Waking up this time around was not fun for Nik. In his dreams, he had been visited by more than one Dreknor - the vile creatures with a face on their chests -, each encounter resulting in gruesome scenarios, each had him being eaten as the ending. Despite his poor quality of sleep, he was not happy about being awake again, his body was aching. He must have fallen asleep rather early in the afternoon as it was still dark. The moon behind the mountains - the perpetual companion - illuminating the world around him, giving his surroundings in a dim ghostly aura.

After several minutes of trying to fall asleep again in the process of being assaulted by weird monsters, he decided against further dallying. He had spent several days on this planet already and had nothing to show for it, that would have to change. Obviously, this was not a tame world like earth so he forgave himself for not getting a grip on the situation earlier but he had to start now. Many things differed here, starting with the weird level system and monsters assaulting him around every corner, ending somewhere along the lines of no civilization, or any kind of signs indicating an existence.

After some musing about his bad luck, he took a look at his status. Slightly confused by the inconsistency between his full health points and pain coming from his hand where he hit himself the day before. Thinking back he had not felt physically unhealthy at any point when his health points were above 100. So either he had done some permanent damage to his body or he had phantom pain. Wouldn't surprise me with my luck. All this here is really stressing me out. I wonder if phantom pains are a symptom of stress. He would have to live with either, his medical expertise was severely lacking.

There were other things he didn't have to live with. For example, he could try to get himself an actual shelter. The stone he had been sleeping on the first nights had offered some protection but going further Nik wanted to be covered for any type of eventuality. He did not expect to reach the same living standard as back home but any approximation would be good. To approach this in a rational manner Nik began setting up a mental checklist.

Things Nik currently thought would be useful were a weapon, some type of vessel to always have water at hand, a way to store food would definitely be essential, not for the blue blossom berries though, he still had no idea what they had done to his body. He did, however, suspected that both the poison effects and [Digestive Herbology] were involved in that fiasco. A light source could potentially help him at night or maybe the fire would scare the monsters off.

He did have a plan for a shelter. Since he did not have the right materials to build anything sturdy that could withstand the onslaught of a monster like the boar he had to consider other options, but the solution was quite easy. The trees around the clearing had all stood up well towards any attacker he had encountered thus far. This led Nik to consider a treehouse to be the best option, and totally not the desire to relive a missed childhood experience.

The way Nik had used [Lesser Hammer Strike] the night before showed him that while the skill was a potent weapon by itself, a proper tool for the skill would have a stronger impact. Luckily, Nik had the appropriate class assigned to him to create weapons, and additionally, he had some limited knowledge about materials through his studies. While not sure how his class could help him, he assumed that at least his skill would help him with getting started in that direction.

For now, Niks's agenda consisted of getting to the river, find some stones he could use for chopping wood. They used flint in the stone age for that so maybe he could replicate that. Progression further would have to be considered more in-depth, but he sure as hell was not going to work with copper, the benefits of the soft material was in most cases also its downfall. He had seen a few blue-toned stones that indicated copper contents but had not noticed any tin so bronze was probably out of the equation as well. Iron would be interesting, especially since there had been many rocks that had some iron in them, according to [Identify], the issue with that was the purity of that iron. Maybe finding Magnetite or Hematite would be of help there. Maybe sedimentary rocks would prove to be an option as well but he had no idea on how to process them. But all of that was an issue for another day. For now, Nik told himself to focus on getting some stones that could replicate the tools of the stone age, maybe some vines or dried grass to be used as a string, and to look out for clay.

Getting down from the tree he almost felt sad. It, just like the boulder he had originally appeared on, had probably saved his life, in thanks, it would be abandoned and he would probably never find it again.

Originally wanting to meet the river further away from the mountain he now chose to angle himself parallel to the mountains and moved in the direction of the river. He occasionally stopped to [Identify] the more and more frequently occurring berries and other shrubberies, just as well as rocks. The stones of interest were quickly sacked away, in his sweatshirt which was a barely functioning bag by now. Berries that did not seem deadly to him he ate, but only one of each, to gain increased knowledge through his digestion skill.

Originally Nik had activated the [Running] skill every time he had moved but soon he found it silly as he barely moved 10 meters between inspecting rocks. After half an hour he felt silly once again, he had grabbed every rock that resembled flint and every rock that had traces of iron and had to declutter his bag twice already. The second time around he threw every piece of stone out, that hadn't at least shown a high concentration of Iron.

As Nik progressed on his way towards the river he noticed two particularities. The number of dead branches on the ground decreased the further he went and he heard more and more noises that he associated with animals or maybe monsters.

The latter led to Nik not really wanting to progress any further. The lack of knowledge about what he could come across only worsened, budding his fear. While he had survived and flourished through his battles thus far he was terrified of what else he could come across. Getting to the river was kind of essential for all his plans but continuing through the forest seemed like a bad idea.

So he compromised by walking back towards the mountain, in the hope of reaching the river without trespassing too much of the dense forest. Idle thoughts rolled through Niks’s mind as he went on. He thought about uni, friends, and family. The last one was especially hard, which made him pay attention to his surroundings again so he would not feel guilty.

One thing, he became more sure of as he continued further between the trees. Was that the vegetation was exceedingly weird. The underbrush growth was strange. Especially a type of - what Nik assumed to be - grass grew in an almost straight line, slightly curved to his right. Sure there were occasional outliers and patches where it grew further to his right but he decided to walk just that line.

-----------------

To Niks great misfortune his peaceful hike was short-lived.

The now often dense shrubbery started making sounds. Nik would have described them as retched and fear-inducing sounds but it was only some rustling. Out of the bushes stepped a pair of what looked like ostriches, if you were to ignore the fangs protruding from the side of the upper beak gave the usually funny-looking birds a menacing look.

Fearful and panicked Nik started running. Throwing quick glances over his shoulders he ran towards the mountain. An open field might be an advantage and if not, fighting downhill would be easier he thought.

The [Identify] that accompanied the different glances backward gave him some information that alleviated his terror somewhat.

Teerox[Lvl. 13] - Young Specimen

Sadly, his fighting skills were horrific. Both previous engagements had been won by vastly superior positioning, luck, and most likely overconfidence of his opponents. With that in mind, he proceeded.

Nik did not expect to have a chance against two opponents at once either. But all of those thoughts were only subconscious. Above anything else, Nik was scared senseless, the only clear thought permeating his mind was to get away as fast as possible. As much so that he almost ran into a tree after identifying his other pursuer.

Teerox[Lvl. 15] - Young Specimen

Even higher. “Damn!!” he cursed. I cannot get tied up by them. With the obvious stated he continued navigating around the trees. Slowly backtracking towards the mountain he had climbed.

At some point, he had lost sight of the Teeroxes. Instead of slowing down to save his energy, he pushed further, trying to implement what he learned from working with [Stealthy Movement]. He knew that [Running] would have to work with mana, he had felt something the last time he had been running away in a panic. This time he would succeed.

One had to have a certain mindset to influence mana, he had learned. For Nik, it was the easiest to approximate talking to the mana in his head. It wasn’t sentient, or he didn’t think it was but it reacted differently when Nik thought different things about his mana.

So he tried to reproduce his earlier efforts.

‘Ohh wonderous mana, please obey my command to achieve something marvelous.’ Nope doesn’t work. Kinda feels like it is actually more firmly set in place right now. Maybe I should have not gone down the obey direction. I get more of a free-spirited vibe from the magic.

While having those thoughts he had slowed down somewhat. Mainly because concentrating on his inside and his environment was not an easy task. He had already had two close brushes with some trees.

‘Move the wrinkles of fabric ohh mana.’ I don’t even know why I tried that one. It was bound to be unsuccessful and he knew it. Wait, is there teleportation? I should definitely try that again. And letting the ‘ohh’ away next time too.

He tried several more approaches, each somewhat in the direction of free

‘Discover the bounds of your ability.’ It almost worked, I am on the right track. Hmm, what else could work here?

The next couple of tries all went further in the direction of change. Mana seemed to really like modifying things. Great resonance was also produced by including ‘freedom’ and his own body. Being labeled with the class {Smith} Probably doesn’t do me any good in the outside energy-control department, was one of the take-aways from his minute-long brain-storm session.

‘Enjoy the freedom of surging through me and alter reality.’ Was what finally got Nik to push a trickle of Mana into his [Running] spell. The results were immediate and really invigorating. His steps propelled him just a tiny bit further but it was noticeable. Running a sport he had always hated was now mirth.

His happiness quickly ebbed once he remembered why he was running. Glancing behind himself he could not spot any creatures. In contrast to his sight, his acoustic sense told him that something was croaking and screeching behind him.

Even more motivated than before Nik kept running. Frequently he underestimating his new reach. Each time again he lost the focus on the spell structure in his mind and the additional benefits of the mana infusion disappeared. Rather annoyed by that development he kept the original mindset for the mana excitation in his head.

The slope of the direction he was taking was getting steeper ever so slightly. As soon as Nik noticed that he stopped progressing along the grass line and went ran straight up the slope.

Quickly he progressed through the last several hundred meters of forest and broke through the tree line. Even in that short distance, he had seen a bunch of plants he had not seen before. Those might just be worth checking out if I survive this.

So what would be the smart thing to do? Running up the mountain could help me, especially if I can get into a position that gives me an advantage. Towards the river seems like a bad idea.

Back towards the other mountain? Noo, nevermind, I am not going back there. That sabretooth-cat… Alright up this mountain I guess. Just have to watch out for the Bergams or whatever they were called.

In the several seconds, he had been considering Nik had continually run further up the hill. Expecting the monsters to follow him he pushed on.

A glimpse back told him something weird. He was no longer being followed. The two beasts had stopped a couple of meters beyond the trees. Well if that is not an ominous sign I don’t know what is. With my luck, this is probably the domain of another predator stronger than those two. Just great.

Stopping he looked back and activated [Stealthy Movement] and looked around. While he was observing he noticed some new boxes appearing in his head, glanced over them quickly with a confused expression, and went back to observing his surroundings again.

Magical Spell evolution.

General Skills and Spells evolve in most cases in fairly standard patterns. Through whatever means you have gained the chance to evolve a skill of yours into an uncommon variety spell. The evolution needs to reach a synchronization of [100%] to evolve at [Lvl. 33], [Lvl. 66], or [Lvl. 99].

Through eagerness, curiosity, and fear you have woven interwoven the arcane into the structure of [Running]. Usually, a route taking by [Mage]s to work around low amounts of stamina you have managed to amplify the effects of stamina in the spell construct to increase the efficiency of the spell.

Do you want to evolve [Running] into [Mystic Running]? [Mystic Running] requires [Internal Energy control].

[Mystic Running]: Offers the same effects as [Running]. Through an expenditure of mana equal to the stamina cost, you can double the effectiveness of [Mystic Running]. Your normal running speed can absorb either mana or stamina.

You have fulfilled a requirement for two (movement-type) race skill

and a (magic-perception-type) race skill. New skills are available.

You qualify for obtaining the following Race skills [3 slots available]:

[Internal Energy Control]: Mana and Stamina now follow your will easily inside your body

[Light Travels]: Transporting heavy goods while on the move becomes easier.

[Haste]: Increase movement speed drastically for minutes - dependent on your endurance - at the expanse of Mana and Stamina

...

I really should think about this more. I don’t know how my general skill amount is going to develop further. But I really want [Internal Energy Control] and [Haste].

Observing the area around him he debated. In the end, it would be less than optimal if he were to choose a bad skill but none of the skills seemed bad. This is where a teacher would be handy or a magic school like the ones found in any number of fiction books.

He also started considering what to do with his potential skill evolution. It seemed pretty good but then again, it mentioned other options. Those could be a lot better. But it also was a magical evolution, and while not a huge nerd, Nik had always preferred caster type in video games so he was almost certain he was gonna take that and thus - as it was a requirement - also take [Internal Energy Control].

Without any further consideration, Nik mentally picked [Internal Energy Control] and after just a few more seconds of internal debate, he also decided to pick to take [Haste].

His situation hadn’t changed a lot since he started reading the boxes in his head. It really did seem that the Teerox were afraid of something or that they couldn’t leave the forest. However, the second option seemed rather silly. So I am probably in another predator’s territory, that’s just great.

I should get away from here as well if that is really the case. Or could I abuse the reluctance the Terroxes are showing? Would they intrude into whatever territory this is? Maybe… I would definitely.

If I am going to try that I need to make sure one of them is out of the fight before the other can attack me.

Let’s go with the safer option first. I will just walk towards the river and see how they react.

Considering how to best take out one of the giant birds he moved along the mountain slowly getting closer to the river while trying to have an eye out on everything around him. The birds were accompanying him, always a few hundred meters to his left.

After some time Nik reached the conclusion that he had to fight the overweight birds at some point so he might as well do so on his own terms. He was kind of shocked by the fact that he became willing to kill something as not a measure of self-defense but as an active act of violence.

His current plan was to that he needed a vantage point take on the weird ostriches, either a narrow path or a stone he could climb up fast. The feathered monsters had not shown any flight ability and he doubted they had any. The wing-body-size ratio was too small to create enough lift.

He did think more about his immediate goals. Maybe the river is not such a smart idea after all. I really don’t want to be surrounded by a bunch of monsters all day and night.

Not having any better ideas he moved on, towards the next valley and the river flowing in-between. More information would help him reach a decision after all. If things looked bad he could always turn back around the same was true if he thought of something better. Getting some sort of base would be a necessity sooner or later and he would rather have that be sooner.

Thankfully he lost the oversized birds as he moved over the offshoot of the ridge. He was not exactly sure what happened but they must have either gotten bored, found easier prey, or didn’t care about encroaching some other territory. No wonder that they didn’t leave the forest though. Every other being I have thus far encountered was a bunch of levels higher.

That ridge had been blocking Nik’s view of the valley from any position he had ever been in. When he was on the mountain it had blocked his view since it resulted in a second peak, still a lot lower than the mountain he had climbed on but high enough to disrupt his view.

The panorama Nik looked at when he moved over the edge was beautiful. Just like from a national geographics magazine back on earth, and just as difficult to describe.

Before him lay a valley around 5km wide with a huge lake in the middle. To Nik’s right the mountain he was standing on was sloping softly towards the water with just a few trees on the slope. The tree density increased towards the water but was never as dense as in the previous forests. What the trees lacked in count they made up with size. Most of the trees had to reach over 50 meters tall, most likely exceeding 100 meters in some cases.

The mountain on the opposite side of the lake was ended in a rugged cliff a few meters away from the lake. The plant growth on that side was basically non-existent. Only the flat area just next to the mountain had more vegetation than moss and shrubs. That was the boring part. There were two giant waterfalls further inward, both sending water dozens of meter away from the cliff.

“This is amazing” Nik exclaimed in awe and walked towards the lake. He was gonna stay here for a while and maybe even settle down if he could get everything he needed to live here.