A small clearing in the middle of a wooded area. The clearing is a circle about ten metres in width and situated near the southern edge of the woods. The woods themselves are a hundred metres wide and are hemmed in on all sides by an opaque white wall. These woods, unlike most, are unnaturally silent, with no animals or wind the scene is as quiet as a grave. Then, with a small *ding*, a Michael arrives. Still wearing/carrying the gear he had before, he checked his surroundings. Before he had taken more than a glance, a sign appeared before him with a *ding*. It read

Greetings Michael.

In ten minutes five lvl 1 Monsters will be placed in random locations throughout the Trial area.

The Trial area is currently 100 metres in diameter.

Every 24 hours another five monsters will be introduced.

In one week all the monsters remaining will be removed and you will be given the option of leaving.

If you choose to stay, the number of monsters will increase by five a week.

The Trial area will increase in diameter by 100 metres every two weeks.

After one month the number of monsters will reset to five but the levels of the Monsters will increase by one.

Good luck

After Michael had finished reading the sign it burst into fire and turned to ash in an instant, similar to flash paper. Michael was a bit shocked by the sudden action. Then he was shocked by his shock. It was not because the shock was shocking but because the shock was shockingly not dulled. The emotional dampener was no longer in place! Michael was overjoyed that he could finally be emotional again. Then he remembered that he wasn't all that emotional usually and the joy quickly faded. In its place was worry. He was about to be surrounded by monsters like that Strong Bear and he was all alone. That emotion faded too as the logical part of his mind took over. He could worry and stress all he liked after, right now he needed to prepare.

Ten minutes was not enough time to really do anything but check over his weapons and lament at his unpreparedness. worse, since he spent about a minute marvelling at his returned emotions, he now only had 9 minutes. Even less time to lament. Michael chuckled a bit at his own dark humour as he checked his gear. He still had all his throwing knives, ten in number, and his hunting knife. The 10 inch blade, serrated on one side, would be of great help during the coming days and Michael was endlessly thankful that he had the sense to take it when he could. He of course still had his bow, the metal body and cams gleaming in the light. Each of the arrows had been made from some sort of light weight metal that could withstand a lot of punishment. He then put on the Bear Paws and felt energy coursing through his muscles. A quick check of his Attributes showed a +1 next to his Strength.

With 6 Minutes left on the clock, Michael examined his surroundings. Everything seemed surprisingly normal: the grass wasn't a weird colour, the trees looked like normal trees, the sky was the standard white of the tutorial. Michael felt slightly disappointed. As far as he could tell, this was about as close to an alien/interdimensional forest as a person could get and yet, it was maddeningly plain. There wasn't even a rabbit in a waistcoat telling him he was late.

That being said, there was a wall. Roughly ten meters beyond the clearing was an opaque white wall that cut the woods in half, sometimes literally. Michael walked up to the out of place phenomenon, amazed. The wall looked as if it was made of fog, the grayish white surface constantly swirling and shifting. Despite it's foggish facade, the wall felt disturbingly solid when Michael placed his hand on it. A few strikes from his knife did absolutely nothing to the wonderfully magic wall.

Turning from the wall Michael walked back to clearing, stopping just before he stepped into the open, and took a deep breath. As he let it out, a smile formed on his face. Michael thought he would be scared or worried but as he stood there, stuck in an unknown place and about to face enemies he'd never even heard of; this was a dream he never even knew he had. The excitement, the potential for adventure, was almost too much for his poor little heart. Looking down at his hands, they were shaking as adrenaline filled his veins. As the timer hit zero, and several soft dings rang out from deeper in the woods, Michael moved.

An Amaroq was prowling through the unfamiliar trees, seeking prey. Similar in looks to a wolf, it was a 4 foot tall beast that had been created for one thing - death. Razor sharp claws, teeth capable of chewing through steel and powerful senses made it a terrifying predator that would likely cause the deaths of hundreds of the unprepared humans. Worse, this particular Amaroq was still a level one pup. Once reaching adulthood, lvl 10, the beast would reach 12 feet in height and would have easily destroyed entire towns. Unfortunately for the Amaroq, it would never know the power it could have grown in to. Its ears picked up a small thrum and it -

The Drop Bear was not prowling through the woods. As soon as it had spawned it had scampered up the nearest tree before hiding amongst the branches. With a size approaching 3 feet it was not particularly large compared to an Amaroq but its small size packed a lot of viciousness. An ambush predator, it preferred to drop on its victims, hence the name, and eviscerate them with its deadly claws. Being lvl 1 meant that the bear hadn't yet developed any stealth abilities or any of its cruel toxins, but that meant little as the monster preferred to tear it's prey apart anyways. All monsters were bloodthirsty by nature, but Drop Bears seemed to actively revel in the brutal death of its victims.

The beast, having hidden in the tree branches, settled down to wait for it's next prey to arrive. It did not have to wait long, after several minutes it spotted a shadow moving near silently through the woods below it. As the creature approached, the bear tensed in anticipation and, as the shadow reached a spot directly underneath the tree, the vicious predator propelled itself down, claws first. The shadow apparently had good instincts and leapt forwards when it heard the sounds of the Drop Bear's passage through the foliage. The leap was not quick enough however, as the predator still managed to carve a gash on the shadows leg. As the Drop Bear landed it was about to dash forward to finish the job only to pull up short as the creature turned around and waved some sort of shiny claw at it. For a brief moment, all was still as predator and prey stared at each other.

The Drop Bear was weary, it was an ambush predator and this was no longer an ambush. As it considered its options it saw the shadow reach a paw across its body and grab hold of something. Sensing danger the bear dashed towards the creature but barely managed to get halfway when the prey threw something at it. Already in motion the Drop Bear couldn't react quick enough and stumbled as the sharp something pierced its throat. The blow was fatal, it could already feel its life gushing out through the wound. Knowing it's fate was already sealed, it threw itself at the hateful prey, determined to kill that which had killed it.

The Drop Bear hurtled through the air and landed on the creature, clawing it fiercely. The monster was still attacking when death came for it, in the shape of a claw stabbing through its eye and into its brain. Even as death claimed it, the Drop Bear's last thoughts were of the death of the prey.

The Irontusk Boar had been trotting through the tree's when it heard the sound of fighting nearby. Rushing through the undergrowth it discover two odd looking beasts that had apparently just finished their fight. one beast, covered in blood pushed the other off it and, in doing so, spotted the boar. Taking advantage of the weakened state of the creature, the Irontusk Boar lowered its head and charged fiercely. 4 feet tall with tusks capable of tearing through flesh and steel alike, the Boar was a force of nature when charging.

Unfortunately, whilst its tusks were strong, its legs were less so. As it was charging, something had struck its leg just as it put pressure on it, snapping the leg and sending the boar tumbling. As it was attempting to get up it spotted the creature do the same and then stumble a few feet away to pick up some sort of stick thing. As the Irontusk Boar prepared to charge at the creature on its three remaining legs -

The Hibagon was enraged. Mere minutes ago it heard the sounds of battle but, after finally finding the scene, there were no more creatures to kill. Dead creatures and blood there was plenty, but it did not care for those. It was actually one of the few herbivores among known monster species. When it killed, it did so for the pure joy of battle, as well as the Mana it gained from the kill. Now, it was bored, angry and stomping through the woods, hoping to attract attention rather than avoid it. The Hibagon was a large black creature, with white hands and feet, that largely resembled a gorilla.

It was not a Perceptive creature so it did not even attempt to track the surviving creature; it did not even know that there was one. The fact that it managed to walk in the direction that the third creature had gone was pure luck. Unfortunately, it was not good luck. After stomping ten metres down the track, a stick came flying at it from above. The Hibagon was a tough beast, with both Vitality and Strength sitting at 13. It was not enough however, and the stick stuck it in the he-

The Frost Rat was not a direct confrontation type of Monster, it preferred to sneak and, when the time was right, launch a fatal attack. It was not a large monster, barely reaching 2 foot when on its hind legs, and was covered in a dark grey fur. It was not actually a full Frost Rat just yet, it would gain it's frosty ability upon reaching adulthood.

The rat had actually arrived at the site of the battle a full minute before the Hibagon but had still been cautiously investigating the area when the Monster came charging in. Quickly hiding itself from sight, it watched as the enraged Monster stomped off. The Frost Rat decided to follow the beast, hoping to take advantage of a confrontation between it and the third creature who's trail it had followed. It's cautiousness was rewarded as, after only a few metres, it spied a shadow hiding in the branches far above, seemingly about to attack. Getting ready, it launched itself at the back of the Hibagon just as the other creature sent some sort of projectile attack towards the big Monster. The rat was not hoping to actually kill the creature, but instinctively knew that as long as it damaged it even a little bit then it would be able to claim some of the Mana from the creatures death. As long as it immediately ran, it would be able to grow stronger with minimal effort. As it leapt it opened its jaw wide and bit down on the back of the beast, but it was too late, the creature had apparently already been killed. Realising it was in danger, the Frost Rat turned around and-

Michael was not having a good time. the last hour had not exactly gone to plan. The first kill was easy enough, aa arrow to the head had put the giant wolf down quickly and quietly. The next encounter had not gone well at all. The Strong Bear and the wolf had made given him the false assumption that all the Monsters were going to be big and easy to spot. This was very much proven wrong when the Drop Bear nearly eviscerated him. Still, he had managed to sense the creature and turned the situation around. The throwing knife to the throat had been a good start, applying a bleed to the evil creature. He hadn't expected the sudden charge though, but at least he could finally start levelling his Novice Heal.

Hobbling the boar had been a stroke of luck. He had only planned on tripping the boar, buying himself time, but had gotten a critical shot somehow. After he finished killing the boar with an arrow to the head he collected the arrows and the throwing knife, and quietly crept away from the scene. As he walked he cast a couple of Novice Heals, his health having been taken down to 68 by the Drop Bear. He'd leave the rest to be healed by his regen, he didn't really want to be without Mana right now. After moving about 15 metres away he heard some sounds behind him. After a quick check to make sure he wasn't in immediate danger, he stealthily climbed a tree until he came upon a decent spot about fifteen feet up. After a brief pause to catch his breath, he focused on the direction of the sounds. To his dismay, he heard heavy thuds approaching him.

Sure that a monster had picked up his trail, he nocked an arrow and waited for whatever it was to show itself. When the bigfoot like creature showed itself, Michael took the time to aim and loosed the arrow directly at its eye, hoping for a quick kill. Michaels luck held, the arrow pierced the beasts eye and entered its brain, landing a critical shot and killing the creature instantly. The fight wasn't over though, as Michael had seen what looked like a giant rat just behind the bigfoot. With no time to nock an arrow, Michael fired off a Magic Missile, aiming for it's head. The spell unerringly struck the rat in its head and killed it instantly, surprising Michael.

Michael listened for any more sounds, before realising that he had already killed five monsters, there wouldn't be any more today. Relaxing, he sat back on the tree branch he was on, leaning against the tree trunk. He took a moment to let the adrenaline fade, and for his heartbeat to return to a normal speed. Now that he had a moment he decided to look over the notifications he had gotten.

Tier 1 Lvl 1 Amaroq Killed!

5 Experience Points Earned!

Bonus : Wolf Fang Necklace

He had already gotten the necklace after killing the Amaroq but hadn't put it on. He had Identified the item as having +1 perception but hadn't put it on, not wanting to alter his senses mid-hunt. In hindsight, that had been stupid. A higher Perception might have let him spot the Drop Bear before it got the, ha, 'drop' on him. Since he had a moment, he pulled the necklace from his pocket and put it on. Much like the gloves, Michael felt energy rush throughout his body, but mostly his nose. As the energy settled Michael felt his sense of smell suddenly heightened which, combined with the corpses nearby, made his eyes water. Whilst he struggled to get used to his new sense of smell, he pulled up the next notification.

Lvl 1 Drop Bear Killed!

5 Experience Points Earned!

"Seriously?!" Michael exclaimed. Not only had it nearly killed him, it had also failed to give up an item. Michael vowed, then and there, to drop kick the next Drop Bear he found. He quickly looked through the rest of the notifications.

Lvl 1 Irontusk Boar Killed!

5 Experience Points Earned!

Lvl 1 Hibagon Killed!

5 Experience Points Earned!

Bonus : 1 x Health Potion

Michael looked over to the bigfoots, or Hibagons, body. Sitting just to the left of it was a small glass bottle, containing about a mouthful of a reddish liquid. He smiled, that would undoubtedly come in handy.

Lvl 1 Frost Rat Killed!

5 Experience Points Earned!

After a few minutes the phantom pains had faded and Michael got up. There was a lot of work to do if he was going to survive the week and the sooner he got started the better. Before he did that, he needed to assign Attribute points. He still had the three for completing a Step on his Path, a fact which made him want to travel back in time to slap the younger version of him that thought assigning them was a bad idea. With a bit of focus, he pulled up his Attribute screen.

Attributes

Unassigned Attribute points : 3

Strength 8+ (+1) Agility 8+ Vitality 8+ Dexterity 8+ Perception 8+ (+1) Magic 8+

Since the necklace and the gloves already gave him bonuses, he ignored Strength and Perception. Vitality was a definite plus, the more Health he had, the bigger the buffer between him and death. Grimacing at that morbid thought, Michael decided to add two points to Vitality with the final point going to Magic. He knew that putting the points in all at once would suck donkey butt, and hopefully the memory of what he was about to experience would stop him from ever leaving Attribute points unassigned. After steeling his nerves, Michael pressed confirm.

Fortunately, the pain wasn't as bad as what he had expected. Unfortunately, the pain was still really bad. The feeling of his flesh being reconstructed by Mana was intense, and intensely painful. The experience only lasted an instant, but the pain took several minutes to dissipate.

"Yup, not gonna forget that one soon. Fudging hell."

It took a second for Michael to trigger to what he just said. "Wait, Why'd I say fudge? I meant to say fridge. Fumble. Why can't I say fort? What the shirt? What the hinkle is going on?"

In an unimportant corner of the universe, on an only slightly unusual corner planet that was currently teeming with Monsters, a small, non-existent smile formed on the hypothetical lips of a Planetary Consciousness, as a small, somewhat petty, piece of revenge came to fruition.