As I came to, and my dreams faded to a distant memory, one part of them remained clear.

The Nature Spirit had visited me in my dream, and we had the same conversation as before. Only, this time I noticed something.

I observed her as she turned around.

Elder Nature Spirit [Lvl ???]

She brought a hand to her chest.

[Me?] I nodded. She paused, a finger to her lip as she thought to herself.

[Didn’t you just see for yourself?]

Then I woke up. And those words echoed in my mind.

[Didn’t you just see for yourself?]

I hadn’t caught it the first time but… Did that nymph lady know that I could obtain details about her from my observant instinct?

And if that were the case, had anybody else caught it?

No. It didn’t seem like any other thing I’d observed had known I was there until I exposed myself. The beetles, the bees, the Deotrexaptors, and even the [Lvl ???] worm. Nothing had yet reacted to my observations.

Except maybe… Sailboat had recognized that I was hiding in the bushes out of nowhere, and sent the xaptors after me. Could he have known I had observed him?

Did Rex know that I observed him?

The implications of my scanning ability being detected by enemies was scary. I shook my head, my body following suit, as I stood up to stretch.

The light had wakened me from my sleep, and Frieda was, presumably, asleep now. The lit room didn’t show any trace of her, aside from a pile of leaves in the corner of the room, so I traveled back towards the beetle once more. In the same place, where the tunnel grew smaller, there was a wall.

But if I squinted at it, knowing that it shouldn’t be there, I could very vaguely see that it was really a poofy ball of fur, blending into the darkness around it.

And now that I knew what she smelled like, how had I not picked it up before? I must’ve been distracted by the joy of having found such an awesome place to live, or something like that.

I reached out with one hand, lightly pushing her to the side. I could hear her light breaths in and out as I crouched and passed her by.

I crawled through the complete darkness until I tapped the hard shell of the beetle. Good. He was still here.

Just a full day of starvation for you, my friend, and then your purpose shall be fulfilled.

Confident that my trap for the beetle would keep him locked there for the remaining amount of time, I crawled back out of the tunnel, passing Frieda once more, and heading for the exit of the cave.

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Time to go get a drink. I’m thirsty!

On the way towards the incline out of the cave, I just barely caught another scent with my nose.

It smelled like meat.

I followed the scent to the corner of the room, where there was only that pile of leaves that Frieda had left sitting around.

The smell just slightly leaked out through the heavy scent of the giant leaves, and I nudged them aside.

Eureka! I've found the meat balls!

Frieda, I no longer regretted my decision to free you. Though it hurt, if you were going to bring me gifts, there was no way it wasn’t worth it.

By the way, I usually try to rush to get a minion or pet in games because of the benefits they can provide. And this right here just proved it all. Follow my example, should you ever find yourself in so confusing a situation as mine, but maybe find a route that doesn’t end with you getting stabbed.

That’s probably for the best.

I observed the meat on the leaf-dish, it was a huge hunk with stripes of red and brown.

Weird colors.

Unknown Meat

This meat comes from an unknown source.

Wow. Once again, so enlightening.

These magic boxes were really going to have to step up their game if they expected people to actually buy this expansion when it released. I shook my head.

Thanks for the meal, Frieda!

I chomped down on the food, tossing chunks of it up into the air and swallowing them whole. Yummy.

Wait.

“Grrk! Ack-!”I hacked and with surprising control regurgitated the last chunk before it made it too far down my throat, spitting it back onto the leaf.

No no no. I smiled. Not today. You get to get “prepared” when I come back!

At the last second as I had swallowed the largest portion of the meat, I’d remembered my new instinct, Gourmandize.

I had to use it if I wanted extra experience, right?

I’m coming back for you, you unknown meat.

I threw the leaves back over the large chunk, and exited the cave. It was time to head to the watering hole.

The last time I was out here, I was running for my life from humans. I hoped they weren’t still around, otherwise I’d probably end up having to run again.

This world is a lot more dangerous than I expected. And I feel like an idiot for thinking that.

Don’t make fun of me. You don’t know what it’s like to be in my situation.

Or do you?

Honestly, if you did, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you to share whatever knowledge you could, so that I might better myself and be more prepared in the future.

Then again, you’re just an imaginary friend that I talk to so I don’t get lonely, aren’t you? Aren’t you?

Ah. The watering hole at last. I checked the surroundings, confident there were no more humans in the area, though Rex wasn’t around either, that I could see. I walked out to the pond, bent over, and absorbed the water in large gulps.

My feet were crusted over with brown and the dirt stuck to them, caking me with dirty material.

Well, no harm in cleaning myself off, is there?

I jumped into the water, splashing around in the shallows as the brown chunks peeled themselves away from my body, floating further in.

The whole area around me became a darker brown, and I realized that I was far more covered in feces than I’d realized.

Stupid beetles. I’ll eradicate you.

I splashed around a little bit more, avoiding the chunks of brown as they dissolved into the water, and stepped out, nice and clean. I sighed happily.

Then the blue boxes just had to ruin my day.

You’ve poisoned the Watering Hole!