WINGS AREN’T MUCH USE WHEN I’M HOLDING YOU DOWN, ARE THEY? LIKE THOSE CLAWS? WATCH ME CRUSH THEM! LIKE! THAT! OH, TRYING TO PULL OUT OF MY GRIP? WON’T WORK WHEN YOU’RE UPSIDE-DOWN! NOW FEEL MY FEET! AS I STOMP! YOUR! STUPID! HEAD IN!

The giant falcon had a wingspan of nine feet. Honestly, the lift had been nearly enough to pull me off the ground, but not quite. If it had, I would have just damaged its wings.

[Level Up: Nude Berserker Level 11!]

[Ability Obtained: Mighty Blow!]

This wasn’t the first creature I’d killed since beginning my trek down the stream. I hadn’t spotted many herbivores, but there were quite a number of foolish predators who didn’t realize I wasn’t prey. Some of them died in moments, others, like this one, took a little bit longer.

Idly, I wondered whether this would make a good meal. Over half a day had passed since I had consumed an alarmingly large portion of a bear, but I wasn’t feeling quite as full now, so I might as well. The skin was a lot less tough than the bear’s, so I didn’t need a rock to rip through it and tear off a hunk of meat. I bit some off. Huh. Tasted like chicken.

So, about that Ability I’d just obtained… it seemed a bit different from the others; rather than providing some sort of continuous bonus, it gave me something extra that I could do. Since I wasn’t sure how that worked, I might as well test it out on this convenient corpse in front of me.

Finishing up with the meat I was holding, I put my hands together and raised them into the air. Presumably, the Ability involved hitting something as hard as I could, so I might as well try doing just that. Getting down on one knee so I could actually reach the dead bird, I tensed up, and then swung.

I felt a burst of power flood through me as my arms descended. In an instant, the bird exploded. I shut my eyes as feathers, viscera, and shattered bones splattered against my body. Opening them again, I saw of ring of feathers and bird guts roughly sixteen feet wide. Well, that was quite some blow! I was feeling slightly more tired now though, so I might have to refrain from using that Ability all the time. Now I just needed another bath…

*****************************************************

As night set in once more, I decided to sleep underneath the roots of a large tree. I discovered that Mighty Blow could be used for digging, mostly, sort of. Look, hitting the ground so hard it explodes is totally still digging! And now I could finally get some sleep, which was good, because using that Ability so much had made me rather tired…

*****************************************************

A loud snarl was the only warning I got, then I felt a claw impact my back. It didn’t go all the way in, but it left a mark. It was still dark out. How dare this creature interrupt my rest! I wasn’t going to tolerate this! I was going to kill so many animals in this forest that natural selection would make them leave me alone! Time to attack!

OH, SO THAT’S YOUR FACE? LET ME TWIST IT! RIGHT! LIKE! THAT! OOF! THERE’S MORE OF YOU? THAT MEANS YOU’RE NEXT! COME HERE OR I’LL- OH, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN PIN ME DOWN? WATCH ME- ANOTHER ONE? FINE, I’LL KILL YOU ON THE GROUND! STARTING WITH YOUR LEGS! OH, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN BITE ME? YOUR FACE THINKS DIFFERENTLY NOW! YOU THERE, LET ME SNAP YOUR NECK FOR YOU! OH NOW YOU’RE ALL RUNNING? TOO LATE! I’LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF…

It turned out, they actually ran rather fast. Catching them wasn’t really a possibility, especially since it was still dark out. Looking at the two of them that I’d killed, they looked like something between a wolf and a cougar. Now, what was I going-

[Level Up: Nude Berserker Level 12!]

-going to do next? The sky was showing hints of a coming sunrise, so it was probably too late to go back to sleep. I started heading back to the stream, and made it all of 4 yards before a strange-looking clump of leaves shot out and entangled my legs. The thorns protruding from them couldn’t hurt me, but the maw slowly emerging from the dirt nearby was a bigger concern. These creatures didn’t know when to quit! How many times would I have to kill them before they would leave me alone!

GAH! DO THESE VINES RIP? RRAH! DO THEY? NO? SO YOU WON’T LET ME GET AWAY? OKAY, I’LL JUST JUMP TOWARD YOU! WOW YOUR SKIN IS SOFT! IT JUST COMES RIGHT OFF! NOW TO DIG DEEPER AND- “GAH!” STUPID ACID! OH, STILL TRYING TO DRAG ME IN? I’LL JUST GRAB HERE AND- “ARG!” ACID! LET GO OF ME! LET GO OR I’LL HIT! YEAH! AND HIT AGAIN! NOT LOOKING SO GREAT NOW, HAVE ANOTHER MIGHTY BLOW! “IS THAT IT? IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?”

The pseudo-vines loosened their hold on me, as the acid burns on my hands and arms slowly recovered. The creature’s bulbous body was now deflated and sizzling in its own digestive fluids. That fight had been closer-

[Level Up: Nude Berserker Level 13!]

[Ability Obtained: Enhanced Movement!]

-closer than I would have liked. I took note of how the vines appeared, so that I wouldn’t get surprised again. Just how dangerous did the monsters in this forest get anyway? What would happen if one of the bigger ones caught me while I was sleeping? How would I… I would kill it! I would kill it like all the others! No mere beast would stop me! I would just kill it by… but how big could the monsters in here get? I didn’t know.

If I didn’t know, how could I be sure I could beat it? How could I be sure I wouldn’t… die? I wanted to go, to just keep heading downstream, but this was important! I had to survive! This… feeling… was it fear? I didn’t like it. How could I survive, when facing unknown opponents which could be much stronger than me? I would have to be smart.

I would be more careful. In the daytime, I would need to remain alert, ready to avoid any monsters or hunting packs that I wasn’t sure I could take. And as soon as evening approached, I would have to start looking for a good place to stay the night. Shallow caves were best – if I couldn’t find one in a reasonable time, a flat rock and Mighty Blow would suffice to make one. It would have to be deep enough so that a predator couldn’t reach me from the entrance. Cover it with branches to give advance warning, and leave a heavy stone within arm’s reach… that would have to do.

I took a careful look around the bank of the stream, and then set off on another day’s journey as the first hints of dawn peeked across the sky.

*****************************************************

As noon arrived, I found myself looking at a swamp. Why couldn’t anything be simple? If I went around, I would eventually find an outlet, and could continue from there, but I had no idea of the swamp’s width. Whereas, if I went across, I would have no idea whether there was an outlet to the left or right, and might end up heading in a direction where there wasn’t any. Hmm… Well, in the absence of additional information, best to take the option that guaranteed eventual success. And, as a bonus, it wouldn’t require wading through a swamp.

Well, the sooner I got started, the better. I turned left and resumed walking, Enhanced Movement hastening my steps. The reed-strewn ponds and half-submerged trees stretched out as far as the foliage would let me see, but it would have to end eventually. I was about due for something going right, wasn’t I?

*****************************************************

Two days. Two days of travel along the swamp’s edge, and still no sign of when I could start actually going around it. Absent anything else, I might have hoped that it actually was curving, just too slowly to notice. But I’d been watching the sun, so it remained frustratingly certain that I was still heading east, and that the swamp still stretched to the south as far as the eye could see.

At least I’d been able to find places where I could dig out a shelter without it filling with water. Mighty Blow might not be the most efficient digging method, but it worked. I’d also gained three more levels in Nude Berserker, and my latest Ability, Mighty Leap, was quite fun to use. It was a shame I couldn’t play basketball any more, since I would now be able to score a slam dunk from nearly halfway across the court.

I was now seriously considering fording the swamp after all. If I used to sun to keep heading south, then turned west on the other side, odds were high there would be at least one outlet in that direction. As long as every single outlet wasn’t to the east of the distance I’d covered, as long as the majority of the swamp hadn’t been to the east of my arrival point… There was still a lot of uncertainty, and I wasn’t quite ready to take that step. Especially when I was unsure how I would sleep while surrounded by shallow water.

The terrain looked the same as it had when I’d first arrived. A mostly-dry surface of dirt and bushes gradually turned into muddy water and reeds, trees going from dry to part-submerged. The denizens of the forest had been more aggressive than those of the swamp; most likely, the latter preferred to fight in water.

Less aggressive, but hardly peaceful. I spotted a ripple in the water, and in an instant, an eel-like creature was speeding toward me through the air. It was nearly two feet thick, but that wasn’t going to stop-

YEAH, GO FLYING SOMEWHERE ELSE! NOT SO FAST ON THE GROUND HUH? LEARN YOUR PLACE UNDER MY HEEL!

The head splattered over the surrounding area. This was the third such creature I’d encountered, and they weren’t that difficult to fight; just one Mighty Blow to knock them aside, and a second one to stomp their head in. As I gained levels, it seemed the dangers of this forest were becoming increasingly manageable. Theoretically, I might actually be able to live here, although it would get rather boring. How could I become the best if I didn’t have anyone else to outperform?

I started moving again, but then paused. I’d always been on alert for overconfident monsters, but this sounded different. Sounded like… voices? Too far away to make out, but they seemed to be getting closer. Hmm… that tree was large enough to hide behind, best take advantage…

“I swear Vik, I heard something big get squished around here! I’m just saying, we don’t have to go this way…”

A man’s voice, still approaching. Sounded young-ish, maybe in their twenties, though it was hard to tell.

“Oh, come off it Jason, even if you weren’t just hearing things, it’s the four of us against some stupid animal. You and Trem can shoot it, and if it’s still moving, I dice it up until it’s not! Simple!”

A third voice spoke up.

“We don’t have unlimited arrows you know. I can usually retrieve them from corpses, but sometimes they break. And unless you gained an Ability to produce unlimited string for fletching, we are going to run out eventually. Especially if we get careless-”

Now a fourth voice, young and male like the others.

“When we get low, we can find a place to raid for more. Once we get past Level 20, conscript guards won’t be able to stop us. Until then, stop arguing and keep alert for anything that might provide a decent fight. I’m not going back to the army, and I’m not dying in this shithole either.”

Apparently, that one was the leader. The voices stopped, though I could now hear the sound of their boots. They were getting close. Well… how to approach this? Four against one, and they had weapons. From the sound of it, they were all about the same level I was. Fighting in a group with weapons must have slowed down their leveling rate. That implied some interesting things about the leveling system, which I didn’t have time to consider, because they were still getting closer, and now the fourth voice spoke up again.

“Huh, seems something did get squished. One of those eels got its head caved in. Didn’t know there were monsters around here that did that.”

“Should we pull back?” the one named Jason said. “I don’t wanna end up like that thing over there…”

Think. Think quickly. They seemed to have two archers and two melee fighters. With Enhanced Movement and Mighty Leap, I could cover ground quickly, but that would be less useful if I was getting pelted with arrows. So I would have to deal with the archers first. I wasn’t sure sneaking was an option, but I might as well try. I inched out from behind the tree, moving roughly in the direction of Jason’s voice…

“Hey there, what have we here? Are you lost?”

So much for that. It was the leader who spoke, and of course, his voice oozed with false kindness. I was going to enjoy bashing his brains out. They were all staring at me now, the leader with a sword, “Vik” with an axe, “Jason” and “Trem” with bows. All did in fact look to be in their twenties. The archers were in leather armor, while the other two had slightly rusted chainmail.

The one named Trem was nearly within jumping distance, so I began walking closer.

“Hey, you talk?” asked Vik. “Is that blood on you? Would you like me to wash it off?”

I was now within jumping distance. Time to stop tolerating these cretins. Just have to brace, bend my knees, and PUSH!

OH, DID THAT SURPRISE YOU? BOW’S NOT LOOKING SO GREAT NOW- “GAH!” OKAY, YOU’LL BOTH PAY FOR THAT! STARTING WITH YOU! ONE SKULL CRUSHED, THREE TO GO! NOW I JUMP AGA- “UGH!” MY LEG! STUPID AIM! BUT I CAN STILL JUMP! “YAAAARRGGHH!!!!” YES, BE AFRAID! AND THEN DIE! LIKE THAT!

Okay, the archers were both dead. But the two others were approaching fast, and there was still an arrow in my leg. Jumping had made it worse, and Regeneration took a while. Suddenly, they both darted forward, and were upon me in an instant.

HERE, TRY MY CORPSE BLUDGEON! IT’S HEAVY, THICK, AND IT MAKES A BIG MESS! ESPECIALLY WHEN I HIT – HARD! TROUBLE SEEING? I’LL HAVE THAT AXE THEN! NOT LETTING GO? I’LL PULL HARDER! AND WHY DON’T YOU HELP ME BLOCK YOUR FRIEND! LIKE – THAT! THERE! AND NOW YOUR AXE IS MINE! BUT I’LL GIVE IT BACK – IN THE NECK!

“What in Rhynderrim’s name are you?”

SCARED NOW? THAT’S RIGHT! GO AHEAD AND BLOCK WITH THE SWORD! TRY AND RUN! I’LL JUST GRAB A ROCK… OVER… THERE… AND THROW! AND “UGH!” JUMP! AND SMASH! YOUR! STUPID! SLEAZY! HEAD! INTO! TINY! LITTLE! PIECES!

I had… won. They were all dead. Served them right! Of course I’m better than them! Wait, shouldn’t I have saved one for interrogation?

[Level Up: Nude Berserker Level 19!]

[Ability Obtained: Melee Proficiency!]

[Ability Obtained: Personal Arsenal!]

Well, at least I had gotten something out of this! I paused to look down at my leg, and found it better than I’d expected. The arrowhead was slowly getting forced out, and the tissue underneath was coming together smoothly. Was it going faster than it was before? Hard to tell. Other than the leg injury, I’d taken a number of scratches to the torso. The archers had been able to get off a surprising number of shots in the limited time they had, but their volley hadn’t penetrated deeply. Nude Berserker was turning out to be a surprisingly good class.

Now, what did these Abilities do anyway? I picked up the sword of my latest kill and swung it around experimentally. The balance felt natural. A flick of the wrist, and it was resting in what remained of the man’s head. Not bad. But… how did this Ability even work? Was the system feeding information into my head? Or was it altering my brain? My thoughts were MINE! I would NEVER let some stupid excuse for an RPG change ME! I was already the best, and if some wannabe game system tried to change that…

Although… learning to use melee weapons better was something that would help me win. It’s not like I was turning into some layabout or anything… Alright, I would let this stand, for now. But if the system ever tried to mess with my identity, I was going to smash it SO HARD!

Now, to try out that other ability. The name was unclear. Was I getting access to a bunch of cool weapons? I dropped the sword, and envisioned myself grabbing a full-sized war hammer, with gold trim and encrusted jewels for good measure. Nothing happened, but I felt a sensation of something being… empty.

Well, that did suggest something. I picked up the sword again and tried to feel that sensation once more, while envisioning the sword disappearing from my hand. It took about a dozen seconds to get right, but when I did, the sword was gone, and the… arsenal… was feeling a bit fuller. With another round of concentration, the sword appeared in my hand again, and a third exercise of will returned it to my personal collection.

I was smiling. This would be very useful indeed! Whatever weapon I needed, available at a moment’s notice! I would just have to find them first. I searched the bodies, finding four daggers in addition to the bloodstained axe. My arsenal now felt a bit over half-full. But I didn’t stop there; several heavy rocks were lying around within view, and surprising my foes with ranged attacks had already served me well.

When I left, my arsenal was filled to the brim, and any tiredness from my jumping and smashing earlier had faded away. There was still no end to the swamp in sight, and there were still monsters out there, but now I was armed. And if there were people out here, deserters from an army, then somewhere beyond, there was civilization.

I wondered what it would be like. Would I finally be able to stop fighting and focus on winning with just my determination and superior intelligence? Was that even a possibility here? No… probably not.