Lucas was ecstatic with his new achievement. It not only recognized his efforts to survive, but most importantly, it gave him a big boost in his stats, with 11 points in each. He looked at his stats to see the changes.

Status:

Lvl: 10*

Name: Lucas Romano

Race: Human

Class: N/A

Health Points (HP): 60/380

Mana Points (MP): 300/300

Stamina: 40/200

Stats:

Strength: 31

Agility: 32

Toughness: 5*

Perception: 26

Vitality: 27*

Magic: 17

Distributable points: 0

Achievements: Special Unique Constitution. Survivor.

Abilities: Beginner Craftsman 1. Disembowelment. Beginner Skinner.

Skills: Flying Axe. Stealth (Common). Death Aura Manipulation (Inferior).

The difference in his stats were incredible. It would take him many levels to reach those points, even if eventually the amount of points given per level changed.

His first achievement was the special constitution, but that didn’t award him with any stat increase. Probably because it was simply handed to him, but the second one really showed him how important achievements were, but also how hard it was to get them.

He had come pretty close to dying, and just barely made it out alive; that wasn’t something that could be replicated, or even if it could, there were no guarantees that the System would award with an achievement if it was done on purpose.

No, Lucas knew he was lucky. A million different things could have gone wrong in his escape, but in the end, he succeeded. That wasn’t a situation he would put himself in if he could avoid it, not for any achievement. But he would go back, however. He just needed to be strong enough to show that spider that she messed with the wrong person.

For now, however, he needed to keep his rage in check. He had become much stronger after leaving the Dark Forest, but he knew it still wasn’t enough to face the giant spider.

Diverging his thoughts, he looked at the last part of the description of the achievement. He had used his bone as a tool to saw the web he was trapped in, and he had mistakenly used his bone to kill one of the smaller spiders, and the System seemed to think this was worthy of mention.

Was the System messing with him, talking about him using his bone on his path to greatness? It really seemed like it. So far, his bones have always been a hindrance in his life, and the only reason he was able to use them to escape in the first place, was the fact that they were weak enough for him to crush with only one hand. But seeing as he had gained plenty from it, he decided not to take offense or think too much about it.

He looked at his injured arm and saw for the first time how bad it looked. It probably looked better before he impaled the spider with it, but now it was popping out even more than before, and blood covered the whole thing.

On top of that, he had probably lost a few pieces of the bone in the process of sawing the web, and he wasn’t sure if it would grow back. But now his Vitality was 27, so he was hopeful. First, however, he needed to put the bone back where it should be.

Why do I keep doing this to myself?, he couldn’t help but ask himself when he faced the task at hand. It seemed that he was injuring himself constantly ever since arriving on this planet, almost like he had a death wish. He shook his head. He would probably be faced with this same question a lot of times in the future. There was no escape; the path to power seemed full of dangers.

He knew what he had to do. Comforting himself with the idea that the worst had already passed, he gripped his arm tightly and, with a sudden movement, placed his bone back where it should be. This time, no longer hindered by spiders, he screamed until he passed out from the pain.

Lucas woke up to a stinging pain. The first thing he noticed was that the flesh where the bone had come out had already closed. But what he imagined as the bones growing or patching up together was still sending excruciating waves of pain through his body.

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His upgrades had come with a very painful price, but he couldn’t stop now. He was hungry and out of food, and soon he would need to go out to hunt. But first, he wanted to see exactly where he was. He took out his map out and traced back the path he had follow ever since he was captured by the spider.

Luckily, the spider hadn’t diverted much from the path he was taking and even brought him closer to his destination. If he had retraced his steps correctly, the city should be right behind that mountain. This time, he wouldn’t climb the darn thing and instead would go around it. It probably wouldn’t be much fun to climb that thing using only one arm.

Having decided on his path, he started searching for materials to make a sling for his arm. After that was done, he bid farewell to the cave and left.

He had decided to use his spear to hunt since his axe was lost in the Dark Forest, and he couldn’t be bothered to make another with only one arm. But he was fine with it, it was probably better to keep beasts away from his body anyway. He just really wished this world had some painkillers.

…

Elasmorhum — Lvl 15

He was facing a beast that walked on four legs with a sturdy build and a massive horn on its forehead, much like a unicorn’s. Its thick fur covered most of its body, leaving only space for Lucas to see the fury in its eyes.

Lucas remembered how he had struggled to fight the lvl 15 Vodyanoy back in the Dark Forest. He had only managed to edge out a victory in the end by making use of his new skill related to the death aura, but that had left him dangerously close to death with the amount of health it had drained from him. This time, he wouldn’t use his death aura, but he had also grown a lot thanks to his new achievement. He couldn’t gain any levels from this fight, but he was anxious to test himself.

As soon as he appeared in front of the beast, it charged straight at him, aiming to pierce him with its massive horn. Lucas executed a simple dodge, feeling like he was moving without any gravity. The difference eleven points made was incredible. He decided not to play with his prey this time and thrust his spear towards the side of the beast. The spear didn’t fail him and went very deep into the creature’s body. He retrieved it and backed away.

The Elasmorhum didn’t die, however, and came back for a second round. Its movements were limited, and with Lucas’s newfound agility, it became easy to dodge. It didn’t take long for him to defeat it.

*You have killed Elasmorhum – lvl 15.*

Lucas checked his status, but despite killing a beast five levels above his own, it didn’t award him with any level-ups, as he was expecting. With the confirmation, Lucas stopped where he was to prepare his meal and store the rest of the beast for later.

As he was about to leave, he heard the sounds of fighting nearby and went to investigate.

Upon arrival, he was surprised to see another person engaged in combat. She wielded a bow and was pretty skilled in it. She had her back turned towards him, so he couldn’t see her face, only her brown, shaggy hair and lean figure. Despite facing a pack of beasts, she had the upper hand, even managing to hold her ground against five of them at once.

Lucas didn’t intrude; instead, he remained where he was, observing. His last encounter with people before the giant spider captured him hadn’t been the best, so he was a little wary. Besides, it didn’t seem like she needed any help. Seeing her fight so proficiently, he was curious to know her level, but he was afraid that she would notice if he attempted to identify her, so he waited.

Every arrow she released found its mark, and she was in constant movement, never letting any of the beasts get near her. It was mesmerizing to watch. She could shoot an arrow mid-jump or while running without affecting her aim. Her only problem seemed to be the power of her shots, or perhaps the arrow and bow themselves. However, as time passed, the beasts began to fall one by one.

After seven more minutes, the fight was nearly over, with only one beast remaining, when suddenly, a different type of beast emerged from behind her. It resembled a giant snake and moved with deadly silence, the kind that could catch you off guard if you weren’t vigilant.

Lucas waited to see if she would notice, but she was focused on fighting the last beast in front of her, and Lucas even thought he heard her say, “Take that!”. It was clear that she wouldn’t see the beast in time, which was only 10 feet away from her. Cursing under his breath, Lucas came out of his hiding spot, ran, and threw his spear in one fluid motion.

*You have killed Silverboa – lvl 11. Experience earned.*

She turned around immediately, having already killed her target. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and she turned around and looked at the snake dead behind her and back at him.

“What happened to your ears?” was the first thing she said.

“My ears?” Lucas put his hand on his ears just to check if they were still there. “What’s wrong with them?”

“They are… round…”

When she said that her hair moved and he saw her pointy ears sticking out of her hair, his heart sped up, and the next thing he did was identify her.

Elf — Lvl 9

“Are you… are you an elf?” That was probably a very stupid question to ask, since he knew for sure that she was, but he was so surprised by that fact that the words just came out of his mouth.

“What are you…” She stopped mid-sentence and seemed to focus on something above his head, her eyes opened wide. “Human?”

He couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of elves existing in real life. He had only recently accepted the weird reality of being transported to this planet with a videogame-like system, but what was an elf doing there? Wasn’t it supposed to be just humans from Earth? And on top of that, she seemed as surprised as he was.

The seconds of silence turned into minutes as they both stared at each other. Lucas was trying to see how different an elf was from a human. Apart from the pointy ears, he could say that maybe she was thinner? But that wasn’t entirely accurate, as there were many humans with a similar figure.

She wasn’t very tall either, but she was very pretty, and Lucas began to feel self-conscious about his own appearance, adding to the awkwardness of the situation. He probably looked like someone who had been living in the dirt for the past month; his beard had spread unevenly across his face by now, probably not helping to hide his caveman theme.

“What is that on your face?” she asked, sounding curious.

“This?” He placed his hand on his face and felt his beard. “It’s hair.”

“Hair? Do humans have hair on their faces?” She seemed to have accepted the idea of humans existing pretty quickly, even faster than Lucas, who had already heard of elves in mythology and fiction. Wait… Do they have humans in their mythology?

“Not all of them. Mostly only men, and some of us tend to shave… Look, that’s a lot to process. Do you want to talk somewhere less exposed?” Lucas was really anxious to learn more about elves and what she was doing there in the first place, but it seemed strange to talk while standing in the middle of the forest, 10 feet apart.

She took a few seconds to answer, her face showed uncertainty, and Lucas wondered about her age. She seemed pretty young, about the same age as him, but in fiction, elves used to live for centuries, so he couldn’t be sure.

“Yes, but I haven’t eaten yet,” she said, looking at the beasts she had killed. Lucas understood.

“I can prepare some for you if you don’t mind,” Lucas offered; he had become pretty good at cooking meat, after all. She smiled. “Yes, thank you.”

Lucas nodded, smiling. “Let’s go then!”

If he had to say so himself, his second interaction with an alien species hadn’t been so bad.