Chapter 10 - Visions, Mushrooms and Some Cool Staff

I glimpsed inside the glowing chest and, to my surprise, there were a handful of items in there. No trapped creatures, no trapped people either, thankfully. Just a few normal-looking items.

There were two potions just like the ones that Guen gave me before leaving. There was also one of these lavender-tasting violet balls that I used to beat the creatures that ganged up on me last night. Inside its own unique cloth container was a particularly smelly piece of [Odd Meat]; the one that increases the consumer's defensive stats. Suddenly, the mushroom stench was not that bad. Finally, inside the chest was a... stick?

It looked like a regular branch cut from a forest tree, almost like the one I was using for a weapon. Except this one had a small, purple, shiny orb attached to it on its edge.

I picked it up, examined it a bit, and felt it in my hands. I swung with it twice, but it did not feel quite right. I then used [Identify] on it.

[Cool Staff - Lvl. 4]

Although it did not seem particularly useful to me, I decided to keep it. I also picked up the two potions and the violet ball. As far as the meat went. I could live without it, but I could not live with the smell.

I pulled the lid back down, closed the chest and locked it back up, at which point, it started jumping and shaking once again, until someone else would find and open it.

Nice, that's some cool stuff, I thought to myself as I continued my journey.

Since I had gained a bunch of new stuff, I decided to put them to good use and started actively searching for enemies. I was confident I could handle any creature I would encounter, and if I ended up having trouble, I had plenty of potions to spare.

I mainly did it because I wanted to level up. I wanted to be higher level than Guen. That way, if I ever saw her again, she wouldn't be able to do whatever she wants without me saying anything. But to surpass her, I needed to reach her first.

Instead of going in a straight line towards where should be the exit, I started zigzagging.

A slash here.

Defeated [Wild Fox - Lvl. 5]!

A stab there.

Defeated [Horned Owl - Lvl. 5]!

A hiding spot to not engage in combat with this [Lion Boar] that was approaching.

A [Gale Slash] a bit later.

Defeated [Hedgedeer - Lvl. 6]!

And I finally got it!

Congratulations! You leveled up!

[Anthir - Lvl. 7] -> [Anthir - Lvl. 8]

Gained 6 Stat Points!

With the extra points I put in [Endurance] previously, I noticed that [Gale Slash] was not tiring me out so much anymore. This meant that [Wisdom] would increase its power, since this was definitely not just a regular attack. Maybe it would increase its energy demands too, but it was understandable.

I decided to increase it slightly, since tougher opponents started being able to take such a hit to the face and still stay alive. Barely, but they did.

+2 points on [Wisdom], +2 on [Perception], +1 on [Agility] and +1 on [Vitality]. Pressed 'submit' and indulged on the best feeling ever. Then, I checked my status.

Name: Jinden

Race: [Anthir - Lvl. 8]

Class: None

Affinity: None

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 15

[Strength]: 18

[Endurance]: 15

[Wisdom]: 14

[Agility]: 19

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

[Perception]: 16

Skills:

[identify]

[Item Throw]

[Active Rest]

Abilities:

[Gale Slash]: Lvl. 1

Other than my Agility and Strength, everything was starting to get pretty even. Being able to do a bit of everything is definitely good, but it's even better to have one or two strong points, like the ones I was building up. But maybe I should lean even heavier on some of them from now on and use them to dominate my enemies.

Oh well, this was definitely not the time to think about this. I would analyze my options more thoroughly after I got out of these damn woods.

----------------------------------------

I was walking for what felt like hours. My legs were aching and needed to rest, but that was not the worst. I was starving.

How did I not think about bringing food with me?

I could not kill and cook one of the beasts around here because the light from the flames, combined with the smell of the cooked meat, would surely attract every single animal in the forest.

At that point, the [Odd Meat] back in the chest seemed really appealing, but it was too far back now; walking all the way there just to get it was far from worth the effort.

This left me with one choice. A choice I despised.

The fungi.

I thought I would rather die than eat these damn mushrooms, but now it was time to test if that was actually true.

They smell so bad.

Yeah, but they might taste so good!

No, they won't! They might be poisonous!

Yeah, but they might be not!

If I eat them I may die.

You will surely die if you don't.

Before I knew it, I was on my knees, my face right in front of a few sprouting fungi. Just a tiny movement of my mouth and I could finally eat!

I came closer and closer. I opened my mouth and was about to bite one of the mushrooms right off the ground.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain pierced my head and everything around me went dark.

I heard... my own voice... echoing in my ears.

This is all my fault

This is all my fault

Memories of them infiltrated my mind.

I am not strong enough

Visions of the beast taking away the lives of those dearest to me.

"NO!"

With a quick push of my feet, I snapped back and fell on the ground, staying as far away from the fungi as I could.

I could not risk my life here just because I was fucking hungry. Not before making him pay.

I quickly picked myself up and started almost blindly running forward.

I was barely able to dodge and avoid the creatures and the trees that were in my way, but was not able to do the same with the roots. I stumbled, hitting my foot on one of them, almost falling down, using my hands to prevent the fall and propel me forward as I was running at maximum speed.

After running for an unknown amount of time, I saw a light up ahead, bright and glowing towards me. Was this another dream? I did not want more dreams!

No.

This light. I had missed this light. This was the sun! This was the exit!

I would have increased my speed and try rushing to it if I was not already going as fast as I could.

A naïve fox tried to block my way, but I was not having it.

I WILL get out of here NOW!

"[Gaaale Slaaash]!"

Defeated [Wild Fox - Lvl. 8]

I hit the stupid fox harder than I had ever hit anything before. It flew back and away, with me following closely behind it, still heading towards the exit.

It was finally there, right in front of me, and I jumped forward, glad to finally make it out of this forest and even more glad to escape these visions.

The fox's body and I came out of the forest almost at the same time, but while I stopped right after coming out, the fox kept going forward because of the force of my strike.

What I landed on seemed like the top of a hill. A hill that had definitely seen better days. There was no grass growing. No flowers either. Instead, there was only sand and dirt.

In front of me, it seemed like there was an attempt at creating a road, but it was mostly a visual cue to signal "Go this way" to whoever happened to get here one way or another. Judging by how it looked, it was probably not the most popular path to go anywhere.

And yet, there was a small carriage slowly following the path when I got out of the woods.

It was wooden, with really tall but slim wheels that seemed to struggle in this kind of terrain. The cart on the back had a white canopy attached to it to block the sun from shining on the stuff inside, which were of a big variety. Lots of vegetables, combined with all sorts of meats, from which I recognized the [Odd Meat] Guen gave me and a few rare pieces of fox meat. There were even a few health potions on the far right corner of the cart.

The carriage driver was startled by me jumping out of the wood, but she was even more startled by the fox that was flying straight towards her head.

Fortunately, she was able to crouch and avoid the fox, who fell and rolled down a few meters later.

She turned to me and saw me tightly holding the branch that was slightly stained with the blood of a few creatures and realized what had just happened.

"Hey! Watch what you're doin—"

Before she was able to complete her sentence, the horse that was pulling the carriage and had kept going straight forward stepped on the edge of the hill, twisting its ankle, losing its balance and falling to the side. And with it, so did the carriage and the annoyed driver. They started rolling down the hill until they reached all the way down. The carriage broken and the items spilled everywhere. The potion containers also shattered to pieces, rendering the item useless.

I did not pay much attention to it as I was too busy appreciating the warm sun bathing me with its golden rays, smiling to the thought that I was finally out of these woods. No more dumb monkes or the stench of mushrooms. I did not want to taste, see, or smell mushrooms ever again.

Then, I checked this new notification that popped up on the top right corner.

Congratulations!

You beat the dungeon [Tiny Forest]! You gained exp points towards your next level!

[Tiny Forest]!? Really? This thing that had me almost die not one, not two, but three times, was a tiny forest!?

While I did not agree at all with the name given to this dungeon and was annoyed by it, since it made it look like what I did was not really that hard or important, almost like going through a tutorial in a game, I was at the same time excited.

If this was just a tiny forest, this meant that there were more dungeons out there, much fiercer than the one I just beat, with creatures way more bloodthirsty than these ones.

Beating them would definitely give me the strength I need to defeat him. And that was what I was going to do.

But first, I needed to figure out what would be my next step.

The answer was literally right in front of me.

I lifted my head and looked straight forward to see a city in front of me, less than five kilometers from where I was standing. It was huge. Maybe even larger than the forest itself. And around it, there was a big white wall, blocking the entrance to unwanted travelers, with guards of all races making sure that no one would trespass.

New entry added to map: [City Of Prosper]

"Wait, I had a map?" I said, mad at myself for not realizing earlier. Maybe it could have helped me inside the woods.

Just as I thought, focusing on the map made it appear, floating in front of me. Just like the menu, it was blue and semi-transparent, so I could see what was in front of me while still checking the map, which was good; I would not want to have the same fate as the carriage when I'm trying to find the way to go.

The map itself was quite lackluster. It was completely empty except for two small parts of it. A small pack of trees that signified the forest, next to a slightly bigger square that said "City of Prosper" inside. It did not show me anything I did not already know.

I also noticed a red dot that was flashing between the two. It had my name on top of it, so I figured it was my current position. At least this would help find a general direction if I ever got lost.

The map did not matter for now, so I closed it. I was eager to visit the city. I had no idea what I would meet there and this was probably what made it even better.

"City of Prosper, huh? Let's see what kind of things flourish in there."