“Aaaaand, there we go!”

Kaltyr sat beside her personal lean-to, putting down the spool of metal wire and lifting the last of the sixteen spears to the green sky overhead, marveling at her handiwork.

“Judging by my levels in Improvisation…”

The skill Improvisation leveled up.

“It’s definitely the case that finishing a task provides more skill XP than just preparing all the materials and stuff.”

The skill leveled up twice before completing the sixteenth spear, each time only after finishing the job by using the wire to make the spearhead more durable.

“Not sure how that information can be useful, though…”

Kaltyr’s arm slowly lowered as her mind shifted back to the topic Sir Quiggly-Do the Fifth left her thinking about—the bubble spell.

“’Consider whether you did something incorrectly or if something is limiting you.’ It basically told me directly that I did everything right, or at least most of it, and that something else is preventing me from casting it.”

The lass’s mind first wandered into the territory of paranoia, thinking that an unknown, mysterious enemy was somewhere out there messing with her—exactly like the hypothesis with the undead zombies. However, regardless of the fact that she felt it was unlikely, Kaltyr also didn’t care if that were the case. As far as her gut told her, an enemy capable of screwing with her in such a way was too powerful for her to kill, so considering if there was an enemy like that out there was pointless. If they were restricting her capabilities, there didn’t seem to be much she could do.

Thus she turned her attention to the bubble spell, figuring that the most likely cause of her inability to cast it lied within the magic itself. She considered multiple facts, including how she learned the spell from a fish ghost, and the skill was originally cast using magical essence directly.

For starters, she was not taught the spell, but only attempted to mimic it after seeing the phantasm perform it. That, of course, meant that Kaltyr lacked a teacher to show her the proper steps to casting it, and that she very likely messed up a few little things here and there that, when combined, resulted in a failed casting.

The second fact, regarding how the fish ghost cast the bubble spell using magical essence directly, Kaltyr’s intuition figured was a little less likely, but still plausible. She might have failed to manipulate magical essence like the fish did—bringing with that attempt a lot of pain—but that might have only been because she absorbed the magical essence into herself without guiding it with mana, or something. What if the casting process of the spell could be performed with magical essence, but only if she enveloped the essence with her mana to prevent the essence from damaging her meridians? Or, if she was required to use the magical essence for the last stage of the casting process, where she began to form the actual bubble of the spell. In that way, no essence entered her meridians.

Both hypotheses held credence to them. Kaltyr could have simply failed in manipulating her mana properly, or she could have gone about manipulating magical essence incorrectly. However, even if either were correct, that didn’t mean Kaltyr had a clear answer as to what her next step should be. After all, experimenting with how she moved her mana through her meridians was exhausting, endless work. Potentially, she might never find the correct magical channels to pass mana through. And, although experimenting with magical essence might not take nearly as long, it did pose a greater threat to her wellbeing. Kaltyr felt the threat of permanently losing her meridians when she brought the magical essence within her. If she made even a little itty-bitty mistake…the possible ramifications of another backlash were too severe.

All of that left Kaltyr looking for another path—another problem that could be the reason behind her failure to cast the spell, one that could be fixed more easily than the two she already discovered.

“External Mana Manipulation. I have 0 points in it.”

After thinking long and hard about it, the girl determined that to be the only other potential cause, and fortunately, it had a very simple solution.

“Slaughter. All I gotta do is kill some more stuff.”

Her lips twisted to form a devious smile. If lacking points in External Mana Manipulation was her only issue, she was set…for the most part. The idea of allocating points to spellcasting, although exciting due to the prospect of becoming a great wizard, worried Kaltyr. There was a very good reason why, of the “fantasy fiction” stuff she could remember, the powerful were separated between those who cast spells and those who swung swords—everyone only had so many points to spend, and if they weren’t spent wisely, then they’d fall behind their peers in raw power.

By all means, Kaltyr wanted to experience the power over nature that came with spells, but she also desired the thrill that came with rending her enemies to death through her own physical strength. If she split her points evenly, then she’d be weaker than all who specialized in a single path. Sure, she could do more things, potentially, but nothing she could do would overwhelm anyone at or around her Life Level.

But none of that was to say that she should solely allocate her stat points into Internal Mana Manipulation—the path of the warrior. No, there was some logic in diversifying her skillset. For example, if she had to fight an enemy who was physically stronger but wasn’t used to dealing with external mana attacks, then the bubble spell, which temporarily left its target in terrible agony, might give Kaltyr the edge in battle. The spell wouldn’t play any major roles, as she’d still be doing the killing with her own hands—or spear—but its support role was invaluable, because unless her opponent was capable of resisting the pain or negating it altogether, they might be distracted by it long enough for Kaltyr to land a critical strike.

Thus, Kaltyr’s plan for her future stat points was determined. She would apply the next Life Level’s stat points into External Mana Manipulation so that she could cast basic spells—hopefully including the bubble spell—then four out of the five points into Internal Mana Manipulation from then on.

However, if when she allocated the stat points she wasn’t capable of casting the spell, she would give up. Kaltyr found the possibility of endless and painful experimentation too dreadful to spend any more time attempting to make the bubble spell her own.

“Now then…it’s time to get busy.”

The real shit started.

……

From finding sources of sustenance, exploring the area, and discovering her magical potential, to testing her combat prowess, annihilating her enemies, and forging her own weapons, it was time for Kaltyr to devise and unfold her long-term plan.

People. The girl’s direction heavily centered around finding other people. Surviving in the wilderness by herself—with the occasional visit from Sir Quiggly-Do the Fifth—although possible, left much to be desired. Kaltyr’s psyche needed and demanded that she be social, which pushed her in the directions she thought people were most likely to be settled.

To begin with, along the river she found was the most likely location for a settlement. Fresh water was not only a requirement for life, but the stream housed fish, making it more valuable, more likely to attract people. That, combined with the log as evidence, made for an easy plan on Kaltyr’s part. She didn’t have to run around like a headless chicken in search for clues, because she had all she needed. There was no need for exploration because “upriver” was the only direction she required.

However, Kaltyr would not dare meet with the native sapient inhabitants of Manic without first preparing herself for the worst. Yes, her gut instinct was just to go and say “Hi!”, but her logical side struck down that idea on the account that she had no real way to know how they’d react to her presence. Was it more likely that they’d be happy to help her, as a fellow person? Or would they show no mercy to an outsider? Only one thing could tell: first-hand evidence. She needed to observe the people upstream from her. Yet, was she prepared to do so?

Kaltyr thought not. Despite having the Stealth skill to hide her presence with…it was at level 5, and she’d only spent three days in Manic thus far. If the natives had spent their entire lives—presumably much longer than three days—in Manic, then it was exceedingly likely that they’d have higher Life and skill levels than her. That included Stealth, which seemed to allow anyone to reveal those in Stealth Mode whose skill level was lower. Like what happened with the poisonous frog.

Thus, Kaltyr had mountains of preparation to complete and arrange before she would take the risk of even sneaking a peek at the people upriver. To simplify the matter, she needed to have with her weapons, armor, food, whatever magical things available, and whatever other supplies could benefit her sneaky efforts, because if she was discovered and treated with hostility...only The System knew how she’d fare.

She needed her equipment enchanted, her food to be nonperishable, and her levels sufficient for the mission… However, that last qualification was rather difficult to determine a plan for. As previously stated, Kaltyr knew not about the people upriver. There was the possibility that their average Life Level was 5, or 50. Of course, in the case that they were hostile she hoped it was on the lower end, but she not only lacked control over the matter of their levels, but lacked the time… Kind of.

While Kaltyr had, as far as she could tell, all the time in the world because no unreasonable expectations or limitations were placed on her…her mind could only stand so much loneliness. She’d only been in Manic for three days and was craving social interactions more than good food. Kaltyr would kill just for the chance to chat. The lass had no idea how long she could stand to do nothing but slay beasts to increase her Life Level before she’d find her feet taking her along the river.

It was complicated, so she focused on the simple matters. After crafting the sixteenth spear, Kaltyr immediately departed for the river with everything she wanted to wash in hand, as she’d put off cleaning her wounds for a while—which was surprisingly easy when flowing mana through the damaged area softened the pain. At the river, she did her best to bathe herself with her clothes on, feeling too paranoid and uncomfortable to fully strip. The System Wishes You Good Fucking Luck seemed to hint that there was some kind of audience watching her, after all.

Finally clean, it was time to bloody her hands again—a lot. Kaltyr brought with her the enchanted spear, giving her unprecedented power over the river’s fishy denizens. After training with her spear until the sky shifted from green to blue, the girl was capable of running any fish through, so long as it was within her reach, on the second try. Though, whenever she threw the spear, she missed wildly. She acquired the skill Large Projectile Throwing Arts at level 0 from those attempts, which explained it all. After pondering over how much damage a throw from the spear dealt compared to a normal stab, Kaltyr came to the conclusion that leveling her newest skill was paramount for survival. She had sixteen spears and could only use one as a melee weapon at a time, which left for fifteen large projectiles! If she mastered the art of throwing spears, she’d have much less to fear. Even having more large-scale battles like the ones against the deer family and dog pack would be a cinch if she carried a few spears with her at all times. A solid strike from an infused and enchanted spear thrown by a superpowered warrior…unless the type of beast had remarkably tough armor, she doubted that anything around her level could shrug off such an attack.

After filling her arms and deerskin bag with as many fish as she could carry, the sky darkened, entering the Purple Hours. Not much of the day was left and Kaltyr still had one last task to begin while the world was still illuminated—her journal and the map. While writing and drawing could still be done with the help of her campfire, Kaltyr imagined that the unstable light source would make the process quite annoying. Upon returning to her territory, she tossed the dozens of corpses around, leaving them wherever they landed, and picked out a couple fish to eat. The girl automatically pulled out her matches to light the campfire, but stopped herself. The time for convenience was over, and practical skills were necessary. She tossed aside the match box and took out the flint and steel she hadn’t touched since the first day, and began the learning process. She struck the rock with the metal, doing her best to cover as much surface area with each strike, producing as many sparks as possible per hit. When she decided that she was able to make enough sparks at will, she entered Stealth Mode and gathered piles of dead leaves outside of the clearing. Sparks would not ignite wood. To build a fire with sparks, one needed a lot of easily combustible fuel.

After setting up the campfire and putting her simple meal to cook, Kaltyr plopped herself within her lean-to, where she had a few skins and the fox pelt to keep her comfortable, and opened the guidebook. It was the same as when she left it last, containing the same information with no changes. Unfortunate. Every time The System Wishes You Good Fucking Luck came to mind, the girl hoped it would suddenly hold more knowledge of importance. It never did.

She flipped to the page she edited last, where she revised a few observations and recorded all the new information she discovered, her speculations, and everything she learned from Sir Quiggly-Do the Fifth. Internal and External Mana Manipulation from the fight with the deer, her combat capabilities, Sir Quiggly-Do the Fifth and all it did for her, Improvisation, Whittling, lean-tos, crafting deerskin bags, crafting spears, copying the spells of her enemies, her hypothesized ideal status point allocation plan, phantasms, phantasmal goo, the qualities of phantasmal goo, Enchanting, her speculations and plans regarding the people upriver, which combative skills she should focus on perfecting, the fact that she might never become an archwizard…

The sky shut off before Kaltyr could put down the last few paragraphs, meaning she had to put off drawing the map, and finished the last of the writing by firelight, although it was a bit tough. When she finally laid the guidebook down, she heaved a long, sleepy sigh. She was excited for the adventure aspects she thought her journey would include, and hyped as hell to become stronger, but the unknown still haunted her. Still brought along dread to settle in her chest, making the world feel heavier. Feel more terrifying.

The girl closed her tired eyes, imagining the best and worst that was to come.

……

Then opened her eyes immediately after, intent on achieving Life Level 3 by the next morning. No way was she going to sleep when the night was just as long as the day! Kaltyr’s gut told her that she didn’t need nearly as much sleep as she’d been getting the last couple nights, and that staying up for a few more hours to hunt was optimal. After all, she wasn’t sure how long she’d last before she could wait no longer and visit the settlement. She needed to be the strongest she possibly could be, by then. Additionally, she was probably close to the next level, already. Yes, the family of deer helped her cross into Life Level 2, but surely she was also at the cusp of 3. Those were seven deer, with a couple of them being a higher level! It only made sense that Manic would reward her by giving her bonus experience for taking on an entire organized group of beasts at once!

Smiling devilishly, Kaltyr stuffed the guidebook into a pocket and exited her lean-to, picking up the enchanted spear that leaned against her shelter and settling the deerskin bag on her back. She warmly gazed at her weapon, at the blue ribbons carved into the haft.

More. She wanted more. More XP, more loot, more corpses, more phantasms, more spells, more phantasmal goo, more enchantments… Better equipment.

Equipped with the magical disk that lit up her surroundings as though lamps shone upon every surface from every direction, Kaltyr entered Stealth Mode and crossed the invisible barrier. Technically, her location was given away by how she was always at the center of the area that her disk lit up, but Kaltyr doubted that any beast she encountered would be able to discern that fact. Thus, she hunted beasts with relative ease, only exiting her stealth to attack, or refill the magical item with mana every few minutes. It had its own battery, but its capacity was disappointingly low. Kaltyr’s heartbeat rang in her ears every time she had to exit Stealth Mode to channel mana into the disk, then stay still for nearly a minute to reenter Stealth Mode.

However, despite revealing herself so many times out in the wilderness at night, she met no significant opposition, and after running through some level 2 beasts stupid enough to enter her claimed territory with her spear, reached the next Life Level. Though she encountered no hiccups during her hunting, Kaltyr certainly had expected some. She had a mental image of the forest’s nightlife as a kind of…slaughterfest, where all the crawlers of the night arose from their day slumbers and wreaked havoc upon each other. After all, she didn’t encounter that many beasts during the day. Yet, barely anything hung around the area. She speculated that the native fauna noticed when everything near her clearing was killed, and steered clear. Kaltyr endeavored to travel farther for more kills next time, because after reaching Life Level 3, the sleepiness was really getting to her, and she worried she’d run herself through with her spear if she tripped. The girl returned to her safe zone, unlatched her deerskin bag with the corpses of her victims inside it, and collapsed under her lean-to.