When the sun rose, they discussed in hushed tones what had happened during the night and what to do moving forward.

"We should summarize what happened last night and make plans for today," Mike whispered.

"At the beginning of the night, I saw those massive orcs passing by, and later, my grasshopper got eaten by another grasshopper," Thalion said quietly.

"Wait, you saw orcs?" David whispered, his eyes widening. "Did they look strong?"

"I saw them too," Emily added softly.

"Did they look strong?" Mike asked, concern in his voice.

"Each one of them felt like they could kill us all without much trouble. Oh, and before they went out of sight, they marked that tree over there," Thalion answered, nodding toward the tree.

"That’s very bad," Mike said in a low voice. "I saw even less than you two. The only thing that happened was that my grasshopper was eaten by some kind of gray wolf."

"Damn, that’s great news! I feared at some point I’d have to take the form of a grasshopper," Thalion joked, trying to lighten the mood. "By the way, who was tugging the line like crazy last night?"

"I think it was me, Lukas, and James," David said. "We had a lot of people passing by."

"So, at first, there was a human party cloaked in blue robes walking by. Later, I spotted two vampires, but they moved so fast that I couldn’t make out much. After that, I saw a group of five orcs, but they didn’t look strong at all," David recounted.

"But about an hour ago," James interjected, "we saw a party of twelve elves heading in that direction, and they all looked very powerful."

Lukas and David nodded in agreement.

After a short pause, Mike asked, "So that was everyone?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Wait, what happened to your grasshoppers? Didn’t you see any new ones?" Thalion asked.

"No, nothing," Lukas said, with the others nodding along.

"Well, shit... So, what are we doing now? Those powerhouses won’t stop hunting during the day," Mike said, sounding worried.

"We should stick to the plan: find water, and we need to level up. This won’t get any better," Mike urged.

"If we manage to catch a flying beast, I could easily scout the area," Thalion added.

"That would probably be the best outcome," Mike nodded.

"Okay, we should probably move out. Do you remember the direction the wolf was heading? I wouldn’t mind getting my first form today," Thalion said, ready to go.

After packing up and making sure no one was in the area, they set out on their journey.

As they traveled, Thalion couldn’t help but think about what had happened during the night. The sight of those orcs was still fresh in his mind. They were far more powerful than anything he had ever encountered, and the fact that they had marked the tree made him uneasy. The others were also quiet, lost in their own thoughts.

The ground beneath their feet was soft and spongy, cushioned by a thick layer of fallen leaves and decaying plant matter. They moved cautiously, their senses alert for any sign of danger. The forest was a labyrinth of twisting vines and towering trees.

After what felt like hours of trekking, the forest began to thin. The towering trees gave way to smaller, more widely spaced specimens, and the undergrowth became less dense. As they emerged from the trees, they found themselves in a vast, open grassland.

The sun beat down on their backs as they gazed out across the endless expanse of green. Scattered throughout the grassland were small groves of trees, providing much-needed shade and shelter.

A pristine river, shimmering like a silver ribbon, cut through the heart of the grassland. Its width spanned roughly 50 meters, its waters inviting and clear.

In exactly such a shelter, Thalion and his friends hid, crouching in a small hollow beneath one of the smaller trees on the grassland. They started identifying the beasts that roamed the area.

A herd of six-legged, horse-like creatures with vines growing out of their backs grazed peacefully on the lush grass, their long, slender necks swaying rhythmically.

"Vinehorses, level 17," Mike muttered silently.

In the distance, they spotted a truly awe-inspiring sight: a creature the size of a small elephant, its massive body covered in a thick, leathery hide. Its most striking feature was the pair of large, horn-like structures on its head, glowing with a soft, bioluminescent light. Its skin was a deep, iridescent blue, and its eyes glowed with a haunting green. It moved with ponderous grace, its massive feet leaving deep tracks in the soft earth.

Thalion identified it.

Glowhorn Level Unknown

Yeah, wouldn’t have made sense to hunt that thing anyway," he thought.

He moved on to a group of beasts standing in the shallow river waters, probably munching on some seagrass. Their bodies looked a bit like hippos, with bright orange skin covered in large warts that pulsated with blue bioluminescent light at irregular intervals. From their torsos emerged strong, two-meter-long wormlike necks that ended in big mouths that looked harmless, with tiny black eyes on the sides.

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Mudwallers Level Unknown

In the distance, he spotted another new variant: cow-sized, boar-like creatures with sharp bone spikes emerging from their backs. Although their tusks were long and razor-sharp, their diet probably wasn’t only vegetables and fruits.

Razorbacks Level 12

"Everything here is too high-level. We need to move on," Emily said, annoyed.

"No, not yet. Let’s grab some water first. Even if we’re not thirsty, we don’t know when we’ll get another chance," Mike interjected. "I think if the vinehorses slowly keep moving, we have a short window where we can sprint to the river and back without coming close to any beasts."

"I think we should wait too," James added. "If not for the water, maybe if some overconfident orcs are hunting here, we could finish them off after their resources are spent fighting one of those beasts. Anyway, our ambushes have worked best so far."

Everyone agreed on that. While they were hiding, three Razorbacks traveled by, but they decided against fighting them. It would definitely be a hard fight, and the noise could alert other survivors in the area.

They all decided that if they were going to kill something, it had to be quick, and afterward, they needed to move fast or find another hiding spot. They spent the better part of the day hiding, only occasionally going for a little drink at the river.

Thalion enjoyed flashing between the river and their hideout with Telekinetic Dash—that spell was so much fun.

As time passed, the sun began to go down, and nervousness spread through the group like wildfire. They had achieved nothing in terms of gaining levels that day, and the discussion about what to do next grew more heated.

"I say we stay and wait until one of these beasts starts sleeping, then go for a quick kill," Lukas suggested. "If we cover ourselves with grass or moss while lying down in this small hollow, we should be undetectable to other survivors."

"We don't have the high ground here," Emily argued. "They'll see us first."

"Last night, it took us almost two hours to prepare our hideout," Mike pointed out. "Today, it's just too late for that."

"I like the idea of taking out some beasts while they’re sleeping," James said. "We need to level up. We got lucky yesterday with the mantas and grasshoppers, but eventually, everyone who’s still in the first stage will move on to this one. With more survivors at this stage, it’ll be harder to hide. We need every level we can get."

Before they could continue discussing, a giant beast burst out of the forest and, without any hesitation, charged directly at the massive glowhorn.

The beast had the muscular build of a tiger, with a mottled gray coat and a broad, powerful wolf-like head. Long, sharp claws extended from its paws, and its teeth were long and curved at the ends.

Shadowstalker Level Unknown

The glowhorn, a colossal creature, seemed startled but quickly recovered. With a bellow that echoed across the grassland, it lowered its glowing horns and charged the shadowstalker, the ground trembling beneath its massive feet.

The two clashed with a force that shook the earth, and the glowhorn bucked the shadowstalker off with a violent toss of its head. The fight continued to escalate, with each creature inflicting damage on the other.

The shadowstalker moved with a fluid grace that belied its ferocity. Its powerful muscles rippled under its skin as it slowly circled the glowhorn, eyes fixed on its target.

The two creatures circled each other, locked in a deadly standoff. Then everything happened in a blur. The shadowstalker exploded with power and speed, launching itself at the glowhorn, claws extended, and teeth bared. It narrowly dodged the glowing horns and leaped onto the glowhorn’s back, sinking its teeth into the shoulders and tearing the skin with its claws.

The glowhorn tried to shake the shadowstalker off, bucking violently as the predator wrestled to bring it down, its jaws moving closer to the glowhorn's neck. Then, in a sudden burst of power, the glowhorn unleashed a wave of mana, throwing the shadowstalker off its back and sending it tumbling across the ground. With an enraged roar, the glowhorn charged at the fallen predator.

The shadowstalker quickly regained its footing and sprinted toward the glowhorn. At the last moment before impact, it dodged to the side, its teeth glowing with a gray hue as it bit down hard on the glowhorn’s leg. Thalion could hear the bone crack with a sickening snap. The glowhorn screeched in pain, whipping its head around to pierce the shadowstalker’s side with one of its horns, then flinging it aside. Blood soaked the shadowstalker's fur as it howled in agony.

But the injury didn’t stop it. Though slower now, the shadowstalker resumed circling the glowhorn, dodging its horns and biting into its side, tearing at the flesh.

Thalion watched as both creatures grew weaker, the shadowstalker continuing to bite and tug while the glowhorn occasionally unleashed mana waves to fend it off. After observing the struggle for another minute, he finally spoke.

"Okay, let’s go. This is our chance."

"What? Are you crazy?" Emily immediately protested. "We can’t even see their levels!"

"No, I agree," Mike said. "We’ll never get a golden opportunity like this again."

"Yeah, let’s kill them," James added, nodding.

Lukas and David also nodded in agreement.

Thalion activated Telekinetic Dash and rushed toward the two battling beasts. He conjured a fireball and hurled it at the shadowstalker. The explosion disrupted the shadowstalker’s grip on the glowhorn, and the glowhorn took the opportunity to ram the predator with its side, sending it sprawling to the ground. That’s when Mike arrived, likely using a movement skill to close the distance so quickly.

Mike slashed at the shadowstalker’s eye, his blade crackling with electricity. The beast howled in agony as its eye was completely destroyed.

The glowhorn, focused solely on its opponent and charged again, ramming its horn into the shadowstalker and lifting it off the ground before tossing it aside. The shadowstalker landed on its back and didn’t get up again.

At that moment, Lukas and James rushed in, using their shields to ramm the glowhorn’s broken leg, causing it to scream in pain and collapse. Meanwhile, Thalion hurled another fireball at the glowhorn’s face, making it thrash wildly on the ground. Mike raised his sword for the killing blow, but Thalion stopped him.

"Wait, let me try to take its form," Thalion said.

Thalion approached the glowhorn and activated "Acquire Form." He could feel his mana attempting to enter the creature's body, but the glowhorn resisted, pushing his mana back, the spell had failed.

"Okay, it doesn’t work that way. Kill it," Thalion instructed.

Mike reacted instantly, plunging his sword through the glowhorn’s eye, ending its life.

Thalion activated "Acquire Form" again. This time, there was no resistance from the beast, and his mana flowed through its body before returning to him.

You have acquired a new form Glowhorn

"Yes, it worked!" Thalion cheered triumphantly. He then turned to the now motionless shadowstalker and activated his skill once more. Moments later, a notification appeared.

You have acquired a new form Shadowstalker

Thalion immediately opened his notifications and checked his status screen.

You have slain Glowhorn Level 25

You have slain Shadowstalker Level 25

You have reached Level 9

Status:

Name: Thalion Walker

Age 30

Height 1.93

Level 9

Race: Common Human (G)

Class: Shapeshifter

Health: 100/100

Mana: 60/380

Stamina: 80/90

Experience points 678/2198

Stats:

Strength: 10

Agility: 7

Endurance: 8

Intelligence: 38

Wisdom: 20

Dexterity: 5

Perception: 6

Toughness: 6

Vitality: 10

Fate: 3

Skills:

Fireball (Common), Mana Barrier (Common), Telekinetic Dash (Rare), Acquire Form (Rare), Shapeshift (Rare), Identify (Common), Echoes of Worlds (Common)

Titles:

none

Form:

Shadowstalker (Epic) Level 9

Glowhorn (Epic) Level 9

Bloodline:

none

So, the forms he acquired were always at his current level, Thalion thought.

He currently had 52 free points, and since his class was heavily skewed toward intelligence and wisdom, he wanted to balance things out by investing in vitality and agility, perhaps even a few points in toughness.

Just then, he felt a faint nudge of awareness. Had someone identified him?

Before he could react, Mike's shout cut through his thoughts. "Watch out! Orcs!" Mike yelled, pointing over his shoulder.