My cloak flapped against the air as I jumped and swung from the trees, reaching a newfound speed that I could never imagine having. My eyes squinted as the night clouded the thick forest in darkness, compounded by the dark haze that was emitted from the cloak. The haze blended me with the darkness, which could be useful at night to hide my presence.
Eventually, I found a tall, quiet tree to settle on.
Watching the moon rising, I reminisced about the cave once more. The ants, the queen, and, of course, the light brush I had with death.
While I made significant progress, that comes with the cost of sacrificing my wit and almost my own life away. What happened in the cave was mostly out of my hands. My mistake came from the fact that I bothered to approach the cave in the first place.
Normally, I’d be admonishing about the recklessness, but I didn’t; That feeling I got after killing the queen was just out of this world.
Resting my head against the tree, I fell into a deep sleep. Flashes of the encounter with the queen appeared in my dreams, yet this time, instead of fearing the fight, my heart pounded with excitement. The panic and horror were replaced with the ecstatic thrill I felt when I fought the wolves and the Ant queen, manifesting itself as a maniacal grin that I couldn’t get rid of.
By the time I woke up, the sun was already up high in the sky. Sweat dripped like a flood all over my skin as I yawned.
I felt goosebumps all over my body as the thrill I felt lingered way after I woke up. All this excitement for fighting reminded me of the Ant Queen; Specifically, the source of her frenzy.
The madness poison. The same poison that made the queen murder all the ants in its lair. Was I infected? The system mentioned nothing about this poison. Also, I’ve been this way before, albeit with a significantly lesser intensity, which made this an unlikely guess.
But the possibility remained.
Despite that, The sleep refreshed me as I stretched. Checking my status, I was glad to see that my health and stamina were topped off. My mana remained the same, which I fully expected.
A flame burned inside of my chest. There was an urge deep inside of me to relive that scene again. I shook my head, scanning the surrounding forest for any potential danger.
The split path was back there, I thought, deliberating whether I should return and go through the other path that I missed. Could this be the time where I mingle with the others?
[Task #1 : Find the 4 keys to open the gate leading to the exit, located in the safe zone (0/4). 88 days left.]
The time is counting down.
My choice right now was to either get stronger on my own, or to band up with the other survivors.
The rumbling of the bushes below caught my attention, as my gaze drifted towards a pair of wolves treading the floor below me.
[Lvl 7. Greenhorn wolf]
[Lvl 8. Greenhorn wolf]
Those wolves were the highest-leveled wolves I’ve seen. If my guess was right, both of them should be able to use that magical bolt from their horns.
I licked my lips, the urge to kill surfacing again.
The wolves were unaware while I descended until I was about 10 meters above them. My vigilant eyes followed the wolves as they spotted a deer minding its own business.
Sneaking behind a few bushes, both of their horns lit up. I see now; They were planning to use their projectile to finish their hunt.
While they were charging their magic, I jumped down from the short branch I was on, skewering one of the wolves in one thrust.
[You killed Lvl 8. Greenhorn wolf]
The other wolf howled as it aimed its horn toward me, but it didn’t expect that I just dissipated into a dark fog, only to find its head pierced by my spear a few moments later.
[You killed Lvl 7. Greenhorn wolf]
That’s a useful skill. I smiled, pulling my spear out. The wolves are barely a threat, even at this level.
The deer escaped after it heard our altercation. Wiping the blood off my spear, I climbed to the nearby tree to spot another group of these wolves.
It’s time for some wolf hunting.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
[Congratulations! You leveled up!]
“What.. The fuck?” I yelled in the middle of the forest, avoiding a nasty bite from a wolf with ease. In a swift motion, I grabbed the wolf by its tail and slammed it against the nearby tree, snapping its back.
A tiny screech was all it could muster when I plunged my spear right between its eyes.
[You killed Lvl 9. Greenhorn wolf]
I wasn’t frustrated because I had to kill nearly 15 of them to get a level, not at all.
This isn’t a good use of my time. Killing the wolves was easy. They were usually seen traveling in packs of 3 at most and my stats and skills gave me more than enough of an advantage to kill them.
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No, the killing wasn’t the problem. It was the amount of time it took before I spotted any of them on the forest floor.
Looking up to the sky, I noticed that the sun’s position had changed from where it was this morning. A few hours since I began this massacre. I added the attributes to both physical and strength respectively, then climbed up the tree again.
I went slightly deeper into the forest this time in hopes of finding stronger enemies.
“I heard a noise over here.” A familiar voice caused me to freeze on my spot. “Something’s killing all the wolves in this area.”
I shadow-stepped upwards towards a nearby tree, scanning the area where the voice came from.
“We should get out of here.” Another voice continued. “We can barely deal with a pack of those bastards. What are our odds against something that can kill them with such ease?”
A few seconds passed before I finally realized who they were. It was Amanda’s group.
“Not something, Someone.”, Amanda said. “Most, if not all, of their wounds heavily resembled a stab from a long object.” She continued, “It’s a spear.”
“Whatever.” Richard, the brute, shrugged. “Let’s just get out of here.”
“We need levels. You saw all of their levels before. They’re at least 1 or 2 levels above us.” Julie complained, frustrated about their lack of progress. “Let’s go deeper. The wolves are worth a lot more here compared to the ones before.”
They’re getting closer. I retreated and created some distance away from the group, still unsure if I should approach them.
But neither of us expected what came next.
“Hgrraahhhh!!”, An earth-shattering roar shook the floor as the leaves of the trees. All of us froze the instant the voice ripped through the air. My eyes strained when I saw a colossal bear shaking the ground with each step it took.
[Lvl. 28 Colossal Bear - Elite]
“What the hell was that?” The group screamed, their hands solidly covering their ears.
Richard and Karl were cowering behind the ladies, their arms gripping their legs tightly.
“Lets G-G-Get out of here..” Karl shivered, pleading with the others to run the hell away.
Their speech attracted the Bear’s attention and it jumped, almost comically high, in the air towards them.
“What the-“ Amanda yelled before a huge quake shattered the ground where the bear landed. The trees were ripped apart from the roots, sending a rain of wooden sticks and trunks all over them.
“RUUNNNN!!” Julie screamed, urging everyone to follow her orders. A ball of flame appeared between her palm, and with a look, she shot it straight at the bear’s head. All 4 members of the group turned around and ran while the bear swatted the fireball away with its paws.
Julie’s plan worked. The black smoke from the fireball smothered the bear’s vision, causing it to lose track of her. I watched all the events unfold as the gigantic bear gradually lost interest in pursuing the group.
That bear is a death sentence. I said to myself, fleeing the scene with utmost haste. Even from a glance, I could tell that the bear was miles stronger than the queen, and yet, it was still nothing compared to the Shadow Stalker.
I fled deeper into the forest, vigilantly looking out for other creatures while jumping between the trees. I stopped when I saw a small pocket of water enclosed by trees with a strange black plant growing in the middle. Curiosity taking over, I jumped downwards and sneaked my way towards the plant.
[Onyx Hyacinth - ???]
My feet stopped when I noticed the water surrounding the plant. At a glance, they seemed clear, but upon further inspection, there were streaks of chrome-like substance floating on top of the water.
Is it poison? I thought, carefully taking a few steps behind. There were no signs of life surrounding the plant, too. That, along with the ??? Info the system gave me, made it seem like there was more to this plant than what it appeared to be.
A few seconds passed as I deliberated on whether I should grab it. Something about the way the plant was presented alarmed me. Trusting my instincts, I elected to leave it alone, marking the spot in my head as I leaped away from the flower.
Venturing deeper into the forest, I cautiously watched the levels of the creatures that I came across. I stopped when I saw the first wolf with a double-digit level.
[Lvl 11. Greenhorn wolf]
This wolf was visibly larger than the other wolves I’ve seen. Not only that, it also sported a longer, thicker fur along its body, and its horn was about twice as thick.
Does it come with another ability? I thought to myself. The lack of information was something I need to be wary of.
The wolves usually traveled in packs, so I waited until the other wolves showed up. A few minutes later, 2 more wolves emerged, each of them about 2 or 3 levels lower than the first one I spotted.
[Lvl 9. Greenhorn wolf]
[Lvl 8. Greenhorn wolf]
Licking my lips, a plan quickly formulated inside my head. The simplest way to eliminate any variables was to kill the lower-leveled wolves before dealing with the highest-leveled ones. That way, I could react to whatever new things it had in store.
I shadow-stepped towards the lvl.8 wolf, appearing behind it, and impaled the wolf from its front, my spear piercing through its mouth. The surprise attack caught the pack off-guard, and I eliminated one of them instantly.
[You killed Lvl 8. Greenhorn wolf]
The other wolf caught on to my presence and instantly charged toward me, its jaw hanging wide open to prepare for a quick bite. My eyes were watching the other wolf as its horn glowed. Another magic bolt?
I pulled my spear off the first wolf while bending my torso forwards, avoiding the bite attack from below. The wolf’s lower jaw gazed at my back as I choked its head with my free arm and jumped, lifting the wolf along with me. It was a feat that I could never achieve back on earth.
The LVL 11. Wolf sneered and unleashed its magic bolt towards my jump trajectory. The bolt was deadly accurate, but I simply threw the body I held towards it.
[You killed Lvl 9. Greenhorn wolf]
An explosion occurred when the wolf collided with the magic bolt, ripping the flesh of the wolf apart as I landed. With only one wolf left, I charged towards it with the tip of my spear pointed straight in its direction.
The wolf stood still as I used the shadow step and appeared right behind it, attempting a surprise attack. It reacted with grace and sidestepped my attack, avoiding the trajectory of my spear by a hair’s breadth. Its horn then glowed again, but instead of throwing a magic bolt, it charged toward me.
So fast, I thought. A streak of light followed the horn’s movement as it got closer. It almost impaled my chest before my figure dissipated again, reappearing on top of a tree branch above it. The wolf charged straight towards my tree, impaling its horn deep when it collided.
3 more seconds before I can use another one…
I was about to jump down before the tree trunk burst apart. The spot where the wolf impaled its horn in exploded while it gracefully shifted away from the falling tree.
Its eyes were monitoring my location as I rolled off the falling tree.
This trick isn’t working. I cursed under my breath. The wolf turned its head, meeting my gaze at a close distance. It opened its jaw wide open, and right as I was about to thrust into it, it canceled its attack and dove sideways, avoiding my spear cleanly.
A feint? That’s smart.
The difference between LVL 9. Wolf and LVL 11 wolf were night and day. It wasn’t just about its strength and size, but the sheer disparity between their tactics and intelligence were mind-blowing. It felt like I was fighting a human.
Interrupting my thoughts, the horn of the wolf glowed again. Is it another feint?
I turned, preparing to dodge its charge, but again, the wolf surpassed my calculations by shooting a magic bolt point-blank instead. I smiled, using a shadow step to avoid the projectile, but instead of appearing behind it…
The wolf swung its head behind, expecting its opponent to emerge behind it. But instead of that, my spear pierced through the skull from its front, delivering a clean blow towards its head.
You’re not the only one who can adapt.
[You killed Lvl 11. Greenhorn wolf]