Recasting shadow cloak just before the Fox arrived, he adjusted his grip on his new gauntlet. The fox arrived just where the map said it would, poking its nose through the undergrowth. It prowled closer in short bursts, checking the ground for the scent of whatever it was hunting. Just ten feet away from Don’s tree the fox’s trail turned sharply away. Before the fox could get too far away, Don cast Manipulate.

The fox heard the murmured spell and looked back towards Don. The fox hunkered down immediately. Eyes wide and fixed. At the base of Don’s Tree, a small brown rabbit was digging its way out of the ground. The fox practically vibrated with excitement when Don made his construct clean it’s dirty ears. The whole rabbit was made of dirt of course but the familiar movements of the fox’s prey in the dark were more noticeable than the slight discoloration. The fox crept closer, low to the ground covering half the distance left to Don.

Don dropped from his tree when he saw the fox’s hind legs tense. The fox’s jaws passed through its illusory prey just as Don connected with a savage stomp to its hind legs. When he landed he was stooped over the keening animal and he didn’t waste time in burying his spiked fist in the fox’s side twice before it lunged with a snarl. Don fell back, surprised by how fast those snapping teeth closed with his face. He knocked the fox aside and ducked past its teeth.

+ DEX

When the fox came again Don was prepared and held his left arm out wardingly. The enraged animal took the invitation to sink its teeth into his ambusher. It clamped onto the arm and snarled viciously while swiping at Don with its unbroken claws.

Don winced as a couple of teeth got past the strips of ironbark but there was instant relief as the fox shredded the vines holding his armor together. It reminded him the poorly built item wouldn’t hold out long. He lashed out with his spiked fist striking the fox right in the nose. He couldn’t put much power into the attack because of the odd angle but the fox yelped and released Don’s arm all the same.

The fox frantically pawed at its nose trying to remove the quills embedded in its face. Don used his opponent's distraction to rush in and land a few more jabs. Just like that, the fox fell over dead.

He dismissed the option to loot the fox and looked up to where he knew Tag was hiding. Even with the help of the map, he couldn’t spot the gobs when they didn’t want to be seen. He smiled anyway and called up to him. “Excellent work soldier!”

He was greeted with silence until he started paying attention to his tribe-chat again.

“You mean he actually killed one?”

“Yeah, it was awesome, you should have seen it.”

“Damn, I only saw the last few seconds but it looked intense”

It sounded like the entire tribe was talking about his fight. The lucky few who saw it started supplying details to the others.

“Don’t forget,” Don said and the general clamor died down “ Tag tracked it down. He gets first pick of the meat.” He hefted the dead animal across his shoulders and started back towards the stream.

+ WIS

The tribe-chat erupted again and red patches bloomed all across his map. Don was going to have a busy night. Tag chose that moment to jump directly onto Don’s head.

“You’re really giving me first pick?” he asked while leaning precariously over don’s face and looking him directly in the eyes. This was the most serious he had seen the gob yet.

“Yeah, I couldn’t have even found this fella if it wasn’t for you,” Don explained, pointing at the fox on his shoulders to indicate the fella in question. “Besides, I’m after the exp, not the meat.”

Tag disappeared from view and Don felt a new weight settling on his shoulder. Tag was sitting comfortably on the fox giving Don an appraising look, focusing on his forehead and seeming to come to a decision he said “Welcome to the tribe big red”

They lapsed into a companionable silence.

After a little while, Don remembered to check on his health and was happy to see how little damage he took during the short fight. A couple of doses of healing potion had him back up to full health.

In the end, his gear took more damage than he did.

Makeshift bracer of minor healing

Defence: 3

Durability: 3/5

Effect: heals wielder 3hp for each durability lost.

makeshift spiked gauntlet

Attack: 1-2

Durability: 2/4

Effect: Chance to leave quills embedded in target.

The strips of ironbark were barely scratched and there were only a few small holes in the rabbit skin. The vines took the majority of the damage and it would be easy enough to replace them. He only had enough vines to fix his armor a couple of times but he could always find more.

He couldn’t do anything for his bracer and it looked like it would be less effective due to the damage it sustained. He just hoped it would hold out for another fight.

Tag stayed with him the entire time to make sure Grey knew who would get first pick of the meat. Once he was back in the cave, Don took the time to repair his bracer and plan his next move. He really wanted to get to level one and he was only ten exp away now. A brief rest and dose of potion restored his stamina and it looked like the walk back with a heavy load and through freezing water had some positive effects as well.

+ STR

+ END

By the time Don got to the nearest fox sighting, his mana had regenerated and he was ready to rumble. Unfortunately, so was his stomach and his sudden hungry effect alerted the fox to his position. Don jumped down and roared a challenge, expecting things to go the same violent way they did when he challenged the Ape. A red flash of tail disappearing into the underbrush proved him wrong.

It took awhile for the ridicule to stop spouting from the tribe-chat.

“How can we eat it if you scare it away!”

“Big dumb stomper can’t even stay quiet when he’s still”

By the time he tracked down some berries with the help of the tribe-map, the sky was growing light enough to obscure the stars. He had time for one more attempt.

This time the fox walked directly under Don. He waited for several heartbeats then leaped after the fox to attack it from behind rather than above. He must’ve made some noise because the fox whirled around and Don’s usual targets, the hind legs, swept out of reach. It was too far away to hit with his feet anymore so he seized on a recent memory and imitated the ape, bringing his fists up over his shoulders and smashing them down onto the fox’s head and back at the same time his feet struck the ground. Each fist landed solidly and the fox was flattened to the ground with front legs splayed.

Momentarily dazed and squashed, the fox was unable to prevent Don from grabbing it by the scruff of the neck and throwing it against the nearest tree. He kneeled on its throat, pinning it in place before it could recover and began pummeling it with his spiked gauntlet. After only five hits, the gauntlet tore and became totally useless. He was getting scratched constantly by the fox now but with its teeth out of play, Don was content to trade hits. He lost nearly a third of his health before the fox finally fell dead to the ground.

Then Don exploded.

He cringed in fear as a bright nova burst out from him and a fanfare of trumpets blared.

Congratulations!

You have reached: Level 1

From now on, death will carry weight.

You will lose 10% of your total accumulated exp upon death.

Any stat points trained since the previous level up will be lost upon death.

As a Demon, you gain STR and WIS, you also gain 5 free points.

Your free points must be assigned within 24 hours or they will be permanently lost.

You have one trait point available

Choose from one of the unlocked traits.

Horns - 1

Default male demonic trait

Demon horns aren’t mere bone or chitin, They are pure obsidian from the infernal plains and are a representation of the demons connection to them.

Effect: Plus one damage per level per horn

Thick Skinned - 1

Demons are tough bastards. Their skin can harden with age.

There is a legend of an ancient demon who walked through a raging battlefield ignoring the swords shattering on his back, the maces crumbling and the halberds snapping around him as if the battle was nothing mor than a quarrelsome rainstorm.

Effect: Plus one natural armor per level

Dread Armorer - 2

Using the remains of your fallen victims to create weapons or armor, you can tap into their residual life force, strengthening your creations.

Effect: Boosts to items made out of fallen enemies

Your actions have manifested a skill:

Brawling beginner lv 1

So long as you are unarmed, +5% attack, +5% dodge

Before he could even read the notifications, a wave of relief washed over him as his wounds closed and his stamina and mana were completely restored. When he looked back at the notification he felt alert and fresh. The penalty for dying didn’t matter much to him. He already faced much worse repercussions. He expected the strength and wisdom increases but he didn’t know what the free points were. The trait point was interesting too. Apparently, he had unlocked a few demonic traits and he could purchase one now.

He put that all aside for the moment. Everything would wait till he got back to the cave and he was looking forward to rubbing a certain dead fox in a certain pissant goblin’s face.