"Damn it.. this is taking too long. I'll have to go back out at this rate." In a moderately well-lit cave a lone man stood near a campfire. He had wild, black hair the tips of which reached just to his shoulders. The man's attire was.. different to say the least. He wore a shirt, bracers, pants, and shoes that all seemed to be a haphazard blend between wood, mud and plants. Upon first glance one couldn't tell but the wild looking man had a stone blade with a wood-based handle strapped firmly to his right side with vines. It blended in well with his armor. A large chunk of tree trunk took up a good portion of the man's back and even some of his legs. Clearly it was some type of makeshift shield. Honestly, it was probably quite effective as the bark was much more gnarly and thick than any wood found in the pre-system world.

The source of the man's current frustration seemed to be a dozen tiny plants on both sides of the aqueduct containing Gaia's blood. The last three months had been extremely eventful for the man and that was putting it less than mildly. Truly, surviving here had been an absolute shit show so far. He was sure if there were any other humans left when the system came into existence they were long gone now. He didn't mean to sound pessimistic but damn.. He had gotten very lucky to have found this cave which was apparently safe from any and all types of predators.

He didn't understand why and he didn't question it either. All he knew was that when he approached the mouth of the cave any manner of beast that had ever chased him, no matter how far they'd run or how wounded he'd been, had always stopped dead far away from the cave. It was just as well because, as it turned out, he was severely outclassed by everything he had encountered thus far. That was not an exaggeration. He had tried using identify on everything, living or otherwise and had almost always yielded either unsuccessful or partially unsuccessful results.

Even when Vincent had managed to get close to a loan bird not far from the safety of his cave, he had been unable to discern any real detail about the bird. The system had read

Identify failed: skill level too low or opponent's level too high.

Name: hellspawn.

'Yeah that's Goddamn right..' Vincent had thought upon reading the name.

Level: unknown.

Stats: unknown.

If there were any creatures weaker than the birds, he hadn't seen them thus far. Probably because the damn things ate everything. He had observed the birds many times at this point. He knew that they weren't all that strong compared to most of the creatures in the jungle, especially individually. But what they lacked in might they made up for in sheer numbers and they nearly always traveled in large flocks. They were by far the most numerous creatures around. You couldn't go a hundred feet without running into them ganging up on some new meal.

Vincent hadn't ever made it more than a mile or two from the entrance of the jungle but it seemed the birds were native to all parts of the jungle. The good news was their perception seemed to be ridiculously low for birds. Even without trying to be sneaky, just standing still was usually enough to lose the birds' attention.

So with scavenging not being much of an option and hunting not being an option at all, he did the only thing he could think of... Attempt to grow his own food. Vincent, of course, knew absolutely nothing about farming or even different types of plants for that matter. By some miracle of the Nexus, he didn't have to.

The way Farming worked was extremely bizarre in that any fruit or plant that was buried would reproduce. Currently the situation was this; food was scarce and although the 12 fruits and 12 vegetables he had planted grew exponentially fast due to Gaia's blood and the pulsing light above, it simply wouldn't be enough to sustain him. Beyond that, planting a new crop was still extremely taxing even with the farming skill he had achieved. Vincent's first sowing of seeds was rough to say the least…

Brief flashback

Initially, when it came to foraging, Vincent was not optimistic. Nearly everything he had encountered in this world was changed by the system. From the very air, to the rocks and trees. Everything just seemed more durable and dense. Even the simple act of digging or gathering firewood became a daunting, tedious task. When he had first come across a batch of system made bananas nearly 3 months ago, he was hesitant as he was sure knowing his luck they were poison. But he couldn't help himself. He had been on the brink of starving after three weeks of little to no food each day, and maximum effort to survive. After nearly an hour of painstaking work, he harvested the bananas. Once they were off the vine they seemed much easier to handle, which literally made no sense.

Fortunately not only were the fruits not poisonous, but he assumed the system must somehow enhance the properties of all things it touched because the bananas tasted ungodly, even after they lost their unnatural durability. He devoured all of the food he could find which also included a few other familiar fruits and even some he didn't recognize. Identify was little to no help as apparently his level was too low to make use of any of it but that didn't really matter. It was healthy, delicious food. That was all he needed to know.

After replenishing his body's carbohydrates for the first time in weeks, his vastly improved body was able to move much faster than ever before allowing him to cover nearly two miles in the day. He found all manner of fruits, vegetables, berries and nuts. Having gorged himself as much as possible, Vincent snuck back to his cave with at least a month's supply of food.

He really hoped food didn't rot within his inventory space…

Upon returning to the cave Vincent got to work on his makeshift garden. Soon the man found himself sorely wishing he knew how to make some semblance of a gardening tool from sticks and stones like in a survivor video game…

He blew gently on his burning hands which had been rubbed raw to the point of bleeding. He looked down at the ground which regenerated nearly as fast as he could dig it.. His farming skill helped a lot once he had gotten it, going from making pitiful tiny scratches to ripping up handfuls of dirt but even still the skill took stamina and mana. Currently he was only capable of planting one precious fruit at a time before having to take a break to regain his energy and let his aching hands rest.

Present

Vincent placed a hand on the gaping maw of the cave. He breathed deeply in. His stats had risen a bit and he had gained some useful skills and perks.. but the outside world was still too dangerous to tread casually. The first 3 weeks nearly broke his will to go on. Multiple times he had been placed near death often by what would have ordinarily been the feeblest of creatures. Thankfully most of the monsters seemed to view him as a waste of their time, choosing instead to fight primarily with each other. He supposed, once again, he was just too weak to matter..

A Lot of the jungle's inhabitants looked like varieties of animals he was used to with a few minor differences, but some were new beasts altogether that he was sure couldn't have existed in any form before..

He chose to open the system window and take stock of his growth so far before his exodus from the cave.

Welcome Vincent.

Level: 1

XP 0/1000 (0%)

Class: N/A

Health: 2200/2200

Mana: 1000/1000

Stats:

Strength: 10

Endurance: 22

Vitality: 11 (+1%)

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 5

Agility: 10

Skills:

Predatory instincts (uncommon) lvl 14

Identify (common) lvl 18

Complete tranquility (epic) lvl 5

Smithing (common) lvl 15

Farming (common) lvl 20

Sneak (common) lvl 15

Perks:

Will to survive

Lifebringer

Smithing

Limit breaker

Camouflage.

Firstly, he chose to focus on the skills he had unlocked his first day here. Predatory instincts had risen only 4 more levels. He honestly expected more since, well, it was one of his constantly active passive skills and he relied on it so heavily... But he supposed he really hadn't gotten a grasp on how skill experience worked yet. He was sure he'd have to kill things for level xp but he was far from ready for that daunting task.

Nothing much had changed with the skill and he'd been unable to activate the paralysis ability like he had that first day when he was almost pecked to death by Satan's pet birds.

Next was the identity ability which had risen sharply in comparison to his PI. It had jumped from 9 to 18 and somehow he could feel it was on the edge of another level. Though he had been mostly unsuccessful at identifying pretty much anything, his gains in skill level were a testament to the fact that everything around him was just way above his level. Honestly it seemed completely unfair but he supposed you could never enter a RPG in God mode without cheats… While the environment and mobs you faced typically started off around your level, most of the creatures in the game were way stronger than you, and your average main character quickly trains up enough to overtake his evil foes.

Unfortunately, this was no game and death was a very real possibility.. he only hoped his skills would grow fast enough to keep him alive. It occurred to him that the rarity of the skill certainly must have played some sort of role in leveling speed.

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This theory was proven largely true by his next skill, complete tranquility, which sat at a measly 5. It was easily lower than any of his other skills including his new ones. Sure it was an epic rarity but it was also the skill he used the most while idle. The boost to intelligence coupled with the regeneration multiplier made recuperating and planning his next move almost predertermindly easy. He supposed that too, was part of the gimmick of leveling. The more useful or powerful a skill the harder it would be to level, regardless of rarity. The rarity and complexity of the skill certainly affected the body and mind differently.. Unlocking the epic skill had been incredibly difficult to accomplish due to the firey pain it had caused within him.

Next he examined a skill that, strangely enough, first came in the form of a perk.. Vincent had been out in the jungle not long after his very first day here. His clothes were all but useless to him by then and if for no other reason than dignity he felt he needed some form of covering. If he were being honest it was an absolute disaster at first. Vincent had a severe lack of crafting skills and couldn't even make clothing with a sewing machine, let alone raw materials found lying around on the jungle floor.

He was sure after the first week he was probably just going to have to spend the rest of his life in the nude hoping some real jerk of a monster didn't take advantage of his more sensitive appendages. (looking at you, birds.) Nevertheless, patience and necessity are the greatest teachers and with enough perseverance and hard work the system would be willing to guide you to accomplish anything. By the second or third week of trying, he had managed to create what the system recognized as a legitimate tool.

Congratulations! Feat: crafting, crafting, crafting! (Craft any article of clothing or any hand-held tool to unlock) Achieved!

Perk: Smithing achieved!

Smithing: The system rewards those who work hard at work worth doing. For showing ingenuity in the art of crafting you can now use any material to create any item! Success is determined by skill level, knowledge of what's being made, and quality of materials used.

Perk: smithing. Grants access to the smithing ability. Permanently raises Strength and Agility by +3.

Since then his skill had risen to 15. He was able to create a shirt, pants, bracers, a small weapon, and a massive shield all of which the system recognized and assigned stats. Unfortunately all of his equipment was Common currently and gave a combined total of seven defense and five attack. What that translated to in terms of stats he had no damn clue and the shield gave him most of the defense. But hey at least it was a start and he was no longer completely defenseless… Or naked. He thanked the gods there weren't giant mosquitoes or anything like that... That he knew of, anyways.

The rating system from the.. well.. system was entirely too dis-interesting for him to truly pay too much attention to. From what he gathered the first few basic rarities were common < uncommon < rare < epic < legendary and there was a series of question marks thereafter, so he was sure there were more levels he hadn't yet discovered. It didn't matter as everything he had crafted was common rarity anyways.

Not long after having been there a month, the young hero had encountered a new threat that he hadn't faced before. It was similar to a boar but with much, much thicker tusks and muscles than a regular mammal's. The creature wasn't too ridiculously fast like the birds were, but it was still much faster than Vincent could ever hope to be in his current state. The good news was that once the boar-like creature had started running, it couldn't change direction until it had come to a complete stop. With patience, predatory instincts, and sweaty Palms he had managed to outmaneuver the animal enough to get it to Crack one of its tusks on a large tree. This was how most of his 'battles' were fought, with him outmaneuvering slower predators and completely avoiding others…

As if it were an infant throwing a tantrum the boar had begun kicking and screaming, throwing itself around like a pouting child. At the time, Vincent couldn't help but chuckle before the boar looked at him and gave him one final glare promising unending agony. Vincent sweat dropped before retrieving the tusk that had broken off and placing it into his inventory. Might prove useful, he figured.

He was on his way back to the cave that day when it happened. His predatory instincts gained another level and his gut screamed for him to hide. The man wasted no time in throwing himself into a large cluster of bushes. Not a moment too soon as a second later two boars nearly ten times the size of the previous one came crashing through the spot he had just been. It was apparent to him from what he could tell, that the young boar had run off to get it's parents because clearly a bully had been picking on him… the whole situation left him numb and scared for his life once more. He did his best to appear small and slowed his breathing. Thankfully the bus sized boars were not very thorough in their search, and grew agitated rather quickly.

Once they had stormed off and he was sure it was safe he crawled from the bushes he had submerged himself in. He wiped what he seriously hoped was mud off his face. He sighed and continued in a trot back to the cave. He opened up the blue window and a grin broke across his face. He had neglected to read the notification that had popped up while focusing all of his attention on the boars. They were fast and wild, and Vincent was ready to run at a moment's notice. He thanked whatever God existed in this world, that it hadn't come to that because… Frankly it wouldn't have ended well.

Congratulations! Skill: Sneaking (Common) achieved!

Sneaking (Common) Become one with the shadows, for the fastest punch thrown is the one unseen. user shifts his stance and weight to move as silently as possible while undetected. Due to the (common) rarity gain a small boost to effectiveness of sneaking based on skill level. Receives a large bonus from Agility. (Active skill)

Since having unlocked said skill he had leveled it all the way to 17 which was unsurprising considering he used it pretty much all day every day when he wasn't in the cave. But truthfully he had gotten nearly a third of the levels as well as an awesome perk all from one, damn-near tragic day.

On the day in question, Vincent had been using his Sneak which currently sat at level 12, pretty much non-stop since unlocking the ability. He had come to find out that Sneak coupled with predatory instincts was an absolute godsend in terms of avoiding potentially dangerous situations. The most powerful and hostile creatures the forest had to offer tended to roam deeper in; therefore, he tried his best to stay within running distance of the clearing where the cave was located.

Unfortunately, one day he had gotten himself utterly lost. After jogging for nearly half an hour he realized he had gotten turned around somewhere. He made to take a break and leaned heavily against a tree while taking water from his inventory. After only a couple of swigs of the refreshing liquid his heart sank in his stomach as the 'tree' He had previously been leaning on opened one massive yellow eye and rose to its full height. It was a goddamn dragon. There was a dragon in the jungle.

Vincent did not move an inch. He really hoped that dragons were like snakes and had bad eyesight… Wait, wasn't that only until they got up close? The dragon roared and Vincent gulped. Still he did not move.

Every instinct in his body told him not to, even though he assuredly wanted to do so. He wasn't sure why he wasn't dead yet, until he received his new perk which was the only thing that saved his life that day. And even then he felt it had been close.

Feat: Camouflaged achieved!

Perk: Camouflage achieved!

Camouflage: Your instincts and intellect serve you well. You know which foes to confront and when to stay hidden. For having avoided detection from an entity massively more powerful than you, the system rewards you!

Perk: camouflage. Grants a permanent +5 to Agility! Makes you 50% harder to detect when standing still!

The beast nearly stepped on Vincent as some other poor woodland creature far off in the distance became the victim of the monster's wrath. It moved impossibly fast and Vincent found it ironic he hadn't really seen the beast until now. It seemed ironic that Vincent would uncover a camouflage skill after having just fallen for one from this massive creature.

When it was camouflaged with the trees it was a black and dark grey but when it was completely unfurled it was a stony gray and chalky white. It had massive wings and a long barbed tail. The appendage was a thick muscle swaying slowly side to side. He faintly registered at least a dozen birds among the beast pecking away lazily at the dragon, some clinging to its stony scales. The beast didn't seem to mind them, or else he didn't notice. Vincent was the only thing left in a massive dragon shaped crater between the trees.

The blue eyed man didn't return to the cave for nearly an hour after that. He may not have ever moved at all if he wasn't scared of the dragon returning to reclaim its nest.

Back in the present day Vincent stepped out of the cave into the crisp cool night air. He found that if he moved at night most of the more aggressive creatures tended to slumber. It made no difference to him as his predatory instincts did most of the navigation in his life. During the evening time most of the God awful heat dissipated and the nights brought refreshing breezes and an occasional drizzle. Tonight was one such night where a steady rain fell upon the land. Vincent didn't mind the rain. It was the closest he could get to a shower anymore. However he briefly considered waiting out the rain, given the circumstances. If he went now it would be much easier for him to avoid detection, yes, but it would also be much more difficult to locate his intended target; food.

In the early days of him trying to survive he couldn't handle traveling more than a few miles at a time before exhaustion set in. The excess gravity and fluctuations in temperature were wreaking havoc on his presumably invisible stamina. Thankfully the system didn't make him suffer forever. On his seventh week just as he was sure he was about to starve he gained another perk. His eyes shot open as he read what the perk entailed.

Feat: limit breaker achieved!

Perk: Limit breaker achieved!

Limit breaker: For days on end you have pushed your body to the brink and beyond merely to survive the harsh environment around you. The system sees your hard work and rewards your continued existence. You've unlocked the secret to shattering your limits and are now much stronger physically and mentally because of it.

Perk: Limit breaker. Grants a permanent +20 to endurance and +5 to strength!

Vincent couldn't believe his sapphire eyes. Sure he had busted his ass off and nearly died twenty or so times to get to this point but a perk that gave him 25 stats?! That was more than half of all his previous stats combined. He looked his arms up and down and breathed deeply in and out. He certainly felt different. He somehow felt more dense as if this increase in his stats had increased his physical mass. He checked the window and with the addition of twenty points Endurance had become his highest stat at twenty-two, giving him a total of 2200 health. For the first time in weeks it felt as if he may actually survive this dumpster fire.

With the additional stamina and health Vincent was able to explore a little deeper into the jungle without fear of exhaustion leaving him as a sitting duck. His only real issue currently was his crappy regenerations that still sat at a pathetic 1. Even still, he had Gaia's blood to replenish his vital energies in a pinch, so he wasn't particularly worried. His perception was also low but predatory instincts more than covered that department. He truly had gotten lucky with the system's generous skill giving, thus far.

Within a week of having stumbled upon his first real source of food, the bananas he had unlocked the farming skill, and leveled it quickly to level 20. It seemed anytime he did anything such as planting, or harvesting he would gain XP for farming. He also seemed to gain a passive bit of xp while he was away from the cave, courtesy of his plants growing. The amount of xp he gained passively was increased when he was within the cave; therefore, he spent much of his time meditating next to his garden.

He would go through cycles of using each skill until he was out of stamina and or mana, and then proceed to meditate until his stats were full once more.

Upon the sprouting of his first plant he obtained the final perk currently in his possession.

Feat: Creator of life achieved!

Perk: Lifebringer achieved!

Lifebringer: to take the life of another is easy. Nearly every being in the Nexus has done so. There is glory in battle but true beauty comes from life itself. You have come to realize that there must be balance in all things. While you wield the potential to inflict death, so too does your attitude for life grow.

Perk: lifebringer. Grants a permanent +10 to vitality!

The wild haired fellow couldn't help but laugh at his fortune. The sound was hollow and echoed loudly within the cave. His heart beat rapidly with his boosted vitality. All of his stats had now reached double digits except for his perception. But there would be time for that later. It wasn't lost on him that every single stat he'd gotten was from perks and none save the very first he'd received was percent based. Although that was probably for the best at this early stage. He could only assume he wouldn't get a good use out of any percentage based power ups for a while. Raw stats on the other hand he could certainly make use of now.

This was nearly a week into his fourth month and Vincent decided his life needed a change of pace. There was only so much farming and crafting you could do without going insane, and besides that Vincent lacked any real materials besides what he found in the woods. Before entering the jungle Vincent paused and sighed. He had gotten a lot stronger and honestly it felt great. The system was beginning to literally change his body. He had grown an inch taller and gained at least 5 pounds of muscle mass. He felt like he had enough energy to run for a mile even with the intense atmosphere of the planet. Yet he couldn't help but wonder… would he ever see any of his loved ones again? Was anyone from his past life even alive at this point? It had only been a month yet it somehow felt like it had been years, struggling for survival day in and day out.

Alas.. was this all his life would ever be again? Grinding stats until he was no longer deathly afraid for his life at the sight of a mere animal? He still shuddered at the thought of how he watched on as the deer was devoured all those weeks ago. He thought about how all sentient creatures feared those miserable birds save maybe that fucking dragon… 'Still cant believe there's a dragon lazing about in the jungle…' He often thought to himself.

You couldn't help but to respect the magnificent creature after surviving such an encounter. Vincent idly wondered if he could ever reach the raw stats of a dragon. Would he someday become the creature that all living things residing there feared and respected? Heh.. now that he really thought about it, King of the jungle didn't seem all that bad. He chuckled which turned into a full blow cackle as he entered his soon to be kingdom.

Chapter 4 end