The trip was thankfully rather short, springy earth and large boulders making for a refreshing climb. The increased strength was instantly noticeable, with Daniel moving much faster and more confidently up the rough terrain. Upon reaching the peak of the hill, Daniel climbed a nearby fir, and surveyed his surroundings, a careful grip on the rough bark.

The world rose up before him. A lumpy quilt of green and brown spread out in all directions. Strings of blue wove through, dividing up the forest and tan stone into a patchwork rumpled colour. The quilt fell away to the left of him, giving way to a glassy blue sea, which sharply vanished, white nothingness fading into an eggshell blue dome which stretched back over him. Slowly spinning, he followed the dome back down, where it met a craggy spine, tips frosted white, spearing through the green quilt. Blue threads broke on its back, flowing through the green, threading in and out of Daniel’s view.

Determined to discover a nearby source of water, the man climbed the tree even higher. Far below him, running parallel with the sea, was a thin stream, passing through a trench between two hills.

Reconnaissance done, Daniel slowly climbed down from the tree, returning to the cave where he had awoken. This area would become his home, unless the cave was inhabited. Looking through the canopy, the Sun still climbed its way to the zenith, leaving him plenty of time to explore the cave before preparing for the night.

The tunnel was relatively long, and almost entirely straight, meaning Daniel could easily see when he reached the cavern which the passage widened into.

It was relatively small, and importantly, looked abandoned. Cautiously stepping away from the relative safety tunnel, Daniel began to explore the cave. Walking down the curved slope to the center, the man was reminded of a fish bowl. Spinning around, he peered into the black, picking out still shapes in the gloom. Stepping forwards, a forest of stone rose around him, arching up and joining the ceiling above, creating a woven canopy of stone. He picked his way through the stalagmites, carefully avoiding the divots and pols that had formed around their bases.

It was so sudden, the appearance of the wall, that Daniel at first thought his mind was playing games with him. That was, until the smell hit. An intense wave of warmth hit him, bringing with it the odours of faeces and rotting meat. It emanated from a small gap, pungent and overwhelming. Retching, Daniel stepped back, before freezing mid-step. The smell was not the only thing that escaped from the crack.

Echoing eerily over the sounds of his lungs, came the clatter of skittering claws, sharp upon rocks. A shape passed in front of the dark gap, a shade of black Daniel had not believed possible. He instinctively activated Find Weakness, the skill somehow second nature, even though he had never used it. A panel, like all of the rest, but significantly smaller, hovered briefly over the shape, before snapping to the top left of his vision, where it slowly faded away.

Mutated Arachnid (Monstrosity) Lvl. ???

Strengths: ???

Weaknesses: ???

Stepping slowly backwards, Daniel couldn't even breathe. A sinking hole opened in his stomach, and sweat exploded across his skin. Upon reaching the edge of the stalagmites, he slowly turned around, dropping soundlessly into a half crouch and creeping out of the cave.

Once he broke into full sunlight, Daniel dared to breathe normally again. "Well, I'm not staying there." Daniel croaked, his mouth dry and sticky. Moving to the sudden dropoff on his left, Daniel peered down. Trees blocked much of his view, but he could just about see a frothing body of water bouncing through the foliage. Deciding that the cave’s mysterious denizen was still way too close for comfort, Daniel began to move down through the trees, intent on finding a large fir to serve as a temporary base.

It had been about two hours. The sun had begun its descent halfway through Daniels labours, its beating rays slowly lessening in intensity with the passing of time. After finding a suitable tree, the man had begun ferrying some larger dead branches to it, and had created a rickety platform in the branches. Now, sitting back against the trunk, Daniel closed his eyes, relishing in his completed bed.

Now that he had a safe place to sleep, or at least one as safe as he could make with his current time and tools, Daniel decided to finally take full inventory of his belongings. Removing everything he currently carried and placing it upon his black jacket, the man took stock. A dead smartphone, some keys, lockpicks and a wrench, a few stolen wallets, his own wallet, a set of thin leather gloves, a dark hoodie, two matte black 6-inch switchblades, and the clothes on his back made up all of his worldly belongings. Smiling, Daniel reached out and examined the knives, never more glad for his caution. Without these, he would have been defenseless. Stowing the switchblades back into his pockets, Daniel picked up his phone. The batteries on had run down Daniel figured, as all of the parts behind the backing seemed to be in good condition, if a little worn. The aliens had mentioned terraforming, which meant that the Earth had changed, leaving few, if any, cell towers and charging ports left. No service and no juice meant that the phone was little more than a fancy brick.

Chucking the phone back onto the jacket, Daniel began to put everything away, stowing the lockpicks and keys in his left pocket, and the gloves in his right. The other wallets he threw on top of the dead smartphone. Putting on the hoodie, he picked up the pile of leather and technology, throwing it down to the dirt, before slowly descending the tree. Reaching the ground, he walked a short distance from the tree before burying the pile of junk in the crumbly dirt. Walking back to the tree he put his jacket on, and after marking the tree with one of his knives, Daniel set out to fulfil his main objective, levelling up.

Daniel sat in another pine, not too different from his home tree, defeated and hungry. It had been 5 hours, and the sun had long ago fallen below the hills, its last rays now lighting everything an angry red. The hunt had started out optimistically, starting with a search for a prey-like creature to begin his levelling with. He had quickly found some, a group of creatures that looked like a cross between a rabbit, and a deer. They had been grazing in a small clearing, irregularly spaced in a rough circle around some young. Sneaking from a downwind direction, Daniel had edged slowly closer and closer to the clearing, taking care to stay completely obscured by ferns and other foliage. Reaching about a dozen paces downwind of a larger member of the herd, he had activated Find Weakness, staring hard at the creature. A panel once again popped up, this one displaying much more information.

Evolved Deer Lvl. 7

Strengths: Agility and Endurance, good senses of smell and hearing.

Weaknesses: Poor eyesight, low Intelligence and Wisdom.

Looking at the panel, Daniel had instantly deflated. Getting close was out of the question. Reaching to his belt, the man pulled out a switchblade, extending the blade with a sharp click. Upon hearing the noise, the animal's ears twitched, before grunting. Upon hearing the soft grunt, the other deers’ ears also twitched, before they ran, as one, in the opposite direction of Daniel. This had happened two more times, Daniel would make a sound, such as cracking a large twig, and his prey would flee. After the third attempt, Daniel had given up trying to approach the creatures, and instead, attempted to get the deer to approach him.

And so now he perched here, on the branches of a pine tree, near to the river he had seen from the cave, hoping an animal would come to drink.

It had been a long time. The sun had nearly set, darkness was beginning to encroach, the sky darkening steadily to a shade of purplish-blue. By his estimate, Daniel guessed it was now around 7. A few creatures had passed by, but all were either too fast, or too far away for Daniel to feel comfortable in scoring a kill. His legs had long ago cramped, and now numbness was settling in, dulling the twisting pain lacing through his calves. Daniel counted himself lucky that it seemed to be late spring, meaning the weather was relatively warm. Performing this in cold weather would have been hell.

Daniel was just about to call it quits and move to a different tree when his ears picked up faint rustling coming from a nearby bush. Internally thanking himself for placing that point in Perception, Daniel froze, knife gripped tightly in his right hand.

A small creature, mottled grey and black, peeked slowly through the leaves of a fern near Daniel’s perch. Small, clawed hands rubbed a rodentine face frantically, before falling away, revealing a set of eyes encircled with black.

Rabid Evolved Raccoon Lvl. 9

Strengths-Agility, Dexterity, Perception, Intelligence(Severe debuff due to rabid state)

Weaknesses-Willpower, Strength, Endurance, Vitality(Severe debuff due to rabid state)

Daniel smiled. Finally, good news! Granted, it was not the most glamorous first kill, but he had to start from somewhere. Watching the Raccoon darting forward in short bursts, he didn’t dare to move. Messing up now could lead to hours more of waiting.

After what seemed like a millenia, the raccoon reached the trunk of the fir. Looking down, the rabid creature began to attack a small plant, knocked into movement by the animal’s arrival. Now was his chance. Jumping down, Daniel aimed his small blade for the creature’s spine.

The creature looked up, hearing the creaking branches and leapt aside snarling. Bubbles of white froth escaped from the tooth filled maw of the feral creature, splattering the grass. Slamming into the dirt, he rolled gracelessly away from the raccoon. He hadn’t wanted to face the animal in a direct confrontation, but plans had changed. Rising to his feet, Daniel prepared to chase the critter.

Upon settling into a half crouch, Daniel was surprised to see the creature currently airborne, on a direct trajectory to slam into his face. The raccoon slammed into his raised forearm, tearing frantically into the hoodie material, lacerating Daniel’s skin.

Shaking off the creature, Daniel leapt forward, knife blade glinting. The creature, dazed and confused, lay on a bed of green, shaking it’s skull. By the time it noticed Daniel, it was too late.

A fountain of blood spurted from from the creature, eliciting a wet, pained, yowl. The creature collapsed, a puppet with its strings cut. Yanking out the knife, Daniel speared the creature again, and again, and again. Grey light glinted off the bloody blade, shimmering in the dusk’s light. Entranced, Daniel raised his knife turning the blade in front of his shining eyes. A rush of electrifying power slammed into the man, overwhelming him with unexpected pleasure. Grinning, Daniel looked down at the cooling corpse lain across the red-stained dirt. Looking back at the blade, he threw his head back. For the first time in a very long time, Daniel began to laugh. This was going to be fun. This was going to be very fun indeed.