Leeches on my body were no bigger than the ones I saw on Earth. However, they were among the larger ones. In length like my palm, as wide as my thumb. Their bodies were the color of my skin and very difficult to see. [Mana Leech]? I was very tired despite the bath in ice water. My brain had already refused to cooperate with me, so it took me a while to realize what their name might suggest. When it hit me, I immediately opened my status screen.

Health: 65/86

Stamina: 76/76

Mana: 26/108

I thought so. Those leeches didn't suck blood from me, they sucked mana, and fast. That's why I felt so tired. I had to act fast. There are certainly the right ways to take the leech off. It is definitely not by tearing it off, but there was no other choice.

I grabbed a leech that sucked on my calf and yank with it. However, it was so slippery that it slipped between my fingers and remained firmly attached.

Mana: 23/108

I tried it again, but the result was exactly the same as the first one. So I reached for my powerful weapon and pulled a toothbrush from my hair. No, I didn't want to beat it up with it. I wrapped the leech's body around the handle and then yank.

"Bitch ..." I cursed.

It hurt like hell even despite numbness in my whole body. But I couldn't afford to waste time. I had one more on my calf, another on my thigh, and it was just one leg. On the other leg, one found her way almost to my lap and bit into my groin. I was prepared for the pain, but this one hurt more than the previous ones.

I didn't resist the loud expression of what I thought about the leech, and it wasn't polite. However, this one deserved special attention. I threw it on a stone and beat it with another stone.

(ding) You have defeated the [Mana leech lvl 8]

"Idiot. Worth it ... " I didn't have time to deal with them like that.

Mana: 18/108

Two on my stomach, one right on my breast. Her detachment was no more painful than the others.

There were three on my hands and I wish that was all. But after touching my back, I shivered. My back was full of them. Where I reached, I tried to take them off using the same method as the others. However, I was not as flexible as when I was young and I simply could not reach a large part of my back.

Mana: 7/108

That's why I run to the nearest tree and started scratching my back against it like a bear.

(ding) You have defeated the [Mana leech lvl 8]

(ding) You have defeated the [Mana leech lvl 9]

I didn't crush all of them against a tree, the rest just fell off. Of course, I inspected my body really thoroughly to make sure there wasn't a single leech left on it.

As I noticed, they didn't have the color of my skin as I thought. Their color changed according to the environment where they were. Like chameleons. It was probably their ability. That's why I didn't see them in the pond.

The pond was probably full of them.

"I offered them myself as lunch. You're an idiot, Kirra" I said to myself.

My body was now covered in bleeding wounds, but I stopped losing mana almost at the last minute.

Mana: 3/108

Little longer and I would have fainted to comma from which I probably wouldn't wake up from. I would be lying in that pond while those leeches sucked mana out of me. That's a great way to die.

Now that I knew what I was dealing with, I was relieved. It was not a huge predator, with a mouth full of teeth. Well, they had a mouth full of teeth. I was sure I could run away from them, that they would not catch up with me and revenge wasn't something impossible.

But first I came to a stream flowing from leech-infested pond to wash my wounds.

Then I returned to take my revenge. It was not easy to find them. I didn't throw the leeches in one pile as they came off my body. Still, I found a few. These that I found, were crushed between two rocks.

(ding) You have defeated the [Mana leech lvl 7]

(ding) You have defeated the [Mana leech lvl 9]

….

(ding) You have defeated the [Mana leech lvl 9]

Without one, a half dozen leeches.

After this fierce struggle for life, I was really tired. Still, I checked my body once more to make sure there were no leeches attached to it. Then I finally dressed in my pajamas and sat down under a nearby tree. I needed to rest. Gain strength. Regenerate mana.

When I found the strength, I looked at my System Log. It kept yelling at me during my struggle for survival. To my surprise, I got a lot of EXP from the killed leeches.

(ding) You have reached level 9. Stat point awarded.

...

(ding) You have reached level 16. Stat point awarded.

"What the ..." I wanted to curse again. My level has doubled. How could something so small give so much EXP? I definitely didn't complain, it just surprised me.

No. Most of the leeches were at the same level as me, or higher. Over time as I gained more levels, completely new messages began to appear for me.

(ding) You have defeated an enemy five levels or more below your own. Less Experience is granted.

So as my level grew I began to gain less EXP from my enemy. Anyway. I was twice as strong as before. I felt invincible, but I knew I wasn't. I had to keep my enthusiasm down.

But I came up with a great plan. There were definitely things in this forest that could have killed me. Like that tiger. Only thanks to my pajamas I was still alive. My left hand was almost useless even now. I could move it, but with great pain. That's why I think getting more levels would help me a lot. That's why the plan.

It was simple. There must have been more leeches in that pond than just the ones that sucked on me. That's why I decided to dip my feet in the pond. Just to my knees. Catch leeches on them. I know, this is not the pleasant part of the plan. Then tear them down, kill them, and do that again.

I wanted to wait for my mana to completely recover, but at the rate of growth I was observing, it would take at least four hours, according to my calculations. I didn't want to wait that long. So as my mana reached 20, I roll up my pants and entered the pond.

"Tss ..." I forgot how icy the water was.

The plan worked as I imagined. It wasn't long before the first leeches bit into my legs and then more and more. I checked my mana and never let it fall below fifteen. According to plan I climbed out, tore off the leeches, and killed them.

My level was slowly rising. My capital catch was a leech at level eleven, but it was the only one that strong. Then another new kind of message started to appear.

(ding) You have defeated an enemy ten levels or more below your own. Less Experience is granted.

My levels have practically stopped rising. This was also due to a lower appearance of leeches. Fewer and fewer of them sucked on my feet. Either I significantly reduced their population in the pond, or my level was so intimidating for them that it discouraged them.

Nevertheless, I was very satisfied. But now it was the hardest part of all. Distribution of those skill points. Legendarily a difficult task. I definitely needed more mana, faster recovery, and strength. I was really weak. I was sure that I could use more stamina too. My new ability [Battle Cry], as it turned out, consumed it. I had no idea what effect it had on the enemy, but each use consumed 20 of my stamina. Plus, my throat really ached after that.

Eventually, I spread the points across the entire status.

Name: Kirra Gotobed

Class: Toothbrush fighter lv 21

Health: 62/108

Stamina: 65/97

Mana: 17/141

Status:

Vitality: 10 (+2)

Strength: 8 (+2)

Endurance: 9 (+2)

Dexterity: 7 (+1)

Intelligence: 13 (+3)

Wisdom: 11 (+3)

Class skills:

Like a Tooth lv 4

World of Magic Brush lv 3

General Skills:

Identify lv 1

Barefoot Walking 2

Battle Cry 1

Unspent status points: 0

Now I felt much more prepared to continue on my journey. Only my body had to heal and regenerate mana. The suns began to set slowly toward the horizon, and it was time to find some shelter. Some shelter where I could spend the night.

It was no easier than yesterday despite it was still light and it was not raining.

I finally found it in a hollowed tree. I was very careful because I did not want to come across the owner of this place, but after careful examination, I could state that no one inhabited this place.

I was really happy to find this tree. There wasn't much space inside. The cavity inside the tree was about sixty centimeters in diameter. So when I sat there, I had to have my legs crouched close to my chest. Nothing comfortable. Still, it was a hiding place.

Before night came, I had more than an hour, so I set out to find dinner. Berries again. It still seemed strange to me that nothing was eating them. But I didn't feel weird. They were not poisonous. I could say that for sure. But maybe it was different for the animals in the forest.

When one knew what to look for, it wasn't that hard to find them. They did not grow in large numbers. Here and there. They grew most often near water. I managed to get enough to quench my hunger.

Before nightfall, I was crouched in the hollow of a tree. I barricaded the entrance with strong branches I found in the forest. I wasn't sure they would stand up to the predators in the forest, but they still gave me at least a little sense of security. I really needed it right now.

I had a really bad day. I woke up wet, fighting the rats, the crazy sauna in the forest, the Emuru, ​​bees, the tiger, and finally the leeches. Really bad day. I was so tired I didn't even have the energy to cry. And I really wanted to.

"Good night Kirra," I whispered to myself.

As soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep.

I woke up in the morning with huge back pain. Being twisted all night in such a small space was not ideal. With each small movement, a sharp pain shot through my back. Thanks to that, I also felt a headache coming. It drove off out of my mind any thought of staying in the "bed" for a little longer.

Getting up was not that easy. I couldn't stand in the hollow of a tree, and to get out, I first had to clear the barricade I had built from the branches in the evening. Only then did I climb out.

"Ah." I sighed in pain when I finally straightened up.

To straighten my back, I forced myself to do a few basic exercises. It helped a little. Like every morning it was time for the toilet, and as it was in this world, I found it in the bushes. However, I was beginning to worry about constipation. My stomach ached slightly, but nothing came out of me. This was the third day in this world for me, and I never once managed to empty my guts.

This berry diet didn't do well for me.

"I have to hope that when the time comes, it will come by itself," I said to myself. I didn't even want to think of other alternatives.

I rinsed and refreshed at the stream, before today's trip.

It didn't start so badly again. I came across a clearing in the middle of the forest, dotted with blooming flowers. [Heavenly Dandelions] told me [Identify]. No description. However, it did not worsen my mood. On the contrary, the sight of a beautifully blooming meadow was a blessing to my soul.

I remembered that when I was a little girl I wove a crown of flowers. It was a nice memory, I didn't have to worry then, my family was with me, I was safe. But it was just a memory.

"Hmm…" I sighed.

I felt tears streaming down my cheeks, but I didn't cry. I wiped them off. I plucked one of the flowers and put it in her hair behind her ear. I shouldn't have wasted my time on something like a crown of flowers. It would be nice, but useless. Plus, I felt sorry for the flowers.

I gave them a long, nostalgic look and moved on.

It didn't take long and I was surprised by one of those scaly rats.

[Scaly Rat - 11]

She suddenly climbed out of a hole in the roots of the trees and began to hissing at me. I was surprised that she didn't attack me right away, but I wasn't going to ask her why? Instead, I used a [Battle Cry] on her. A deep roar came from my throat.

The rat hissed and disappeared back into the hole.

"That's a nice change," I smiled.

But I was still ready for her attack. I could say with absolute certainty that if I wasn't careful, the rat would kill me quite easily. I was lucky not to come across them in larger numbers. I would definitely not want to fight a swarm of these creatures.

Another rat I came across, however, was dead. I looked around the forest nervously, looking for the predator who had probably killed her. But I didn't see anything.

Eventually, I came to a corpse to get a better look. To my surprise, her tail was missing and her body was covered in stab wounds. My heart jumped. I was no doctor and my knowledge of stab wounds was only from crime series. What I was looking at were pure stab wounds. Probably a knife, dagger, or sword. The tail was also cleanly cut off.

"This wasn't done by an animal, it was done by a person," I said aloud.

The first sign that this world was inhabited by something intelligent. According to the fact that all the blood was already dried, it was not exactly a fresh corpse. This is also from a crime series. Maybe I should have been a detective? Hmm…

I immediately started looking around and searching for clues. Traces that would tell me where these hunters went, which direction. I decided to look in circles around the rat, in a kind of spiral. I found a few shoe prints around the corpse, but none of them told me where to go, so I kept looking. In ever-larger circles and away from the rat's body.

It took me almost two hours to find two footprints imprinted in the mud a good two hundred meters from the rat's body. But my determination was strong and now I had direction. I immediately set out on it, hoping I wouldn't lose track. That the hunters kept going in the same direction, and if they turned somewhere, I wouldn't miss it.

"Please let me find them…" and let them be kind and English speaking, I wished.

Fortunately, it wasn't that hard to keep track of where they were going. It didn't take long for me to come across another carcass. Another rat. Soon two more and then a doe that had a broken arrow in it. Proof of civilization though with a hint that it was not very developed.

However, I should not judge by an arrow. Even today, hunters hunt with bows, only a little better than in earlier ages.

"Eureka !!!!" I shouted aloud as I discovered the place where the hunters probably camped overnight. Screaming in the woods and attracting attention was probably not the best idea, but I was very happy and couldn't help it.

In front of me was a place, where someone was camping. Burnt fireplace. Lots of tracks around. Broken branches.

"What is this, oh '" I looked at the pile of gnawed bones. They probably baked something on the fire. I really envied them right now.

"Ugh my..." my next discovery was not so wonderful. I found a smelly pile of shit behind a tree. When something went in, it had to go out. The process of digestion was natural. I wish I could empty myself from the morning. However, thanks to the discovery of signs of civilization, I completely forgot about my problem.

However, I did not find anything useful that I could use right now. Not even the leftovers I could eat. As with the rat, I began to search in circles for clues from the camp. I found two more piles of poop.

"I hope there are no more of these landmines. I'm barefoot for fuck sake... "I curse.

Am I talking to myself out loud more and more, or is it just me?

It took me a long time, but in the end, I found clues and the direction the group of hunters went. I could say for sure that there were at least three. They had weapons and used shoes. They could start a fire and cook on it. Now they had to be found.

For a long time, however, I could not find anything, I went in the direction where I found the tracks. Subsequently, I also found a few, but then nothing. They disappeared. My guts were gripped by anxiety and fear that I had lost track of them.

Should I go back and follow in the footsteps again? I didn't want to go back.

However, going further seemed more and more hopeless. On the contrary, to return is a waste of time. I haven't eaten much since this morning, so somehow I was hoping I could get something from those hunters. If I had to come back…

"What is it?" I muttered.

I was looking at a tree that had charred bark. It was weird. Because it has no signs of being struck by lightning. Plus, I'd notice the storms if it was there any. There was no fireplace near him to catch either.

I found the answer a few meters away.