The forest was dense and restless.
It groaned when the wind passed, rustled when the shadows moved. There were no paths, only animal trails and broken branches. The air was damp with the scent of bark, soil, and old blood. Every step I took carried tension.
But I kept walking.
Days had passed since I left the slime cave. I didn't venture far at first. Most of my time was spent observing, hunting, and hiding when needed. The forest wasn't just a place filled with beasts and trees. It was alive. In constant motion. The weak survived only by staying unnoticed. The strong never stopped moving.
I hunted small animals. Rodents. Horned rabbits. Flightless birds with claws sharper than expected. They weren't deadly, but they were fast and smart. They forced me to improve. Sometimes I used magic. Other times I relied on traps or instinct. With every successful hunt, I felt a familiar warmth pulse in my chest.
Level Up!
You have reached Level 5.
Intelligence +2
Agility +1
Another day. Another hunt. Another screen.
Level Up!
You have reached Level 6.
Intelligence +2
Endurance +1
But leveling wasn't everything. I trained each morning. Push-ups until my arms gave out. Squats. Climbing trees until my hands tore open. I pushed my goblin body to respond. And it did. Not with numbers or messages. With real change.
My arms grew stronger. My balance steadier. Each movement felt more precise. One morning, while thrusting my crude spear into a tree, I felt something click.
New Skill Acquired: Basic Spear Mastery – Level 1
It wasn't much. But it was enough. Proof that effort meant something. Growth came not just from killing, but from repetition, pain, and intent. I wasn't evolving anymore. I was training. Learning to make this body mine.
The forest began to reveal its shape. I learned where the safe zones were. Which fruits didn't poison me. Where the clean water flowed. But more important than all that, I learned who ruled this part of Jura.
Two predators.
The Black Fang Wolves. And the Giant Forest Snake.
The wolves were quick, coordinated, and brutal. I saw them once at dusk. A pack of six, moving together like flowing shadow. Their breath steamed in the cold air. Their fangs glowed faintly in the moonlight. I watched them from a high branch, heart frozen. I didn't need to fight them to understand the truth.
If I fought one, I would fight them all.
But the snake was different.
It travelled alone.
I hadn't seen it directly, but its presence was obvious. A discarded skin, stretched longer than three goblins end to end. Deep drag marks in the dirt where its body had passed. A half-eaten boar, its flesh melted and torn. Acid burns. Clean. Controlled.
It was stronger than anything I had faced. But it had one weakness. It hunted alone.
I remembered the story. The timeline. Rimuru would not appear for another year. Until then, Jura was untamed. Dangerous. The kind of place where a goblin like me would vanish if I stayed too long in one spot. The wolves would find me. Something worse might follow.
I had to move soon. But not yet.
Not before facing the snake.
I needed more than fireballs. More than instincts. I needed a weapon that could pierce. I crafted one from the best materials I could find. A thick, straight branch. A sharp stone chipped into a wide tip. Tied with vine cord and hardened over fire.
It wasn't elegant. But it worked.
Each day I trained with it. Thrusting. Dodging. Turning the shaft in my hands to deflect blows. My muscles screamed. My skin blistered. I didn't stop. With every swing, I felt my body fall into rhythm. The spear didn't feel awkward anymore. It felt like an extension of me.
My stats didn't need a screen to tell me what I already knew.
Strength +2
Endurance +2
No level up. Just steady gain. A reminder that not all growth came through killing. Food. Sleep. Exercise. Consistency. These were just as important.
The snake wouldn't be an easy fight. It wouldn't be like the slime, or the rabbits, or the slimes in the cave. It was bigger. Smarter. It had patience. But I was no longer the same goblin who had stumbled into this forest.
I was ready enough.
Fear still whispered at the edges of my mind. I wouldn't pretend it didn't. But fear could be shaped, sharpened. It could be turned into something useful.
This would be my first real battle. The first time I challenged something stronger than me and expected to survive.
If I won, I wouldn't just be stronger. I'd prove something.
That I was no longer prey.
And if I lost...
No. I wouldn't.
I took one last look at my spear. The wood darkened from use. The stone tip gleaming faintly in the firelight.
Tomorrow, I would face the snake.