They system spoke out

“Spawning player in, hold a moment.”

The world around me was soft and pressed all around me. It was damp and I was surrounded by nutrients. In just a moment I went from that blank white room filled with questions to a place where my task was clear and could finally grow. My new form was that of a small orb. I was packed with nutrients and new instructions on what I could be. A near invisible seam crossed across my surface It would eventually crack and I would be free to grow. Water seeped into me in a way that felt strange but rewarding. I felt something begin to happen, I hadn’t done anything yet. The dirt around me shifted and I felt myself lift just a little higher.

You have been slain by an unknown creatures attack - Foraging

Once again I was in the white room but my options were far more limited. I had a timer to wait out passing in my head, already counting down from ten minutes. Near the center of the room I could see a version of me with another copy of the timer floating underneath. The seed tumbled in the air like it was falling. I stared at it, at me. I was still mildly unhappy to be something else than my core of metal and organics. Especially since it was clear my goals of growing just so happened to have enemies. Something other than me, the instructions, or the inherent flaws of the design wanted to stop me. Its foraging skill was clearly a devastating attack if it was able to stop me in one blow.

I tried to reach out and manipulated the seed, to do anything in this timeout box. On the floor of the room there was a small red x. The area around was labeled as unexplored and unavailable for spawn. It seemed I would be in the exact same spot when the timer ended. I wait and once again I was in the soft dirt. Unlike before the dirt beneath was smooshed a bit. I felt myself sink deeper for a moment before settling in the freshly turned nutrients. Water seeped in slowly. I seemed to need to absorb some amount of it to sprout. Between the rich nutrients and the water this seemed like a perfect home.

With every drip of what more and more of me seemed to come alive. There were threads of cells all throughout my form transporting water and changing. Bits of me expanded and in preparation. The nutrients around me seemed to move away as I watched the process expecting something. I felt myself move up suddenly and with a crunch I was once again in the white room with a now familiar message

You have been slain by an unknown creatures attack - Foraging

Something was after me, and there clearly wasn’t enough time until it found me to give this growing thing a chance. I once again examined where I could go and surprisingly I could just start a lil lower. That bit I sunk the first time seemed to give me options. Most of those options overlapped the first so it wasn’t much but maybe if I was deeper I could escape that foraging attack.

I set my plan into motion and to my dismay whatever beast was after me seemed intent to find me every ten minutes like clockwork. The beast was also inconsistent pushing me further to the sides where there was more compact dirt. It was almost as if these perfect nutrients were nothing but a trap, something to keep me here for the beast to find once more.

Geralt Velderbelt

Hunting, the collection of resources for pay and funds. The weight on his hip made him excited, it was a blade far longer than any he could have outside of this place. The bow in his hands was his weapon and he was after a boar. Apparently a group of newer testers found what they called a boss. There wasn’t any such thing in this game yet., the creatures never had enough time to actually get that strong. They left it alone since death was a log out until the next testing period but I was sure the beast was manageable. One of the older testers would always push us towards finding new things and if I took the thing down he promised some handsome rewards.

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The path I took was filled with brush putting me on high alert. Wild pigs were well known for coming out of nowhere both here and out in the real wilds. The thicket was prickly and kept either damaging me or my clothes. The thicket clung to my clothes the closer I got which wasn’t in those new players' information but it was already a days old.

Near the center of the now brambles there was a clearing. A large tree grew out of the very center of the clearing. Just at its base, rooting at the base of the tree was the beast. Three times the size of any boar I had seen in this forest or so close to this starter village. It too was covered in thick spiny brambles that covered its back. With its head buried in the dirt it was the perfect time to make my move. I knocked an arrow and when my aim was true I let loose.

With the hit the sound of cracking branches echoed through the clearing. The beast squealed in anger, turning to face its attacker. Each of the beast's movements cracked more of the branches. It moved slowly at first but soon it was charging. At the man who was already launching another arrow at the beast. The freshly loose arrow stuck in the brambles as the man narrowly rolled to dodged the charge. He ran from the brambles into the clearing, attempting to make it to the tree shooting an arrow that flew wide in his rush. The beast disappeared into the brambles, its thudding hooves telling the man it was circling. It was fast enough that it didn’t seem impeded by the forest in the slightest and seemed to get faster with each loop. When it emerged the man knew why it spent the time. The brambles on its back had grown, collected together atop the beast as it charged at him like a brambly forest. He leapt away from the tree attempting and succeeding at a dodge. In a moment the boar was back in the forest.

The man rushed back to the tree looking for something. The freshly dug out dirt was the only clue so he buried a hand in the dirt looking for whatever it was the boar was after. Near the bottom of the soft dirt the man found something hard. He pulled it out in triumph only to look disappointed. The thing being the seed the boar was after made it screech in further anger charging at the man again assuring him he did get the right thing.

The beast expected the next attempted dodge. The man looked at the beast in horror as the brambles caught his leg. The sharp pricks dug into his clothes and flesh, dragging him along in the charge. The man clung to the prized seed sure of its value trying to do something with it. Even with the brambles seeming to actively dig in and assure the man eventually dead he seemed calm. He kept moving his hand like he expected something to happen. Then he put the seed in a pouch made of kinflesh and threw the thing. It was distressing to see the prize lost. It flew far into the depths of the forest away from the soon defended home. The entire point of this home was its endless prize. The beast did return to the soft dirt seeking the seed but it was clearly sealed in kinflesh and would not return until found. The boar held out hope that the seed would return. Seeking it out would have to happen after some proper hunting since foraging for so long left a dirty taste, especially since meat was so easy apparently.