After an entire day of resting and creating connections the previous day, he was up for training this morning.

The morning commenced with a breakfast served by none other than the newcomer, Oli.

"That thing you did yesterday, I'm gonna rip you apart if you do it again, was I clear?" She threatened as she extended his meal.

"I have barely any recollection of what happened yesterday, really, my head still kind of hurts; I might have been wasted. Did I do something to discomfort you?" Gabriel lied, with his most convincing face.

"Yeah, nobody's gonna believe that, but just in case… I'm taking this back for punishment," she added, taking back his beer.

"Oh, come on! I need it to fight the craziness of this world!" Gabriel pleaded, lizard smacking him with her tail.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. And, this whole serving you thing… don't get used to it, we'll be eating together before long, you know?" She said, walking away.

"Oh, is that a date?"

"You wish!"

There was fire in her veins. He thought with a grin. She reminded him of Raina, just more… wild.

I wonder where the salamander is.

"Hey, Olive?" He asked once she passed near him once more, "how come Brill isn't with you?"

"I sent him hunting, of course? Why waste time with me? He's so free walking in the Lower tree field. The monsters have no chance against him there, especially in the swamps."

"The swamps? What's the required level there?" he asked.

"Fifteen, if you want to find any higher, you need to reach the mid-Tree. But it's useless going up there; you need to have Flight to survive."

"Flight? Like in actual flying?" Gabriel asked, eyes fully open.

"What else?"

Absurd, this is absurd.

"Do you have time for a couple of questions?" He asked once again as she passed by.

"Yeah, why not, don't mind if I serve in the meanwhile, though," she answered.

"Why would I? That's pretty much my life," he got an arched brow and crooked smile in response.

While she danced amid the tables, he asked her what it took to raise the lizard to Tier 2 and change her form.

And she called it evolution.

Of course, how else would it be called? Silly me for asking.

Apparently, it happened every 5 Spirit levels in accordance with the learning of a new Spirit Perk or if determinate conditions were met. However, learning a Spirit Skill would make the lizard evolve in the same direction.

And Skills, did they learn more Skills? Of course, they did, when they hit Spirit level 5 and every ten levels after that. Then, she started getting really specific, mentioning Active Skills, Passive Skills, choices, builds, roles… then continued with element attunements, fusion, range, she started to get passionate about it, while other people, non believing his ignorance in the matter, joined in creating enormous confusion in Gabriel's head. The more they went into details, the more the few things he had learned escaped his mind.

But, there was just too much to take in and too little time at his disposal; he was in a hurry after all. His mother was waiting for him.

Gabriel left the theory-crafting and min-maxing discussion event he had created behind, wandering out with his head full of confusion. People had started throwing glasses and bottles at each other when he decided to leave; as it seemed some theories were just not meant to be heard, people took them really seriously.

So, he thanked a chuckling Olive and saluted her; at the same time Commodo had thrown himself in the body of spirited theory-crafters, pulling ears, pinching cheeks, and reminding them that glass cost as much as beer.

Gabriel left the inn and then the Cradle. He went to look for a new place in which to train.

He had chosen to deviate from the insect hunting ground, not that he didn't try to enter the cave, but it was already crowded, some of the dwellers being parents with their kids, and anyway, the young man wanted to prove to himself that he was better than what the new girl thought of him. He could handle something more than flies.

Flies and ants are a walk in the park. Let's leave them to pretty families. It should be fine if I engage in something slightly harder. I mean... most probably.

So he took the signboard indicating a place with monsters level ranging from 4 to 7; he knew it was much more than he had but full to the brim with Golden Syrup and broth of Mana weeds, he felt a little bit surer.

The forest sprouted almost from nothing. Which made Gabe even more certain that every environment around him had not formed naturally; there must have been some magic source shaping the land.

He delved into the forest now, unsure if using his gun would be a wise idea or if maybe he should use it as a last resort.

The leaves on the trees' crowns in the darker than expected forest reminded him of the giant leaf that had fallen from the sky the previous day and that some guests of the Traveling Hearth had brought back for a stupid competition. He remembered that one of those had not come back, which signed the end of the competition.

He judged that the tree probably grew out of the roots of the tree protecting the Cradle, which name he had found out was, unsurprisingly, "Yggdrasil."

Liz still felt unsure walking on the ground, given the level difference with the predator that walked the land, so she sat on what had become her usual spot, Gabriel's left shoulder.

The young man had been more clever this time. He had hunted for information from the adventurers departing from the city; most of them had given him looks of pity.

An uncared-for newcomer or a castaway; that was how they had classified him, after taking a look at his shoddy clothes and the little lizard by him. But he didn't care; the part of the poor lost soul could only help him in gathering information.

And the info he received revealed to be spot on, as one Leaf Cat appeared in the distance; it had been eating the quickly disappearing remains of its prey.

Gabriel discovered, in fact, that monsters as well hunted to increase their levels. Also, like any other creature with a body, on death, the corpse was slowly absorbed by the earth or by the God of the land, such as Yggdrasil was for the zone of The Den in which The Cradle was located.

"Stay put, Liz. That's your natural enemy, as you are- should be for the flies," he said to the lizard, which answered with a slap of the tail.

Damn, she's sharp.

"You know what? Let's try being aggressive. It should be level four, five at best."

Gabriel started a dash toward it.

The creature, whose fur was composed of intertwining leaves, was licking its paw, but when it heard the man's heavy steps, it jumped up in a scare.

Gabriel was upon it already, but the Cat jumped to the side, claws almost connecting with his leg.

It almost hit me… it's fast, and I'm practically alone against it. I think I'll use the gun.

Gabriel raised his shortsword in front of himself as a barrier between him and the Leaf Cat, but the Cat was already on the move, targeting his lower side more than his face.

It was, of course, taller than a regular cat, almost tall as a mid-sized dog. It went for Gabriel's ankles, but it did not expect Gabriel's reaction and, thus, his faint.

Gabriel made to slash down, the Leafy feline moved aside, losing its momentum and placing his legs into a position which would have made it impractical to evade again; and that was when Gabriel's gun appeared from behind the cover of the sword; it pointed straight at the cat; too fast for it to evade.

The projectile explosion resounded in the forest, and the creature was hit straight in the chest, dropping on the ground, but still alive. Then with the bare minimum fit of guilt, Gabriel got on top of it and ended its life with a Burst Attack, impaling the monster through the stern.

You have killed (1) Level 4 Leaf Cat of the Lower Tree Forest.

You have gained:

Level + 3.6%

Class Level + 2.4%

Spirit Level + 0%

Burst Attack Tier 2 + 1.2%

Mmh… it's not bad, but I need Liz to level up.

"Lizzy, we need to make you-" A shuffling came from the side.

Already here… what an effective gun, better than a bird whistle.

Two Leaf Cats and one Musk Boar appeared simultaneously, however, two on one side of him and the other on the opposite.

As they came into view of each other, though, their focus shifted to each other.

This is actually quite good, almost… almost makes me come up with a good idea, a great idea!

Gabriel backed away, moving away from the two groups, as they engaged, though the Boar, outnumbered, was sure if it could attack or just had to run,

"Liz, take on the Boar, but don't overexert yourself; I'll go prepare a cat in saucepan, no, make it two."

Gabriel and Liz split as the lizard jumped from his shoulder, walking around to Boar to catch him by surprise; at the same time, Gabriel was doing the same with the overenthusiastic cats.

Then it commenced.

The Cat started prowling on it: Gabriel in tow; yet, as one managed to launch itself on the Boar, the other Cat was blocked in mid-air. The young man had stopped its jump, catching it from the tail and bringing it face down, with his free hand; like a pike, the other arm descended on it, perforating its chest. The Cat meowed an ear-splitting plea.

Hearing his colleague's death rattle, the Cat detached from the Boar, dashing around to study Gabriel, who focused his attention instead on the Musk Boar.

The Boar by his side was unsure about what to do. It stumbled back on his legs; hitting the ground with its stocky legs, shifting its gaze from Gabriel to the Leaf Cat, then back to Gabriel; until it backed away, probably thinking, "Let's get the fuck outta here! There's no Hakuna Matata for me," but a lizard barred its way, catapulting toward its muzzle in an instant and making it almost flop back to the ground.

What soon followed was a scene of gore; as the shortsword descended with might on the monster's exposed neck, bathing the terrain in blood in an instant; then it was the Cat's turn.

It took that moment of distraction to attack Gabriel, but it was intercepted at the last moment by an angry lizard, feigning a direct assault. The Cat's dash interrupted, shifting gear and losing a bit of its speed on a thicker than usual root coming out from the ground like a varicose vein.

The lack in its burst speed signing the end as two shots of Gabriel's gun perforated its spines, the first missing it entirely, the second hit it squares in the back; then, it was eternal peace for it.

You have killed (2) Level 4 - Leaf Cats

You have killed (1) Level 4 - Musk Boar

You have gained:

Level + 18%

Class Level + 10.8%

Spirit Level + 7.2%

Burst Attack Tier 2 + 10.8%

Gabriel's weariness hit him like a truck. He had abused his Energy reserves, zeroing.

Shit, I need to take cover.

But he felt like he was about to faint. So he quickly retrieved the Syrup from his bag and drank 4 generous sips of it.

The effect was practically instantaneous. He was refilled of Energy; he felt he had even gone a little bit overboard with it, but it was better than not having his Pool at full and failing on a Burst Attack.

He practically shoved the bottle in the sack, then picked out the lizard from the ground and ran to hide behind a tree.

Gabriel smiled and held his breath at the thought of repeating the trick, but as minutes passed and he calmed down, it was clear that no beast was coming.

"Let's just go ahead then; it's useless wasting time here," he whispered to Liz, but the lizard did not respond.

"What? Are you feeling alright?" He asked her after a few minutes of marching.

The lizard looked at him, and signaling in the thick of the forest, she shook her little head.

"You say not to venture deeper?" She nodded.

"Why? I mean, it's going well, for now. I'm full of Energy; you've still got up to six Skill uses, and you are a smart little lizard. What could go wrong?"

She mimicked a pistol shot with her fingers, then made a circle around her and finally raised her arms and shoulder, as if to say, "there's no one here."

"Mmh, you're worried that the shot did not get the attention it should have deserved?"

She nodded, pointing at him as if to say, "nice guess, kid!"

"At times, I wish you could talk… Maybe you will be able to, once you get bigger," she shrugged. And that little moment of peace was when everything started going to shit.

Waiting in front of them, a panther with a haughty expression was waiting for them to notice it.

Jaguar of the dark trees, it was level 7, wasn't it? Fuck, well, at least it only has a single Skill more than me.

The monsters, just like sentients and, or, their spirits, unlocked another Skill at level 5, which was why there was such a jump in difficulty from facing higher level monsters. Their Skills could easily be deadly.

Nobody told me what attacks it actually does have, though.

The Jaguar advanced with the peculiar calmness of somebody who knew his business as if gobbling up the intruder in front of him was child's play.

Gabriel could do nothing but slowly back away, very slowly, hoping he could quickly find a tree behind which to hide.

I'm facing a Jaguar, not a cat, not a fly, not an ant… a Jaguar; with magic abilities… all alone, in a forest bristling with monsters. What the fuck was I thinking?

It was an instant. Gabe had backed away further than the beast had liked, and so it dashed at him, disappearing from sight.

Of course, that's the Skill! Fucking invisibility!

Gabriel raised his gun in front of him and shot. He heard shuffling to the side. The beast had evaded, and he had only one more shot; then, it would be melee.

He turned away and started running in the direction of the closest tree.

Gabriel had almost made it when the creature lunged. Appearing from behind him, it got him by the leg, its teeth perforating the boy's calf, stopping him in mid-jump and throwing him on the ground; then, it proceeded to claw him continuously.

Gabriel screamed from the pain, but the monster was unrelenting. It clawed and clawed, patches of clothes, skin, and blood flew about... Until Gabriel heard a soft thud, then another and another; Lizzy was assaulting the beast. It had placed itself below its trunk and kept bashing at it with Burst Attack.

It was doing nothing to the beast, if not making it jump, but it was an opportunity, the only opportunity.

With trembling hands, Gabriel pointed his gun at the beast and shot.

The beast evaded. Then clawed at him, severing his fingers. Gabriel screamed once again, clutching his mauled hand.

There were no more sounds from Lizzy, and he noticed it, the terror this time, really getting to him; where was Liz?

The monster held the lizard in its mouth, half of it; the other half was on the ground.

It was the last straw.

Throwing passiveness over the window, Gabriel launched at it, shortsword aimed at its neck, and it connected.

The Jaguar thrashed, clawing the man's back as he held it in an embrace.

Again, and again, Gabriel stabbed. Even when he had used all his Energy points, he kept on stabbing.

The Anchor page communicated to him the results, but he did not register it. He looked for the lizard, the only true support he had in this world, a real anchor for his mind detaching from reality. It was part of him; he could feel it, he could not abandon it.

The corpse lay there, unmoving in two, almost clean, halves.

Gabe could only form thoughts of salvation, someone who knew about lizard Bonds, someone hopefully friendly, maybe that could save her.

He had to plan ahead; he was losing too much blood. He could feel his Life points, though. They were at 0; how could that be?

No.

Gabriel forced himself not to detach from the current situation; he removed his bag, resupplying his Energy reserves, making one gulp of the Mana Weed broth, spitting some in the process, coughing.

He took his severed fingers, the two halves of the lizard, and placed them in his bag. He headed back, limping, vision swaying.

Did he register the Leaf Cat jumping on him? He probably didn't, but two shots got rid of him.

Then there was a boar? Wasn't it?

He couldn't tell. He started telling only when adventurers started noticing his sorry-looking state at the edge of The Cradle.

Someone cast a healing Skill on him. He already started feeling better but did not thank anybody. His mind was in chaos.

The young mang did not even register the change. He had to heal Liz, or something would be inevitably broken inside of him, he knew, and time was running short.

He just had not to accept its death as real. Or at least, that was what his head was saying, but was it really that easy?

People tried talking to him; somebody else cast something on him, probably out of pity. He didn't even notice that his fingers had regrown, that his leg was intact, that he was not limping anymore.

There was only the lizard.

The inn's door swung open to a man looking like the eyes of death.

"Laddie… what-"

Gabriel raised the lizard's severed body held comfortably in both his hands, as in plea. And uttered one lonely grave word, "Help…."