Even with the early start I had on the day, it was still almost noon before I reached the Gate. That left me eight hours to find two Vale Wolves and kill them — including any healing I might need, if I have to visit the hospital inbetween. The typical safe groups I tailed had already entered the Gate and were long gone. It would be just me and my pretty kindjal in there. Since it didn’t break when I stabbed Leticia’s door this morning, I felt optimistic that it wouldn’t crumble in battle. If the blade broke, I guessed I could just chuck the handle at the monster and hope that distracted it enough to get away. It always worked against Superman.

I took a deep breath, feeling my new leather armor shifting and expanding as I moved. The fact that it was so light and flexible still threw me off. I almost felt like I was naked even though I was covered from head to toes. I sighed and tapped my leather helm with the kindjal in my hand. With my new vest and old brown leather pants, my armor didn’t match anymore, but I’d never been a fashionista. I just hoped that the System’s description of the vest was true and it protected my entire body, even the parts that it didn’t cover. I was going to need it.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered to myself and walked into the Gate.

Gate Vale spread out before me. For a second, my stomach twisted nauseously just looking at the beautiful valley, so colorful and vivid compared to the monotone city I’d just come from.

My gaze automatically wandered to Glenn Holt. A chill started at the back of my head and seeped down my spine just looking at the cheerfully green leaves swaying beneath the warm sun. The Portal Burst had closed, right? I never really asked about it, but honestly, I didn’t want to know. If there was a problem, I’d have heard about an Orc issue by now. It was safe to assume that S Rank Hunters had already taken care of the problem. Luckily, my task didn’t say I had to return to Glenn Holt, or kill Dire Rats.

I turned and ran south towards the Edmond Woods. Within a hundred feet of the Gate entrance, the flat grass changed into thick brush which quickly gave way to thick trees two-stories tall. Funny, the last time I’d been in this forest, I nearly died from a dragon but there wasn’t a single trace of the fight between the S Rank Hunter and dragon left. So much stuff had happened since then, it felt like a lifetime ago.

Instead of trekking through untamed underbrush, I crept down a trail that cut through the middle of the forest before branching out in several directions. Since I was looking for a Vale Wolf, there wasn’t a need to go too far in. I just hoped that stronger Hunters hadn’t already cleaned the forest out. Granted, more Vale Wolves — and every other monster found in Gate Vale — would reappear every night, but that wouldn’t do any good for my task today.

It was nerve-wracking when the only sound I could hear was my own slow steps. What if there were no more Vale Wolves? What if they had all been defeated for the day? Were there only stronger monsters left?

A hundred feet down the path, I stopped and looked around. Please, just let me find two. I only need two. According to the clock in my main menu, I’d been in Gate Vale for almost an hour already. This wasn’t looking good. The longer it took, the more likely I wouldn’t be able to find one, never mind two.

Ten minutes ticked by and I decided to leave the trail and head into the brush. Low hanging tree branches obscured my visibility and every time a bush brushed against my leg my heart leapt. When I’d follow another group, I could always use them to take the brunt of attacks. And when they alerted each other about an approaching monster, I always knew about it too. Right now I didn’t have that buffer and my nerves were starting to fray. Forget the daily task. It’s not like it would matter if I wasn’t even alive.

A low growling rumbled from behind me.

My heart jumped into my throat as I whipped around and leaned to the side just as something huge lunged. It sailed past me, the corner of it’s claw caught my left arm at the edge of the leather breastplate. I expected to see a thick red gash, but all that was there was a bruise as my HP dropped a point. So the armor did affect my whole body. But I didn’t have time to think about it more.

I turned and faced the monster again, feeling both relieved and worried. I’d finally found the right monster. The Vale Wolf’s shoulder was almost as tall as my chest and it was easily longer than I was tall. Beams of sunlight streamed through gaps in the tree canopy and highlighted the monster’s gray pelt with glints of silver. Four red eyes narrowed as its lips pulled away from its red gums, revealing huge fangs. Above it’s head a window opened that read: [Vale Wolf Lv 2]

A Level Two wolf, and I was only a Level One puke. Then again, I doubted there were any monsters as weak as me. Level Two might just be the lowest I could find. Maybe I should be grateful, but right now my heart was pounding too much. My hand was shaking so much that I couldn’t even keep my kindjal steady. In my mind, the Vale Wolf in front of me kept morphing into a sneering Orc then back again.

The wolf lunged at me. I whimpered and dodged to the side. The monster landed and kicked out with its hind legs. I grunted and stumbled away, almost losing my balance while a few more hit points dwindled from my bar.

Come on, Jyn! I mentally screamed, but my muscles threatened to lock up. This wasn’t my first time against a Vale Wolf. I’ve killed hundreds of them, what’s wrong with me?

The wolf swung a paw at me, sharp claws bright white against it’s gray fur. Instantly it’s image distorted until all I could see was the Orc thrusting a huge sword. Desperately, I raised the kindjal and blocked the attack with the blade.

A heavy pressure hit the blade and stopped as I successfully caught the attack. It stopped. That painful, punishing assault that wouldn’t let go of my mind stopped. And I wasn’t hurt. My eyes widened as the mirage of the Orc shattered, leaving just the Vale Wolf.

I twisted my wrist and deflected the rest of the wolf’s energy. The wolf was forced left but it’s feet barely tapped the ground when it lunged back, snarling, mouth aiming for my neck. I cross-cut it’s snout with all my might. The blade slashed through the wolf’s snout snapping its head to the side. The monster yelped and fell back, snarling at me with it’s bleeding lip.

I stood there breathing hard, but my hands weren’t shaking like before. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, but my heart wasn’t a chaotic mess like a second ago. Because this wasn’t the Orc that tried to kill me. And a Vale Wolf would never be as scary as that Orc. Ever. As long as I never forgot that, I had nothing to fear.

“Ha!” I slashed at the monster. It leaped to the side and snapped back. I flourished the kindja, taking the offense. The wolf lunged with a snap of its jaws just inches from my sleeve. I spun the kindjal and reversed its grip in my hand. I stabbed back at the Vale Wolf with everything I had.

My blade sank into its neck. Shit. I missed the vitals.

The Vale Wolf opened its mouth and clamped down on my chest, taking nearly half my ribs into it’s maw. I gasped in pain as half my hit points were wiped out. Without my new vest, this attack would have killed me. My teeth gritted together and I reached up with my free hand. Gripping the protruding handle with both hands, I forced the kindjal forward, severing everything that I could as I pulled the blade to the front of the monster’s neck.

The monster collapsed to the ground in a pool of blood.

Air burst from my lips and I staggered back as relief robbed all the strength from my body. I slumped to the ground and rested a hand on my aching ribs while I stared at the wolf’s carcass. A chime rang in the air. Above the carcass a window flashed. [+4 EXP] Then another appeared. [1/2 of the Daily Task complete.]

Curious, I opened my Stats page. Sure enough, where it used to say eight pointed to my next level, it had gone down by four points.

I leaned my head back and stared up at the trees above. “Only four more points and things will get a little easier. I just have to kill one more Vale Wolf and I’m level two.”

Was each task designed to level me up each time? I mean, the first task was pretty much forcing me to get enough EXP for level two. Jeez, how many monsters would I have to kill a day when I got up to level twenty? Or even higher? Just thinking about being that strong was like a dream.

I paused as a random thought came to me. What level was a C Rank Hunter? Or an S Rank? If the System had a level for the Vale Wolf, something that’s normally just labeled as an E Rank monster, then it would only make sense that Hunters had levels too.

Ah, but I didn’t have time to think about that. I glanced at the Stats window that still hung in the air above me and frowned at my hit points bar. [3/12 HP] I definitely needed to visit the hospital before I looked for another Vale Wolf.

But before that, I needed to carve out the energy crystal and get out of here before another monster found me.

Every single move sent a sharp pain through my chest but I climbed to my feet anyway. “Stupid mutt,” I muttered and knelt down by the carcass. Scowling, I made a very practiced cut along the wolf’s sternum. Just before my hand touched the cut to reach inside and retrieve the energy crystal, a red window flashed in front of me.

But it wasn’t just one screen. Another one appeared, then another. In seconds, over twenty flashing red windows filled my vision until they were all I could see, all with the same message.

[Don’t touch the energy crystal!]