Forest Boar(12): A common sight in forests across Terra. Forest boars have widely varying levels depending on food, mana levels and presence of natural predators. They can survive in almost any environment and can eat almost anything. These creatures have extremely low mental capabilities and no ranged offensive abilities but they make up for this with their high levels of strength, stamina and stamina. Their hide acts like natural armor and they are resistant to blunt damage. They are only capable of charging in straight lines and most of the damage they do is due to the impact. Their tusks are mainly used to dig up grub but they are omnivores and will eat anything. Including carrion and poisonous animals. They have high resistance to poisons bordering on immunity but poor perception. Will charge if it feels threatened or surprised.

Forest Deer(9): A common sight in forests across Terra. Herbivores that move in herds. These creatures move in herds to deter small predators and are extremely fleet footed and agile. When a predator attacks the herd will scatter in all directions to confuse the predator and once the danger has passed, they will form up into a herd once more. They have high agility and perception which provides a natural danger sense that is difficult to bypass. They have no raged attacks and depend upon their speed to escape the danger.

Forest Honey Bear(23): Honey Bears true to the name sake seek out honey. They are omnivorous animals but prefer to consume honey produced by Honey Bees. They can always be found in areas with honey bees and will mostly ignore other animals that cross them. Unlike their ferocious appearance they are quite shy and will not engage in an attack unless provoked or unless they can’t find honey to consume. These bears are non-temperamental but once provoked they will keep attacking till the aggressor dies. They have powerful claws strong enough to cut through rock and thick fur that can rebound arrows. They are powerful creatures for their level. High levels of strength, stamina, endurance, health and deceptive charging speed. Although not agile creatures the bears strength allows it to propel itself with terrifying force. A full swipe from its claws will rend steel and their jaws can bite through reinforced steel shields. Caution is advised when engaging them.

Lesser Warg Alpha (20): A common monster spawned in forests. Strength varies according to the density of ether in the region where the monster spawns. Lesser Wargs are vicious and will hunt for sport. They have powerful strength and agility attributes. Due to their nature as monsters they are instinctively able to manipulate mana and use it to form abilities. Lesser Wargs have an innate affinity to Dark mana and form abilities that use Dark Mana.

They commonly possess Dark vision, Shadow slip and Corrosive bite abilities. In addition to this the Alpha possesses Pack leader passive skill. The alpha is usually the strongest among its pack and dominates the rest through violence.

Fuck. Is everything in this forest stronger than me? Where’s the newbie zone?!!...goddamn it…No use feeling like you got fucked Adam…Lets think about what I’ve learned so far.

The boars are tough and hardy and have a mean charge but poor vision and will only attack when it’s threatened or surprised. It’s solitary and a good candidate for an ambush. Deer are weaker but fast and paranoid. They’ll flee at the first signs of danger and they roam in herds.

The bear. Fuck that. I’m not suicidal. And that just leaves the Wargs. There were 6 of them and they were actively looking for prey and the termed them as monsters. Why is that? The bear looked scarier than those Wargs, so why were the Wargs termed as monsters but the Bear as an animal? No sooner had Adam thought about this , he received a mental notification of a message. He clicked on it.

Monsters: The most widely spread and varied form of . They are prevalent throughout the multiverse and especially so in universes with high levels of . concentrations of and presence of attuned mana the fusion with in a . Monsters rifts can occur spontaneously and without any warning sign. As soon as the Rift is formed, monsters are rush out from the rift and annihilate everything in their path.

Monster rifts are generally attuned to the mana that was involved in their creation and the monsters they spawn display abilities that make use of that mana and the monsters released from the rift are usually of similar types and similar levels of power. In general, the of the monster released from the rift is dependent on the concentration of the region.

Monsters cannot increase their level and they cannot procreate but they are always hostile to sapients. If left unchecked they would roam across the planet attacking and killing every sapient it encounters.

All monsters spawn with a mana core formed in their bodies and the mana core fuels the abilities the monster possess. Once a monster has been killed by a user, the ether in its body destabilizes causing its body to rapidly decay and decompose leaving behind a mana core and parts of the creature which possess extremely stable ether. The stabilized ether helps these parts to resist the decomposition caused by the unstable ether. Mana cores have a variety of uses

: impressions of chaos present throughout the multiverse.

I see. That explains a whole lot of nothing and raises a multitude of questions! Monster rifts ??And what the fuck are echoes even?... no answer. Why am I not surprised? Adam was a bit frustrated with the explanation on monsters, mostly because it was terrifying that they could appear anywhere and anytime.

Still even though the rifts can form anywhere, the monsters it spawns can’t level up and get stronger huh. Which is great, cause otherwise those Wargs would have surely been a higher level.

I’m glad that it’s not all bad and the system even gave some great news! They give LOOT!! Adam barely held himself from pumping his fist in excitement. He was still hidden in the reeds and could not afford to get spotted because he was being stupid. Shit! Almost did something stupid. Calm down man! Still this is great news. Kill monsters and you can get loot! Not today though or even for the foreseeable future..I’m still too weak to even think about those Wargs. I need to find something that I have a chance of killing.

The sun was beginning to set but dusk was still few hours away, Adam continued to stay hidden waiting for something to show up but the Wargs had spooked the wildlife but it was a long time before anything showed up. But what showed up had Adam furiously thinking and debating himself.

Stone Lizard(6): A lizard monster which commonly spawns in forest. Like its name sake, when still the Stone lizard appears to look like a stone. Due to its coloring and the fact that it contracts it whole body and tucks its tail and limbs beneath it while it burrows its head into the ground till it is partially covered makes it difficult to differentiate between it and another stone. Their inherent abilities eliminate their scent and camouflages its mana signature to blend into the surrounding. When a suitable prey walks nearby the contracted muscles instantly release and the lizard launches forward like stone bullet and the impact heavily injures even if it isn't outright killed. Due to their Earth mana attunement, their bones and scales are extremely dense and heavy and they use an instinctive form of earth mana enhancement to support their weight. They have high levels of strength for their level but low agility, stamina and health. Stone lizards like most ambush predators are solitary monsters. Resistant to earth, wind, fire and nature attuned attacks.

Adam was struggling internally, debating on the pros and cons of what he wanted to do. The stone lizard was a monster but it was relatively low level and it was an ambush hunter. Its entire MO was staying hidden and delivering a lethal first hit. The lizard was less than a meter long and had no overgrown claws or fangs. It relied entirely on launching it’s body mass at it’s prey and delivering a lethal impact. If he could avoid that than it was easy prey.

But Adam was hesitating, the fear of death and what it might mean was making him second guess himself. He willed himself to stop thinking about death and focused on the lizard. He had to make a choice. The creature had reached the water and was looking around before it edged closer to the water and dipped its snout to take a drink. It was the only thing that had come to the water hole which he felt he had a chance to kill.

He just needed to crawl under the water towards the thing and once it dips it snout inside the water, grab it and drag it into the water. But what if I can’t drag it into the water? You can. The lizard is on the edge of the pond and the soil there is loose so it won’t be able to muster enough force to resist. You just need to grab its face while it’s drinking and then pull it in with everything you have in that instant. The creatures own weight and density would do the rest. The lizard needed to touch the ground to hold their weight up and the weight was causing the lizard to sink into the soft ground. Its limbs kept getting bogged into the ground and it kept trying to drink while keeping itself from getting stuck. This will work!

As soon as that thought entered his head he started moving, He submerged himself and started to crawl along the bottom as fast as he could while trying not to make too many ripples. Thoughts of the lizard having had its fill and leaving the pond entered his head and he sped up.

He couldn’t miss this opportunity and didn’t want hesitation to cost him a chance at getting stronger, so he hurried. He kept moving in a straight line towards the lizard, he couldn’t see it while underwater and the algae on the pond’s surface prevented most of the light from reaching the bottom but he dared not lift his head out of the water. He made do with the conditions and was just thankful that pond wasn’t too murky and that he had enough visibility to see ahead of him.

With how much he hesitated and how scared he was before , now that he was committed to this path , Adam found himself calm and cool. He wasn’t nervous and jittery. His movements were confident and smooth. As he crawled more than halfway towards the lizard’s general direction he slowed down and raised his eyes above the water level in order to observe and he saw it.

Movement, just a couple of meters ahead and a little to his right. It was the lizard’s snout. It was still there and still drinking the water…He moved forward and slowed down as he entered the shallow water. He stopped whenever the lizard lifted it’s snout out of the water and continued only when it starting drinking again.

He crawled within arm reach of the creature and waited till it stopped drinking. He was going to grab it the moment it put its snout back into the water.

The seconds felt like minutes. His body was coiled and ready to strike. At last the moment came, the lizard dipped its snout into the water. Adam moved as fast he as he could and struck. He grabbed the snout and then pulled with all his might. The lizard wasn’t moving. It didn’t even budge. NO! Move dammit! Pull harder! He moved his legs so that they were towards the lizard and like engaging in a tug of war, he dug his feet into the soil and pulled with everything he had.

He put everything he had into the motion, He felt something in his arms tear but he didn’t let up. He kept pulling and all this time the lizard was thrashing and trying to get away and then he felt it. The lizard was inching into the water and that fact fueled his faltering resolve and he renewed his efforts to pull. He felt the muscles in his back tear. A sharp pain in his lower back and then just as he was on the brink of losing, the force resisting him suddenly ceased and he was thrown back into the pool due to his own momentum and along with him was the lizard, its head still clutched in his hands.