As we had planned, at dawn I left to meet Marnie at the edge of town. My straw cot was so uncomfortable that I had no trouble getting up on time, despite how exhausted I had been the night before. I even had time to stretch out my muscles before grabbing my spear and heading out. A short while after I arrived, Marnie appeared out of the twilight.

“Good, you’re here,” she said by way of greeting. “I wouldn’t have waited long. Take this,” she handed me a rucksack, keeping an unstrung bow, arrows, and a steel knife for herself. “Since I’m going to be teaching you, you might as well perform the manual labor.”

With that, she set out into the forest at a relaxed pace, taking for granted that I would follow her. I did so, of course.

The first thing she taught me was now to navigate. She covered how to use distant landmarks and the sun to orient myself, how to use multiple trees or other markers to keep going straight in dense forest, and how to interpret the markings that various hunters had made on trees near the village.

The next thing she taught me was how to walk. Apparently whatever I had learned as a baby was insufficient. In actuality, what she taught me was how to move through the trees and undergrowth silently and without a trace.

“So why do I need to move stealthily? Are there animals out here that would track me down?” I whispered. I guess I was in the mindset of being quiet.

“Most animals will spook if they hear you, so you do need to keep quiet. I’m fairly certain nothing here would follow your trail by sight, but as long as you’re moving quietly, you might as well practice leaving no trace. It’s always good to be prepared.”

Prepared for what? I wondered. Griff and Marnie both seem to talk like I’m going to be fighting against people at some point. Griff said Marnie was a scout, and he was quite familiar with spear drills and had war injuries, so they were probably both in the Empire’s army. Are they just falling back on old habits, or do they know something they aren’t telling me?

I suppose either way I need to keep learning as much as I can, so it doesn’t really matter yet. I can worry about it later.

As we walked, she would point out various animal signs, such as footprints, torn or chewed upon foliage, and scat. She also pointed out a few edible berries, nuts and mushrooms, which I snacked upon as we walked, as well as some other plants that were potentially useful. As the morning wore on, she started quizzing me on animal signs and plants.

“What animal made those prints?” She asked, pointing at some hoofprints in the mud.

They weren’t particularly large, so I answered, “Deer or threx.”

“Yes, probably deer because there are multiple tracks going the same direction and threx tend to be solitary. Now, what’s that mushroom over there?”

I recognized it; I remembered that it was slightly poisonous but could be made into a low-grade Health restorative. What I couldn’t remember was the name. Thankfully I had a cheat: Identify.

[Gronel (Common): A mushroom typically found in forests. Considered inedible but has weak Health regeneration properties.]

“Gronel. Inedible but used for Health potions.” She nodded, apparently satisfied, and we continued on.

“How about those berries?” She pointed at a small bush with clumps of red berries and looked at me expectantly. I didn’t recognize them, so I used Identify again.

Iphre Berry (Uncommon); A berry from an Iphre bush with strong Health regeneration properties.

I relayed the information to her.

“Ha, gotcha; you’ve been using Identify!” She jabbed me in the chest with her finger.

I opened my mouth, but closed it again when no defense sprang to mind. I could feel my cheeks heating up.

Fortunately, she laughed. “It’s not really a problem, as long as you’re careful. Use every advantage you’ve got.” She actually winked at me then. “But you still have to be cautious. Those particular berries may be useful, but they’re poisonous even to the touch. Several people have learned that the hard way since we settled here. I don’t know exactly how Identify works, but generally at lower levels it only says the most prominent physical or magical trait, not necessarily the most pertinent one. So you get uses instead of the fact that you shouldn’t touch the damned things.

“I’ve started believing that the descriptions are somehow generated instead of written out by a higher power. Certainly would explain why all the plants and animals around had names before any of us got here. Not to mention the fact that the names don’t seem to have any meaning or pattern to them. Not that I’d say any of this to a priest, no need to get into any theological arguments,” she scoffed.

“So, while we’re on the topic of Identify, could you explain how the ranking works?”

“Not much too it, really. It’s just a general guideline for the quality of an item or ingredient, which is linked to how magical and rare it is. Goes Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Might be more after that; I don’t know. For crafted items, there is also Crude, which is below Common. Generally, a product will have the same rank as the components it’s made of. True experts can make things a rank above their ingredients, though.”

I nodded along as she explained and then we were back on our way. Now, though, she took care to ask about secondary properties of plants instead of what Identify told me. Eventually, a bit after mid morning, my rapt attention to her lessons bore fruit:

Forestry Skill advanced to Level 1!

Remembering Griff’s dismissal when I got the Spear Skill, I didn’t say anything, but I did have a bit more spring in my step after the notification. At that point, we had apparently entered where Marnie had set traps the day before. This prompted her to start giving me an overview of various types of trap, when to use them, and where to put them (where the prey will be, as it turned out).

The first few traps we checked were all snares that had either not been triggered or had been triggered, but hadn’t caught anything. One of the triggered ones had some blood and fur around it, which Marnie said was probably from a predator eating the snared animal, rather than a successful escape. After showing me how on the first trap, Marnie made me reset all the others for practice.

Eventually, we came upon a successful snare. As we approached, I noticed the creature twitching and Observed it.

Rabbit (Level 0): 3/3 Health

Marnie stopped a few feet away from the rabbit and took a seat on the ground, motioning for me to do the same. “Alright. Griff asked me to teach you how to gather essence and this rabbit should help. I’m not really the best person at explaining this sort of thing, but I’ll do what I can.”

She took a deep breath before continuing, “So, the basic goal is to move essence from the environment into yourself. You can affect the essence around you with what amounts to your will, although I’m not sure on the details. The issue is that without years of practice you can’t sense the essence or manipulate it directly, and we don’t have time for that.

“Fortunately, there is a bit of a shortcut that relies on visualization. The details vary from person to person, but basically you set a scene in your mind in which the essence is represented by something else and has some natural way of coming to you. I imagine the essence as small game animals and a pack of hunting dogs bringing them to me. This works great for me for absorbing essence from animals, but not so well for general meditation, but I rarely bother with that anyway. Some people use different visualizations at different times. It’s best to use something familiar. I’ll let you think for a while. Let me know when you’re ready.”

Something familiar? I’m not familiar with anything though. In desperation, I opened my Status.

Status Obfuscated Status Name Keagan Murray Sean Holman Level 6 3 Progress 174/299 82/172 Statistics Health 67/67 34/34 Health Regen (/hr) 3.0 1.6 Mana 113/113 49/49 Mana Regen (/hr) 6.2 3.0 Strength 10 10 Endurance 9 9 Dexterity 12 12 Intelligence 17 12 Perception 11 11 Charisma 10 10 Abilities Identify II Identify II Obfuscate III Observe I Observe I Skills Spear 2 2 Forestry 1 1 Spells Attunements Space 16 Time 10 Earth 8 8 Fire 7 7 Resistances

Hmm. Spears and Forestry aren’t remarkable and don’t really lend themselves to gathering things. The only other thing I have is Attunements. Does that make me a boring person? Well, the whole no memories thing probably does that on its own. There aren’t exactly many people around that I’m trying to impress though. Back to Attunements: my highest one is spatial. That’s teleporting and stuff, right? Maybe the essence could be teleporting to me? But what would represent the essence and why would it go to me? Moving on then, time seems useless for this. Earth and fire might work if I squint at them hard enough. No water Attunement, but I could picture the essence flowing on water to me.

Flowing to me. Now there’s an idea. Back to spatial Attunement, what if I was a portal and the essence was flowing toward me? No, not a portal, a vortex—something to attract the essence. Now to figure out what the essence is. Portals, no; clocks, no; fires, no; rocks, sure? Rocks being sucked in by an all-consuming vortex? Good enough for me. Visualization is all about imagination, so it doesn’t actually have to be real, right?

“Umm, I think I’m ready now.”

“Excellent. Make note of your progress toward your next Level, then close your eyes and start visualizing. I’ll kill the rabbit once you get settled.”

I did so, and even tried imagining more “rocks” coming into existence when I heard Marnie moving. As the rocks were consumed by my vortex, I thought I felt brief moments of something, but it might have been my mind playing tricks on me. But hey, if it was just in my imagination, it just meant my visualization was powerful, right? Really it was a win-win.

Eventually, Marnie roused me from my meditation. “Alright, that was long enough that if you didn’t absorb the essence it will have dissipated by now. So, if you’ll pardon the question, how much progress did you make?”

After some quick subtraction, I answered, “Six. That any good?”

She smiled. “Well, seeing as I only absorbed one point of essence without meditating, I’d say it was a great first try. Keep in mind that Level 0 animals have very little essence and that you’ll get better with practice.

“Do beware that while your eyes are closed and your mind is elsewhere, you are extremely vulnerable. With time and practice you will be able to actively absorb essence without losing track of your surroundings. In the meanwhile, I recommend keeping your meditation as short as possible in the wilderness. Right now, I think it’s time to check the last few snares and then we can eat lunch.”

Working through the rest of the snares, we found one other rabbit, which I got five essence points from. Once we finished, Marnie took the two rabbits and led me to a nearby stream. On the way she showed me where to find dry tinder and branches for a fire and made me carry as much as I could hold.

At the stream, we cleared an area and Marnie started lecturing on fire building. “Now, to start a fire, you have a few options. The most reliable is an enchanted firestarter.” She flourished a small ceramic cylinder from the pack, one end of which promptly ignited into a small flame. “All you have to do is wish for it to ignite and it converts a small amount of your Mana into flames. Unfortunately, no one in town knows how to make them, so you won’t be able to get your hands on one easily.

“The next method is to create sparks using flint and steel.” Again she demonstrated, this time using a piece of flint from the bag and her knife. “Of course, metal is also in high demand, so this also isn’t a great option for you. Your third option is to essentially drill one stick into another, using the heat generated to ignite some tinder. This can be tedious, so I’m not going to demonstrate now. There are ways to make it better, but they are not worth it if you have other options. Which brings me to your final, and in my opinion, best, option: a fire piston.”

This time, she pulled another cylinder out of the bag, but one that was wooden and larger than the magic firestarter. “Now, this has a slot for tinder here, and when push the plunger like so, the air inside heats up, igniting the tinder. And, luckily for you, a couple people in town know how to make them. In fact, this one is for you, so how about you get us a fire going?”

Taking the piston from her, I set about starting the fire. It took a few attempts, some muttered swears, and a singed fingertip, but in the end I was able to get a small blaze going.

“Good,” said Marnie. “Now it’s time to skin these rabbits. Pay close attention as I skin the first one, because the second one is yours.”

I did so, and when my turn came, managed to keep the pelt in one piece with minimal damage. Next, the rabbits went over the fire, we rinsed off in the stream, and Marnie showed me how to set deadfall traps using some nearby rocks and explained when I might want to use them. While setting my second one as practice—not in an attempt to catch anything—I received a welcome notification:

[Trapping Skill advanced to Level 1!]

Once we finished eating our rabbits, which was around noon, Marnie started leading back toward town on a slightly different route. This time, in addition to quizzing me about the plants and making me practice stealthy walking, she also lectured on the basics of surviving the wilderness. Topics included where to find water, how to purify it, and how to build shelters. It was a lot to take in at once, but on the bright side, it did net me a new Skill:

Wilderness Survival Skill advanced to Level 1!

On the way back we encountered some deer and a threx. For the deer, Marnie had me stalk as close to them as I dared (from downwind) and then try throwing my spear at one. I missed, horribly so. When we found the threx, Marnie strung her bow and was patiently setting up a shot when I tripped, spooking it. She gave me quite the glare for that, which I suppose I deserved.

We kept on and, eventually, Marnie led me to an open flat area covered in leafy branches. “This is a pit trap,” she explained, moving a branch aside to reveal a large whole lined with stone. “Simple, but effective. If you ever try designing or modifying traps, remember that simple designs are the most reliable. You can put sharpened sticks or the like in the bottom, but unless there is a food shortage, I like leaving the animals alive so I can gather essence from them. There’s nothing to do here, so let’s head to the next one.”

The next pit was likewise empty, but the third one had a Level 1 deer in it. Marnie had me kill it with my spear, which yielded ten essence points. Not bad for about a minute’s work, although I supposed that building the pit took a lot longer. Anyway, Marnie climbed into the pit and tied one end of a rope around the deer and then made me pull it out. This took quite a bit of work, which made me wonder how Marnie, who was a full head shorter than me and skinny to boot, managed alone. Maybe she brings other people to help? Wait a second, Health can boost strength. I’m an idiot, and I probably should have been trying to practice that today. Oh well, I can still start now.

“Alright,” said Marnie, interrupting my ruminations. “This is the last pit that I’ve completed, so we can cover it back up and then bring the deer back to town. The meat will be better if we let it age, but we can’t leave it here or other animals will get to it, so we’re taking it back whole.”

And that was what we did. While we carried the deer back, I tried using my Health to enhance my body, but I couldn’t get into the right frame of mind. Guess I’m not quite tired enough yet.

At this point, Marnie finally stopped lecturing and quizzing me about the forest, so I took the opportunity to ask some more questions. “What animals around here do I need to watch out for?”

“Well, this forest is actually fairly safe. Humans haven’t been here long enough for any animals to recognize us as a potential source of food and nothing around here is intelligent enough to target us for our essence. I’ve seen signs of some sort of large cat, as well as at least one pack of wolves, but I haven’t heard of anyone having trouble with them. One of the lumberjacks died to a snakebite, but he actually stepped on the thing and I doubt it would have bothered him otherwise. The only real beast I’ve seen is a spined bear, but they don’t seem to be aggressive. Plus they are monstrous enough that you can hear them a mile away and know to steer clear. I did hear rumors of a dragon to the north, but I don’t believe them myself.”

“Okay, so I don’t need to be scared to go into the woods alone. On an unrelated note, why do the majority of people get sent here, and what sorts of things are they allowed to bring? Clearly not everyone shows up with nothing, like I did.” I was thinking about the magic firestarter she had shown me earlier. Of course, I was also curious why she was there, but couldn’t think of a polite way to ask.

“Well, I’d say most people were either homeless or in debt, so they didn’t show up with much more than you. Some people do come here voluntarily, with the understanding that they won’t be able to take a portal back into the empire proper for around a decade. They tend to either be running away from something or looking to make their fortune. They’re also the ones who bring most of the supplies.”

We continued on, discussing the finer points of how the town operated, until we reached Marnie’s house on the outskirts of town. By the end of the trek, I was even able to intentionally use a few Health points to help carry the deer.

Her house turned out to be more of a compound, given the large fence and multiple outbuildings. We hung the deer inside a wooden shed. Marnie took a different deer that had been in the shed and hung it in a tree outside, which she taught me how to skin and butcher. During the lesson, I was rewarded with yet another new Skill:

Animal Processing advanced to Level 1!

The butchered meat we put in a small stone smokehouse. On the topic of smoking, Marnie explained a couple other ways to preserve meat, but the lack of salt in the area did limit the available options.

Finally, Marnie gave me the pelt of the rabbit I had skinned, half of the edible plant matter we had collected walking through the forest, the fire piston, and a couple days worth of cured venison. I thanked her and then was on my way.