Theo ran to Tiberius. Blake, who was injured as well, was slowly standing. Maybe Theo should have been more concerned about the injured human in his party, but right now, all he could think about was Tiberius.

When he reached him, the dog looked so small and fragile. He knelt by him, but found that Tiberius was still breathing. He whimpered with each breath, and his narrow rib cage shuddered.

I protect friend, Tiberius said.

“You did. You did good. Just hold still,” he said, trying not to let emotion fill his voice.

Blake limped over. “How is he?” he asked.

Theo looked up. “How are you?”

“Fine. Fine enough to get back to Jessica so she can heal me, anyway. What about your dog?” Blake said.

“I don’t know,” Theo said.

“He’s your special companion or whatever, right? A familiar? Can you see his menu?” Blake said.

Theo thought for a moment, then reached out towards Tiberius. Instantly, a menu opened up around his hand.

Tiberius

Health: 4/50

Stamina: 56/100

Mana: 50/50

“He’s dying,” Theo said, “Health is four out of fifty.”

Alice hopped down from her tree and walked over. She stood, looking at the bloody dog on the ground.

“Don’t suppose you have any more of those health potions, huh,” Theo said.

“No, and I wouldn’t use it on a mutt, either,” she said.

Theo opened his mouth to speak, but Blake did it for him. “That mutt just saved my life, and yours, too. Show some respect.”

“Maybe the rabbit dropped something,” Theo said.

“What, like in a video game?” Blake said, “Loot?”

Theo shrugged. “Everything else about this seems like a video game, why not loot?” He stood and moved over to the dead Velocirabbit with its snapped neck and vacant eyes.

How did I do that, with the roots? He thought, but he knew it was the Call of the Wild skill. It seemed to defy the logic of the game so far, using his emotions to power the magic rather than pure skill points or mana. He didn’t understand it.

He placed a hand over the Velocirabbit corpse and then used his Identify skill.

Velocirabbit (Dead)

Contents:

Rabbit meat (6)

Velocirabbit Pelt (1)

Rabbit teeth (1)

Leftover Health (1)

Leftover Mana (1)

Leftover Stamina (1)

Loot corpse?

Synthesize potions?

He selected the option to synthesize the potions. Green, blue, and red light poured out of the corpse, swirling into three bullet-shaped glass tubes of potions. They landed on the ground in front of him, and he quickly grabbed the red health potion and went back over to Tiberius.

“Wait, there was really a health potion in that thing?” Blake asked.

“Seems like whatever leftover energy they have, you can take. Let’s hope it’s enough,” he said.

He pried open Tiberius’ mouth with his hands like he was looking for something the dog had eaten, then tipped the health potion inside. He let the potion trickle down until it vanished in Tiberius’ throat, then checked the menu again.

Tiberius

Health: 10/50

Stamina: 58/100

Mana: 50/50

Tiberius blinked his eyes, but was still too weak to stand. Theo swore under his breath. “It was worth six health points. Maybe it’ll save his life, but he can’t move. Not yet.”

“Maybe it would have more leftover health if you didn’t go all hentai with the vines,” Alice said, “what was that, anyway? Seemed way more powerful than a bunch of fricken arrows.”

Theo narrowed his eyes, but ignored her. He focused again on Tiberius, exploring his menu. Then, an option appeared.

Your Animal Companion is low on health. Share health points with your Animal Companion? Warning: this will draw from your own health energy, and may have adverse affects.

He clicked the option without hesitating. Red light flowed from his hands and into Tiberius’s body, and excruciating pain wracked Theo. It felt like all his bones were breaking, like his skin was being sanded down, like his very blood had been replaced with poison. He screamed, but he could not hear it. Instead, he found himself collapsed on the ground, Blake kneeling over him.

“Theo? Theo, wake up!” Blake said, gently slapping his face.

Theo opened his eyes groggily, only to see that Tiberius was sitting up, staring at him with concern. Beneath the matted blood, Theo could see that the wound on his dog’s chest had partially healed. The dog panted, but seemed closer to being well than before.

Theo, on the other hand, felt awful. He felt like he’d just been hit by a car. He pushed himself up, then immediately keeled over and vomited on the ground. Green liquid splashed onto Alice’s black leather boots.

“Gross,” she said, stepping back.

Theo ignored her. He wiped his lips, then reached a trembling hand out and patted Tiberius’ head. “Never do that again, buddy,” he said.

He pulled up Tiberius’ health menu and his own, side by side.

Tiberius

Health: 30/50

Stamina: 60/100

Mana: 50/50

Theodore

Health: 30/50

Stamina: 46/50

Mana: 41/100

So he’d transferred at least twenty health points to Tiberius. That would be useful, in the future, if he got hurt again. But he wouldn’t let that happen again. Not only because he didn’t want Tiberius to get hurt, but also because he didn’t want to feel like he’d just been stomped into the dirt by the Jolly Green Giant.

“Can you stand?” Blake said.

Theo nodded, and used his staff to push himself up. Tiberius stood on wobbly legs as well, and the group set off slowly in the direction of camp. But before they could get very far, a notification flashed in Theo’s eyes.

Congratulations, you have reached Level 2! Skills Available!

From the blue flash that filled his partner’s eyes as well, he could tell they received the same message.

“We should level up now, before we get back. In case we’re attacked,” Blake said.

Theo nodded and began to explore the menu. His stat sheet appeared before him.

Name: Theodore Cross

Species: Human (Basic)

Class: Druid

Character Level: 2

Essences:

Strength: 1.3

Agility: 0.9

Durability: 1.8

Charisma: 0.5

Intelligence: 1.5

Wisdom: 2.3

Power Available: 5

Uncommon Skills:

Bushcraft (Basic)

Herblore (Basic)

Wilderness Medicine (Basic)

Minor Magic (Basic)

Thorn Spray (Basic)

Minor Beastspeak (Basic)

Animal Companion (Basic)

Call of the Wild (Rare)

Common Skills:

Swimming (Basic)

Chemistry (Basic)

Cooking (Remedial)

+1,569 others

For more, see Common Skill menu.

Languages:

English (Native)

Spanish (Remedial)

Universal

To his surprise, a new option appeared. It was a rune floating outside the regular menu, that he could tell meant Customize?

He clicked it, and generally understood that he had the option to add or delete different parts of the main menu, and even his stat block.

I guess I don’t need to be reminded that I speak English every time I check my stats, he thought, and he dragged that part of the menu away, letting it dissipate. He did the same with Common Skills. Satisfied, he looked at his new stat sheet:

Name: Theodore Cross

Species: Human (Basic)

Class: Druid

Character Level: 2

Essences:

Strength: 1.3

Agility: 0.9

Durability: 1.8

Charisma: 0.5

Intelligence: 1.5

Wisdom: 2.3

Power Available: 5

Skills:

Bushcraft (Basic)

Herblore (Basic)

Wilderness Medicine (Basic)

Minor Magic (Basic)

Thorn Spray (Basic)

Minor Beastspeak (Basic)

Animal Companion (Basic)

Call of the Wild (Rare)

He looked at his stats. Adding to wisdom seemed to be the way to go, but he hated seeing other stats lag behind. He decided to add at least two to Durability, to get to level two. He had three left, and decided to put all of them into Wisdom. It seemed like his casting ability stemmed from that, so it made the most sense.

His new stats spread out before him:

Name: Theodore Cross

Species: Human (Basic)

Class: Druid

Character Level: 2

Essences:

Strength: 1.3

Agility: 0.9

Durability: 2.0

Charisma: 0.5

Intelligence: 1.5

Wisdom: 2.6

Power Available: 0

Skills:

Bushcraft (Basic)

Herblore (Basic)

Wilderness Medicine (Basic)

Minor Magic (Basic)

Thorn Spray (Basic)

Minor Beastspeak (Basic)

Animal Companion (Basic)

Call of the Wild (Rare)

He felt the power rush over him, coming from somewhere he couldn’t understand. But it filled him up, and wisps of green light traced his body. Then, his skill selection panel appeared.

Welcome to Level Two! Level Two Humans earn the Inventory perk. You will now be able to summon and unsummon objects from your Inventory. However, this does not include auto-equip.

Welcome to Level Two! Level Two Druids upgrade the Identify skill from Identify (Basic) to Druidic Knowledge (Rare). The Identify skill operates on your level of Wisdom.

Those skills alone were huge. For one, it would be nice not to have to carry around vials of potions, et cetera. For another thing, his ability to Identify things in the Hex made him very useful. The fact that that skill was now updated to a Rare skill was even better.

Two Skill Selections Available! Select?

The skill menu was the same as it was the last time he saw it, but with new additions. He skipped over the old skills and went right to the new ones. He had two skills to select, so he might be able to go back and get some of the old ones, if he felt like it.

Pathfinder: A Druid always knows their way through the wild. When in a natural area with no human habitation, you are able to divine the correct route to your destination. The distant at which this works is a function of your Wisdom.

Okay, so a basic directional skill. Not bad, really, but he didn’t even know enough about the Hex to know where he needed to go. He went to the next skill.

Historian: When identifying an object or creature, your menu will include details of the multiversal history of the subject. The detail included is dependent on your Wisdom.

So… a history perk? He guessed that could be cool, but not necessarily relevant while he was still trying not to die. He glossed over it.

Beastform (Basic): At level two, Druids are able to assume the form of one basic animal. While in this form, the Druid assumes the stat block of that animal, and is not able to cast spells or communicate via language. This consumes a large amount of mana, dependent on Wisdom, and is very taxing on the body. It can usually only be achieved once every twelve hours, but can increase in frequency with the power of the Druid. Transforming too often can damage both the mind and body.

Okay, now that was a skill. Shapeshifting? Hell yeah. He didn’t even have to think twice, despite the warnings. He selected it, and the menu shifted.

You have selected Beastform (Basic) and now must choose a form. What form will you take?

He thought for a moment. What were the most powerful animals on Earth? Wolves were strong and fast, but succeeded by hunting in packs, and he wouldn’t have a pack. Sharks were naturally monstrous, but he didn’t think that would be very useful on land. If he didn’t want to go the combat route, he could choose something with flight, like a Peregrine Falcon. Or something that could evade easily, like a mouse or an insect. Could he transform into an amoeba? That might not be a bad idea, if he could vanish in a fight…

But he was part of a party, and that meant not running away from fights. And he knew, given the terrain they were in, which animal ruled supreme.

He spoke aloud.

“Ursus arctos middendorffi,” he said, “the Alaskan Kodiak Bear.”

Species Selected! Alaskan Kodiak Bear

A runic image of a brown bear appeared in his menu, glowing softly. He knew that if he reached out and touched it, he would transform. But he had more work to do, and he knew the transformation would be brutal — the first one, probably especially so.

He exited the menu and returned to the spell selection. He went back to the old spells and reread them, looking for something worthwhile.

Skill: Minor Mending (Remedial)

Gain the ability to magically repair any object, such as torn or worn cloth, leather, or armor. Becomes less effective depending on the age and size of the damage. Applies to small wounds and abrasions on humans and animals, but becomes less effective depending on the level and health points of the patient.

Not something he necessarily needed, now that Jessica had a better version of it. He skipped.

Skill: Birchhide (Remedial)

Treehide skills are Druid specific magic that increases defense and durability. When Birchhide is activated, provides a marginal bonus to Durability.

Again, kind of lame. Maybe further down the line, but his Durability was already more than sufficient. He skipped.

Skill: Staff of Nature’s Power (Basic)

Imbue your druid’s staff with the power of the wild. Allows a Druid to melee attack using their Wisdom rather than their strength. May create minor nature-oriented magical effects while attacking. Also grants the same benefits as the Bowstaff Combat Skill (Basic) which includes knowledge of quarterstaff, full staff, bow staff, and shillelagh combat techniques.

There it was. Staff of Nature’s Power would bridge the gap between his ranged magic and his lack of prowess in melee. Beyond that, it just seemed cool. He selected it, and felt the power surge again, from the menu and into him. His quarterstaff began to shift and change in his hand, carvings of runes appearing and glowing bright. It became knobby and warped, taking on a more ancient air. Wind whipped around it, and the knowledge of how to use the staff — for more than just bonking people over the head — flooded him.

He exhaled, feeling the two new skills settle into him. His menu disappeared, and he looked around at his companions.

Alice and Blake were still selecting, and he watched them interface with their circular rune-menus. To his surprise, he couldn’t understand the runes on their menus, only on his own. To him, they just looked like wizards working with magic circles of strange runes and angular lines. He guessed it was some kind of privacy effect, so that other players couldn’t read their notifications. Both Alice and Blake stared intently, and Theo watched as they selected their new abilities and power washed over them.

When they were both done, they set off in the direction of camp, chatting about their new skills. Blake had learned a small lightening spell at level 2, along with the ability to charge his sword with his spells. Alice had learned how to magically split arrows in two, and gained the ability to sense a target’s weak points.

They discussed their plans and options as they walked. For the most part, all three had a similar mentality when it came to the game. They wanted to maximize their best abilities, and dump the ones that didn’t matter. Theo kept some information back — for example, he didn’t mention his gift from DEITY UNKNOWN or how powerful Call of the Wild seemed to be. He figured it was best to keep those to himself, in case…

No. He wouldn’t fight Blake. He certainly wouldn’t kill him. Why did he want to keep things to himself, then? He told himself it was because of Alice, because of her shitty attitude and her aptitude for knives. But he knew that wasn’t the truth — at least, not the whole truth.

They came onto their camp after a long hike, proudly carrying the rabbit meat in their inventories. But as they got closer to camp and the stone head, Tiberius began to whimper.

“What is it boy?” Theo asked.

Smell blood. Tiberius said.

Theo looked around, worried. He took a few quick steps up the hill to where the stone head lay, and came into the clearing where they had made camp.

And saw Ron, facedown in the dirt, his head laying a few feet away from his body.