As it turns out, Seph was gathering food with the Bear-Elephant cubs while I was unconscious. The two of us and the cubs feast on a blue fruit with a bright orange interior that tastes of peppered sausage and has the consistency of sand. All told it's... disturbing. Delicious, but way too much to process. Also, did I mention the texture of sand? My body may be tougher but it still feels like I'm scraping my throat raw.

The cubs can't get enough. Their maws are clumped with fruit and they playfully swat at each other while faking attempts to steal from each other.

Seph and I chat while eating, pausing in between mouthfuls to rest before trudging back through the meal. It turns out that 'Wisdom of the Fallen' is a skill that activates on certain environmental or sense-based triggers. It then imparts the last sensations of a being that died from those conditions to the skill user. Her first experience with the skill triggered when she came to a narrow passage, it activated and she was given a vision of another being walking through a similar area only to be devoured a second later by a number of vines that sprung to life without warning.

So basically death visions. Something dies in a certain way and their ghostly regret joojoo or whatever causes a bit of their experience to linger and help those with the skill. The biggest downside according to Seph is that she isn't watching what happens, she's experiencing it. She says the sensations get easier to deal with as well as a number of other improvements with leveling it up, but... That can't be an easy thing with which to live. Every time that skill activates she is literally going to experience death. She's had that skill since before we even met, how is she so cheery?

After catching up, we both turn inward as we contemplate our respective status'. I gained a number of skill levels from my insanity-fueled dash. Eight levels in fear resistance, bringing it to 33. Seven levels in Reckless, bringing it to 11. And finally, two levels in Savage Instincts, bringing it to four. Not bad for a period of time I can't really remember. Except I wouldn't do it again given the option. Holy hell, what was that sensation of dread? Was a monster after us or was that just a side-effect of something completely unrelated? Whatever it was, I just want to avoid it permanently.

All told my gains add up to 17 plus the one I had left over from getting Reflex Control. I dump them all into Path of Reflex and am left at (45/100). I check out the rewards from the path and am left in shock; it follows the same pattern of giving a stat point every fifth level but this time the stat gains are doubled! Two each to Perception, Reaction, Agility, and Endurance.

Finally, I also put my free stat from getting to level four into Vitality. I'm hoping it'll boost my pathetic health pool. I really want to check what each point does individually, but I'm way too mentally frayed to go through the sensation of having my stats raise five individual times. Just thinking about it gives me the shivers.

The sensation hits and I don't know if it's because I leveled up five stats at the same time or if things stopped getting easier to deal with in general, but it is unbearable. It feels like my entire body goes vividly numb, yet also somehow still manages to convey the sensations of pain, searing heat, and an intense static.

It ends as quickly as it begins but I roll around on the ground in a fit of childish petulance. I have zero way of improving that awful sensation, but I know I need to keep experiencing it in order to be able to survive here. Overall it just leaves me feeling... as if I'm lacking control? And to an extreme degree, I really am. It's frustrating and difficult and I sincerely want to spend at least an entire day screaming into a void to decompress, but I. Just. Can't. I take one last look at my status before turning back to Seph.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Cade Vale

Level: 4

Class: None

Health: 24/24 (+2/H)

Mana: 16/16 (+8/H)

Stamina: 28/28 (+14/m)

Vitality: 3

Physique: 3

Endurance: 7

Regeneration: 1

Strength: 3

Perception: 7

Reaction: 6

Agility: 5

Intelligence: 2

Wisdom: 3

Willpower: 3

Skills: Battle Dance lvl 2, Mana Detonation lvl 3, Rapid Strike lvl 3, Knife Mastery lvl 6, Fear Resistance lvl 33, Reckless lvl 11, Venom Resistance lvl 5, Move Silently lvl 3, Savage Instincts lvl 4, Fear Manipulation lvl 2, Reflex Control lvl 1

AC: 0

Paths: Beginner (3/3), Brutality (25/25), Reflex (45/100)

As I do the ground begins to rumble and a river of fur passes us. The Bear-Elephant cubs dash toward the mountain and the rend in the sky. As they pass I'm left wondering how they all appear so different. Some have large, deep-black tusks that crackle with something that isn't electricity. Some have shorter, paler tusks but have courser fur and a sturdier appearance. Some have jagged spikes of bone shoulder-armor while others have the bone spread out in more of a defensive pattern. Overall, there is a good amount of variance between each identifiable feature and I'm left curious as to whether or not they're born with these differences or if they develop this way.

A heavier rumble approaches and Seph and I turn to face the Matriarch. She uses her dextrous tail to motion for Seph to join her and as soon as she does, Seph launches herself bodily at the Bear-Elephant. It looks satisfying but I can't shake the aura that crashes forth from her. Everything about her screams predator to my simple mind but I do my best to drown it out.

I brace myself and begin walking toward them both but the Matriarch stops me, gently turns me around, and nudges me toward the direction in which her cubs began to travel. I give her an incredulous look and I swear she lets out what I can only imagine is a bestial guffaw. She continues to gently yet insistently urge me forward and I relent; she hasn't done wrong by me so far and, well, I have no ground to refuse her. Or should I say, no ability to refuse her?

"Good luck," I say to Seph before turning and stretching briefly in preparation to chase the furballs.

"Pff! I don't need luck! Whatever we're gonna be doing is gonna be fun!"

I chuckle at her optimism and make my way toward the gash in the sky.

Running with the pack is as awe-inspiring and fear-inducing as I imagined it would be. They jostle me lightly and I can tell that each of them wants to play with the new, weird, weak, hairless creature.

I remain toward the back most of the time given how slow I am compared to the others but I relish the experience regardless. I focus on the evenness of my breathing, the surety and precision of my stride, the force with which I am now able to propel myself, and myriad other tiny, thrilling details. I attempt to remember everything I have learned about running and apply it while losing myself in the experience.

Eventually everything clicks and feels right. Every aspect that I'd been juggling separately fits seamlessly into place and the change is magnificent. I bask in the feeling for as long as I am able before the pack begins to slow and I check my status.

Congratulations! You have earned the skill Running!

Congratulations! Due to a large number of influences including intense knowledge, visualization, and intent while earning the skill, Running has evolved into Stride of the Persistence Hunter®!

Stride of the Persistence Hunter®: Many will escape your attempts to end their lives. You are not so easily swayed. Fewer will continue to escape as they learn that you do not relent. The death toll rises. The last of your prey collapse, content with the knowledge that they have left you far behind. They stare in mute, exhausted horror as you crest the horizon, signaling impending doom.

Well that is absolutely sinister. And really not helpful. I'm assuming it's a better skill than running, given the complicated name and little rarity symbol next to it but it doesn't give me any specifics. I guess I'll have to figure it out as I go.

We approach a cliff overseeing an enormous valley of unnatural-seeming hues and well-trod dirt. I can't make sense of it at first and for good reason; the valley is absolutely crawling with a carpet of monsters. They seem to each be in similar groups and from what I can make out, they're taking turns fighting each other. Not to a bloody death, no. At least for the most part. They're posturing and bellowing challenges, fighting tooth and nail. and then breaking away when it's clear one has lost. In many cases the victor will stay and continue to fight yet in others it will step away and a new series of clashes will commence. Many seem to only use one or two moves while others only use certain body parts or specific patterns of attack or defense.

There are packs of every type of creature that come to mind. I see -with great degrees of variation- snakes, deer, tigers, rams, crabs, the list goes on. Of course they're all extremely savage looking compared to their Earth counterparts and I find myself reeling with the ferocity of it all.

The furballs nudge me forward and I'm left to wonder; what do these actions say about the monsters before me? There are no prizes discernable in the roiling mass of flesh and fur below and no group seems to care overmuch which tract of land they occupy. Are they fighting mindlessly with one another for food, territory, or fun?

...Or are these beasts clashing wildly in a mutual effort to raise skill levels?