Raj did not encounter any monsters or clearings on his walk, which made him slightly suspicious. Maybe they are running from something? He thought. After an entire half hour of tense forest walking, he finally saw a sliver of light cutting through the foliage. Excited, Raj made his way towards the break at a fast, yet still cautious, pace. When he finally got through, all of his suspicions and tensions were momentarily forgotten as he just stood there, dumbfounded and awestruck by the view.

A brilliant blue sky looked down on a seemingly never-ending expanse of plains, filled with grass that was tall and vibrant. Not 20 feet away from Raj was a group of what looked to be the same boar-like creatures as the carcass back at the clearing. Curious, he identified one.

[Boaralo - lvl 2]

Raj stood there for a moment, stupefied. Boaralo? Why? Then he realized that the creature kind of looked like a cross between… that’s right, a boar and a buffalo. It was big and stocky, with two horns resting atop its head. It had a layer of fur, and a pig-like face with two pointed ears jutting out from the top of its head. There is no way this great cosmic entity, that can literally end a planet, and kidnap billions of people, and control a sizable chunk of the universe, has the naming sense of a literal toddler.

Shaking his head, he realized that there were about fifty of the boaralos milling about in the field. He also realized that he only needed one. He wasn’t exactly sure if they were safe to eat, but it was made of pig, so maybe? Wait, I don’t eat red meat and pork. But to be fair, any sort of religious stuff like that is kind of tossed out in the face of this. My survival is more important to me than my religion, however, so…gimme some bacon!

Without wasting any more time, he charged up a Mana Slash, and sent it flying towards what seemed to him like a healthy boaralo, and then, after the rest of the herd had started to panic and stampede he ran over to quickly finish it off and drag it into the forest before they could mount a counterattack.

You have slain [Boaralo - lvl 2].

Bringing the carcass back to his clearing was a struggle. The boaralo was heavy! He had been walking for two minutes when he stopped. I am so stupid. There’s no way I forgot that I had this item. I literally just found it! Embarrassed, he placed his meal in his storage ring, and started walking again. Whoops, he thought. At least I didn’t walk too far like that. He was still a few minutes out, but the idea of a meal seemed to light a fire under him. Unfortunately for him, the tutorial wasn’t going to let him have it easily.

When he was roughly 2 minutes away from the clearing, he heard a noise from his left, and turned, only to find a deer-like animal bounding right at him. He firmly grasped his sword, ready to fight. He triggered Identify(Common).

[Elk - lvl 3]

The beast was strong, but he was still confident in his abilities, and he knew he could beat it. He was ready for the fight. However, the elk did not look to fight him. Rather, it bounded past him, leaving Raj confused, wondering what had just happened. The elk almost looked like it was scared.

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Now, Raj was not the biggest genius in the world or anything, but even his brain was able to piece together what was happening, and it made him pale. The only real possibility was that the elk was spooked away by something stronger. It was at least his level, but Raj had a sneaking suspicion that it was higher. A couple seconds later, his suspicions were confirmed.

A monstrosity of a behemoth stepped forth out of the shadows of the forest, immediately locking eyes with Raj. It had scales as black as night, claws sharper than a knife, razor-sharp teeth, and a somewhat intelligent look in its golden eyes. The cobra hood around its head spread itself wide. It looks like a mutated cross between a lizard and a king cobra on steroids. Raj identified the beast, and what he saw instantly made his heart stop cold.

[Gorlax - lvl 8]

Level 8?!? There was no way! The damn thing was double his own level! He tried to creep backwards into the forest, but the gorlax lunged at him so fast it was all he could do to throw himself to the side. He stumbled back onto his feet, and sent a Mana Slash(Common) at it. The gorlax turned right into the slash, and Raj started to internally cheer, only to see the gorlax balance on one leg and twist itself out of the way, only receiving a minor scratch. What the actual fuck! Raj mentally exclaimed. Did I just watch a mutated lizard fucking breakdance out of the way of my slash?

He sent another horizontal Mana Slash(Common), and this time he did manage to get a proper hit. The slash slammed into the lizard’s chest, and… stopped. What? My Mana Slash(Common) isn’t strong enough? It must have good natural defense with the scales. Raj did not relent, knowing that if he gave up on the offensive, he was as good as dead. He had to kill the gorlax before it could retaliate.

He sent yet another slash at the gorlax this time aiming for its eyes to buy him a couple of precious seconds. He used the time to charge at the beast, and just as the lizard twisted to minimize the damage of the slash, Raj jumped on top of the monster. The lizard bucked and tried to throw him off, but Raj wildly stabbed down, once, twice, three times, and was rewarded as his blade struck true, piercing the scales of the gorlax and causing massive internal damage. The lizard roared in defiance, managing to shake him off, throwing him five feet away.

Raj rolled a few times, but managed to quickly get up. He was shocked to find a line of blood that weaved its way down his chest. When did the gorlax scratch me? The wound was not life threatening, and did not limit his movement, so he just brushed it off. He sent three Mana Slash(Common) attacks at the lizard, all at different angles and places, trying to ensure he got a hit.

The lizard surprised him by running into one of the Mana Slash(Common) attacks, and it charged straight towards him. Not expecting the move, Raj’s reaction was delayed, and he paid for it dearly. Claws sank deep into his gut, and teeth sank into left shoulder. Raj gasped in pain, desperately trying to tear away. His vision started to dim, and he was losing consciousness and blood fast. Still, he knew had to do something. Mustering every last ounce of power he had, he sent a mana slash into the lizard’s gut, making it recoil back. Raj followed the blow with a devastating strike through the still open mouth of the gorlax.

He plunged his blade through the roof of its mouth, carving up the inside of its mouth and hoping to deal vital damage. His limbs started to fail him, and he started to fall. With one last desperate thrust, he finally found the damn thing’s brain, and a rush of EXP flooded into him. As Raj started to fade out of consciousness, his last thought was to dump all of his free stats into VIT, praying that it would be enough to save his life.