Name: Natasha

Race: Mandrill lvl 2

XP: 44

Size: 70

Type: Beast

Faction: Unaligned

Armor: 0

HP: 10

Strength: 4/Speed: 8/Endurance: 4/Magic: 1/Plasticity: 1/Luck 6

Senses: Vision 2, hearing 3, smell 2, taste 1, touch 2

Abilities: Balance 2, omnivorous 1, aposematism 1, innate magic 1

Skills: Bite 1, strike 1, grapple 2, throw 1, climb 1, sneak 1, hide 1

Spells: Bluster 2

The sudden absence of light was jarring, but not so much as the sudden pressure and the vertigo of shifting gravity. The breath I took was still stuck in my throat as I tried to gain my bearings, only to feel my elbows being jabbed into my sides, the squeezing around my ribs and the sticky wetness covering my face gave me hints as to where I was. I looked down at my body and saw light through a crack around my torso. The convulsing of the walls pressed onto my shoulders was the last bit of info I needed. I was in a mouth.

-6 hp

The muscular jaw had no teeth, but the force of its jaws were crushing me. Whatever this was, was strong. I felt my eyes bulging, my held breath stuck in my throat as I started flailing my legs uselessly. One more bite and I’m dead. That’s it, a single day alive. The thought of being painfully crushed to death filled me with an animal panic, stabbing my knife into the lip, but it did nothing. My mouth opened and eyes shut tight as that held breath finally escaped as a scream.

Suddenly I’m floating. No tumbling, end over end through the air as I landed on the dirt harshly. I hear a loud THWACK behind me and try to stop my head spinning as I look back. Eventually it calmed enough that I could make sense of it, and saw one of those frogs had impacted a large tree and was flailing to try to get back on its feet. I struggled to right myself and we raised up at pretty much the same time. That frog nearly ate me. The fact just sat in my stomach like a cast iron weight, but before I had time to process that it was already hopping back towards me.

I was not going to just sit back and let it finish. The world was still spinning but I was up on my feet. I grasped my hand tightly, but my knife was gone. One quick scan around and I see it on the ground, by the root of the tree behind me. I moved, but as fast as a monkey was, a monkey with vertigo moves at a snail’s pace. I practically drag myself towards it, grasping for it as I hear the fleshy whop of the jumping frog gaining on me. As soon as I have it in my hand I turn and grab the lip of the frog trying to bite me. It is stronger than me, I can’t keep its jaw open, but I can stay out of it.

I jump again, my grip on the mouth of the frog tight enough that I can reposition myself away as it snapped, then the second snap came and I pivot around the head, halfway jumping onto its side. My knife hand returned to my signature move of flailing wildly until I hit something important, but the frog’s hide was thicker than the lizard’s, and the knife just couldn’t cut it. Grasping for straws, I figured I might as well try and open my mouth to deliver a bite, but it didn’t work either. As soon as my teeth grazed the surface, the frog tried to turn quickly and bite again, but apparently grapple 2 was a great investment. As I hung from its side however, I caught the frog’s eye and my knife aimed right for it.

The rat’s tooth sunk right into the exposed organ and I felt my stomach lurch at the wash of red and black goop. The frog tried to turn again to bite me, but the knife swung right back to the hole where the eye was, jabbing at it and ripping away anything I could. I must have stabbed a dozen times but it was still moving, whereas my grip was starting to slip. I have no idea how I’m going to kill this thing if this doesn’t work. Eventually my fingers slide from the lip to the back of the head and once it turns to bite again I’m thrown off sliding maybe five feet away.

I regained my balance, but it immediately faced me, one eye locked onto me and jumping forward. I figure in that split second, if I jump back, it’ll get me, so instead I lunged forward. The heavy weight of the frog’s belly bared down on me, but my arm swung up into the soft underbelly and stabbed, this time cutting through. I couldn’t lift the frog’s full weight, collapsing over me and pushing me to the floor, but I could lift it enough to get the space to move my arm for a few more good stabs. After the fifth stab, a window popped up.

130 XP

As soon as I saw that, I collapsed and just let the frog’s weight bear down on me. It was suffocating, but I was exhausted. Just laying flat there I found myself shivering. The adrenalin was still pumping in my veins, and I still couldn’t properly feel the pain of my injuries. I pulled my arms up and instead of lifting, leveraged the body to the side and crawled out, feeling every part of my body protesting the movement, but I needed to move. I was covered in frog blood. My black fur was slick and sticky all down my arms and torso, and my breathing was shallow. Might have a broken rib or two.

My eyes turned to the two remaining frogs sitting on rocks in the middle of the pond, and it dawned on me now that the reason they were there was because they weren’t scared of being eaten by anything else that came to the pond. I wondered if that meant the centipede couldn’t kill them, or was it the water that deterred it, or…? Why am I wondering that right now? I checked my status to see the total 174 xp sat on my screen, but no level up available. Which means my next guess was either 200 or 300. I’m hoping for 200, because otherwise leveling up is going to get difficult very quickly. Wasn’t there supposed to be some xp boost at low levels in most games? Guess things couldn’t be that easy for real life.

I raised up, looking myself over for injuries and saw one big groove right around my midsection where my fur was gone and the skin was a dark purple and blue. The same for my elbows. If I had suffered that bite when I was level 1 that would have been game over. Though now that I was relatively safe, I started wondering. How exactly did I escape its mouth? I was being bitten and then just started flipping end over end. I don’t remember doing anything, and looking around, nothing else was here attacking the frog. So it must have been something I did, right? The last thing I’d remembered was stabbing at its face. I opened up my menu again.

Name: Natasha

Race: Mandrill lvl 2

XP: 174

Size: 70

Type: Beast

Faction: Unaligned

Armor: 0

HP: 10

Strength: 4/Speed: 8/Endurance: 4/Magic: 1/Plasticity: 1/Luck 6

Senses: Vision 2, hearing 3, smell 2, taste 1, touch 2

Abilities: Balance 2, omnivorous 1, aposematism 1, innate magic 1

Skills: Bite 1, strike 1, grapple 2, throw 1, climb 1, sneak 1, hide 1

Spells: Bluster 2

It couldn’t have been a bite, or strike that did it. Grapple, throw, clearly no. Climb, no, sneak, no, hide no. Well if it wasn’t a skill… I looked down at bluster, my one magic skill. A burst of wind that knocks the target away. My best guess was that I activated it somehow, but how? What had I done differently? All I remembered was stabbing. Maybe I somehow just used it instinctively through panic. That would make sense, given that it is supposed to be innate. But how am I supposed to repeat it?

I sighed, standing back up on all fours and focused on the body of the frog. I don’t know what I would be able to do with this one’s body, so I may as well just leave it here. Lifting it up is out of the question anyways. So, I just amble back towards the clearing with the other monkeys. Walking is hard with both my arms injured, and breathing even more so, making me wish I had gotten enough xp to level up like last time. What took me less than a minute before was now taking about two full minutes before I pushed out of the brush.

I amble on towards the center of the clearing, and immediately catch a few eyes. At least the monkeys are aware enough to notice I’m hurt, but a shame they haven’t invented medicine. So I found the softest spot I could to collapse onto my back and look up at the canopy. The morning light was well overhead now, looking like it was getting to the afternoon now. Still had only been one day and I nearly died twice. Technically three times. My eyes close and I try to get some sleep, hoping I don’t have severe internal bleeding.

As soon as I laid back, I could hear the other monkeys scampering about, some coming closer as I laid out on the ground. They were no doubt curious, and gathering around to make sure I wasn’t dead. Which at least made me feel a bit better. This monkey family was basically all I had after all. I didn’t open my eyes though. I really just wanted to sleep more than anything. Slowly drifting off into the inky black.

I wake again after some time, but as I open my eyes, it is pitch black out. I start to stir when my breath catches in my chest. Still injured. My ribs keep feeling like they’re stabbing me in the lung, which I hope is just like a pulled muscle or something and not literal. Though as my senses came about me, I was suddenly aware of how cold it was at night, and as soon as I tried to move, I felt the warmth of the fur around me. Not my fur, but other monkeys. Apparently when I’d fallen asleep they’d crowded around me for warmth. It was touching, but I really did not want to move now. And really I didn’t want to move anyways. So I just stayed in the monkey pile to try to wait for the sun. When it comes up and everyone’s awake, I’m going to spend the next day just eating bugs to get to the next level, and will not make that mistake again.

So far, my biggest weakness was just not being able to spot my attackers before getting hit. Getting ambushed twice in one day did not bode well for my chances in the future. Hopefully I can level up and get my stats not so pathetic. Then I can move onto other plans, like building tools, and a house, and explore, and see the human’s town, and all that jazz. All these plans, when in all likelihood they’re going to be changed at the drop of a hat… and I still need to figure out how that magic works.

Another breath in, and I felt the sting in my chest, preventing me from taking a sigh worthy breath. Though as soon as I did, the idea came to mind. What if it really was just like a dragon. That it just blew out of my mouth. In which case, that would make things easier, but also now I can’t do it because I can’t even take in a deep enough breath. Life can never be simple, can it?

And so I waited, listening to the wind through the yellow trees, using someone else’s back as a pillow and hoping the sunrise wasn’t that far off. Which it was. It took maybe two hours before the sky went from pitch black to purple, then pink, and then orange. I wasn’t complaining about having more time to rest though, just hoping I could groom the others enough to get to 200. 26 xp shouldn’t be too hard to come by, right? Last time I got over 30.

As soon as the sun started to crest, and the big yellow ball was visible through the trees, some started to wake up, circling around and seemingly checking if anyone was missing. I, as of yet, can’t tell any of the other monkeys apart except Boris, because… Boris. Still, nice to know that they probably can, and since no one was freaking out it looked like everyone was accounted for. So, once about half the clan was awake I sat up, feeling a sharp pain in my elbows as the relaxed muscles rebelled against the sudden retraction.

Still, once I was up, I had a lot of attention on me, several other monkeys surrounding and poking at me. All the blood on my fur was dry, and they were picking at it, presumably trying to clean me up, which I allowed. I wasn’t exactly going to be getting a bath any time soon after all so I may as well take what I can get. Grooming isn’t a fast process though, and I must have sat there for thirty minutes before one turned its (her?) back to me so I could return the favor. I however, was not content with just the one, I needed the xp more than the grooming, and went from monkey to monkey over the next hour until I finally got the prompt.

1 XP

Level up available

So, luckily it was 200, thank goodness. If it was 300, I was going to be eating a lot of bugs. I pressed the button to level up as soon as I had pulled up my screen, and watched as the fur on my midsection grew back, and the bruising disappeared. I took in a long deep breath for the first time today and sighed the most relieved sigh in my life and the previous one. It’s one thing to hurt to move, but hurting to breathe was psychologically taxing as well. I almost didn’t even realize that a level up meant more upgrades and not just a heal. So I popped open the menu to take a look.

Name: Natasha

Race: Mandrill lvl 3

XP: 0

Size: 70

Type: Beast

Faction: Unaligned

Armor: 0

HP: 15

Strength: 4/Speed: 8/Endurance: 4/Magic: 1/Plasticity: 1/Luck 6

[Talent point available]

Senses: Vision 2, hearing 3, smell 2, taste 1, touch 2

Abilities: Balance 2, omnivorous 1, aposematism 1, innate magic 1

[Ability upgrade available]

Skills: Bite 1, strike 1, grapple 2, throw 1, climb 1, sneak 1, hide 1

[Skill upgrade available] [Skill point available]

Spells: Bluster 2

[Spell upgrade available]

Naturally, like before, I go to the talents, and press the button. While before I put a point into plasticity, now I was thinking more along the lines of what would be worth investing into. The last two fights I’ve been in have nearly killed me, so I was sorely tempted to put the points in endurance just for that fact, but at the same time, there was almost no way for me to hurt that frog. If I had more strength, then maybe it would have been different. Or I could invest in speed. I’m already pretty fast, if I were to capitalize on that more, maybe that would be better. I mull it over for a bit, but eventually my mind just goes back to that pain of having my ribs crack and I had to put it in endurance.

Then on to abilities. I thought before about the investment into balance, which in hindsight helped a lot in that fight. If I’d had vertigo for even longer I’d have been dead. Still, I was wanting to put those points into vision. Being able to spot danger beforehand was the thing that got me seriously injured both times. So vision 3 it is.

As soon as the choice was made, my vision clarified in a way I hadn’t even noticed it needed. It was like putting on glasses for the first time. Monkeys have fine vision, but now I was seeing what was practically a whole new level of detail. I blinked a couple times to get used to it and looked down at my hand. It was still weird seeing a monkey hand, but now it was a monkey hand in HD.

So then I went on to skills. Throw sadly was basically useless against that bug. Maybe if I upgraded it, it would be useful, but why do that when I can just make the others better? So the main question then is whether strike counts for stabbing or just bluntly hitting. Either way it seems like my best option. Either it’ll be a good upgrade to stabbing, or I’ll have some good punches instead. Both are acceptable. So I select strike 2 and head into the new skill options. Now the question becomes either dash, block, or dodge.

Dodge and block are starting to look much better now that I have been in a real fight. Those idealistic scenarios in your head about what you should do aren’t realistic when it comes down to it. Still, dash seems like it would be really useful for those ambushes. Dash could even be used like a dodge if you think about it, so really it’s a win win. With a nod in the affirmative, I select dash.

Finally on to spells. I still only have one, but apparently I can use it. Might take some trial and error but hey I can’t even embarrass myself failing, there’s no one here to see it but monkeys. I clicked on bluster 3 and locked it in. Progress felt good in a way that was more than just getting something, it was having accomplished something. Surviving one day out in the wilderness isn’t much but it was more than I’d ever managed in my old life. Not to say I should have done this a long time ago or anything. I’ve nearly died twice now, but hey, I’m only a level 3 monkey for pete sake.

Now the question is, what is the agenda for today. I really want to get back to that cave at some point, but I still can’t see in the dark. So that’s out. I want to watch more humans but I’ll have to wait for them to come back. So no on that front. I guess I need to try and figure out how this magic works then, one way or another. I could theoretically repeat the circumstances before, but I’m in no rush to be eaten. So then, my best guess is to simply try screaming at a wall somewhere, see if that does the trick. Not my proudest plan, but necessary, for science. Also, best to go pretty far away so as to not freak out the other monkeys.

I sat up straighter, the looseness of my relaxed muscles was astonishing. I knew how awful my sleep had been all night, the pain in my ribs was worse than anything I could remember in my old life. I had broken my leg once when I was young, but the memory of the incident had faded to the point that I only remembered how itchy the cast was. But despite that, I sat here like it was the best sleep of my life after the click of a button. Maybe it even removes the damage of physical stress? What I wouldn’t have done to have had this back in my old life.

I took one last look around at my impromptu family, halfway hesitant to step out into the jungle again. The last two times I’d gone out had ended in significant injury. It crossed my mind that I may be accidentally training my brain to risk my life unnecessarily simply because my level up heals me. Something I should be careful about considering that I am still very fragile as a monkey. I really need to be more careful.

I start out again, this time staying slow, slinking along to try and stay unseen. Which is hard considering how much noise being out in the forest actually makes. So you have to slow down even more to compensate for it. Getting far enough away from the other monkeys that I would be out of earshot would take all day at this pace. So I sped up a little. I made more noise, but not as much as if I were a human going out on a hike. The crunch of golden leaves underfoot was inevitable, but I avoided every loose dry branch if I could. It must have taken an hour to get comfortably far enough away that I felt free enough to make noise.

No doubt shrieking at a stone wall would catch some attention from other things in the jungle, but if push comes to shove, I can still climb the wall. It is more dangerous over the top of it, but the wall itself looks to be some level of respected boundary between the two. If push comes to shove, I can give my new dash skill a good workout. Searching the base of the wall I found a suitably large boulder, or would it be a boulder? I am pretty small after all. At what point does it start being called a boulder? Either way, it’s a rock bigger than I am.

I quickly scan the trees around me, making sure there are no wayward lizards ready to take advantage of my distraction. I wasn’t regretting the point invested into my vision one bit. I could see everything now. I could even count the leaves on the trees all the way up to the canopy if I wanted to. Seeing nothing in my immediate vicinity, I made a mental note to check again after I get to start all the screaming I plan on doing. No doubt everything within a mile is going to be hearing, and I don’t want any more trouble than absolutely necessary.

I point myself towards the rock, taking in one long deep breath, filling up my tiny monkey lungs until they are full to bursting, then a little more. I could feel the tightness in my chest, stinging lightly as I held it there like some bodybuilder trying to puff themselves up to be as large as possible, even standing up onto two legs for as long as those stubby limbs could hold me. Then dropped down onto my knuckles and let out the most howling shriek that I could muster. It was less impressive than I would have liked. My tiny frame still housed a tiny throat and tiny lungs after all. I sounded very much just like a monkey in the zoo upset because someone stole my fruit. That said, I did see a shock of wind rushing forward from my mouth and hitting the stone, sending it rolling a few feet.

A few things I noticed immediately. In my chest while I was catching my breath again, lightly panting from the empty lungs, I could feel something in there. Like a third lung that was slowly inflating separate from my heavy breaths. After about ten seconds I could feel it fully inflated again, and I wouldn’t even know it was there. So I was right about the dragons having some fire sack in their throat, as I now have some weird little third lung that expels wind. Even more so, it’s on a cooldown. So I can use it about once every ten seconds. That is interesting. So there is no mana system needed with innate magic. Or at least this one. I just have a limit on how often it can be used.

I scanned around the trees again, making sure that I didn’t scare up any would be predators looking to take advantage of a screaming monkey that might have been injured. Peeking arounds and between trees to be absolutely certain I wasn’t being stalked. All the while my mind was half occupied with the feeling of this “wind sack” in my chest. Wondering if I could learn to contract it without shouting or even better, individually without having to breathe at all. I don’t know if it was possible, considering where it sat in my chest it was probably contracted by my diaphragm. Though it doesn’t deflate while I’m just breathing normally, so maybe?