For two weeks, I hunted.
Not for glory. Not even for food. I hunted for strength.
The deeper I moved through Jura Forest, the more familiar the terrain became. But I didn't seek out monsters like ogres or dire beasts. I went after the weak. The forgotten creatures that lived in the underbrush and treetops. The ones others ignored.
Razorbeak Birds. Needle Rabbits. Forest Lurkers. Even a few mutated Sticky Frogs that clung to bark with acidic tongues. They weren't dangerous alone, but they were fast, erratic, and hard to kill cleanly. Each one I brought down taught me something. Each fight carved out a little more skill.
And each kill added to the warmth in my chest—the magic that never stopped pulsing.
My levels rose, slowly at first, then steadily. The System tracked it all.
Level Up!You have reached Level 7.Intelligence +2Agility +1
Level 8... 9... 10...
Over those fourteen days, I hunted dozens of creatures. With every level, I felt the difference. Fireballs grew sharper, more focused. My control improved. My vision grew clearer. My breathing steadier. Each day began with drills—spear thrusts, hill climbs, rock lifts, sprint runs until my legs burned and lungs screamed.
It wasn't just my level that rose. It was my foundation.
Through sheer repetition, I forced my body to adapt. I tracked the gains.
Strength +5Endurance +6Agility +5
My spear training became obsession. I fought trees, shadows, even my own reflection in still water. The spear became an extension of thought. I knew the reach, the angle, the pivot of every movement. And eventually, the screen confirmed what I already felt in my hands.
Basic Spear Mastery – Level 7
Weapon skills were harder to level. But I'd earned every inch of that progress.
Then came the day I returned to the drag marks. To the old shredded boar carcass. To the smell of acid in the soil.
The snake had moved. But not far.
I stalked it. Watched its movement from above, following its trail through the trees. I memorized the terrain, noting where it slithered to rest, where it drank, and where it hunted. It was massive. At least three times my size. Its scales shimmered like polished stone, dull green with veins of silver.
I knew my spear wouldn't hold against that. But I brought it anyway.
When the day came, I chose my battleground—an open space near the base of a moss-covered hill. I coated my hands in ash to reduce scent, crouched low behind a fallen log, and waited. Every part of me was still. Silent. Coiled, just like the thing I was about to fight.
Then I struck.
The spear hit first. A clean, driving thrust to the snake's eye.
Or so I thought.
The tip shattered on impact, splinters flying, the sound ringing like broken bone. The creature hissed, its head snapping toward me with terrifying speed. Its mouth opened wide, revealing fangs as long as my forearm, dripping with acid.
I rolled back just in time, feeling the ground sizzle where I had stood. My heart pounded. The spear was gone. I had misjudged. Its scales weren't just thick, they were like armour.
I had one chance left.
I pulled magic into my hands. All of it. I felt it surge from my chest to my arms, boiling in my veins, racing to obey. My body screamed in protest. My skin grew hot. My vision blurred. I shaped it anyway.
"Fireball!"
The spell that formed wasn't a ball. It was a flare. A condensed star of heat and rage. I launched it point blank into the snake's open mouth as it lunged.
The explosion rocked the glade.
Flames engulfed us both. I was thrown back, my arm seared raw. The heat tore through flesh, not just the snake's but mine too. I hit the ground hard, unable to move, breath shallow, vision flickering.
The snake lay dead. Smoke rising from its melted skull.
But I was broken.
My skin cracked. My robes burned. My arm didn't respond. The pain came in waves, but through it, the System spoke.
Level Up!You have reached Level 15.Intelligence +2Strength +1
Level Up!You have reached Level 16.Intelligence +2Agility +1
Level Up!You have reached Level 17.Intelligence +2Endurance +1
Level Up!You have reached Level 18.Intelligence +2Agility +1
Level Up!You have reached Level 19.Intelligence +2Endurance +1
The fireball had cost me nearly everything. But it had given something back.
New Skill Acquired: Lesser Burn Resistance – Level 3
Minor Regeneration – MAX has evolved into Lesser Regeneration – Level 1
The healing was slow. But it worked. It kept me breathing. I crawled beneath the remains of a tree and passed out beside the still-smoking corpse.
I woke the next morning in pain but alive.
When I stood again, shakily, my vision clearer and muscles sore but responsive, a new message appeared before me.
My fingers trembled as I clenched them. The snake was dead. I had survived. I wasn't just some goblin hunting bugs in the dirt anymore.
I had faced something bigger than me.
And won.