After passing through the black doorway, I appeared in a rainforest. It was a breath of fresh air—literally—after that series of claustrophobic rooms and hallways.

The trees were the first sign that I wasn’t on Earth. Most of them were over ten feet in diameter, with bark that formed a honey-comb-like pattern. The trees were packed tightly together, and I could see a canopy of branches interwoven above me about twenty feet in the air, almost completely blocking out my view of the sky.

The bushes and shrubs on the ground were also unfamiliar. The closest plants had triangular, red leaves, and black berries.

In the upper left corner of my vision, the alpha symbol flashed. Mentally selecting it, I saw an announcement appear in blue text in the corner of my vision.

Welcome to the Yanir Rainforest! Once a year, the Yanir tree blooms at the heart of the rainforest. As the Yanir tree blooms, it grants nearby beings an increased awareness of their surroundings. Many creatures in the rainforest will fight for a place near the flowers.

After the blooms fade, participants will be teleported to the next stage.

Samantha said, sounding somewhat excited.

Samantha cut herself off, and her outline moved suddenly, and I reflexively followed it.

Samantha shouted.

As I dodged to the side, a yard-long snake that had been approaching me from behind a nearby bush pounced towards me.

I modulated my mana to add some Agility to my legs and Strength to my arms. Affecting two stats simultaneously was difficult, like exercising a muscle I had only just isolated, but it was doable. With a quick strike, I sliced off the snake’s head.

+20 coins

Level up!

I frowned, feeling like that was a bit anticlimactic. It had been a level 10 snake, and—

I felt like I was getting a headache from Samantha’s directions. “What? Why not put it into Mana Pool or Mana Regeneration? Or Agility, since I use that stat so much?”

Samantha asked, allowing a hint of exasperation in her tone.

I put the point into Strength. I hadn’t been expecting a full-on lecture.

Name:

Jarek

Level:

4

HP:

14/14

Physical Defense:

11 (+4)

Strength:

11 (+2)

Mental Power:

11

Dexterity:

10

Agility:

10 (+4)

Mana Pool:

13 (+1)

Mana Regeneration:

6 (+1)

Available Points:

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0

Coins:

50,320

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

None

Titles:

Skills and Spells:

Identify (F-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low)

Equipment:

Mana-infused Knife (F-rank): +1 Mana Pool, +1 Mana regen.

Orc Helmet (F-rank): +2 Physical Defense

Orc Breastplate (F-rank): +2 Physical Defense

Orc Boots (F-rank): +2 Agility

Orlan Blade (E-rank): +2 Strength, +2 Agility

Interdimensional Pouch (E-rank):

Samantha’s outline cut my study of the Status Window short. I dodged to the side, raising my sword as two panthers jumped down from the branches above me.

They landed lithely right where I had been standing. As they tried to circle around me, I struck the closest one.

The combat shadow showed mana flaring in the arms. Samantha said, with the same words flashing unnecessarily in my vision.

Adding Agility for a speedy attack and Strength for a heavier blow, I was able to kill the nearest panther with a single strike to its neck.

+20 coins

The second panther was already pouncing towards me, though. I twisted my body so that its claws only scratched my breastplate. As the panther’s jaws approached my neck, I stabbed my dagger into the roof of its mouth.

+20 coins

As I wiped my blades clean, I asked, “How do you know when I’m about to be attacked?”

Samantha said.

Before I climbed the tree, I glanced down at the corpses that were still at my feet. “Is there a reason their bodies are still here?”

Samantha snarked.

“Then why did the goblins and orc bodies disappear?”

Samantha commented, as if it were obvious.

I would have thought that climbing a tree would be harder in full orc armor. However, the raised honeycomb patterns on the bark provided easy hand and footholds, and I was able to climb without too much difficulty.

There were almost no branches around me, until about 20 feet in the air. It seemed a common trend, that these trees all grew branches at 20 feet, creating an interwoven series of branches. I ended up having to bend and break a few branches so I could have space to lift myself up through this canopy.

Standing on the branches was like standing on the ground again. The branches were so tightly woven together that I could see dirt and little flowers growing by my feet. There was a bit more light, but, to my surprise, there was a second canopy above me.

About twenty feet above me, there were frequent gaps in an interwoven net of branches similar to the one I was standing on now.

The most surprising thing to me was how clear my surroundings were. There were no branches I needed to push out of my way, and I could see hundreds of yards in every direction.

This also meant that I could clearly see the panthers that were rushing towards me as well.

I sighed and raised my sword.

The panthers were each around level 15 or so, but I didn’t feel much pressure as I evaded their attacks and dealt my own blows.

I could kill them with a single strike to the throat, and as long as I ensured their claws only scratched my armor, I was fine.

My only challenge was killing my enemies quickly enough. Even though my technical Mana Regeneration was 7 mana per minute, Samantha claimed one of those for herself, taking me down to 6. Then, when she used the combat shadows, that would take another 5 mana, leaving me with only 1 Mana Regeneration per minute while in combat.

After several minutes of exploring and fighting, I had killed six more of the panthers, and I was almost out of mana.

I took a few more scratches when fighting the panthers, but nothing compared to my previous wounds. It seemed Samantha was being more careful—presumably because there were no readily available Recovery Crystals.

It didn’t take long before I leveled up. With a replenished Mana Pool, I was ready to continue the hunt. I put my extra point into Strength again, at Samantha’s request.

Samantha said.

Name:

Jarek

Level:

5

HP:

15/15

Physical Defense:

11 (+4)

Strength:

12 (+2)

Mental Power:

11

Dexterity:

10

Agility:

10 (+4)

Mana Pool:

15 (+1)

Mana Regeneration:

7 (+1)

Available Points:

0

Coins:

50,560

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

None

Titles:

Skills and Spells:

Identify (F-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low)

Equipment:

Mana-infused Knife (F-rank): +1 Mana Pool, +1 Mana regen.

Orc Helmet (F-rank): +2 Physical Defense

Orc Breastplate (F-rank): +2 Physical Defense

Orc Boots (F-rank): +2 Agility

Orlan Blade (E-rank): +2 Strength, +2 Agility

Interdimensional Pouch (E-rank):