After stopping by the Kitchen, the three young men went to The Pit to unwind. Since it was about lunchtime, the area was fairly crowded but very few were actually walking around.

"So, any idea why the Skill costs more?" Alexx asked before tossing a handful of berries into his mouth.

"Nope," Loran said, taking a small bite out of a piece of jerky. He had been wracking his brain for an answer all the way to the Kitchen but there just wasn't enough information to work with. "I think I'll try asking around later. I'm guessing other people will start seeing this effect soon, that'll make it easier to find the cause."

"What makes you think others will also run into this?" Zed asked, not disagreeing with Loran but curious as to his reasoning.

"Because I'm calling BS if I'm the only one who will have to deal with an extra 10% to EXP costs."

"....I see," he responded flatly. 'I mean, he's not wrong but...'

"Either way, I'm just going to stockpile all my EXP until I find out why everything is more expensive."

"Wait, everything?" Alexx asked.

"Yeah, I checked the other Skills that I haven't maxed out yet, they all cost more."

"But why?!"

"Who knows," Zed shrugged, "Anyway, what are you guys doing after this?"

"I was gonna go check out the farm," Alexx said, "I don't really have anything better to do so I may as well see if uh... what was her name?"

"Demeter," Loran reminded him.

"Right, might as well see if she needs help. What about you two?"

"I was going to get Danger Sense for myself now," Zed said, taking a drink of water from a wooden bowl. "Loran, think you can help me out?"

"As much fun as attacking you repeatedly with a stick sounds I'll have to pass," he said with a yawn, "I'm feeling tired, so I'm going to take a nap."

"Seriously?"

"Dude, do you not sleep at night or something," Alexx asked, "why are you always so tired?"

"I don't know, I just am." Shoving the last of his food into his mouth, Loran stood up. "See you guys tonight."

"See ya."

"Later."

Leaving The Pit, Loran made his way back to his shelter. The roads were mercifully empty now that everyone was gathered in their preferred eating and hangout spots. On his way Loran stopped by the Kitchen for a little more deer jerky, afterwards he passed the Workshop to see several players working on some new creation. It seemed to be a large, flat wooden surface that had a large hole in it.

'Is it supposed to be a shield?' It was a little larger than the shield Yang had used, almost resembling a tower shield, but much thinner. 'I guess it could be useful against the wolves, they're probably too weak to break it even when it's that thin, but a deer would definitely punch right through it.'

Quickly losing interest, Loran continued walking and soon arrived at his shelter. He did not, however, crawl inside. Instead, he pulled out his hunting equipment and began putting it on. While he was a little tired from the training, the nap was just an excuse to explain where he would be for the rest of the day.

Although Loran wouldn't describe himself as prideful, his performance during the last hunt was simply embarrassing and he wasn't going to let it slide. It was understandable for him to not be at his best considering the pressure they were all under, but for him, understanding didn't mean he would accept it. Although it wasn't certain, death was a very real possibility, and Loran refused to be a liability; not for himself or the others.

'Danger Sense will mitigate the danger for now, but I still need to be at my best,' he thought as he finished equipping himself. 'If underlying fear is the problem, then I'll just force myself to get used to it.'

Loran quickly made his way to the South Gate, luckily avoiding his other party members. The two guards were surprised to see him leaving the camp at this time of day, but he stuttered out a quick excuse about wanting to go out and hunt some rabbits to relax after yesterday.

Not caring enough to question him further, they let him through and began making his way to the tree line. On the way, he checked his stats.

[NAME]: Loran

[SPECIES]: Human

[LEVEL]: 11

[EXP]: 100/1400

[STATUS]

[ARMOR]: 7

{HP}: 99/120

{SP}: 180/180

[END]: 15

[STR]: 10

[AGI]: 15

[DEX]: 17

[PER]: 28

[REMAINING ABILITY POINTS]: 2

[SKILLS]

[ANALYSE] Lv.10(Master)

[DANGER SENSE] Lv.2

(Passive) The user opens all of their senses to perceive the world around them.

[HUNTER] Lv.10

[SP BOOSTER] Lv.4

[SPRINT] Lv.8

[STALWART] Lv.10

He was a little concerned that he hadn't recovered all of his HP yet, but he continued with his plan regardless. 'Not like I plan to get hit or anything.'

After a few minutes, he finally reached the tree line, stopping for a moment at the edge. With a deep breath that did nothing to abate his stirring apprehension, he entered the woods and began his hunt. His target? The most dangerous thing he could find.

~~~~~

Taking risks was the entire point of this hunt, so Loran moved at a brisk jog rather than his usual slow, cautious pace. With an END of 15, his stamina surpassed that of even world-class marathon runners, and so he was able to maintain this speed for quite some time. Even so, he needed to stop eventually, and after an hour of running, he finally stopped to catch his breath and check his surroundings. As always, the woods looked more or less the same to him.

'How the hell can Soze navigate this place so easily?'

Once his breathing calmed, Loran began moving again, though this time he only walked. Since nothing had attacked him even after an hour of running, he hoped that being slower might make him more of a target. As he walked he began to pay more attention to his surroundings, still not moving stealthily, just taking things in to pass the time.

No matter how dangerous these woods were, they were amazingly picturesque. The vibrant green grass gave way to patches of small flowers. The endless expanse of tall, thin Birch trees creates a stark white wall, broken up on occasion by the brown of the thick, stout Maple trees. One of the bushes he passed had a collection of deep red Razz Berries on it; he quickly picked a few and pecked at them as he walked.

The sound of songbirds was a constant presence, his incredibly high PER meaning he could hear their calls from much farther than normal; the countless tweets and chirps, mixing with the chittering of the White Squirrels that also called the trees their home had a natural harmony to them, taking Loran back to that fateful day in the wilderness of reality.

As he continued to listen, the harmony was becoming disrupted by what felt like a low drum beat. Realizing something was amiss, Loran shoved the rest of the Razz Berries into his mouth, and drew his Spinned Picks.

'It's coming from... my right.' He turned to face the source of the drumming, which was now growing louder. 'Still sounds far off... I'll move up.'

The sound continued to grow as he approached, within seconds the rumbling could be felt through the ground. Loran stopped before a large patch of bushes, deciding that moving closer would be too dangerous. The foliage blocked his vision, so he began to back up again so that he could attack the momen-

*CRACK*

Loran shuddered at the sudden sound of splintering wood, he could also make out the top of a Birch tree being knocked down by an unseen force from within the foliage. A split-second later, [DANGER SENSE] warned him of something enormous moving towards him just before it came barreling out of the bushes.

Loran immediately tried dodging to the side but took in a quick breath as [DANGER SENSE] continued to scream at him. Whatever was barreling towards him was wider than he expected, and as the beast burst out from the foliage, Loran saw that he was still in its path.

Fortunately, his jump had brought him high enough that he didn't directly collide with the beast. Moving on reflex, Loran's body tried to roll in the air, slightly cushioning the blow as he rolled over his attacker.

Falling to the ground as the beast continued forward, Loran continued his momentum and came to his feet quickly.

*CRASH*

Loran once again heard the sound of one of the beasts colliding with another tree, right before dodging to the side as [DANGER SENSE] detected the same tree about to fall on him. Rolling to his feet, Loran finally got a clear look at the target for his hunt.

It was not one monster, but five Hell Pigs running in a tight formation. The Hogs looked to be around 3 feet tall at the shoulder, easily clocking in at several hundred pounds. The largest of them cut an intimidating figure; its short fur was sleek and deep brown, speckled with lighter spots, but its face was marred with small cuts and deep, ropy scars. All of its injuries seemed to be either old wounds or only superficial. Loran quickly activated [ANALYZE], targeting the largest of the pack.

[NAME]: N/A

[SPECIES]: Hell Pig

[LEVEL]: 10

[STATUS]

{HP}: 120/120

{SP}: 180/240

[END]: 12

[STR]: 26

[AGI]: 16

[DEX]: 9

[PER]: 24

[SKILLS]

[HARDENED SKULL] Lv.10

(Passive) Reduce physical damage taken to the face by 100% below a certain threshold.

[CHARGE] Lv.7

(Active Cost: 60 SP) Attack a target to your front at least 10 feet away. The base attack power is equal to 70% of your END, STR, and AGI, damage dealt is 50% piercing and 50% bludgeoning. Increase damage by 10% per additional foot run, up to a maximum bonus of 70%.

[HIGH NUTRIENT DIET] Lv.10

(Passive) Increase SP by 100%.

[DESCRIPTION]

A large omnivorous scavenger. Its skull and face are reinforced with dense bone and cartilage, rendering it highly resistant to most forms of damage. With their extremely high Perception capabilities, they sniff out only the most rewarding sources of nutrition such as fruits, meat, and bird eggs. Highly territorial, they will not hesitate to attack anything... [EXPAND]

'How the hell is a high nutrition diet a Skill,' Loran couldn't help but wonder. 'No, more importantly, that Hardened Skull Skill is worse than I thought. The others mentioned that they could block attacks with their faces, but that much damage reduction is insane.' Even though the Skill mentioned having a limit, Loran didn't waste time imagining that he could surpass it. His thoughts were quickly cut short as he sensed an attack from within the brush; the one pig that had knocked over the first tree.

Instead of using [CHARGE] again, the boar rushed forward and attempted to gore him with one of its tusks. Loran dodged forward while turning around, swinging both his picks in the hopes of catching the boar in one of its eyes.

*REEEEE!*

One of the picks struck the boar's eye directly, while the other landed ineffectively on its cheek. The Hell Pig, now blinded, reared back in pain.

'No Bleed debuff huh,' Loran thought, noticing the minimal amount of blood coming from the boar's wound. 'Whatever, on to the next one.'

By now, the lead hog had regained its footing and attacked Loran with its tusks in much the same way as the first did. Sidestepping the attack, Loran swung at the Hell Pigs side leaving a long deep cut.

Leaping back as the Hell Pig lashed out at him, Loran noticed more movement through [DANGER SENSE]; the other three pigs had continued their [CHARGE] attack were coming around for another pass.