Chapter 3: Home

In the end I decided to stay close to the stream, having decided that the abundance of vegetation is good enough to hide from all the monsters around while also giving me a good opportunity to scope out my future competition.

This is also the most likely place for me to find something that can be called shelter. So once again I dart from bush to bush, hiding from the monsters that are going to and leaving the stream that vitalises the forest.

Though, it’s quite interesting that with so many species almost no fights have broken out. It appears that most are here just to drink some sweet water. But then again a few are also here for a nice meal…

Once I saw a wolf-like creature with a horn on its head munch down on one of those stupid orange lizards. It brings me joy to see that I am not the only one who dislikes those foul things.

It’s strange that I suddenly hold that much hatred for orange lizards. Are these my mandrake instincts again? And if so, why do I hate these monsters that much? Do they eat mandrakes for breakfast or something? No, that can’t be it. I think the system stated that mandrakes are in fact quite rare.

I look at the sun which has been plummeting towards the horizon at a faster rate. Cold sweat begins to bead my skin. I need to find shelter and I need to find it fast.

Before I know it the sun truly starts to set. During my time following the stream, I have found absolutely nothing. Sure there were a few burrows in the ground, but I’m not willing to enter one and possibly walk into a monster's home. There were also a few shrubs that were large enough and their branches had the same colour as my bark, however, hiding in plain sight just seems like a bad idea. For all I know the monsters that wander around at night have good sensory skills since they are used to the dark and all. With actual skills thrown into the mix, it wouldn’t surprise me if one of those monsters has a detection skill and could find me hiding in one of the larger bushes.

On another note, all the monsters used Identify on were either (H) or (G) grade. It seems that I’m in an area with strong monsters or that I’m just terribly weak. It’s probably the latter. I don’t see mandrakes being high up the totem pole in this world.

Perhaps I should fight something that has just been born, or I should do what normal mandrakes do; standing in the sun? Surely that also must be a way to gain experience. How else would an ordinary mandrake grow stronger?

Since wandering near the stream has proven to be useless, I head away, searching for a hollow tree or something along that line where I can hide for the night.

Not long later I spot what I’ve been searching for, a crevasse in a tree a good meter from the ground. After having moved closer to it, I hear the chirping of baby birds inside. Damn, this isn’t a place for me to rest. I mean, I can just kill all the baby birds but the parents will be mad if they return and find me sleeping in the nest they made for their chicks.

I spot a few more of the crevasses in trees, some looking artificially made. An image of me getting torn to bits by a papa bird that feeds me to his hatchlings flashes in my mind.

I look up at the sun, there is probably an hour of sunlight left before it falls below the horizon.

Getting desperate, I search among the roots of the trees for spaces large enough for me to hide in. Barely a few trees later, I find something. There is a small hole between the roots. Though, it isn’t large enough to be a burrow.

The sky already has begun turning to shades of orange, warning the world of the impending night. I can search for a larger burrow that can house me, but why not dig one yourself?

With my sharp claws, I easily dig up the earth between the roots of the trees. Bit by bit, I shove the dirt away, creating a passage beneath the tree.

Thanks to my small size, it doesn’t take much time to have a small tunnel which I can fit through. At the end, I dig a small chamber for me to hide. I can’t easily cut through the roots of the tree, so it’s small, barely able to house me.

Outside the last rays of the sun touch the forest. The birds that kept chirping throughout the day fall silent. It’s as if the world knows that the horrors that lurk in the night will sweep across its surface, searching for any monster they can get their hands on.

I might be imagining this and be completely wrong, but rather safe than sorry. If the system works how I think it does, monsters won’t just hunt for food, they hunt for levels too. It seems logical to me. In a world where an apex predator can grow stronger by killing, why would it be satisfied after being satiated?

I get into a comfortable position to sleep in, but on second thought, I scrape the remaining dirt off the walls and pack it into the entrance. You can never be safe enough.

I move as much as I can to the opposite wall of the root chamber, wanting to get as much distance between me and the outside. Once again I get into the most comfortable position that only slightly feels like I am doing yoga and try to fall asleep. Do mandrakes even sleep?

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I don’t really feel tired yet. Maybe mandrakes just sleep less than humans? With the extra time, I go over my day. First I died in a gruesome manner. But why don’t I care about that? I should care. It hasn’t even been a day since I died. Maybe I’m not sad or a mess since I am still alive. My parents, family, and friends? I should be sad about that, right? When I search for sadness, knowing that I will never see them again, I don’t find anything. I just feel disconnected from my previous life.

Perhaps it’s a coping mechanism, or it’s just the system messing with my mind. Might also be that it hasn’t set in. Somewhere I think that it never will. And I hate myself for that. I should care, even if it was a previous life. I should care about the people I left behind. This — it’s wrong.

I should care. I should be crying now, knowing that I will never see any of my friends or family again. I should care.

My thoughts drift away as I unwillingly succumb to sleep.

***

A bird screams outside and branches creak. There is the snapping of bone and a choked scream.

After that, it is perfectly quiet.

I will never go outside when it is dark.

***

I peer out at the forest from my hiding hole, searching for anything dangerous laying in wait behind one of the trees. Finding nothing, I begin to pack the dirt away from the entrance.

It’s barely dawn but I feel like I’ve slept long enough. I step into the morning sun and enjoy the sensation as my leaves soak up the sunlight and convert it into energy.

Today, I will venture away from the stream instead of following it. It seems that the stronger monsters are near the water, so if I move in the opposite direction, I should encounter weaker monsters. Today is also the day that I will kill something, I guess. I can’t stay level 0 for the rest of my life. And standing out in the sun to use Photosynthesis is just asking for trouble.

Before leaving I stare at the tree that I consider to be my home for now. I take stock of my surroundings to be able to find it again and head off.

Soon enough the shrubs begin to lessen, and I’m once again forced to dart from tree to tree under the glare of the birds that still rest up high on the tree branches. I keep heading in one direction while listening to the calming melodies the wind sings in the forest. Birds chirp in the trees, copying the song the wind makes, unaware that a mandrake is passing through far beneath.

Already I am in the generic forest where the ground solely exists out of an almost perfect grass plain. Whoever is responsible for this, they sure have some amazing dedication. The grass is the exact same length as if someone cut it, measuring each blade.

The sun rises fast in the sky as I keep searching for something, anything in my grade to kill. What I do notice over the past hours of walking is that the trees are shorter and less densely populate the area. The ground seems to be more even too. I must be getting closer to the edge of the forest.

In the few games I played, the weak monsters were always at the edges of areas, getting progressively stronger the closer you moved to the centre of the area. It must be like this here with the system in place.

I continue heading in the same direction and notice that the sun has almost reached its zenith. I need to turn back in an hour or two before the night descends.

My efforts are quickly rewarded. Before I know it, I’m standing at the edge of the forest, small trees my height growing at the edges of the forest. Beyond it all, lies an ocean of green. There the grass is longer, though all the exact same length. Not a single flower or a weed mars the image of perfection. Wind dances upon the field of grass that stretches beyond the horizon.

This world, I assumed it to be like Earth but just with monsters, magic and skills. I didn’t expect it to be so vast; as if the same things in this world are so much more. Everything seems to be larger, and that is not because I am smaller. Everything just has more depth. The grass is greener, the sky a more vibrant blue, and the clouds are puffier and larger like islands that travel across the sky.

I lose myself in watching the wind create ripples on the grassland like waves on an ocean.

All too soon I pull my eyes towards the sun, keeping track of the time.

I should search this part of the forest to kill something. Maybe I can gain a level if I’m lucky. But with just one level under my belt, I won’t be safe. The sounds of a bird being torn out of a tree during the night resound in my mind. I will need a lot more levels if I want to stand up against whatever that was.

While I wander around this part of the forest a new idea pops into my mind. I can just create a new home here but the trees are far too small and far too young to have abandoned burrows that I can hide in at night. For all my bodily improvements, I’m still not made to dig. I’m a plant goddammit. This all would be so much easier if I were an ant right now. Even a spider is better would do better in situations like this. They can just crawl up a tree and hide there, catching birds with their webs.

I keep looking for anything to fight but even out here, the targets are few and far between. There are lots of monsters of my grade but all of them are travelling in larger groups. And I can’t take on several monsters on my own.

Shaking my head, I turn around and begin the trek back home. I deviate slightly to cover more ground. For all I know I even might find something special.

Why am I so weak? I’m a mandrake, a rare monster. Everything in this forest is stronger, even the ever-present birds up in the trees are an entire grade above me. And I still don’t know if that makes them twice as strong or not. Why do I care about that anyway? There is no way I can climb a tree and-

Thwack

Something falls out of the tree behind me. I turn around and meet eyes with a baby bird that is roughly the same size as I am. The plumage of the chick is mostly grey with streaks of orange in the mix. It stares at me, hunger evident in its eyes.

[Fledgling Cokoca] lvl 3/5 (I)

No fucking way.

This stupid bird tried to divebomb me and squish me. But the stupid monster missed.

One of its legs seems to be wounded as the bird has a bit of trouble regaining its balance standing up.

It gives me a fierce stare and luges forwards, beak open.

I flex my hands, feeling the sharpened fingers itch for soft flesh to dig into.

Game on, stupid bird. I’m gonna kill you and figure out if mandrakes eat meat.