[Scaly Rat -?]

How original. Ups. I almost said it out loud. [Identify] was useful as always. What was that question mark? Does it mean, that my ability is too low, or is it me who is totally outclassed compared to the rat?

I completely gave up the idea of returning to my shelter and began to focus on how to disappear as quietly as possible.

I hadn't even moved yet and the rat raised its head. That monster sniffed in the air and looked straight at me. My whole body froze at that moment. I felt like a doe caught in the headlight. I almost forgot to breathe and just waited for what the monster would do.

Of course, I hoped it would let me be and we would each go our separate ways.

That didn't happen.

The rat hissed and immediately run at me. I had two options. Trying to run away, but I was barefoot and had no idea how fast the animal could be. My second option was to stand up to it, and I chose that. The bear was much more menacing.

The rat was very fast and I had no time to do anything to defend myself. I expected it to try to bite my leg, but the rat jumped so high that I could look it in the eyes. At that moment, it was clear to me that its goal was my neck, and only at the last moment, I did manage to raise my left hand in time to prevent the worst.

Instead of my neck, the rat hit my raised hand and fell to the ground in front of me. I tried to kick it, but rat jumped away. It hissed at me again immediately, then make a loud squeal. It was such a piercing tone that it hurt my ears.

Was it a normal squeal, or was it some ability? Could rats have abilities like humans?

The rat immediately took advantage of my distraction and attacked my neck again, but fortunately, I hadn't put my hands down yet. The rat didn't reach my neck, but when it landed on me, I couldn't keep my balance. I fell to the ground and the rat with me. It didn't let go of me all the time, it was scratching me and tried to bite my throat.

I somehow managed to repel its attacks with my hands. Fortunately, my pajamas seemed very durable. Yet not all places on my body have been protected. I had only my pajama pants and a shirt. That's why my hands were full of scratches and my face caught a few of them as well. However, they were not as deep as I would have expected.

Abilities, I realize.

I had one I could use. [World of Magic Brush] The first time I tried it, I passed out. I tried it a few more times yesterday and on the last try, I managed to activate it, without saying its name aloud. Deactivating it in time was not a problem either. The real problem was how to tell the amount of mana in my body. I just had no idea how.

"World of Magic Brush" I shouted. I wished it had a sorter name.

I didn't want to take any chances. So far, I have only been able to activate this ability once without a voice command, and now was not the time to find out that it was just a coincidence. I was really relieved when the magic lines appeared on my scratched hands. My world was sharper, more alive again, and I felt stronger. But I didn't have much time.

With all my might I punched the rat in the nose and it jumped back with a hiss. I immediately swung to my feet. This blow didn't deter the rat and it pounced on me again. This time I was ready and took a step aside. The monster only hit my hip with its claws. However, I managed to grab its tail.

"Haaaaaa." I shouted from the top of my throat at the entire forest. It was my battle cry.

I turned around my axis and struck the rat with all my might against the trunk of the nearest tree. I kept holding its tail, so I smashed it against the tree again and again.

"Come on ...!!!" I shouted at the rat.

(ding) You have defeated the [Scale Rat lv 12]

Well, that message didn't stop me. I continue beating it against the tree until I had to deactivate [World of Magic Brush]. When I did, I lost strength in my legs and fell to my knees. I could barely catch my breath, but my sight never left the animal.

Was it dead? It was bloody pulp now, I could see its brain on the tree. I checked my System Log to by sure and according to it, yes.

"It was right about the bear" maybe I should believe it. In addition to the record of my heroic victory, there was other news.

(ding) You have defeated an enemy five levels or above your own. Additional Experience is granted.

(ding) You have reached level 6. Stat point awarded.

(ding) You have reached level 7. Stat point awarded.

"Yay, level seven," that was my sarcastic rejoice.

I didn't care.

The important thing was that I survived. My body ached, the scratches on my hands and cheeks burned and I was bleeding. My head was spinning, which was caused by a lack of mana in my body. I wasn't in good shape, but I lived, unlike that rat.

"I guess I should wash the wounds," I muttered.

I got to my feet, didn't feeling confident at all, but I returned to the flooded stream.

"Tss…" I hissed in pain as I began to rinse my wounds. But it was a necessary evil. It was one thing I could do to keep me from getting an infection. The only thing that could be done here. Before I returned to the shelter, the wounds stopped bleeding. I took it as a good sign.

I had no reason to return to the shelter, but just to have a last look. I didn't want to stay here. I needed to find something to eat and so far I was not hungry enough to eat raw meat. I didn't have a fire, and even if I did, everything around me was wet. I didn't have a knife to get to the meat and cut it. Just my toothbrush.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I completely forgot about you, my friend, "I apologized to my toothbrush.

During the fight with the rat, I completely forgot that I still have it in my hair. But I don't know if it would help me in combat. It was not sharp at all and the rat was covered with scales. The same trick as with a bear probably wouldn't work either. Its eyes were too small and rat never stopped long enough for me to hit its eyes.

But I realized one thing. I put it off because I had no idea what to do with them and how important they were. I had a few stat points that I needed to spend. I opened my status screen.

Name: Kirra Gotobed

Class: Toothbrush Fighter lv 7

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Health: 62/84

Stamina: 25/65

Mana: 5/87

Status:

Vitality: 8

Strength: 4

Endurance: 6

Dexterity: 5

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 7

Unspend status points: 6

Class skills:

Legend's body: lv 1

Magic World: lv1

General Skills:

Identify: lv 1

Ok. It looks better than the first time. I have 6 status points, one for each level. Either they were really rare, or gaining levels wasn't that hard. I definitely didn't want to rely on that, so I leaned towards the first possibility. That those points are rare and important. That's why I didn't spend them in the first place, I wanted to be sure.

So how do I divide them?

My health was quite good, my body not so strong. I didn't have much stamina, but my biggest drawback right now was mana. To my knowledge, mana should be influenced by intelligence and wisdom, so the first point went to intelligence.

Mana: 5/97

"That's a nice change" by ten more mana points. It's a deal.

The second point, wisdom.

Mana: 5/98

Oh, just one. That was a disappointment. On the other hand, wisdom could have influenced something else more. Nevertheless, in a way, it also affected the amount of mana. What's next? I really lacked stamina. Stamina and strength. For this, I can thank my work and lack of interest in sports.

One point to endurance and one to Strength.

Health: 63/86

Stamina: 26/75

"Okay ..." So I guess vitality will have a greater effect on my health than strength, and dexterity will have little effect on my endurance. I get it. There are three points left. I really wanted to be able to use magic, but right now I couldn't afford to just focus on it. I needed to survive and I felt that I would need more strength and also dexterity to do so. I put the last point into intelligence.

Health: 63/86

Stamina: 26/76

Mana: 6/108

Status:

Vitality: 8

Strength: 6

Endurance: 7

Dexterity: 6

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 8

Unspend status points: 0

That wasn't bad. But did I feel different? I don't know. Was I stronger? Hard to say. Was I smarter? I didn't feel that way. But I could say that something had changed. I felt it, it was just very difficult to say what exactly.

"Grrr…." It was not another monster, but my stomach.

It was time to go and find something to eat. I would like something other than those bitter berries, but I will be content with anything edible.

Half an hour later I found a bush of guess what?

Yes [Love Berries], but right next to them grew a creeping plant, and there were small yellow round fruits on it.

[Wild berries]

In their case, I chose the same tactic as [Love Berries]. I wanted to make sure that they weren't toxic before I started eating them. Apparently, they weren't.

"Sweet… ahhhh" these were sweet. Unlike those bitter berries, these were a balm on my soul.

My biggest concern was that it seemed no animal ate both species of berries. The bushes were always intact. Either there were no herbivores in the forest, which was unlikely, or there was something wrong with the berries. Maybe the local animals couldn't digest them, and I could. However, I was fed up for a while and could continue on my journey to find civilization.

An hour later I came to the confluence of two streams. I took a short break and set off. Along the way, I picked up every berry bush I came across. My clothes finally dried out and everything seemed good?? No, no, better, that's the right word.

That is until I came across another scaly rat.

I was ready this time. I activated World of Magic Brush and after I managed to grab its tail, I smashed it against a tree as the first one.

(ding) You have defeated the [Scale Rat lv 11]

(ding) You have reached level 8. Stat point awarded.

"Just one level?!" I complained.

I did not mean it. In fact, I was glad I was unharmed and that it turned out the way it did. It struck me, however, that the first rat was at level 12 and this one 11. The bear was at level 17. It didn't make sense to me. Either way, these rats were really strong or the bear was so weak. Maybe it was still a baby. Really big bear puppy.

I used my one skill point against my common sense, for strength. I used it a lot in the last fight. If I had more of it in the previous one, it would be much easier.

I didn't take five steps when the system sounded again.

(ding) You have learned new skill [Berefoot walking lv 1]

"What's next…" I was immediately ready to fight. I looked around wildly but saw no enemy.

It wasn't until my heart calmed down that I realized I wasn't under attack. There was no fiend or another rat anywhere in the area. I just got a new skill. Interesting skill. One that will probably come in handy for a while. Well, before I find the shoemaker and buy the shoes. The first thing I buy? Shoes. Shoes and underwear I dreamed.

My pajamas were very comfortable, they didn't rub me on my skin anywhere, it just wasn't quite enough. I felt naked.

That's why I set off again. The sooner I find a civilization, the sooner I will feel human.

On my way, I tried to concentrate on my walking. I was trying to figure out what is different in my walk now with a new ability. My status as well as [Identify] told me nothing and I did not see a difference in my walking. Maybe the skills were just a reflection of what I learned. I experienced for myself how best to tread in the forest barefoot, the system appreciated it by gaining the ability.

That was one of my working theories.

I could also simply meet the requirement to gain such an ability. Something like, walked 10 kilometers barefoot.

"It would be silly...” I shook my head.

The forest just seemed to be quite peaceful. There was incredible peace. Just the rustle of leaves in the wind, the singing of a birds in the treetops. I think I saw a roebuck or something like that. It was too far away to use [Identify] on it. Likewise, a squirrel the size of a cat escaped me.

Well, I was so surprised by the size of it that I forgot to use [Identify] at all. I have tried to use this ability all the time, but so far I have not gained another level in it. Maybe I did something wrong, maybe it was just not possible, maybe it had to just to persevere.

Everything was confusing to me. Just like this forest. At one point it was a freshly cold morning and then it turns into a sauna. As the suns rose higher and higher, the temperature in the forest rosed to. Everything was wet after the storm and the water began to evaporate. So it was like a real sauna here now. My clothes had dried before, but now they were getting soaked with my sweat.

To escape that for a moment, I climbed a tree. Ok, that was not my main reason. I wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction to the lake I saw. I was sure of it, but just to be really sure.

The answer is, Yes, I went in the right direction. The lake was closer, but still far, far away. My second finding was worse. It was as warm and stuffy between the treetops as it was down below.

"Back down and on way, Kirra" I sighed.

So, I kept sweating in the stuffy forest. Kilometer by kilometer. The suns were already high in the sky when I came across a scene I was definitely not expecting. On the ground in front of me was a large nest with a dozen large white eggs. Twelve ostrich-sized eggs. Maybe a little smaller, I've only seen ostrich eggs once in my life.

Now there were a dozen in one nest. The mud was full of footprints and the fog was still floating around. Anxiety gripped my heart. My mind began to come up with all sorts of scenarios and my first thought was:

"Velociraptor," I whispered.

Was it possible? Were the Velociraptors here? I may have gone back in time. What about T-rex? But there is a status screen, time travel would not make much sense. But that doesn't rule out dinosaurs. Hmm… it could be the eggs of a lizard. Really big lizard. Dragon?

No. The eggs are too small, I think. The dragon's eggs would be bigger. Maybe just a drake, a smaller version of a dragon.

"You're an idiot Kirra," I said, realizing that I had forgotten my skill again. [Identify]

[Eggs of Big Beak Emuru]

It was a bird's egg. Suddenly I was extremely relieved. No dinosaurs or dragons, an ordinary bird. Hmm… bird eggs. They can be eaten raw. Rocky had them for breakfast every morning. It would be something other than berries. Proteins.

A shriek of a bird interrupted my planning of lunch. I immediately looked in the direction it was coming from. A huge brown bird was rushing at me through the forest. Compared to the ostrich, his legs and neck were shorter, but his beak was really big and menacing.

[Big Beak Emuru - ??]

That told me everything. Two question marks? Definitely more dangerous than rats. I didn't wait for anything and run away in the opposite direction. Emuru was shrieking behind me, but I didn't even look back and just run. Eventually, the bird stopped chasing me.

"Great… ha… not everything… wants to ...ha...kill me here" I could barely catch my breath.

I was glad I didn't have to fight that bird. It was probably just a mom defending her eggs. It must have been strong enough to be able to do that in such an open space. Unfortunately, thanks to it, I was without lunch. So back to the search for berries and civilization.