I just stood there. After dying, the panther collapsed to the ground, but my hand still remained in the same position. Even if I wanted to move, my body wouldn’t have followed. I simply stood there for half an hour until reality finally sunk in.

I survived. I fought an impossible battle and won. I gambled my life in a crazy plan and succeeded. I stared death in the face and laughed at it. The last one is a bit exaggerated, but that’s exactly how I feel like now. There was also the fight with the wolves, but I didn’t come as close to death as I did just now.

Almost mechanically I try to take the wolf fang to start skinning the beast, but the fang breaks before being able to get it out. I rip one of the panther’s fangs and resume my initial movements. I carefully dismantle the beast in an unusual silence. There is no sound, the forest is completely silent. Only moon is shining upon me as if it is watching me.

My every move is accurate as I perfectly skin its black hide. My strikes are precise and I separate its additional bones from the rest. Its fang feels like an extension of my body as I keep cutting until previous mighty beast is separated into a pile of meat, a pile of bones and a pile of claws and fangs.

Your skill [Dismantle] has skill has achieved a breakthrough! STR and DEX base stats increased by 3 permanently.

You have completed the [Beast Dismantler] path! STR and DEX base stats increased by 2 permanently. You have earned 10 path points!

The new set of messages finally wakes me up from the trance and I breathe a long sigh. This is probably how a soldier feels after he survives a frontline battle. Sure I’ve killed both the wolves and the deer before. But it all felt different. Sure, I was in danger when I was surrounded, but I had a way out. Now I couldn’t run, I had to fight to the death and I had to risk my life in order to win.

I didn’t move in time there or if my plan would have failed from the beginning, I would be the one on the floor, being eaten by the beast just as I dismantled it right now. The simple realization that my life would have ended in a forest who-knows where, without anyone knowing about it, filled me with dread.

But there’s also another feeling. The feeling of accomplishment. I’ve done what I’ve deemed impossible. As I said previously, I feel like I’ve stared death in face and laughed at it. That’s why I skinned it so carefully, I wanted a trophy. I wanted something to remind me of my victory. I wanted to remember this feeling. I want to have this feeling again.

My thoughts are in a complete disorder so I look over the messages received from the System to distract myself from them. And oh boy, there are a lot of them. I’ve completed all my paths except for the ‘Human’ one. I’ve received some base stats, but what I’m happiest about is that big increase in TLN. I’m also exalted to see those 50path points waiting for me. And there’s also that breakthrough thingy.

Both skills that had a breakthrough are now at MAX and don’t have a level displayed anymore. There’s also the new skill [Automatic Translation] that‘s also at MAX. This poses a lot of new questions about the skills, but unfortunately I don’t have the answers for them and neither does the re-downloaded manual.

I open the available paths and I find some new ones there. I once again narrow the list down to the choices that interest me.

Path Name

Description

Type

Cost

Otherworlder 2

Arriving in a new world, you are getting the hang of what you need to do in order to survive and thrive.

Other

10

Apprentice Hunter

Braving the wilderness, you now learn its rules. Tracking, stalking, killing and dismantling beasts will now become your daily routine.

Profession

10

Forest Forager

The forest is an unknown for many, for you it’s a gold mine. Avoiding dangerous beasts, you find all its natural resources.

Profession

2

Apprentice Cook

Anyone can roast a piece of meat. You take the step further to ensure that it’s safe and tasty.

Profession

3

Magic Scholar 1

Magic is full of wanders and unknowns. You learn its language and seek to understand its power.

Profession

10

Magic Inscriptioner 1

Understanding the power of magic, you engrave its language into runes.

Profession

25

Martial Artist 1

There are many weapons in the world. You chose the most reliable one, your body.

Combat

10

Apprentice Lightning Mage

Magic has many shapes and forms. You chose to wield the wild power of lightning.

Combat

20

Lightning Warrior

Harnessing the power of lightning and wielding it inside your body, you strike your enemies with overwhelming speed and power.

Combat

50

Apprentice Space Mage

Magic has many shapes and forms. You chose to wield the unknown power of space.

Combat

50

Apprentice Mind Mage

Magic has many shapes and forms. You chose to wield the manipulative power of mind.

Combat

25

Apprentice Fire Mage

Magic has many shapes and forms. You chose to wield the destructive power of fire.

Combat

5

Apprentice Nature Mage

Magic has many shapes and forms. You chose to wield the wild power of nature.

Combat

10

Forstgol 1

Very similar to normal humans, Forstgols chose the forest as their way of live. You follow their path, becoming one with nature.

Racial

10 (5)

Lightningborn 1

Very few in number, Lightningborns are humans who can control the lightning as natural as breathing. You follow their footsteps in order to wield their power.

Racial

20 (10)

At this point I’m seriously considering picking the ‘Lightning Warrior 1’ path. I’m almost sure it’s related to the [Lightning Conversion] and that one saved my life three times already. My only hesitation is that I believe I should learn to generate lightning on my own before picking it.

If I don’t pick it, ‘Otherworlder 2’ is a sure, so spatial magic is out once again. Well, I think that almost all combat paths are out as I decided on ‘Apprentice Lightning Mage’. As I said, I want to learn to generate lightning before picking ‘Lightning Warrior’ and this is a sure way to do so. That’s without mentioning my lightning affinity that’s nearing 100%.

I’ve also very tempted by the ‘Lightningborn 1’ path, but I’m not sure how racial paths affect me and I’d like to leave it until I gather more information on the topic. This leaves me with 22 points for a profession path, just 3 short of the ‘Magic Inscriptioner 1’ sadly. I would have picked it has a chance to get rid of the chant. Fire magic was unusable in the last fight as there was no way I would have 10 seconds to just stand and chant.

Foraging and cooking are more a quality of live improvement, so I can put them aside for now. ‘Magic Scholar 1’ would probably help me improve knowledge of magic, while ‘Apprentice Hunter’ would help me with finding monster faster. Both of them are very useful in my situation. It’s basically better understanding of magic against more stat points. Well, as I’m also picking a mage path let’s go with the scholar.

You’ve started the ‘Otherworlder 2’ path.

You’ve started the ‘Apprentice Lightning Mage’ path. You have obtained the [Basic Lightning Magic Lv1] common skill.

You’ve started the ‘Magic Scholar’ path. You have obtained the [No-Attribute Magic Language Lv1] common skill.

That's rather disappointing. I thought there would be a universal language of magic, but it doesn't appear to be the case. Also, there seems to be a no-attribute type of magic as well. And, as expected, the [Automatic Translation] skill doesn’t apply to magic languages.

There’s a lot to do, but for now let’s return to the stream I’ve found before. Sure, I can find a new source of water nearby, but I have a vague feeling that closer to the mountain I am, the stronger the beasts are. And I really don’t want to meet another one like that.

But before returning, I once again stash my prize into a in a tree hollow and hide it with some leaves. I keep its two biggest fangs with me as a replacement for the wolf fang I’ve lost.

As I depart, I realize that I’m already hungry. After that battle, my self-regeneration probably used a lot of my resources. Remembering the shape I was in, it’s hardly believable I can move right now. My left arm also healed a bit, but still hurts like hell when I try to move it.

When I’m near the spot where I’ve found the stream, I start taking a detour in search of an animal to eat. Almost 20 minutes later, I finally find signs of one, but I’m disappointed to find that it’s just an owl. Well it’s free stat points so I shouldn’t complain. I get close and while still hidden, I try the lightningbolt for the first time.

I start to hear lightning around me and exactly 10 seconds after I’ve started the chant, I see the owl struck by a lightning that seems to have appeared from my palm. It’s very weird as I wasn’t touched by even a bit of electricity. What’s even weirder it’s the sense of familiarity I’ve felt with the process, as if I could create the same effect even without the chant, but not quite there.

You have killed an Owl! You have earned 0.2 stat points! You have earned a skill point!

Well, it seems that it was a normal owl, but those stat points add up so I can’t complain. I give a look to the charred corpse, then I immediately turn away and continue my search. Almost 10 minutes later, the A.I. chip finds a rabbit nest. Just as I hear the notification, I turn and head towards its location.

I spot 5 rabbits sleeping in some tall grass and I approach carefully to avoid waking them up. I consider using magic, but I’d like to avoid completely burning my meal. When I’m close enough, I throw the two fangs I have. I also leap immediately after, but all I can do is sit and stare. Three rabbits ran away with an unimaginable speed, easily surpassing that of the panther.

You have killed a Lightning Rabbit! You have earned 3.7 stat points!

You have killed a Lightning Rabbit! You have earned 3.9 stat points!

Well that was… wow. There is still static electricity left in their wake. I can understand those ridiculous stat points gains. No wasting any more time, I pick the two I’ve killed by impaling them with the panther fangs and head towards the stream.

I get there, wash myself, start a fire and cook my meal. After I finish, I climb up a tree and position myself so I can sleep. Normally I don’t need so much sleep, but right now I’m both physically and mentally exhausted by the events that happened this night.

Spoiler: Status

Identity

Stats

Active Paths

Name

Avitus Volten

STR

238

[261.8]

VIT

153

[168.3]

Human

43.5%

Race

Human

AGI

292

[321.2]

PER

369

[405.9]

Otherworlder 2

0.4%

Sex

Male

DEX

327

[359.7]

INT

351

[386.1]

Apprentice Lightning Mage

0.2%

Age

47

CON

192

[211.2]

WIS

97

[106.7]

Magic Scholar 1

0%

Title

Outsider

END

103

[113.3]

TLN

30

[48.4]

Affinities

Resistances

Titles Earned

Perks

Lightning

98%

Lightning

95%

Otherworlder

Lightningborn

A.I. Chip

Mental

82%

Pain

72%

Outsider

Shadow

53%

Mental

55%

Fire

38%

Poison

52%

Spatial

8%

Spatial

25%

Temporal

2%

Skills

Common

Rare

Personal

Basic Self-Regeneration Lv8

Fake Status Lv1

Quantum A.I. Processor Lv27

Basic Martial Arts Lv7

Basic Long-range Appraisal Lv1

Dismantle Lv3

Lightning Conversion MAX

Meditation Lv1

Cognitive Overpower Lv4

Basic Fire Magic Lv1

Automatic Translation MAX

Basic Lightning Magic Lv1

Basic Lightning Magic Manipulation Lv1

No-Attribute Magic Language Lv1

You have 27.7 unspent stat points, 8 unspent skill point and 12 unspent path points.