I had been walking for close to half an hour before I encountered any kind of beast. The trees had grown increasingly thick as I made my way through woods, and at the moment I was pretty sure I was in the center of the forest.

There were 2 wolves standing opposite me, baring their fangs and ready to attack.

I drew my sword from its sheath and took on the best stance I could muster, as I had absolutely no experience in swordsmanship.

Although my human instinct should have had me quivering in fear, Instead I felt quite confident. Not only did the two wolves appear lackluster compared to the Abyssal Hound I had faced, but after witnessing the terrifying Corrupted Python, these larger than average wolves just didn’t seem like much.

I summoned the ethereal snake to my left, and commanding the snake to attack, I ran at the wolf on my right while the snake charged the other.

I readied my sword as I approached the wolf, and at several feet away, began my horizontal swing. As the blade swung forward, the wolf nimbly jumped outside of the swing’s radius.

Missing my target, I momentarily lost balance and stumbled. The wolf, seeing an opportunity, lunged at me with incredible speed. I screamed as a large chunk of my shoulder was ripped off.

Randomly flailing my sword at the wolf, I was able to get off a small cut on its front leg as it once again evaded my attack.

I ground my teeth at the pain as tears subconsciously leaked from my eyes. The wound hurt so bad, but I couldn't help but smile.

I looked at the wolf’s leg where I had gotten a scratch in and my smile grew even wider, to the point of being maniacal. The cut was starting to bubble and turn purple.

The wolf’s snarling face quickly changed to one of pain as it yipped and changed its footing, taking pressure off of the poisoned leg. It shook its head, trying to dismiss the pain, but I could see that it was trembling. The poison was spreading quickly, and was already at the wolf’s torso.

I started to approach slowly, letting my sword drag in the ground behind me, as my good arm (My right arm) had been rendered near useless from the wound.

The poison had spread to the wolfs torso, and with a pitiful cry, the wolf collapsed on the ground.

I hesitated, standing over the wolf as it tried to get back onto its feet. When I had previously killed the Abyssal Hound, I was left with no other choice as it had attacked me with an intent to kill. Now, standing over the defenseless wolf, I felt guilty.

I took a deep breath and tightly gripped my sword, firming my resolve.

This is merely the law of nature. The strong prey on the weak, and the only absolute law is that of power. I may have been the lowest of the low on Earth, but now I have a chance to change things. I will become strong, no matter what stands in my way.

I lifted my sword, and with a firm look in my eyes, I let the blade fall.

With the sound of blood splattering and the piercing of flesh, I watched as the wolf was split in two.

You have slain Wolf (lvl. 6), Gained 170 Blood Essence.

Fulfilled Blood Essence requirements. You are now level 4.

I once again felt the sensation of power flooding through me as I leveled up.

Anxiously looking behind me, I checked on how the snake was faring against the other wolf. The wolf had two wounds, located on its shoulder and hind leg, that were quickly spreading poison to the rest of the wolf’s body.

With its breathing starting to become ragged, the wolf began to stumble, amd was no doubt about to fall. The ethereal snake saw its opening, and with a burst of speed the snake sank its fangs into the wolfs neck.

You have slain Wolf (lvl. 7), Gained 216 Blood Essence.

I expectantly waited for another level up notification, but unfortunately nothing appeared.

Damn! I must have been close to leveling up when I killed the first wolf.

I shook my head to dispel the disappointed feelings. After all, I couldn't level up every time I defeated something.

I quickly scanned my surroundings, making sure that nothing posed a threat to me. Seeing nothing, I un-summoned my snake and slid my sword back into its sheath.

I sat down on the ground and was immediately greeted with a wave of exhaustion. It was nearing dark, and I had just spent a lot of energy fighting the wolf. Not to mention that I needed to let my wound heal.

There was no way I would sleep on the ground out here in the open, so I looked around the area, searching for a suitable tree to settle down in.

Spotting a mildly tall tree with plenty of thick branches to make for an easy climb, I shakily stood up.

As I made my way towards the tree, I spotted a red glow inside of the wolf I had slit in two. I stopped and looked more carefully at the faint red light.

It won’t hurt to check it out.

I walked up to the wolf’s corpse and squatted down, observing the glowing object.

It was a small orb, filled with a faint, glowing red mist. I had a feeling that it must’ve been worth something, so scrunching up my face slightly, I reached my hand into the wolf’s torso and grabbed the orb, pulling it out with a sickening pop.

From its appearance, I had originally assumed that the orb was solid, as if it was made of glass. But now that I held the entire thing in my hand, not only was it not a perfect circle, but it also had a lot of give to it. I assumed that it must be some sort of organ for the monsters.

I set the object on the ground as I drew my sword and walked towards the other dead wolf.

I cut the wolf in approximately the same location as the other, and sure enough, yet another red thing was revealed. I slid my sword back into its sheath, and once again pulled the object out of the wolf’s carcass.

Retrieving the other red object, I realized that I didn't have anywhere to put them, as my clothes, and subsequently my pockets, we're in shambles.

I carried the two items over to the tree I planned to spend the night in and set them at the base of the trunk. Looking around, I searched for and grabbed things I could use to cover the objects. Fortunately they were small and it didn't take much to completely obscure them from sight.

I glanced at the location I had hidden the two objects, and satisfied that nothing would be able to see the red glow, I began the agonizing one armed climb up the tree.

Multiple times I nearly fell, but finally, panting and covered in sweat, I made my way to a large fork in the tree.

Thankfully, the fork was so wide that I had a good chance of not falling off.

Taking my sword and sheath off of my back, I hung it on a nearby branch and practically collapsed onto the wood. I knew that it wasn’t a smart idea to go to sleep here, but at this point I really couldn’t care less.

----------

An earthquaking roar pierced through the air in a clearing located in the center of a forest.

There was a group of 10 people, dressed in luxurious looking armor and clothing, fighting an enormous tree.

The tree stood a couple dozen feet tall and had the figure of a human.

The 10 people were easily evading the trees slow strikes and continuously inflicting wounds upon it. Although each attack hardly hurt the tree, there were so many that the tree was gradually being worn down.

Suddenly one of the fighters, a girl wearing light clothing, began moving in an odd way. She was moving about in a strange, yet beautiful rhythm, incorporating consistent hand movements within her dance. Wherever her hands moved, a faint blue light would trail behind.

Water began to rise from the ground underneath the tree, somehow piling up on top of the ground around the tree’s legs.

As quickly as it began, the girls movements ceased with a spectacular pose. Simultaneous with the ending of the dance, the water which had risen to the tree's knees froze completely solid.

Stuck in place, the tree began to wildly flail its arms, but several of the other people were still able to shatter the ice, and with it the tree's legs.

The earth shook as the tree collapsed to the ground, which resulted in the warriors relentlessly unleashing their attacks upon the creature.

All of the participating parties in the battle we're impressive, but one boy in particular stood out. Dressed in orange-red armor and armed with a brilliant red spear, the boy was repeatedly unleashing powerful attacks that were imbued with flames.

Both the raw power in his strikes as well as the element of fire caused devastating damage to the tree compared to the other fighters.

Even with all of the simultaneous attacks, it still took over half a minute to finish it off.

Giving off a final moan, the tree succumbed to the attacks, with which the attackers were met with a notification.

You have slain Treant (lvl. 28), Gained 3,207 Blood Essence. Blood Essence will be distributed among participating members.

Smiles broke out on the group's faces as they wiped the sweat from their faces and regrouped.

“Luke!”

The girl who had performed the odd dance previously called out to a boy wearing grey and black robes.

“You should have finished your challenge with that one, right?”

The girl had clearly taken the position of leader within the group.

“Yep, my Black Magician class Evolved into Necromancer.”

“Great! Now even the weakest member of our group has at least had their first advancement.”

The boy called Luke frowned at the girl's statement, but didn't say anything out loud.

“Bryan! Did you get the Essence Core?”

Without replying, the boy with the fire spear held up a large red, glowing object.

“Alright then. Let's head back to town. It's been almost a month since we left.”

And just like that, the group swiftly left the clearing, heading down somewhat of trail through the woods with the occasional chatter breaking out.