Forever

Salim’s hunt for food lasted all but a few seconds, when he found out that a lot of the trees forest dropped hard shelled acorns that appeared edible. The only issue was that the nuts were hard to break open, although slamming the acorn between two handheld rocks to crack the shell just fine. Inside contained a small, soft kernel that tasted like an almost rotten almond, which Salim went to quickly gathered dozens of.

Finding himself in an abundance of admittedly subpar food, Salim was able to breathe a sigh of relief, the bugs in the plains may have been edible, but were difficult to catch in large quantities. Trying to fashion himself a small bowl to hold his treasure, he spent several hours looking and still wasn’t able to find any leaves that were big enough to hold together. While trying to come up with an alternative solution to his issue, Salim decided to build a fire to take a break from thinking.

The purpose of said fire was twofold, it would most likely give him a convenient level up along with ten more stat points, and let him attempt to burn more wood into a bowl like shape. This time he was more prepared and actually experienced, so he made sure to gather the best sticks he could find.

Finding an exceptionally straight stick along with a flat enough piece of wood, Salim began the process of creating heat using friction, with pinpoint focus. His increased stats let him spin the stick far faster and for far longer than any person he had seen on TV without hurting himself. Eventually, his hands began to ache, but not enough to make him stop before smoke started rising out of the log, his efforts burning a black gouge into the log.

Quick as can be but while making an effort not to disturb the coals, Salim held moss and dried leaves up to the coals to use as tender, thankfully catching as plumes of smoke filled the air. As the fire crackled to life, he went to gather more wood and after coming back, fished some newly formed coals out and placed them onto the fire starter log. Using the still burning coals, Salim started to work away at its center, slowly hollowing the log for use as a make shift bowl.

After a while, the fire no longer needed to be watched carefully, and the box he had been expecting finally showed up.

It does prove that level up events aren’t entirely tied to the class, any feat will cause a level up, but maybe class related ones are prioritized? I need more time to figure this out.

You have started a fire from scratch.

Event has been Logged.

You have gained a Level!

You have gained your tenth Level.

Select Class in Menu.

Knowing that his options this time around would be radically different, Salim idly stoked the fire while he pulled up his [Menu].

Classes Available

Moonlight Channeler

(Upgraded)

Utilizing the power of burning moonlight, you have become more resilient to the caustic energy.

Hedge-Mage

(Upgraded)

Learning the arcane, a worldly class for those wanting to understand the secrets of the world.

Moon Chosen

(Swap)

You have been seen by the moon, wanted by the moon. Chosen by the moon.

Nothing was familiar, and somehow he had gotten two upgraded classes instead of just one. Looking at his options, he knew that he was never going to pick [Moon Chosen], it was just too ominous of a choice for him to even consider. But he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little intrigued, especially since his memories of the previous night had yet to come back to him. [Moonlight Channeler] also seemed interesting but also slightly dangerous due to the mention of ‘caustic’ in the description, so he didn’t delay any longer.

You have chosen the Hedge-Mage Class.

The experience of your mind guides you

You have upgraded 4 Skills.

‘Energy Manipulation’ -> ‘Arcane Shape’

‘Energy Sight’ -> ‘Arcane Eyes’

‘Energy Toleration’ -> ‘Reinforced Channels’

‘Channelers Mind’ -> ‘Learned Mind’

You have gained 10 points.

Pulling up the menu screen with practiced movements, Salim looked at his altered skills.

Skills

Arcane Shape (Class)

Lvl. 1

Take shape the forces of the other world.

Arcane Eyes (Class)

Lvl. 1

See true, the world beyond the veil.

Reinforced Channels (Class)

Lvl. 1

The lifeblood of a mage.

Learned Mind (Class)

Lvl. 1

A hungry mind is a healthy mind.

Trying to feel out the new skills, Salim realized that the moonlight inside of him was letting out slow pulses, trying to avoid being squeezed out of his core by his new skills. He could still grab the liquid as it was pushed out, but he decided that the removal was a good thing. The process was irritating, but not painful, as [Reinforced Channels] seemed to offer plenty of space for the quicksilver energy to extrude from his body.

He glowed a pale light as the energy left him, slowly at first but then as a torrent, causing his skin to shine with a blinding light for a few moments. With a final flash, the light left him, relieving pressure that he hadn’t fully recognized until it was already gone. Not wanting to dwell on what that meant, Salim took a look at his core before his eyes widened in awe.

He could now visualize his core clearly, no longer was it just an orb that was occasionally filled by strange liquid, but now it was a delicate crystalline ball with strange geometric patterns covering it. He was filled with a sense of wonder, further amplified when he noticed a substance had been slowly filling the ball. The liquid glowed a deep solid blue, undulating as Salim poked it with his skill, noting how it was much easier to manipulate than the moonlight.

Thinking of a name for the substance, Salim eventually settled on the tried and true classic of mana. It fit most of the stereotypes that he could think of. He was now a mage, it was blue, and his skills had ‘arcane’ labeled on them. Now, if only he had directions on how to cast spells with the stuff, [Learned Mind] seemed to have no obvious effect but thankfully didn’t try to push emotions at him like with [Channelers Mind]. Moving the energy around didn’t seem like the way to go either, and ejecting the energy from his body didn’t even make his skill glow.

Shrugging in defeat at his lack of progress, Salim went to assign his stats while still trying with hope to find a way to shoot fireballs from his hands.

Lvl. 10

Stats

Confirm

Might: 20

-/+

Finesse: 20

-/+

Resilience: 28

-/+

Acuity: 22 (25)

-/+

Resolve: 21 (23)

-/+

Depth: 15 (20)

-/+

Pins and needles shot through his body and into his mind as Salim felt a sense of satisfaction for pushing all his stats up to twenty. His body wasn’t obviously ripped as a few bits of flab stuck around, but he felt powerful, easily hurling a log that he was certain he wouldn’t be able to pick up before his upgrades.

Calming his inner power fantasy child, Salim looked down at the smoldering ashes of his fire below him. Trying to will the fire back into existence with his mana and remodeled brain, Salim felt hopeful, projecting the image of fire into his mind as he pushed the energy out of his hands… And nothing, he was missing a lot of pieces to the puzzle that would allow him to cast spells.

Temporarily throwing in the towel, Salim got up from his squat above the fire and began to hunt for a good place to sleep. The foliage of the forest was thick in most places, but he felt rather exposed on the ground, his memories of being bitten by wolves still played out in his dreams. After a while, he stumbled upon a thicket of trees that offered some protection from his surroun-.

A flash of white.

Something streaked past his peripheral vision silently, causing Salim to try to turn and catch whatever it was, but found nothing in his surroundings. The trees swayed from side to side as a breeze blew through the canopy, never fully reaching the ground. The wind whistled, playing a haunting tune as the leaves shook to accompany it, Salim frantically swiveling his head as he realized his spot by the fire left him completely exposed.

The foliage would help obscure him, but how much would that help when something was already watching him? As soon as he fell asleep, he would almost certainly die, ripped in half and torn to bits at whatever creature stalked him. But what could he do? Shivering, a gust of wind up above swooped down and blasted him with cold air.

He would stand his ground, he had beaten the wolves last time they fought, so how hard could this be? Sure, he had died afterward, but surely this time he could do better. His heart beat faster, as his eyes frantically searched, body turning, making him feel dizzy as he slowed down. Hands shaking, he felt threatened by the forest, a giant green maw hanging over his head and poised to bite.

Staying quiet, Salim threw himself to the ground and tried to make as little noise as possible. If he could just spot whatever it was before it was too late, then mayb-

There.

Behind one of the many trees a shape moved, he couldn’t quite make out what it was from the awkward position on the ground, but he could clearly see its stark white appearance. The creature moved lithely, with grace unbefitting its towering stature, shuffling along two feet before dropping to four and vanishing from sight without a sound. It was eerie, the creature's head was pure white, and appeared to be a skull, while the rest of its body had a brownish red color.

It was difficult to make out any other feature on the creature because of how fast it moved, and Salim knew that he wouldn’t be able to outrun it. Trying to listen for the creature was pointless as it made no discernible noise above the rustling of the leaves above, so he tried to keep his eyes peeled and looking towards the places it was most likely to be. The sound of the trees also made it easier for him to move about silently, allowing him to stand up and press his back against a large tree without making a noise.

Keeping his eyes locked on the tree that the creature had disappeared behind, Salim slowly tried walking backwards as dread began to set its hooks into him. Hands shaking, he took a big step backwards and CRACK. The stick let out the loudest noise he had ever heard, even the wind couldn’t hide the noise as Salim simply turned around and began a dead sprint for his life.

Rationally, he knew that outrunning the creature was not an option, he saw the thing vanish in the blink of an eye. But the fear coursing through his mind didn’t care for logic, and the only thing he could think about was getting away from the monster that was stalking him.

At some point during his panicked sprint, he tripped and ended sprawled on the ground, not remembering the fall as his brain was still reeling from fear. Shooting up and shaking off the dust as fast as he could, Salim continued his wild sprint through the forest until he was completely lost, and his legs felt like jelly. Up until now, he had been keeping track of the directions he had journeyed and could form a serviceable mental map of the forest, but his abrupt trip had ruined his sense of direction.

Trying and failing to calm himself down, Salim saw a break in the trees which left the grass lands he had left, several days prior, visible. Sunlight was almost completely extinguished, and the moon a rising concern, Salim felt trapped between the epitome of horrifying and terrifying. Panicked, he ran along the ecotone, not wanting to reenter the forest but also fearing exposure to the moon if he left.

Looking behind him while he stopped for a quick breather showed a calm forest, trees standing perfectly still as the leaves frozen despite the fact that he could hear the wind blowing. The grassland to his left stood still, as if waiting for something to pounce.

Wasn’t there a breeze?

Salim looked up.

The noise of rustling leaves filled the air as Salim stared at unmoving branches as he confirmed that there was in fact no more breeze. The leaves in the tree were not moving. Nothing was moving. Salim felt like he needed to move as the noise continued, phantom leaves, taunting him with the futility of escape.

He turned and paused in fear, seeing something slink from behind a tree was a monstrous, twisted creature. Its head looked like a deer skull, eyeholes a dark abyss. Its body which he thought was a reddish brown was postmarked twisted hide and flesh, still red with sores as its body was warped into a humanish shape. From its mouth sung the noise of rustling leaves, like a thousand insects all buzzing in unison.

It had cornered him, blocking him between it and the grasslands behind, as it slowly crept closer, shuffling on its bottom two hooves as its unnaturally long gait brought it closer. Not wanting to wait around and see what the creature wanted, Salim didn’t have to make a decision as he sprinted out into the grasslands. Looking behind him, Salim couldn’t see the creature, but he didn’t stop running.

Running for his life, Salim tripped again, hurtling face first towards the ground; the brown dirt mixed with grass and weeds was the last thing he could see before his vision went black.