As Rain watched Rajan walk back into the forest, he felt a newfound confidence in himself and his situation. He grabbed his bo staff and headed into the forest in the opposite direction. He had a decent amount of food and a short-term goal: to reach level five. It was a lot easier said than done, unfortunately.

Rain knew the path ahead would be challenging, but he was determined. Every rustle in the bushes and snap of a twig put him on high alert as he navigated through the dense foliage. He kept his eyes and ears open, ready to confront any threats or opportunities that came his way. Each step he took was a reminder of his purpose and the promise he made to himself. With Rajan's words echoing in his mind, Rain pressed on, ready to face whatever trials awaited him in this strange and unforgiving world.

As Rain marched through the dense forest, he heard a sharp snap in a bush just in front of him. Focusing his gaze, a gray blur leaped from the bush. Rain rolled to the side and pressed his back against a tree. The blur whisked past and landed on the ground, turning back towards Rain with a snarl.

The creature was wolf-like, but it had green energy flowing from its feet. The scruff around its neck was green, and vines slowly swirled around its body like whips.

Rain readied his staff and stared at the wolf. A vine shot toward him, and he rolled out of the way, cleanly dodging the attack. He rushed toward the wolf and moved to swing his staff. The wolf moved the vines it controlled to block, but Rain's attack was a feint. He stopped right before making contact with the vine shield, jumped straight up, and grabbed a tree branch, pulling himself into the tree.

The wolf looked up at Rain and sent another vine whip toward him. Rain jumped to another tree branch, dodging again. He smiled down at the wolf, which snarled even more fiercely. It shot another vine, but this time Rain rolled slightly to the side and jumped down from the branch, counter-attacking while the wolf was unable to defend.

Rain launched an attack at the wolf's temple, staggering it. Seizing the advantage, he struck again, bringing his staff down on the wolf's head and knocking it to the ground. Just as he was about to deliver a third blow, a vine wrapped around his ankle and threw him backward. Rain crashed into a tree, dazed, his vision growing wobbly as he saw the wolf approaching.

The wolf rushed toward Rain, ready to attack. Rain pointed the staff straight out in front of him, and as the wolf leaped, its stomach made direct contact with the staff. The wolf howled in pain and fell to the ground. Rain stood to his feet, grabbed the vines that lay limply at the wolf's side, and let water flow from his hand, solidifying into a blade. He sliced the vines, rendering them useless.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Rain took a stance, readying his staff once more, and let the wolf stand up. Now that it couldn't fight at range, Rain could practice his skills. The wolf stood up and looked at Rain, trying to attack but realizing the vines attached to its back were cut and lying on the floor. The wolf growled and charged, baring its fangs. Rain sidestepped the attack and swatted the wolf with his staff. The wolf staggered back and slashed at Rain's chest. Rain attempted to parry the swipe, but it came faster than expected, slashing him clean across the chest, red blood oozing from the wound.

Rain jumped backward, creating a safe distance. He had been careless, thinking crippling the vine would make the fight easier, but he had underestimated the creature and paid the price. Rain forced his climbing mucus to come from his hands and rubbed it over the slash; it clearly had some sort of antibacterial properties because his other scratch was almost completely healed and never got infected. It was useful, but Rain could figure that out later; he had a monster to beat. Rain jumped forward again and ran up into a tree. He needed to outmaneuver this creature.

Rain leaped down, delivering swift strikes before retreating, seeking an opportunity to execute his vortex strike. He repeated this tactic, wearing down the wolf until it showed signs of fatigue. Sensing the moment, Rain ceased his rapid assaults and concentrated on summoning water. With focused intent, water swirled around the end of his staff, forming the familiar vortex blade. Without hesitation, Rain lunged forward, driving the vortex blade toward the exhausted wolf. The creature, unable to evade, braced itself as Rain's attack struck with full force.

The vortex strike barreled through the wolf's torso, leaving a clean hole. The wolf fell to the ground, limp. A message appeared in front of Rain's face.

"Vineclaw slain. Intermediate rune of dexterity and lesser rune of strength awarded."

Rain opened his status and took a look at his attributes.

Name: Rain Forrest

Race: Anurasapien

Current stat limit: 4/25

Strength: 6

Agility: 12

Dexterity: 13

Constitution: 4

Intelligence: 15

Willpower: 14

Charisma: 2

Skills: N/A

Talents: Sewing 2, Cleaning 5, Cooking 3, Tenacity 3, Pain tolerance 4

Blessing: Minor Blessing of Kyma

"So intermediate runes give two points and lesser runes just give one," Rain mused, "good to know." But he quickly realized that reaching level five was going to be much harder than he expected. There had to be a way to quickly gain stat points; challenging weak monsters one-on-one wasn't fast enough.

Rain fell to the ground, his apparent fatigue finally setting in as he caught his breath. He noticed that his bo staff was in a pitiful state—the vortex strike had mutilated the piece of wood, and he would need another one soon. He looked down at the wolf's corpse and knew he had to sacrifice the wolf's pelt and meat for a new weapon.

Rain got up from his seated position and began dragging the vineclaw to the edge of the terrarium.