Phah! Tastebuds, SUCK! I am firmly in the category of not having them anymore! Holy moly!
Mia had just finished tearing through some kind of small rabbit, filling her stomach with the weak monster. And she had to say... It was NOT great, yikes. But Mia! DIdn't you not have any taste buds before? NOT ANY MORE APPARENTLY! NO, Shadow Wolf just HAD to generate them? I'm almost regretting taking this advancement now. Maybe I should've just gone with Graceful instead? No, but then I wouldn't have gotten this kill to begin with! Argh, sucks to suck Mia! Suck it up. Oh holy hell ANOTHER ONE!?
Mia considered her past self EXTREMELY lucky at this point, how she'd encountered only one monster before the supposed "flux" was a shock to her. Because within the past hour alone she'd have to had been attacked by at least six different monsters. And the worst part about it?! She'd only gotten THREE DAMN LEVELS! And she'd killed AT LEAST ten total. She wasn't exactly sure, she wasn't keeping count.
"SKREE!"
(DIE!)
"ARF!"
(SCREW YOU TOO!)
Crunch
Oh yeah that too, apparently "all" languages meant monster screeches as well as normal speech. It took Mia a bit to understand that, but it was always there. Usually though, monster speech always meant "KILL!" in some way or another. But in some cases the threats were a bit more... Detailed.
"RAGHHHHHHHHH!"
(LITTLE WOLF! I WILL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!)
"Whiiiiine!"
(NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE)
Another chimera like monster with the proportions of a gorillas (wow) upper body and... Mia wanted to say, a cheetahs? Legs had managed to spot Mia through her stealth. And it had been after her ever since, which was quite worrying. Because it had been five minutes straight of running now. With every pounding of it's limbs, it put cracks and imprints into the ground. And Mia was very much so eager to not be touched by that thing.
Mia's only chance of possible escape was through her acrobatics. She ducked dipped and dived through countless pieces of undergrowth. Narrowly avoiding strikes and just barely failing to escape numerous times. Eventually, through a particularly narrow part of undergrowth. Which her small size made viable. Mia found her way out.
Mia managed to slip into the patch of foliage, darting into the the undergrowth. As the soil crumpled in from the beasts assault Mia was already coming out of the ground at a sizable distance from her initial point of escape. Her stealth reactivated, and she quietly slipped into the shadows. The thing snarled bloody murder and began to move away.
Mia would've sighed in relief, if she wasn't scared shitless that it would alert the beast. Though for her harrowing experience, something else was brought to light for Mia.
Level up!
+6 strength, +6 dexterity, +7 constitution, +3 wisdom, +3 capacity, +3 intelligence, +1 charisma, +2 manipulation.
Wait I can level WITHOUT fighting? I know Riftwalker has these, like, achievement level ups, but this wasn't that. So... How, why? And why haven't I been doing it? What caused that? How does leveling even work? Ok, ok, hold on, let me check some stuff real quick, status?
Mia, Diminutive Shadow Wolf.
Level 14
Strength 80
Dexterity 75
Constitution 64
Wisdom 26
Capacity 20
Intelligence 27
Charisma 10
Manipulation 12
Abilities, Riftwalker
Ok, alright, nothing out of the ordinary here. No new abilities or anything, good stat growth though. Keep that up me! Class?
Mia, Lesser Diminutive Shadow Wolf.
Level 5
Class skills, Apprentice Tracking III, Apprentice magic proficiency I, Low stealth II.
Skills, natural born hunter.
Stat gain +6 strength, +6 dexterity, +7 constitution, +3, wisdom, +3 capacity, +3 intelligence +1 charisma, +2 manipulation.
Huh... Still nothing... I mean, there really isn't anything new, is there? Oh well, stealth leveled up. But then why did I level up...? Well... I think I have an idea about it, but it may require some extended testing... Eh, it's what I'm gonna be trying to do anyways. so might as well give it a go, yeah? Just gotta religiously avoid... Every fight possible.
Mia wasn't sure how exactly she was supposed to stay completely hidden at all times. But maybe she'd be good if she just kept low? Let stealth do the heavy lifting maybe? She certainly hoped so, she wasn't very experienced with the concept. Being a high-schooler didn't exactly require much in the ways of stealth. She wasn't like, a ninja or anything before coming here. Actually, why was she adapting so well? Why am I adapting so well?
If you asked my prior self what she thought she'd do in this situation... You'd have most certainly got the answer "well, I'm not sure but... I'd probably go crazy, to be honest... i just personally don't think that I wo-" THERE! RIGHT THERE! I wouldn't be giving an indecisive answer like that right now either!
Maybe I am going crazy? Not like strait jacket crazy, but just... Definitely not my self 24 hours ago crazy? Holy shit it's been less than twenty four hours... It's still sunshine out here! Ah hell! Worrying about it right now isn't important. Living is. Finding out how I got that level without fighting is secondary to living. Though if my theory with stealth giving levels cause of my class is correct, would daytime make it easier or harder to get levels? Well, time to find out!
...
OhgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodpleaseeeeepleasePLEASEdonotfindmerightnow!
Mia stood stock still nestled in the green beneath the shadow of the largest monster she had EVER seen. Now you think that wouldn't be many monsters, but mind not any monster since she'd been here. Any monster that she had EVER SEEN. Though she hadn't seen a great many of them, they weren't exactly common where she came from. Most tended to be in... Museums. In all seriousness, the concern of being "found" was probably not as likely as Mia thought it was. But it was still true that if Mia drew any attention to herself, she may end up getting herself crushed like an ant.
Similar to how the average human may view a bug out in the open, she was likely beyond it's care. Though that size comparison may not be entirely accurate. In fact, it wasn't, it would probably be more accurate of a comparison to say that Mia was about the size of a rat being compared to a human. You may ask, how exactly did Mia manage to find herself in the presence of such a beast? Well here is a story for you
Mia slunk through the undergrowth. She took notice of the diminishing levels of light. But figured that less light could only really be helpful for her at the moment. The goal was NOT to be seen after all, so why would she begrudge it? The trees grew taller, the plants grew larger. The monsters grew less... Monsterier. Less hybrid monsters and more regular creatures. That is to say, large otherworldly monster creatures. But at least their body proportions were consistent.
A large scaled lizard looking creature passed Mia by unknowingly. Stepping almost directly over her. She came to a complete halt as she waited for it to pass, before breathing a sigh of relief and walking forward once more. It had entered this part of the forest from the same area that Mia had. Seemingly coming from the flux, or maybe returning from it?
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
This part of the forest did feel a bit different. Maybe different monsters inhabited it? Whether that means stronger or weaker she was yet to figure out. But she'd press on regardless, so Mia carried on slowly. She witnessed a good few monsters throughout her trek. And was luckily, not noticed in turn. Until after a good while of this sneaking around, Mia had her suspicions confirmed.
Level up!
+6 strength, +6 dexterity, +7 constitution, +3, wisdom, +3 capacity, +3 intelligence +1 charisma, +2 manipulation.
Some kind of lion like creature was simply strolling near her. And she was definitely in it's field of vision when that had happened. But a bit after it got out of her line of sight she got the notification. Aha! Now for the finisher! Class!
Mia, Lesser Diminutive Shadow Wolf.
Level 6
Class skills, Apprentice Tracking III, Apprentice magic proficiency I, Low stealth III.
Skills, natural born hunter.
Stat gain +6 strength, +6 dexterity, +7 constitution, +3, wisdom, +3 capacity, +3 intelligence +1 charisma, +2 manipulation.
Stealth level three! That all but confirms it for me, hah! Leveling skills means a level u-no that's not right. Or is it? I mean I wasn't exactly keeping track of tracking, heh, but it could've been giving me levels? I mean the only effective way for me to figure this out now would be to use magic somehow... But I've got absolutely no idea how.
I mean, regardless. Level three... Seems to be the cap for skill levels? So I could just keep doing what I'm doing for now and see if I get another level up without stealth increasing? I think I'll do that, yeah. Alright forest, stealth wolf going in for round two. Let's go!
Mia continued onwards for a few more minutes before she felt a almost impercievable change in the air. It was mostly subconscious, and as it sounded, almost impercievable. So she paid it no heed. Though what she did notice, was the suspicious lack of monsters all of a sudden.
Uh hey...? Where... Where is everybody right now? It isn't normally this uh... Lonely, so to say. This seems like a perfect moment to just hear crickets chirping, but I'm not even getting that here, what's going on?
Mia's hackles slowly began to rise, something was putting her on edge. But she wasn't quite sure WHAT it was.
boom...
What the hell was that?
Boom
Uhhhhh, I don't think I want to be here any more! Mia took a 180 degree turn and began sprinting in the other direction, but the distant thunderous sound only grew closer with every crash.
BOOM
No! Nononono! Get me outta here, LEGS! GO FASTER!
BOOM!
Ah shit! Mia made a split second decision and darted into a particularly appealing spot of cover. Diving into the green she held as low to the ground as she possibly could, and prayed. Definitely not to whatever had brought her here though, it had no good will for her, clearly. Through her dense cover, she made out bits and pieces of the monstrous being that had been making such loud noises to begin with.
BOOM!
With a final earth shattering leap the giant creature came into view. A humongous brown scaled monstrosity stood over Mia like a pint sized skyscraper. Very much so not a dragon, Mia could just sort of tell it wasn't anything so... Grand. More-so an over-sized beast that had no right to exist, similarly to most other things in this forest.
It's footfalls created prints in the ground at least three times the size of Mia. And with a great lumbering it seemingly searched around the area. Sniffing at the air and nosing around trees. Ah, that's what she'd mark it as. More like a bear, rather then a dragon. A very, very, very, big, seven times enlarged, scaly bear. But more like a bear then a dragon regardless. Could not IMAGINE how much that thing needs to eat. Smaller creatures for the win, to be honest... GAH! Life literally at stake here, cut out the smug comments Mia!
Luckily, VERY luckily, Mia was counting her stars at this point. How she hadn't had a screw up within the last hour baffled her. It seemed to miss her hiding spot, Probably wasn't looking for something my size, heh. Instead lumbering a bit further forward. It poked prodded and sniffed around a certain area, before rising back to it's full height and lumbering back the way it came.
Level up!
+6 strength, +6 dexterity, +7 constitution, +3, wisdom, +3 capacity, +3 intelligence +1 charisma, +2 manipulation.
OOO nice! Cccclllllass!
Mia, Lesser Diminutive Shadow Wolf.
Level 7
Class skills, Apprentice Tracking III, Apprentice magic proficiency I, Low stealth III.
Skills, natural born hunter.
Stat gain +6 strength, +6 dexterity, +7 constitution, +3, wisdom, +3 capacity, +3 intelligence +1 charisma, +2 manipulation.
And stealth is still level three! Ahah! So it ISN'T skill level ups! Must be a class advancement thing then. And what did I advance my class to? A stealth class! So if you can level your class up through doing things related to your class, what can I do to level up my class, hmmm? Hiding from things of course! Getting a level up from a single encounter like that must've just meant I managed to hide from something that's like, I don't know, really good at finding people who are hiding?
Of course it's possible that just anybody can level up by doing literally anything, but that doesn't make much sense... At least it doesn't make sense to me. What's the point of different classes then? If they don't have anything unique besides skills that would seem a bit, I don't know, silly? I mean there's probably more to it that I just don't have the know how to uh... Know. But still. Anyways GET ME OUT OF HERE!
Mia bolted from her hiding point with the force of a thunder bolt. Dropping all pretenses of stealth she shot in the opposite direction that the bear kaiju had returned to. For the first time, she really noticed her increased stats. A lot of what she had been doing the past few hours was subconscious. Or at least, not something she actively noticed. But the starting point of her stats that she'd been at when she initially, for lack of better words, spawned in. Was VASTLY different from what she could do right now.
Mia guesstimated and said it would take about three times as long to make the run that she had just made if she still had her starting stats. Speaking of the run she had just made, Mia now noticed the lack of tension on her body. Her entire being relaxed just a tiny bit, and that was enough to set her alarm bells off now that she was actually paying a bit more attention to herself.
Oh holy crap, I'm such an idiot! I seriously walked straight into it, gah... Ok, focus on the positives! What have we learned today Mia? Pay more attention to your own bodily well being, I can level up WITHOUT fighting. Truly the highlight of my... "day". I say that with mind quotes because it's been like, six hours, maybe. Uhhh, big kaiju monsters are bad. And-
Mia heard multiple growls, and she was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that she had just stopped out in the open. She was... Surrounded, by a bunch of monsters on all fours like her, but with large fangs poking out of their maws. Distinctively more cat like then canine.
-And Oh holy crap I'm SUCH AN IDIOT!