The silence of the forest was interrupted by irregular, almost silent, gurgling and hiccups. Out, mere metres away from the blemished and blackened tower, buried half-way into the ground, was a woman, curled up tightly into a ball, clutching her left arm to her chest. Every second that passed leaves turned patchy and wilted, the forest dying right before her eyes.

Still, she remained in a fetal position, seemingly uncaring for the decaying foliage around her.

After a couple of minutes, did she finally rouse herself form her stationary from, eyes bleary and red. Memories of the pain were fresh, and even residual in her body by this point--she could barely even feel her own arm.

Name Unnamed Level 2 Health 20/180 Stamina 73/100 Essence

4/4 Power 9 Constitution 4 Endurance 5 Vim 6 Essence

1 Spirit

6 Health Regeneration

100/day Stamina Regeneration

120/day Essence Regeneration

200/day

No matter how much she was using leech, her health didn't go up--it was like her power was permanently stuck at 1; at least her health regeneration hadn't gone down as well.

What was that fucking fog!

She struggled to collect her thoughts--to organise them in a way she could even begin to think. Nothing else was on her mind other than the fog and in the incomparable pain it brought her.

Her mind went back to her skills:

0th Tier

Heal (1/10)

Restore 5 points of health every second to a living entity

1m range

Cost: 1 es/sec

Leech (2/10)

Drain 15 points of health every second from a living entity

2m range

Cost: 2 es/sec

Cleanse (1/10)

Cleanse an entity from any toxin, disease, or contamination

Cost: 1 es

Can cleanse do anything? Fuck! Why didn't I take cleanse instead of reservoir stone?

Maybe, maybe you don't even need a skill at all? Her mind starting to whirl, discordant thoughts bouncing around in her head even in this half-lucid state. Any train of thought was hard to follow and she spent seconds just trying to stay on track.

The skills, they're all just a transfer of essence, of energy; there's nothing different. Can't I just do the same with cleanse? Do the same with leech but instead of imagining the repair of my body, the flushing out of toxins? Would that work?

Even if the idea sounded simple, in retrospect, constructing a new--if slightly altered--understanding of how essence works, localised to this specific skill, was hard to do. She imagined her body as a complete system, internal energies flowing inside like she often saw on spiritualistic posters. Now, all she had to do was flush essence throughout, targeting toxins.

Except, nothing happened. She did the same she did with leech and reservoir stone--visualising the motion of a body of particles and the repercussions of said motion--but her essence didn't go down nor did she feel any better at all.

After a few seconds of trying this, she gave up; she didn't think it was going to work in the first place, anyway. She pounded her good hand into the ground, frustration bleeding out of her. She needed to level up.

She swapped the knife over to her right hand, now, which was still holding the stone. It was awkward and she lacked a firm, solid grip on the weapon but it was far better than the excruciating pain of holding something in her left hand.

Her goal was to follow the stream; animals needed to drink so they'd either be near it or leave tracks from it. And so, she started off at a tilted, lop-sided run, her jogs uneven as irregular spasms of pain put her off kilter.

The mud squelched underneath her feet and she was grateful for all the cardio she used to do; her mind was a buzz--just trying to focus any and all thought away from the gnawing sensation in her mind demanding all attention--and the jogging helped to take her mind off it, even if only slightly.

She jogged for minutes but no more than an hour. The sun was high in the sky, blazing down it's blistering heat only for it to be protected by a thick atmosphere, further reduced by the holey canopy above her head. Even with her feet wet, the ground didn't feel cold but rather like spring; the coldness was refreshing, offering clarity instead of the instinctual clamouring for warmth.

Eventually, however, she spotted something; not an animal, no, but something could potentially lead to one. She had ran upstream from where she had stayed the night and it was uncharted territory, now. Leaves were amassed in a non-random pattern, twigs and branches lined up like they had been pushed out of a path, and the mud looked more uneven than usual. There was always the unfortunate possibility that this was all her doing and her pain-addled mind refused to let her remember or realise that but for the sake of her sanity, she had to believe that this was a path to another level up.

She crouched down low, touching the dirt with her finger. It felt like any other dirt--even if there was something unusual, she probably wouldn't have been able to derive any useful information form it. Never-the-less, she could vaguely see the imprint of three grooves in the dirt and repeated in a pattern, trailing away from the stream. All of the place was a mess of mud, dirt, and dead leaves--being able to ascertain any pattern, or any discernible image was difficult at best; she may have just been seeing things which weren't there.

She stood back up but maintained a hunched and small posture. She moved her feet carefully, one eye on the ground at all times, careful not to disturb any of the brittle material that was strewn about the place lest she make a noise.

She followed what she presumed to be a trail for a good few minutes, stopping every now and then to look around, both to make sure she was still on the 'right' track as well as to be on the lookout for anything dangerous. There were also times she stopped when the pain her left hand flared up sporadically, causing her to fight down a curse with a grunt of pain. There was no relief for her until she'd level up.

And then she found it. Hiding low behind a bush, she stuck her head out to watch; there was a large, muscular boar trotting around a suspicious hill. It was at least waist height, with dark, blackened fur and large tusks jutting out of its face. It looked just like a skir boar she had fought a few days earlier.

But that wasn't all; there was another boar, similarly sized but with lighter, almost colourful fur and smaller tusks. This one was standing still, while the larger one was trailing circles around it. Either, it was threatening it or it was a mating ritual of some kind, she concluded, presuming the difference in appearance to be a result of sexual dimorphism.

Do I really want to fight some boars? One alone actually killed me the first time I encountered it, though I am the same level as them this time...

She debated with herself in her way, trying to weigh the pros and cons. Needless to say, the mere prospect of a level up was a strong argument, her desire to cure the pain through any means latching onto the most probable solution.

Unfortunately, her decision was made for her; another sharp stream of pain coursed through her, striking out from the arm like lightning and causing her to muffle a gasp. The involuntary spasm, however, shifted the bush she was hiding behind, the rustling of leaves alerting her presence to the two boars.

Shit! I guess I don't have an option, anyway.

Electing not to let the boars strike first, she regained line-of-sight with the largest of the pair, who was now hurrying towards her. It wasn't quite running as fast as she knew it could--likely because it hadn't yet properly seen her--but it was swift none-the-less. She readied her mind, trying to keep it steady and coherent while she waited, her form as small as possible. She shifted the essence stone to her left hand, the pain nearly unbearable, grinding her teeth hard as she struggled to keep her mouth shut.

The boar entered within a 2 metre range of her. She activated leech, drawing a link between herself and the boar, and she felt the essence and health begin to flow through her. She kept an eye on her health, seeing it perpetually stuck at the frighteningly low number.

The boar was within a metre now, its eyes now locked onto her. She jumped out of the way of the bush, as the boar came barreling through. Its acceleration was swifter than expected, nearly hitting her as she narrowly dodged. Finally locked in combat, she received the name and the level. Skir Boar, Level 2. The same as the first one. Are they always level 2? Now was not the time for errant thoughts.

Her essence ran out and she switched back to reservoir stone, if only for a second, to top herself back up. It was tiring work, mentally, having to shift focus continually between the boar and the stone, but it was the only way to get all the essence she needed to fight.

The most important thing, however, was to not get hit. It killed her before at a similar health and she'd be damned if it killed her again.

The boar turned around, drawing a tight circle in the dirt with its feet, before charging again, its pointy tusks aimed right for her threateningly. Its speed suggested it had a higher power than she did and that could only be trouble.

Like a matador with a bull, she narrowly dodged again, unable to maintain firm footing and scrambling backwards on the ground. Her eyes drifted up towards the second boar, staring directly at her and coming at her with its own charge now.

They were one-directional attacks but the speed with which they ran was as fast as a car.

I can't keep dodging them; two is too many.

Racking her mind to think of another perspective, another strategy, she clambered to her feet quickly, side-stepping out of the path of the original boar. Leech was still going, and she was still alternating between that and reservoir stone, though the delay in switching between the two was increasing as the mental strain compounded.

Instead, her eyes drifted to the nearest tree to her; she tossed her knife to the ground, stuck the--thankfully small--essence stone in her mouth and grasped the tree with both hands. The tree was wider than her but the rough bark provided ample hand holds and her power was still effective, even if it didn't contribute to her health.

With monkey-like agility, she clambered on higher and higher until she was about 2 metres off the ground--perhaps a little less. The boars slowed their charge as they got to the base of the tree, until the first one shoved its thick skull against the base of the tree, vibrating the whole thing. Thankfully, that brought it into range of leech, meaning she was able to whittle away its health in relative safety.

Of course, this was true if they couldn't knock down the tree.

The other boar bashed into the tree as well, sending another frightening shiver through the poor thing. Then the other attacked again. They began to alternate bashing at the tree while she was stuck up there, holding on to dear life with all the strength in her hands.

But then, the first boar began to slow down. It's movements were getting sluggier, slower, each headbutt exerting less and less force on the tree. Eventually, with its final runup, its feet collapsed from under it, buckling and sending the boar tumbling headfirst into the ground.

Leech level up!

She now dealt 20 damage at the cost of 3 essence per second, another inefficient upgrade to the skill. She understood the value of upfront damage--killing something before it could kill you--but if someone was using a long-ranged skill that also healed you, that meant intermittent fighting as well sustainability--that benefited from efficiency at the cost of less upfront damage. In theory, she'd win by outlasting her opponent rather than by killing it first.

Which was what was happening here. Her focus had shifted to the second boar, leech beginning to siphon away its health, as the prospect that one boar could knock down her tree seemed less and less likely.

The range of the skill had increased as well, and now, whereas the boars used to exit the range of leech when backing away for a runup, they remained in range for a longer period of time. This sped up this boars demise, taking only two thirds of the time it took the first boar for her to kill the second boar.

Unfortunately, leech didn't level up again, but rather, something else did.

Level up!

You have been awarded 5 stat points and 1 skill point

Without bothering to think about it, she hoped down her the tree, landing somewhat clumsily on the ground, and put her skill point into cleanse as soon as she could.

Cleanse (1/10)

Cleanse an entity from any toxin, disease, or contamination

Cost: 1 es

Information filled her brain, on what cleanse was, how to use it, and what it had effect on.

Again, she imagined her whole body as a closed system--a sum of her internal and potential energies. She pictured essence flowing through her much like blood did, with a deep, dark spot on her left arm, blocking the essence from continuing. Essence was pure, unmolded, but it was also unique; she imprinted onto the essence inside of her, with the reservoir stone containing essence specific to her. This blot, this corruption of her left arm wasn't her essence. Instead, she had to think of it like a disease, a virus. Essence, to her, was like blood--vital for life--and, like blood, it attacked foreign bodies inside of her. The flow of essence inside her slowed to a crawl before refocusing on her arm, on the foreign essence there.

Whereas white blood cells would attack through antitoxins or engulfing the alien bodies, essence was like ants; she pictured tens and tens of particles within her attacking the rot, flinging themselves at it, hoping to dislodge it from her.

The 1 essence drained out of her and, with it, so too did the pain. Tentatively, she flexed her hand, feeling such raw and clear sensations from her digits. She could feel the coldness of the earth beneath her, as well as the crisp, dry air all around.

She heaved an immense sigh of relief, before collapsing onto her back, mentally exhausted. She used cleanse a few more times on herself, getting used to the feeling altogether, before running out of essence. She didn't bother to refill using the essence stone she spat out once she had left the tree, content to just wait.

She stayed motionless for a good few minutes before finally picking herself back up. Scrounging around, she found both her knife and essence stone, finally able to hold both of them in her hands comfortably again.

Now, however, there was a question on her mind; what was up about that hill? The forest, so far, had been relatively flat and even deviation in the height of the ground had been over such a large distance she hadn't really noticed. But this mound of earth was different; it stood out like a sore thumb--only trees raised up into the air but this was literally dirt and rocks.

She approached the hill, intending to investigate.

It was small, unlikely to be hiding a cave for a human, but she circled it anyway, looking for anything interesting, and that's when she found it. Like a rabbit hole, there was a burrowing inside; the tunnel was small but wide enough for her to crawl through and certainly wide enough for the boars to get through comfortably.

Curiosity piqued, she got onto her hands and knees and began to shuffle forwards, mindful not to bump her head.

Spacious was not a word that could be used to describe it; the walls were made of dirt, the ground mattered with an assortment of dead leaves, and as she moved, dirt crumbled around her. A small, reclusive section of her mind warned her it would collapse, but that seemed unlikely.

Further in, it opened up somewhat; the tunnel wasn't any taller but it was certainly wider. Many more leaves littered the ground, piled up in one half of the den in what seemed to be an actual home for the boars.

Boars. Three boars, to be specific. Inside, huddled against the wall, fur neatly blending in with the surroundings. It's tusks were miniscule--nubs, really--and its overall size was closer to a small dog than the hulking creatures its parents were. This, she believed, was a boarling.

The thing was stationary, trying not to move. Its legs were short, body stout, and fur covered in dirt. A child, and one attempting to hide from the predator that had just invaded its nest. One could even say it was cute.

Seeing something that so closely resembled what had just tried to kill her, she checked her stat block, looking at her health.

Name Unnamed Level 3 Health 23/180 Stamina 52/100 Essence

4/4 Power 9 Constitution 4 Endurance 5 Vim 6 Essence

1 Spirit

6 Health Regeneration

100/day Stamina Regeneration

120/day Essence Regeneration

200/day

Yes! Cleanse worked! My health is going up. However, her health was still precariously low. Looking at the baby boar in front of her, an ethical question ran through her mind.

Do I just leave it be? It could give me experience.

She was in desperate need of experience, yes, but she also wasn't a monster. It looked so fragile, like you could hurt it with just a weak kick. Could she bring herself to kill the poor thing? She's killed its parents; hadn't she already done enough?

Then it occurred to her; she killed its parents; it probably wasn't going to survive. At this point, it'd likely starve to death. Even the squirrels would probably prove too much for it--those tusks weren't going to be hurting anyone.

Thus, she had decided to put the boar out of its misery--a kindness to let it die useful and in a fight rather than alone, afraid, and starving.

She activated leech and in just a second, her health changed to 43 and the boar, consequently, slumped over, life drained its eyes and its body as inert as stone. Joy didn't fill over what she had just done, but rather a solemn acceptance, finally vocalised to herself though she had already known it. It was kill or be killed; such was the way of the world.