The ant died before the snail reached the rocks.
*ding*
> Corpse: Ant (lesser)
>
> Estimated experience: 1
>
> Absorb experience?
The snail agreed to absorb the experience. “It is irritating to have a dead ant stuck to my shell, but experience is nice.” The snail thought. “Should I try and catch more ants?” The snail pondered the possibility as it crept through the underbrush. The snail altered its direction to aim at the next ant it saw. The ant moved on long before the snail got close. “I am not a hunter.” The snail decided. “Maybe I will be lucky and catch ants by accident, but they are too fast for me.”
Day by day, the snail traveled closer to the rocks. The snail was taken by surprise when it moved past the last tree and saw ground quickly rise to meet an immense rock wall. The snail tried to estimate how far up the wall went and how long it would take to climb. “Maybe an entire day to climb?” The snail guessed.
The snail ate a few of the nearby plants to make sure it would have energy and moisture enough for the trip up the rock wall. The sun had moved past its zenith when the snail began its slow creep up the rocks.
The rocks were a mostly a red-brown color, but there were countless blobby patches of pale green decorating the surface. On a whim, the snail used Identify on one of the patches.
*ding*
> Lichen (worthless)
“What is lichen?” The snail wondered. The System did not provide an answer.
The sun inexorably sank lower in the sky, and the snail regretted choosing to climb the rock wall in full sunlight. “If I had waited till morning, I could have climbed in the shade.” The snail muttered to itself. The rock wall was uncomfortably warm and the snail had to use plenty of mucus to both grip the rock and slide over the rough volcanic stone without injury.
*ding*
> Slimy level up: 2
The snail felt a good deal of relief when the sun slipped below the horizon. The rock began to cool and the snail moved with less discomfort. It was already above the level of the treetops and the snail had seen that the rock wall circled all the way around the forest, as though the entire area was a wide hole in the ground. The light of dusk deepened into night, and the snail took stock of its ability to continue climbing.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
*ding*
| Stat | Value |
| ---- | ---- |
| Stamina | 53/70 |
Something struck the side of the snail’s shell and nearly ripped the snail off the rock wall. The snail immediately used Hide in shell and pulled itself close to the rock. After a few minutes with no disturbance, the snail peeked out from its shell and continued moving. A second strike hit the snail, less strong than the first, but still dangerous. The snail hid again and checked its health.
*ding*
| Stat | Value |
| ---- | ---- |
| Health | 68/70 |
“I’m not hurt, but falling would be very bad.” The snail thought. “Nothing attacked me when the sun was up, maybe I should wait.” The snail pondered for a while as it hid in its shell. It eventually decided to try climbing once more and see if the pattern of attack continued. The third strike hit the snail from below and hurt more than the previous two. The snail decided to wait until the sun rose before continuing the climb.
When the sky began to lighten, the snail resumed climbing. It hadn’t seen the attackers in the dark, but it kept its eyes constantly swiveling to spot danger in the daylight. Danger sense flared a warning when the snail spotted an approaching bird. The snail used Hide in shell to wait out the bird. “I wonder if Camouflage only works when I hold still.” The snail wondered.
The bird struck the shell of the snail multiple times as it tried to dislodge its meal. The bird clung to the rough stone and tried to pry the snail from the rock wall. The bird even tried perching on top of the snail for a moment but it was forced to give up and try to find other food. The snail stayed in its shell for a long time to make sure the bird was not going to return.
*ding*
> Hide in shell level up: 2
The snail felt thirsty. The sun was high in the sky and the rock wall was heating up again. The climb had taken longer that the snail had predicted and had held unexpected dangers. The difficulty of the climb had also increased. The snail checked its stamina.
*ding*
| Stat | Value |
| ---- | ---- |
| Stamina | 20/70 |
“Should I go back?” The snail wondered. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep climbing and I need moisture.” The snail paused while it considered. ”I don’t know if I have enough stamina to make the climb back down.”_ The snail strained its eyes to try and see the top of the wall. It didn’t see the top, but it did see a small shadow not too far away. “That decides it. I’ll head for that shadow. Maybe I can hide there and try climbing again at night.” The snail angled its ascent towards the shadow.
The shadow turned out to be the edge of a small recess with a flat bottom. A small amount of sand and dust had been deposited by years of wind and rainwater. The snail was delighted to find a small plant with thick leaves anchored in the sand. The snail used Identify.
*ding*
> Succulent (worthless)
“It’s not worthless to me!” The snail cheered as it began scraping moist plant matter into its mouth using its tongue-like radula. With the source of moisture and a place to rest, the snail decided to wait until morning to do a final push towards the top of the rock wall. Camouflage hid the stationary snail, and the afternoon and night passed without incident.