Chapter 2: Exploration

I’m a panacea and everyone is out, or will be out, to get me. The birds that have previously been chirping happily up in the trees now sound menacing like harbingers of death. They haven’t found me yet, but it is only a matter of time before one will swoop down and eat me whole.

Slowly, I move closer to the nearest tree and blend in with the bark as much as I can. I don’t have any stealth skills if such things even exist, but as I do my best to blend in with the tree, I find myself doing a pretty good job.

I look up at the crown of the tree and notice how large these trees are, or how small I am. A few of the tree’s roots reach up to my hips. Considering how tall the average tree is on Earth…I’m around forty centimetres tall? Are the birds so big then? I’m not intending to fight them anyway, not that I can climb one of the trees and fight one of the possibly cat-sized birds that are lazing on the branches.

Okay, so what now? Food, water, and shelter, right? At least, that is what a human needs. I’m a mandrake so do I even need to eat? I might need water, but a place to hide from the monsters is more important than that since everything will be out to kill me when they realise what I am.

That brings me to my next point; how do I defend myself from the monsters? With my thoughts, I open my menu and look at all the skills. The only skill I have that can be considered an attack is Mandrake Screech. And even the system says that it is weak. So, I won’t be screaming at birds, making them fall dead out of the trees. At least anytime soon. It does say that I can stun an enemy with it. That can certainly be useful in some situations where I need to run away. And can it be used as a weapon when I am close to the enemy? Distance has to count for something.

The other skill that might be useful in combat is Body of Roots. Maybe I can change my body to have more offensive capabilities?

Ugh, I should have listened to my brother and Jimmy talk about this stuff more often. If I had listened to them nagging on, maybe I would have learned something, or seen something that I don’t do now.

Focus Samuel. Now is no time to cry about spilt milk. You are in a new world with monsters, levels, and stats.

I take a deep breath and focus on the skill I want to activate. Something switches on in my mind like a light bulb. Before I can do anything, it shuts off again thanks to my surprise.

Let’s do that again, but focus on the changes I want to make. The skill snaps on again and my body feels heavy like clay. Almost as if I can stretch my will out to shape it how I want it to be.

I stretch out one of my hands and try to change something. One of my four gnarled fingers grows in length. I shut off the skill and look at the results. It feels strange, my finger now having grown longer. I move it again, getting used to how it now feels.

This is fun and all, but this doesn’t help me defend myself.

I channel the skill and focus on another finger. Instead of lengthening it, I sharpen the tip like a claw. My mind strains at the effort and the skill seems to find this more difficult than just lengthening the finger. Though, slowly, the end of my finger grows sharper. But then, before I am satisfied, the skill shuts itself off, having decided that this is the limit of my current prowess.

I try again, but don’t find any purchase on that finger no matter how hard I try. I can make other changes, but making it sharper seems to be out of the question for now.

Is this because Body of Roots is only level one? So the changes I can make to my body cannot deviate too much from the original? It seems logical. It would be a bit unfair to be able to change my fingers into razor-sharp claws right away.

This time I focus on another finger on my hand, sharpening this one too. During the process, tiredness starts to set in. When I finish this finger, I am gasping for breath.

*Body of Roots (C) lvl 1/20 -> Body of Roots (C) lvl 2/20.

Nice? Can I make my fingers sharper now?

I take a deep breath and push the exhaustion away. I activate the skill again but it shuts off before I can make any changes.

Annoyed I look for the problem.

SP 2/10

Ah, that must be it. This skill consumes stamina and I am almost out of stamina.

I can just go look for shelter now, but that would be unwise. I can fight something now with my two slightly sharp fingers. Though, I don’t see that faring well either way. Best to just take it slow and steady.

I hide for a bit, waiting for my stamina to recover and change the shape of all my fingers. It will take a while but better safe than sorry.

While waiting I pull up my skill window again.

Skills: 5/17 skill slots in use

Photosynthesis (C) lvl 1/20: Stand still in the light of the sun to catch its energy and make it yours. Increases Stamina and Health regeneration slightly.

Mandrake Screech (C) lvl 1/20: A mandrake’s scream is its only method of defence. Damages enemies slightly and has a chance to stun an opponent.

Identify (C) lvl 1/20: See through opponents and enemies alike. Allows the user to see basic information and gives access to the most commonly known knowledge.

Nature Affinity (Un) lvl 1/20: Born in a place of nature, you have gained the favour of it.

Body of Roots (C) lvl 2/20: Allows the user to make small changes to their body.

My eyes are drawn to the top of the window. I only have seventeen skill slots. That is problematic. I can’t just get all the skills I want. I have to choose each and every one carefully.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

All the skills I have speak for themselves, except Nature Affinity. What does it mean to have the favour of nature? Will I be able to command the trees to do my bidding someday? Actually, that sounds cool. Just imagine a whole forest standing up and marching into war.

Is that even possible in this world? Everyone here has skills, levels and stats. Though, where does the pinnacle of power lie? Can the strongest being in this world destroy entire cities on their own; slay armies with their spell or sword?

It is scary to imagine people like that. Especially since they must be interested in potions made out of mandrake blood and flesh.

My mind turns back to all the snippets of conversations I overheard between my brother and Jimmy. They were obsessed with stories like this; people dying and becoming monsters in their second life.

One of the things that I remember is that the main character in those stories was always starved for human contact. So as the story progresses they find civilisation and get almost killed since the main character forgot that they were a monster.

Now I really, really wonder who in the entire world would do something so stupid. Monsters and humanoids as a rule of thumb don’t go well together in a fantasy world.

For me, as a mandrake, this is more problematic. I won’t just be killed when I find a civilisation, I will be hunted.

Seeing that my SP has regenerated a bit, I change another one of my fingers.

I’m already tired of waiting, though rushing straight into danger, isn’t something I am willing to do with my life on the line.

***

I miss my watch. I don’t know how much time has passed but it has to be a few hours at least. I look down at my hands and flex my fingers. All eight of them have been changed into the sharp claw-like variant. All the effort even gave me another level in Body of Roots.

Now I’m not entirely defenceless, I can start wandering the forest searching for shelter.

Crouched down, I leave my safe haven against the bark of the tree and step out into the sunlight. The leaves on my crown unfurl and begin catching the rays of sunlight that rain down. It feels good, energising even as the leaves make the power of the sun mine.

A part of me wants to stand here for the rest of the day, embracing this sensation, bating in this feeling of bliss and joy. Don’t tell me that I now also have mandrake instincts to deal with. This day just keeps getting worse.

I step back into the shade and everything fades back to normal. The leaves on my crown fold in on themselves since they aren’t able to catch the sunlight. The additional energy leaves my body, making me feel like someone has dunked me into cold water.

Maybe if I am strong enough to just stand around in the sun, not getting killed by a monster, I will allow myself to bathe in sunlight for relaxation and explore this part of myself more.

I step out again, this time ignoring the sensation and sneak through the forest, staying close to the trees, hidden from the birds that scour the ground for any tasty morsel.

A part of me expects a human or a monster to jump out from behind a tree, snatch me off the ground and turn me into a potion on the spot. Instead, one of the birds up high in the trees, one of the falcon-sized ones eyes me.

In return, I keep a part of my attention on it until I’m out of sight.

***

After sneaking from tree to tree for what feels like hours, I hear the flowing of water off in the distance. With curiosity, I make my way over to it.

Monsters also need food and water. So this is an excellent place to scope out the competition. Perhaps there are even a few that have lowered their guard, giving me a chance to kill them.

The closer I get to the sound of running water, the more packed the forest becomes with vegetation. The parts of the forest I have explored up till now have just been tall trees spread out on an even, smooth carpet of grass. I almost thought that the system, whatever it is, had done a poor job of creating a forest.

Now though, perhaps the proper plant life lacked the needed amount of water to flourish. Ugh, I hate this. I have so many questions and no answers. I just have to take things in like they are, but that will get me killed when something is not as it seems someday.

I push the thoughts away since now is not the time to ponder this reality and if anything here truly exists or if this is just a conjuration of my dying brain doing dying brain stuff.

Small and large shrubs with blue and purple berries grow in frequency. I take advantage of them and use them as extra cover, hiding from the ever-present birds that are still lazing and chirping up in the trees.

The abundance of vegetation grows as moss starts to cake the surface of trees. Far away, I hear the alien calls of monsters.

The increasing plant life reaches a zenith and before me, the forest opens up to reveal a gentle stream. I sneak towards the closest berry bush and hide in it. It gives me a full view of what is going on in and around the stream.

Just as I expected, it is teeming with creatures that are somewhat like the animals on Earth, and yet they have a few key differences.

On the other side of the stream, right across me, there is a large stag drinking from the water. The creature has smooth brown fur and looks completely normal if you discount the antlers. They almost seem to glow with a gentle light, but what is more interesting is that there are vines of blooming flowers curled around the horns

Recalling that I have a skill called Identify, I use it on the creature.

[Blooming Stag] lvl ??/?? (G)

Wait a minute, it is (G)? Is that its grade? Which one did I have again? (I)? I thought the I stood for 1, not the I in the alphabet. So there is an entire grade between us?

In no universe, I want to tangle with that thing.

I peer out from the bush, searching for creatures that are at least in my same grade.

My gaze lands upon a blue beetle that seems to be the smallest of the monsters drinking and lazing around the stream.

I push my mind to use the skill but I don’t find any purchase this time. Damn, it looks like I have to be closer to it to see what its level is.

I shoot from bush to bush, closing in on the blue beetle until I am close enough to use Identify.

Upon closer inspection, the beetle looks like something I don’t want to tangle with either. It's built to withstand a siege; thick plates of chitin protect it from any attack and on its menacing face sits a pair of mandibles that blend from its indigo into a dark, discomforting black. What’s worse is that the mandibles have barbs to tear flesh from any creature.

Slowly, I get closer. Not to fight it, I just want to see what grade it is.

[Cobalt Coleoptera] lvl ??/?? (H)

Okay, so it is a grade above me. But how large is the difference between grades? For all I know, I can take that beetle on, or it can take ten of me on at the same time.

I turn away from the beetle and look at the remaining creatures around the stream. They too are (H) or (G) grade. On the other side of the stream, to the left, there is one stupid orange lizard with googly eyes and a stupidly long tongue that it uses to lap up the water. Disgusting. Even the other monsters don’t like the orange lizard, with all of them not willing to get closer to the stupid creature.

I swear, If I didn’t hold my life in high regard, I would jump out of the bushes, grab that stupid tongue, and strangle the beast to death with it.

After fantasising how I would stand on its corpse in a victory pose, with one hand in the air as everyone else does when they triumphed, I move away from the stream to find a place to call home in this world.

Already the sun is high in the sky, slowly lowering towards the horizon again.

Whatever happens, I don’t want to be out and about when it is night. If game logic is the norm here, strong monsters will roam the forest during the night, killing anything they come across.