, his Hp had refilled. He was sure it’d been below 8 after his fall, though he wasn’t 100% sure what exactly it had been.
[Lv.: Short for level, this value shows the player's growth state. It will increase as experience is gained. Upon levelling up, some Ability scores will automatically increase and 3 Ability points will be granted as a reward. Additionally, half of the individual's resources will be regenerated. Experience is shared among Parties.]
That certainly explained it. Steve felt a small smile creep onto his face. This… he felt some primal part of his brain saying it could work with that. He still felt sore, and a little annoyed at the whole situation, but at the same time, he knew this was a chance to change his life, to become something more.
Still, before having any grandiose dreams, he needed to find a place to sleep. He was currently feeling wide awake, and he could tell that night wouldn’t bother him, but he probably only had 16 or so good hours in him, if time ticked similarly to Earth in this place.
For now, he decided to head deeper into the forest. At the transition between snow and wood, there was a bit of an open field, which he could tell was beneficial to him. Fields often meant mice, and he could certainly deal with those better than what the forest might offer. Perhaps falling from the mountain had been better than expected!
Just as that thought had snuck its way into his head, he felt his sides and shoulders ache again. The rush from the level had driven the pain away for a bit, but it swiftly returned, albeit much more muted. It was something he could fairly easily push through, even if the scrapes hurt when he moved.
While heading deeper into the forest, he let his mind wander for a bit. Not too far, though, he didn’t really want to consider the whole implications of reincarnation just yet. It was his first day, and he wanted to think more about what he would be doing in the future.
First and foremost: he had an Mp value. Which stood for magic power, or at least had something with it. The key word there was magic. Sure, Steve might have been 36 when he died, but the thought of doing real, actual magic was still, well, magical to him.
Maybe something like a summoner or a beastmaster, then he wouldn’t have to get very close to enemies himself. He certainly had little interest in battling the kinds of monsters you’d see in games. What even existed in this place? Vampires? Demons? Eldritch gods? He tried to get his head away from that thought very quickly.
Instead, he thought about builds again. With him being a cat, he would most likely be somewhat inconspicuous, so of course being a thief was an option. But he was in a forest right now, so stealing Skills wouldn’t serve him well. He’d always loved the idea of magic craftsmanship, and he really wanted to give it a shot, so he really hoped there was some sort of Skill related to that which didn’t need thumbs.
Before he got to spend his points though, he felt his stomach rumbling. Right, food first, magic later, in that case.
- - -
Very quickly, Steve came to appreciate his new eyesight. It took him a little while to spot a small mouse scurrying along the edge of the forest, but once he’d caught sight of it, tracking it was scarily effortless. The mouse also ran around very carefree, seemingly not worried about anything, which told him there must be few predators of them in this area. Little did it know, it was about to get got.
Slowly, Steve snuck towards his prey, his chest low to the ground. The mouse stopped to sniff the air, and he saw his chance. His legs bent to jump, and he leapt-
Only to see the mouse scurry away while he sailed through the air. Did it smell him? He grimaced a little. Being bested by a mouse certainly put a damper on his mood, he noted. Fine though. He had a gamelike system, so he better put it to use. Quickly pulling up his status, he invested all three points from his recent level into Agility.
Agility: 9 -> 12
The effect was immediate, and Steve could feel himself growing more lithe. His body responded faster to his command, and movement felt more smooth. Alright, yeah, he could get used to that.
While searching for another mouse, Steve mostly kept quiet, focusing on his surroundings. He was fairly sure he wasn’t about to get eaten immediately, but “fairly sure” wasn’t quite good enough. Additionally, he also kept a bit of an eye out for his stats, seeing if his health or stamina changed. The system was surprisingly malleable, letting him selectively choose what to display with ease.
After a little strolling, he noted that his Sp had dropped by one, but he’d also locked onto another mouse, this one a bit fatter than the last. It was also munching on a fallen apple, seemingly distracted by the food. Perfect prey.
Steve snuck closer while hiding between the trees, carefully avoiding sticks or leaves on the ground and when he was within jumping distance, he carefully made sure of his landing, when he remembered yet another thing. Dash. Alright, increased Agility and Dash, time to put these two to the test. Use
In the blink of an eye the kitten jumped forward, its claws extending in the air and quickly digging into the mouse, holding it in place while it struggled to escape. It was finished off with a quick bite to the neck.
[Killed a mouse. Get: 5 Exp, 1 Gold]
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He had done it! He had killed his first prey! This should help with his hunger for now, time to snacc! Surprisingly, the mouse tasted mostly good. Sure, it was no 5-star meal, but it was thoroughly edible. Well, except the fur and innards, which he quickly batted away when he was done. No self-respecting cat would eat those, he knew that much instinctively.
Still, he felt much better already with something in his stomach, and he forced down the more squeamish, human bits of him. This was cat-town right now, and that part of him still needed two more things: water, and a place to sleep. The thirst, pun intended, was less important as of now, since the meat from the mouse also had some blood in it. But the sun was setting, and he wanted to find someplace to rest before it rose again.
His surroundings didn’t dim as much as he was used to, but some part of him expected that. Not the human part, he was very surprised when rather than dark, the world just became slightly dim. He saw especially well right where his eyes were pointed, almost like he had two little flashlights attached to his pupils.
While walking, he could only really monitor a few things about himself, like stamina and health. Reading through his entire status was too distracting in a forest, and he was very likely to end up tripping over a root.
Using the mountaintop to orient himself, he was walking to the left, without going up or down too much. There weren’t very many animals around here, either, only the occasional mouse or rabbit scurrying about, and the innumerable insects buzzing. He was pretty sure he also heard a chirp once, but it was a bit deeper than any bird he was used to. He encountered his first larger animal when he stumbled upon a small pond with a stream flowing into it from the mountain.
In front of said pond was a bear. A hugeass black bear. Genuinely adult with muscles bulging underneath protective fat. He froze at the sight, his heart skipping a beat. The notion that he was in some sort of “beginner area” fell apart then and there. Immediately, Steve turned around on his heels. Nu-uh. No chance he was doing that. Nope, not this time. Sure, dying to a bear might be better than choking on cafeteria food, but it was still dying, and he wasn’t all about that non-life.
Sneaking away though, he heard a small chime in his head.
[Acquired the Skill
He quickly gazed at the notification before it disappeared, freaking out a little innerly. This Skill could not have appeared at any more perfect time! And it was passive, too! Awesome!
Leaning a little onto the Skill, he made his daring escape, stepping surely in between twigs and dry leaves. Once he’d made it far enough out to be confidently out of earshot, he let out a long sigh, which left his mouth as a stretched “Meooooooooowwww…”
This was too stressful for him. His human mind was yearning for home, to just lay down in bed or on the couch and return to potato. To think he was undone by the very thing that inspired him. Couldn’t he have just reincarnated as a max level dragon or something? He could have had an army and reign over stuff or something like that! Instead, he was scrounging around a forest in search of shelter.
Ah, frick, right. Focus, Steve. Shel. Ter. He took a deep breath, not letting himself zone out anymore.
After pulling himself back together, the young mopaaw walked through the forest again, now a little more wary of where he was going, and luckily soon found a suitable spot. It was an old, hollow log, lying flat on the ground, hard to spot with all the grass around it. The place wasn’t exactly luxurious, but at the very least it would ward off rain, and keep him hidden from anything larger than him while he slept.
Which meant it was good enough, for now. There was a source of water decently nearby, too, though he would prefer to go there when it was distinctly lower in bear population. He’d have to scout the area around the log and the lake in the future, but right now, he simply wanted to check out his status again.
Hp: 9/13
Mp: 4/4
Sp: 13/17
He’d recovered some Sp from eating, and his Hp had increased by another point as well. He still tired himself out a little by walking so much, and occasionally jogging, enjoying the feeling of
But he’d also levelled up today. Which meant he must have had some amount of Skill points. “Meow?” he asked, attempting to open up the Skill shop.
As soon as he thought of it, a new window popped open, this one a little different from the ones before. It had a search bar and multiple categories that seemed… kind of tailored to what he knew? In addition to that, he could also scroll down. The window held a seemingly endless amount of Skills, each stacked on top of each other. At the very bottom corner of the window, he saw one other tidbit though.
[Skill points: 100]
He had exactly 100 points. Luckily, most Skills seemed to cost some multiple of 100. Unluckily, he could afford very few of them right now, and most of the ones he could afford seemed to need him to get really close to enemies. He would… like to avoid that for now. His cat brain seemed fine with smacking things up close and biting them, but his human part disagreed vehemently.
It was a fairly simple thought process, really. Pain bad. Essentially, he only considered a few types of Skills. Something for buffing, ranged combat, or escaping. Maybe summoning, but after a quick price check, that category was out for now. Over 1 000 points. Oof.
Instead, he found two fairly suitable-ish Skills.
And even if he could afford it, he wouldn't get it for now.
The reason was simple. To get units for his army he had to beat them. Mice weren't exactly his perfect image of soldiers. No, what he needed was something far different from that, what he needed was security. So, he chose
While
[Acquired the Skill
Now,
[
Alright. So, uh, what were runes, exactly?
[Runes: Letters of a magical language. When carved into objects and filled with magic, they can enhance the object's properties. Runes are categorised using grades and levels. The higher the grade and level, the better the rune. Grades range from 1-10 while levels range from low-high. Example: A low 3rd grade rune. The individual currently knows the runes:
Reading that last part felt strange. When he thought about them, Steve noticed that he indeed knew the runes. As though he always had known them, too, which obviously made no sense. Did they come packaged with the Skill? Probably, then.
At any rate, this definitely seemed like a very suitable Skill for him. Being able to attempt higher levels was good, but for now, just low level runes were fine. He was itching to try it out, actually, and thus decided on his first object to improve: the log he now called home.
There didn’t seem to be any way to check the exact probabilities of success, but that didn’t matter. For a start, the lowest level seemed fine. He took some time to brush away a little moss, then carefully placed his claw against the inside of the bark, and began to trace the pattern in his mind.
The rune was simple enough for now and the Skill automatically activated when he started carving. After a few minutes of slow and careful movement, making sure that each and every line was passable and connected up properly, another notification appeared, and along with it, he could feel his energy being sucked up by the rune. For just a moment, it gave off a gentle light, before returning to being nothing but a carving.
[Successfully carved low 1st grade Reinforce rune. Get: 10 Exp.]
His eyes widened a bit as he looked at the exp notification. This was unexpected. He’d thought that he would most likely have to level exclusively by killing things, but not so, apparently. Knowing that it would help him level, Steve wanted to carve another rune immediately, but remembering the drain, he checked his resources first.
Mp: 0/4
Ah. Well. That sucked, then. It’d also cost him one Sp from the focus and keeping his paw up for so long. It was a little annoying, and the feeling of emptiness from having his mana drained left him slightly irritable, but it was tolerable. Just uncomfortable, but he was going to have to get used to that, he grumbled in his thoughts.
To prepare the base, he’d need more Mp. To hunt, he needed more Strength, Agility, and even Vitality if he wanted to be safe. His Sp was low too, and if he had better mental stats, maybe he’d be less grumpy about this. Essentially, Steve found himself lacking in every way. It kind of ruined his excitement over the rune, but whatever.
[Mp: Short for mana points, this value shows the amount of magical energy in your body, which you can utilize to cast spells, or use other magical abilities. It regenerates passively by absorbing mana from the air. The maximum capacity is based on Intelligence. The rate of regeneration is based on Wisdom.]
The notification distinctly didn’t tell him his regeneration rate. At least he knew it would return over time. Fine, then he’d at least try to spend that time productively, and check out his unique Skill. “Meow,” he said.
Immediately a new window was opened. This one appeared to be fairly similar to the Skill Shop, with multiple tabs and a search bar at the top as well as a scroll bar to the right and his currency at the bottom. Currently he held an incredible, jaw-dropping, gobsmacking and utterly shocking amount of 1 Gold.
There was one difference though, being a shopping cart to the right. Ah, so it must be drag and drop then. He immediately gave it a try and moved a random item over the cart icon, after which he was asked how many he would like to buy. So he could choose as many items as he wanted and then pay for them at checkout. This was convenient, at the very least, and it seemed to also respond to mental commands. Now, what were the tabs?
Consumables, Ingredients, Armor, Weapons, Tools and Miscellaneous. It was a fairly large assortment, really. The Skill was looking very, very decent right now, so he took the time to check out the items. They were sorted alphabetically, though he could change the order it seemed. Well then, what did the first one cost?
100 000 Gold. Every single item on the first page was above 100k. He blinked in confusion at that, then shook his head, having the shop reorder itself to show cheap items first.
… Steve felt a little peeved, maybe a smidge angry, when the cheapest item in the entire store was a minor health potion for 100 Gold. It healed 5 Hp. Which amounted to a few scratches, essentially, for which he’d have to kill 100 Mice.
He tried clicking his tongue in frustration, which didn’t quite work out, but it got the point across to himself. Grumbling and tired, he smacked his paw against a wall. A decision he regretted almost instantly, when it took his precious Hp down another point. He took a deep breath at that to calm himself down, only innerly annoyed that it felt very unforgiving.
At the very least, he felt better after venting his anger. It was pointless to get frustrated anyways, he would have to live with the fact that