Chapter 9 - Into the Forest III

The swish coming from the sound was followed by something I did not want to see. A lot of different animals saw the light coming out of the flames in front of me and were attracted to it, resulting in four of them appearing out of the bush at the same time.

An owl, a fox, an orangutan, and a boar. One of each. Before they completely came out, I used [Identify] on them to see what I had to deal with.

[Lion Boar - Lvl. 5]

[Horned Owl - Lvl. 4]

[Fanged Orangutan - Lvl. 4]

[Wild Fox - Lvl. 5]

Thankfully, their levels were not too high, they were actually lower than mine, and that gave me some much-needed confidence. Still, they were four and I was one. The odds were still not in my favor.

I needed to make it an even fight as soon as possible, so, the moment the [Horned Owl] showed its ugly face, I used [Item Throw] and threw my 'sword' at it. It almost flew right out of my hands, with speed I had not seen before, definitely faster—and thus deadlier—than when I used it on the orangutan earlier. The branch skewered the bird's head and pinned it on a tree, back where it came for. It was only for a moment, since the branch I was using as a weapon shattered right after, but the owl was still dead.

Defeated [Horned Owl - Lvl. 4]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

I had just lost my weapon. But there were many more branches I could use, and I got rid of an enemy, so I thought it was a fair trade.

The rest of the creatures charged without hesitation. They did not care that one of them had just died instantly. I was hoping it would do at least some psychological damage.

"They are wild beasts, after all, aren't they?" I murmured to myself before running to the left to evade them. I crouched for a second and grabbed another branch that was on the ground, plus a couple of rocks.

I used [Item Throw], sending one of those rocks, aiming for the orangutan's face, but it was able to dodge it without much effort. Used it again, this time on the pig, which took it head on but did not seem to be that affected by it whatsoever. Throwing rocks was getting me more tired than swinging my wooden stick and, combined with the lackluster damage, the idea of keeping my distance was not worth exploring further, even though it was potentially safer.

The fox and the orangutan were creatures I had already beaten before and they were higher level than these ones right here, so I felt pretty confident about these two.

But looking at the boar, I could not help myself but take a step back and hesitate for a second.

I quickly jumped and climbed on a tree far from the three wild animals, buying myself some time.

My pouch. I needed my pouch. It took me a couple of seconds before I was able to actually manifest it as my thought was getting disrupted, checking how far the beasts currently were.

Finally, the pouch appeared in my hands and I searched inside it. I picked up one of those small violet balls that Guen gave me.

Since she gave them to me along with the potions, they should help get through the dungeon in some way, right? Right!?

Or not? Maybe she was messing with me, just like the time she told me to attack that level 10 fox. Coming from her, I would not be surprised if this was some sort of poison.

Or what if this was something that would get me safe, but back to the start of the dungeon? That would be catastrophic. I did not want to get through all that again, not when I was this close to the exit. I could feel it wasn't far.

But the other choice was not appealing either. Fighting against all three of these creatures at the same time, was at least dangerous. In reality, it sounded more than a death wish.

I had a bit less than five seconds to decide what I was going to do. After that, the orangutan would reach me and I would have to start fighting him and try to push him away so I could get some distance again; not all the time in the world exactly.

Four.

Three.

Two.

"Shit, the taste of lavender is so overbearing!" I said as I ate one of the violet balls. Was I even supposed to eat it? I did not know - I did it instinctively.

I hid my pouch and jumped back down, in an attempt to avoid the orangutan, only to land right in front of a charging boar who hit me with its head and sent me back, right onto a tree.

I picked myself back up and something started feeling weird all of a sudden. I felt a bit nauseous. A bit dizzy. The feeling went away and in its place I felt warmth and a slight numbness. Mostly in my arms and legs. As if I was pumping blood like crazy in those specific parts.

Then a notification popped up.

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Consumed [Spherule of Power]. Temporary increase in offensive stats.

"So that is what power tastes like"

It was exactly the kind of notification I wanted to see.

My hand tightened around the wooden stick I was holding and I could not help myself but smirk. Things were about to get interesting.

I pushed with my right foot the tree bark behind me to gain some momentum and charged towards the three beasts.

I leaned forward, ready to hit harder than ever, aiming for the damn hog.

"[Gale Slash]!"

My blow hit the boar right on its snout and sent it flying back, while it squealed in pain. A small gust of air suddenly blew around me, which scared the other two creatures and made them stop and take a step back.

No defeat notification. The boar was still alive. It got back up, ready to charge again. It had not learned its lesson.

The other two animals slightly moved to my flanks and the three of them made a circle around me.

Almost as if they had done it before, all three of them started running towards me at the same time, running at the same speed. There was not a way for me to run away and if I tried to fight one of them, the other two would hit me from behind. I learned the hard way that they had no problem with throwing away their pride.

There was but one thing left for me to do. Attack all three of them at the same time.

Once they were close enough, I planted my left foot on the ground and pushed hard with my right one. I held my weapon high and transferred all of my body's force to it as I spun around, hitting the face of all three animals right before they had the chance to rip me to pieces. Instead, they were the ones hurt by what seemed like a small, deadly tornado.

They were all blown back and fell down. From there, I had no trouble jumping on top of each of them and piercing their neck with my wooden stick.

Defeated [Lion Boar - Lvl. 5]!

Defeated [Wild Fox - Lvl. 5]!

Defeated [Fanged Orangutan - Lvl. 4]!

Congratulations! You leveled up!

[Anthir - Lvl. 6] -> [Anthir - Lvl. 7]

Gained 6 Stat Points!

Congratulations!

Skill [Active Rest] obtained!

Although I sometimes find it hard to notice these notifications, especially is I am in the middle of something, this time they were so many it would be impossible not to see.

I got another much needed level up. I should not have much trouble travelling through the forest at this point. Most of the enemy creatures were around half my level plus or minus one. Of course there were exceptions like the orangutan I fought earlier that day.

+3 points were assigned to my neglected [Strength], followed by a +1 in [Agility], [Vitality], and [Perception]. I pressed the 'submit' button, waiting for that warm stew feeling that was always more than welcome.

Name: Jinden

Race: [Anthir - Lvl. 7]

Class: None

Affinity: None

Attunement: None

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 14

[Strength]: 18

[Endurance]: 15

[Wisdom]: 12

[Agility]: 18

[Perception]: 14

Skills:

[identify]

[Item Throw]

[Active Rest]

Abilities:

[Gale Slash]: Lvl. 1

Then, it was time to check out that new skill that I just obtained, [Active Rest]. It seemed like an oxymoron and I could not understand what it did or how I would be able to use it. After focusing on it, a small description popped up in my head.

Fall into a sweet, deep slumber while keeping an eye up for potential predators. Allows you to sleep and recover your health and stamina, while automatically waking up if a potential enemy appears within a certain radius.

Neat! I could finally rest without the idea of an imminent, slow, and painful death lingering on the back of my mind; it felt like a nice breath of fresh air, although the air in these woods did not feel fresh at all. Not with all these fungi sprouting everywhere.

Walking back to the place I was camped, I decided to do exactly what the skill said and fell into a balmy sleep using [Active Rest].

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The next morning came and I could not tell if the skill actually worked or not. I did not wake up once during the night, so there was either something wrong with the execution of my skill or there really weren't any threats around while I was sleeping. Either way, I was still alive, which was pretty cool. I put out the fire, packed my stuff, and continued my journey to the end of the forest.

It took me a couple of minutes to find out which way I came from and which way I was initially going, but I ended up finding the right direction in the end.

Going further ahead, I noticed that the trees were starting to grow farther and farther from each other, which was pretty good for me; it would make future fights much easier.

What was not so good was that along with the distance between the trees, the level of of everything in that area was growing too. And this included the mushrooms.

The stench was immense and I was pretty sure this impacted my ability to focus and think, because I was having a surprisingly hard time defeating the creatures that I found on my way to the exit. The level was bumped up to 5 on average, which made things harder by itself, but still.

Maybe this was the reason I did what I did next.

As I was walking, I thought I heard a sound coming from behind a bush. I was not certain, but after seeing the brush shaking every couple of seconds, I knew something was hiding behind it.

I had been through a similar scenario and it ended up with a bunch of wild creatures ganging up on me, which was not fun. Except for the point where I beat them up, that was lots of fun.

Based on that experience, approaching the bush was a horrible idea, and yet, that was exactly what I did. I held my weapon tightly and made small, careful steps towards it, ready to viciously attack whatever was hiding behind it.

With every step, my heart was beating faster. With every step, I was more prepared to strike. I wanted to strike.

I decided to swing my wooden stick before I checked the bush. Attacking first is always a good idea.

*Tonk*

What? What was this sound? No squeals, no growls, no roars. It was as if I hit something hollow.

I hesitantly walked closer, spreading the bush to finally see what was hiding behind.

A wooden chest was the last thing I would expect. And yet, there it was. A wooden, brown chest with golden details on the edges and two iron latches keeping it firmly shut.

That was it? No beast? No attacking creature?

Then, suddenly, the box itself jumped in the air and shook, before falling back down, lifeless, only to repeat the same cycle a minute later.

This was odd. Whatever was in there was somehow trapped. But how did this happen? None of the creatures here were smart enough to be able to trap something else inside a chest and lock it. Maybe Guen did it as she was leaving the forest? I could definitely see her doing that.

But if it was indeed Guen who did that, was this a prank on the creature, or was this a prank on me? Did she expect me to come this way and find it?

In the end, my curiosity bested me and I decided to open the chest anyway. Careful, holding my wooden weapon and standing as far from it as I could, I slowly unlocked the first latch.

Nothing happened.

With even more care and even less speed, I unlocked the second latch as well, prepared to fight whatever would jump out of this wooden trap.

The moment I completely unlocked the chest, its lid blasted open and a golden light came from the inside of the box.

I jumped back and took a defensive stance to avoid getting hit by any surprise attacks coming from in there.

But there weren't any.

After the chest opened up, it stopped jumping and shaking, instead it remained completely still, shining golden light coming out of it.

A notification suddenly popped up in my head, which I promptly checked.

Congratulations!

You found a secret dungeon chest! You received experience towards your next level!

A secret dungeon chest? And why is it a good thing I found it? Was I supposed to return it to someone?

I approached the chest to close it again. The light was too bright and not only did it blind me, but it could also attract beasts again.

As I put my hands on the lid and was about to close it back down, I peeked into the wooden box.

"What the fuck?"