For whatever reason, Aegaeon couldn’t see the level of the knife he held in his hand, but peering at the knife there was a notification; Would you like to Equip this knife? Yes or No? Having no other weapon and being intrigued by the knife, Aegaeon accepted the blade. It immediately disappeared with a notification:

Neptune’s Wrath added to Inventory. This can be accessed by manually thinking inventory to scroll through items. You can simply think of an item itself and it will appear in your hand.

Aegaeon played with this by having the dagger appear and disappear from his hand until it became second nature. This pleased Aegaeon as he considered his ability to defend himself. No longer would running and hiding in trees be his only venue.

Taking hold of Neptune’s Wrath, Aegaeon swung it around and took aim at a nearby tree as a training dummy. When he struck the tree it left deep gouges in the wood. Turning the blade around so it pointed towards his elbow he struck again, this time cutting so deep into the tree that the blade disappeared.

New Skill: Dagger Work Lvl 1, as skill increases so too does your proficiency with short blades.

Tugging the blade out of the tree, Aegaeon looked fondly on his find and noticed that regardless of cutting the tree up the blade was clean, not even a hint of sap stained the mirrored shine. There was a dull gleam of blue on the edge of the blade. The same blue the glinted across Aegaeon’s eyes. He felt a sense of power emanating from the knife.

With newfound respect for the weapon he wielded, Aegaeon turned back to the waters of the pond this knife came from. Looking into the pearlescent water he felt a tug in his mind and watched as a wave of water crossed over the tranquil water.

“Was that me?!?” Aegaeon frowned and tried to move the water with his mind, but nothing happened.

Regarding the experience as a fluke, Aegaeon turned from the waters and left the scene. Back into the forest he went with odd feelings and an exhausted mind.

Passing a myriad of trees, Aegaeon found a break in the trees, and wound up on a dirt trail. Resigning himself to a long night of walking, Aegaeon trudged forward. He couldn’t help but to notice the serenity of the forest at night. The tranquility that permeated the air was not something Aegaeon would have expected due to the boars earlier. But it certainly made for a peaceful walk.

After having walked for hours, and feeling many sores on his feet, Aegaeon considered what he wanted to do. He thought of whether or not he’d ever find anyone; and what he’d do when he did. Not being able to think of anything decisively; Aegaeon turned his attention back to his surroundings.

There was a dull hum in the air with the nightlife of the forest. Considering the lives of bugs Aegaeon wondered if bugs were affected by the new world like humans were; after all those boars had levels. Considering this gave Aegaeon pause for concern as his mind turned to the horrors that empowered bugs could do.

This realization gave Aegaeon a new sense of resolve to exit this forest. Big targets were one thing, especially now that he had a target, but insects were above Aegaeon’s pay grade. Turning back to the trail Aegaeon walked with resolve; but not before noticing his Deep Thought skill Level was increasing.

Night turned to day and still there was no difference in his surroundings. Aegaeon felt as though he’d walked at least 15 miles, but he was met only with the same view. An unending forest. Looking for a vantage point Aegaeon spotted a tall pine tree, about 2 times higher than those around it.

Regardless of his Careful Climbing, Aegaeon felt nervous climbing this monstrosity of a tree. Beginning at the base he slowly worked his way up, pushing his concern for heights to the back of his mind. He felt as though autopilot was initiated for his body as his hands and feet moved as if by themselves; finding purchases in the branches he wouldn’t have considered.

Climbing ever higher, Aegaeon lost himself in the monotonous task. Soon finding himself at the top of the tree with scuffed hands covered with a sticky film of sap. Peering around, Aegaeon initially found nothing more than his worst fear; unending forest. Looking around for any deviance from the standard area, he noticed a section where the trees started to grow shorter. It looked to be miles away but this was Aegaeon’s only lead.

Slowly climbing back down Aegaeon got back to the ground safely in the late afternoon. The sun was just above the tree line in the distance. Aegaeon’s stomached growled with hunger and it was this moment he first realized he still had to eat food. Aegaeon was too distracted by all the new skills and stats and abilities that he forgot the most basic requirements for life.

Stumbling through the forest did nothing to help the rumbling edge in Aegaeon’s stomach. But without food, he had no choice. Hoping to stumble across some of those boars again Aegaeon prepared to kill in order to eat. As he stepped further into the forest the air was starting to become noticeably more dry. With frustration caused by hunger, Aegaeon considered the notifications from the day.

Deep Thought up 6

Careful Climbing up 4

New Path: Forest Traveler 0/20

Status Screen:

Class: N/A

Level: N/A

Skills:

Sprinting Lvl:8, Deep Thought Lvl:14, Mana Blast Lvl:3, Careful Climbing Lvl:7 Swimming Lvl:7, Holding Breath Lvl:4 Dagger Work Lvl:1

PP: 19

Paths:

Path of the Initiate Mage 0/10, Path of the Racer 0/10, Path of Ideologies 0/25. Path of Water 20/30, Forest Traveler 0/20

Excitedly Aegaeon finished off Path of Water with 10 more PP. Congratulations! For completing Path of Water you have been granted a new Skill.

New Skill: Water Manipulation, with extreme focus you can manipulate the movements of water. Efficacy increased with skill level. Effort and energy expenditure reduced with skill level.

Aegaeon would have been more excited with this new skill if he’d been anywhere near to water. But unfortunately the last water he saw was the pond with Neptune’s Wrath. Thinking of the blade summoned it to his hand and Aegaeon considered again the potential of this blade.

Catching himself being lost in thought, Aegaeon put Neptune’s Wrath away and focused again on his hunger. He needed desperately to find something to eat. Else he feared that starvation of all things would kill him in this world.

Putting himself back on a path towards the shorter trees, Aegaeon began to listen intently to what was going on around him, hoping for something he could hunt. This yielded only frustration as he trudged forwards; finding nothing.

While still walking, Aegaeon considered the need for sleep. He didn’t feel tired but that was probably because of this new world enhancing him. Even still, the thought of sleep comforted Aegaeon as it felt like something he could do to clear his mind. Night rolled around and Aegaeon still looked for any difference in the trees.

He still hadn’t reached the shorter trees but he didn’t really expect to. He just hoped for some beast to kill and eat! How did he appear where there was a whole hoard of animals and find nothing since?!? He felt that the world was playing tricks on him and his stomach painfully reminded him of being famished.

It was in a moment of considering eating tree bark that Aegaeon heard a slight scratching noise. This sound reminded him of the boars rutting against a tree and Aegaeon’s hunger propelled him toward the sound. Crossing more pine trees in pursuit of whatever made that noise, Aegaeon stumbled across a peculiar sight.

He knew that animals were now technically monsters and were enchanted like he was, but nothing prepared him to deal with a massive rabbit-wolf combination. The beast looked almost comical in appearance with the body of a wolf, the legs of a rabbit, and a head that awkwardly combined the two. It’s big round eyes and rabbit styled ears looked out of place on the head shape of a wolf.

Aegaeon almost laughed at the image, but soon turned serious as the rabbit wolf thing noticed his presence. Faster than he thought possible the rabbit-wolf launched itself at Aegaeon with vicious intent. The beast slammed into Aegaeon’s side sending him tumbling over into the dry hard ground.

As Aegaeon tried to stand the beast launched itself again, this time with open jaws. It may have looked funny but the wolfish teeth looked devilishly sharp and Aegaeon was barely able to jump out of way as it snapped its jaws together where his head just was. Bringing Neptune’s Wrath our of inventory made Aegaeon feel more sure of himself as he launched a counter attack. He swung the blade wildly in front of him scratching the rabbit-wolf. This was unfortunately a minor scratch and the rabbit wolf snapped again at Aegaeon with its powerful jaws; it’s teeth sunk into Aegaeon’s left shoulder and he cried out with pain.

Grabbing Neptune’s Wrath, with determination to live, Aegaeon began plunging the knife into the beasts side as it held his shoulder between its teeth. Aegaeon could feel the blade stabbing different tissues and even felt it hitting bone. The rabbit wolf tried to let go and get away but Aegaeon was determined. With his left hand now free he painfully brought his hand up and wrapped the rabbit wolf in a tight hug forcing it against his body. This allowed Neptune’s Wrath to stab into its stomach.

With a yelp and a whine the beast stopped struggling and slowly twitched. Aegaeon held the thing in his hands with Neptune’s Wrath gripping it’s insides. While dragging himself out from under the beast, Aegaeon looked at his notifications.

Sprinting up 2

Deep Thought up 1

Dagger Work up 9

New Path: Path of Bloodshed 0/45

Status Screen:

Class: N/A

Level: N/A

Skills:

Sprinting Lvl:10, Deep Thought Lvl:15, Mana Blast Lvl:3, Careful Climbing Lvl:7 Swimming Lvl:7, Holding Breath Lvl:4 Dagger Work Lvl:10, Water Manipulation Lvl:1

PP: 31

Paths:

Path of the Initiate Mage 0/10, Path of the Racer 0/10, Path of Ideologies 0/25, Forest Traveler 0/20, Path of Bloodshed 0/45

Completed Paths:

Path of Water 30/30