Why didn’t I level up?

I sat in a dug-out that I and Tracker quickly found. The space is cramped but it’s better then anything in our area. We made sure we were far enough so that the Holy Knights wouldn’t bother to follow. The soak from the river diluted our blood so it would make it harder for them to spot from the trail to the river.

I look outside, listening to the song of crickets and the wind blowing through trees.

Was it because they were weak? Maybe there’s a certain limit? Or maybe it was because I summoned that creature?

But how would that affect my leveling?

I look down at my arm. Still hanging by the piece of skin. It’s limp but the blood from it has clogged. It seems like monsters can stop their own bleeding rather quickly, and it did help that the knight burnt most of my wounds closed given time to rest.

I rub the wound in my chest with my good hand, amazed by how the hole in my chest sealed on its own given the trauma it endured. I still feel the injury though but it’s more on the inside, trying its best to stitch itself together. I feel along my thigh, noticing that the slash looks better than the rest, still scarred with burns, but not open.

“They’ll heal completely in a few days,” Tracker says, his limp body lying adjacent. “It just takes time.”

“How long? And what about my arm?”

“We have plenty of time to waste, don’t worry,” he reassures. “And your arm? You may as well cut the rest of it off.”

I open my mouth to ask why but he answers me before I can get the question out.

“It’s not gonna reattach, new blood. Unless you have a regeneration ability.” His eyes narrow at me as his mouth curves into a frown. “Do you?”

Kind of.

“I… don’t? Maybe.” I answer with a nervous smile.

It’s a half lie but it sure as hell will be noticeable when I level up again.

Tracker only shakes his head. “Never in my two years have I known another who has more than one ability. This is absurd.”

Oh, then you should hear about the voices in my head. You’d love that wouldn’t you.

I give him an unappealing attempt at a smile. “May be absurd but it saved you this far.”

“New blood, we barely got out by the skin of our teeth. All you did was stall,” he shakes his head. “Ra, we could’ve died in there.”

“But we didn’t,” I remind. “I killed him.” The idea of my close call still scares me. Despite my strange abilities, I’m not invincible.

Tracker stares at me, silent for a moment. He finally says with a sigh, “I saw what you did to that Holy Knight, too. You stole Gale’s ability, haven’t you?”

“After he died, yes,” I admit, my smile fading.

“Well, I’m glad you consider me useful enough to not steal mine as well,” he gives out a light laugh but it’s tense.

Hiding my tracks would be beneficial.

I wouldn’t want to do that to him though unless he’s killed, and I don’t plan on having him killed yet or in the future due to him knowing how to get across the border.

“Don’t worry,” I reassured. “We're in this together, remember?”

He nods, but I can still see the distrust in his eyes. “We are, we are.” He leans against the dirt wall behind him, his eyes suddenly glazing over. “I’m tired,” he murmurs. “Let’s rest. Since I’m in a better condition, I guess you wouldn’t mind if I go hunting next dusk, will you?”

I shake my head. “Not at all, friend. Though, I don’t eat. Just inform me of any water resources, please.”

“Just water?” He gives me a puzzled look. “You are stranger every second,” he mutters. “Alright, water it is. Next dusk,” he yawns.

“Thank you,” I sigh, feeling tired myself.

It doesn’t take us long to sleep.

~

The next night goes by as it should. No enemies; peaceful. I managed to detach the remainder of my arm as soon as I woke up, and buried it far away into the woods. Despite my reluctant loss, I knew deep down it would only be temporary, considering my bizarre healing factor. It doesn’t change the stabbing feeling in my chest every time I reach to do something or briefly forget it’s not there. I eventually found myself testing out my abilities as an attempt to forget about my missing appendage, finding small animals in the process.

Today’s testing session was the skill Illusion that I accidentally used the other night. My first target? A squirrel sitting on the lower branch of a tree next to the dug-out. I tried Illusion to change its course. The only thing I could do was make a poor attempt at making a squirrel clone sit on one of the branches. At first, the squirrel approached, scared. It nearly fell off the tree in the process, then it just ran through after realizing it was just smoke.

Looking up close, it looked like black fog. I realized when I stepped back, that it would form the creature more accurately. The further back I stood, the more details and colors it would create.

I wonder how far the Holy Knights were to see the dragon?

I formed a small dragon soon after to test this. It was the same result as the squirrel. It looked like fog up close but the further back I stood, the more realistic it looked. It took about five feet for it to take effect.

So I should only use this if the person is far away.

It would’ve been helpful when Gale was tracking me, considering I got this ability after meeting that Razor Wolf in Nel’s den. But I didn’t know and usually don’t know unless the system overrides and reveals the mechanics to me.

Maybe I need to use the other powers more?

I think the only powers that I have currently are Soul Eater, Allure, Siphon, Soul Manipulation, Illusion, Intimidation, and Dominance. I’m level 6 currently, too, but I have how idea what leveling does besides gaining new abilities.

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Soul Eater sucks the energy out of things. Allure, I think, makes people attracted to me? And maybe trick them. It’s hard to tell since the only time I used it was on the girl at the back of the palace. Siphon steals abilities. Not sure if there’s a limit on that. Soul Manipulation is unclear, but it seems to destroy you from the inside considering that happened to Gale. Illusion creates, well, illusions, and Intimidation and Dominance are mysteries still.

It’s so strange.

Every other monster has one ability and yet I was granted an unknown amount considering I get one or two every few levels. No wonder I’m so scary but me being scary doesn’t make me invincible and I learnt that with my last three battles.

As I lay in the den the next night, I watched tracker drag a few dead rabbits in his hands. He tosses them next to his favorite spot which was the back of the dug-out. As he wipes his hands on his leather pants, he turns to me with a serious look.

“What?” I ask, lifting my eyebrow.

“There’s a camp nearby,” he murmurs. “Not too close to bother us but close enough to smell their scent.”

I have to keep reminding myself that I don’t have as great of a smell as Tracker.

“So should we move?” I try not to sound too tense. There’s a chance there could be holy knights nearby and one was tough enough as it is.

“Maybe,” he says, an unsure sway in his tone. “I saw cages. I wanted to see what kind of creatures they caught. I didn’t see any shiny armor either.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “This seems out of character for you,” I mutter.

“Well, I’m bored.”

“Nice excuse. It’s risky and we almost died last time they spotted us,” I scolded. “Maybe it would be wise to move.”

He shrugs, “I’m confident there’s no real threat. Regular weapons made by man can’t do much harm anyway besides hurt.”

I shake my head, “we can’t rush it.”

He crunches his nose, a defiant light in his eyes. “Suit yourself. I’m a master at covering my tracks, so you’ll only get in the way.”

I scowl, “you’re going anyway?”

Tracker shakes his head at me, almost as if he was disappointed. “New blood, I’ve been doing this longer than you have. Trust me.”

Having deja vu is an understatement right now.

I make a face in disapproval but eventually give up. There’s no fighting him or rather, I don’t have enough energy right now to try. “Good luck then, I guess. I’ll focus on resting.”

“Thank you for respecting my decision,” he nods. “I’ll be going out now. I’ll come back.”

I have the urge to roll my eyes. “Don’t die,” I stare at him, trying to catch his gaze.

“I won’t,” he promises.

I watch him leave from the dug-out and sigh at all the things that could go wrong. I’ll at least trust him for now and if he doesn’t come back by dawn, I’ll assume he’s dead. There’s no telling what’s going on over there. Knowing how powerful the Holy Knights are, going over there would be suicide.

I pull at the split ends of my hair.

I need to find something to take my mind off of it.

I stand, walking out of the hole. I looked around the woods to see if I could spot any critters to use my powers on. The only ones I have not tested were Intimidation and Dominance. If I get a feel for how to use it, it would probably help me out in future battles to come.

A rat darts across my vision near the bush line. I follow it, trying to keep track with my eyes. As it stops near a tree root by the dug-out, I summon the thought of the skill Intimidation into my mind.

[Analyzing…]

[Activation: Intimidation!]

[Success!]

The rat freezes, turning to me as its body shakes violently. I notice the hairs on its back rise as it begins to show its yellow teeth. I take a step close to it, but it darts away into the bush.

Did I scare it?

The reaction seems to be produced by fear. So maybe intimidation creates a sense of doom.

So what about Dominance?

I pace around the area, finding my next victim soon enough. An owl hoots from a branch in a tree. I activate the skill on it.

[Analyzing…]

[Activation: Dominance!]

[Failed!]

[Reason: In Order To Control The Target, Intimidation Must Be Applied!]

So Dominance only works with Intimidation?

So, I tried that, applying Intimidation first.

[Success!]

The owl freezes, turning its attention to me. I watch with interest as its eyes glow a bright white.

So, can I control this thing now?

Come to me.

The owl spreads its wings and glides down the tree in front of me. I command it to fly up to my shoulder and it does. I make it hoot and it hoots. I make it grab a nearby rock in front of me, drop it from the sky and into my hand. I give more complex commands over time and it does so as long as it’s in a reasonable range.

“Dominance will be useful in the future for sure,” I smile.

I deactivate the skill while it sits next to me. The light in its eyes fade as it blinks around, bewildered. It eventually flies off into the night and a thought occurs to me.

Tracker…

I have the urge to go after him. I’m sure he can handle it himself. All he’s there for is to check out the camp anyway so he’s sure to stay out of sight, right? I’ll just wait until near dusk. He might even return before then.

The situation still bothers me despite my reasoning, even as I lay in the dug-out and watch the moon begin to disappear from the sky.

~

[WARNING! CRITICAL OVERLOAD!]

My eyes shot open, burning pain firing under my skin. I scream out, my whole body involuntarily twitching and writhing. I attempt to get some control but it seems my mind is detached from everything else. My body is its own entity.

What the hell is going on?

I yell out again, feeling myself roll into a fetal position, tears running down my face as I grit my teeth in agony.

“Tracker,” I cry, trying to gain some control but instead my limbs painfully jerk.

No one responds and fear climbs into my chest like running, cold water.

Where is he? He should be here! What time is it?

As I try to blink the tears from my eyes to see my surroundings, another painful jerk causes me to yell out. My muscles begin to cramp and a heavy fatigue rolls over me.

[Adjusting…]

[Analyzing…]

Adjusting what? This pain?

Another painful jerk scatters the remaining thoughts in my head. Sweat rolls down my face from the workout of muscles clenching.

[Analyzing…]

[Success!]

[Host Is Compatible!]

The pain suddenly stops, allowing me to breathe. I take in a deep breath, unfurling my painfully exhausted limbs. I can barely raise my arm to wipe the tears from my face so I blink them away instead.

What the hell was that? And where is Tracker?

I finally clear my vision after a minute of lying in my own pool of sweat. Noticing the sun’s rays hanging above my head, my gut churns in my stomach.

Something terrible must have happened!