Forever

Salim felt at a loss over the few days Fallon disappeared, continuing his journey through the forest while praying to anything that he didn’t run into hostile wildlife. Even when zoned out, he was able to slowly make his way towards water with [Wayfind] which let him be more cautious with his actions. Moving slow, he was able to avoid notice of anything that might be too big for him to handle; never seeing anything, but he didn’t want to risk a discovery by looking.

Stopping occasionally for rest and sleep, Salim eventually found himself by a small stream, lazily cutting its way through the forest. In the clear water, fish swam above the smooth rocks at the bottom, darting back and forth as they looked for food. Frantically, he got down onto his hands and knees, lapping the water up into his mouth as crisp relief flushed through him.

Watching the fish jet away, Salim spent a few minutes basking at the crystal clear water that flowed in around him. The spots of sun still beat down on his brow, but he had gotten used to the dried sweat that caked his skin, which he was now happily washing off in the stream. Looking around at the forest surrounding him, the canopy overhang filtered light through blooming leaves, tinting the surround area in a dim green glow.

You have traveled far to reach water.

Event has been Logged.

You have gained a Level!

The boxes floated in front of his eyes, a reminder of the past levels he had gained on his journey to the stream, along with the accomplishment of actually finding water before he died. Considering what had happened shortly after finding water in the past, he was feeling a tad paranoid.

Rising from the muddy shore, Salim took a moment to increase his stats, considering what starts to increase to offer him the most general improvement. He also felt like he might have been forgetting something, but brushed it off when nothing came to mind.

Lvl. 7

Stats

Confirm

Might: 18

-/+

Finesse: 16 (20)

-/+

Resilience: 18

-/+

Acuity: 15

-/+

Resolve: 17

-/+

Depth:10 (11)

-/+

He had finally pushed himself back into super human territory with his last level, finishing his upgrades to [Finesse]. Salim let out a sigh of relief, followed by a grunt as him muscles finished their contractions, a small burn slowly enveloping his arms and legs. Flexing his hands, Salim began to walk along the stream to look for a place to set up camp.

Contemplating the future, he searched for a clearing with a solid canopy, which only turned out to be a quick walk that took a few minutes. After clearing the area around the site, he dragged downed branches and decaying logs to make a makeshift barricade around where he planned to sleep. For the final touch, he covered everything in leaves, snapping branches from bushes and trees to act as rudimentary camouflage for his encampment.

Looking at his work with a small twinge of satisfaction, Salim took a break from his preparations to sit underneath one of the nearby trees. Catching his breath, he watched the glow of twilight settle over the stream, the orange light reflecting off trees that grew on the waterline. Feeling bored, he slowly channeled energy to his eyes and looked at his surroundings, eyes glowing with exuberant energy.

As he began to see beyond, the veil of magic, the trees lit up like glowing beacons of neon light, blinding him with how bright they glowed. Squinting to look past the brightness, Salim watched the river, the surface rippling with red flashes as multicolored lights flitted back and forth. Taking a moment to ponder the nature of the lights, Salim guessed that the tree's vibrant glow was because of their health, with easy access to water and comfortable temperatures they lived well.

Following his train of thought, the waves and flashes under the water might be fish, since he hadn’t observed any living animals since he got the skill. Filing the need to check out other animals later, he grinned at his ability to easily spot the fish, it would make attempts to hunt them much easier. Collapsing under a nearby tree in exhaustion, Salim pushed the worries out of his mind and relaxed, just trying to take in the harmony of light flickering under the evening sky.

It was a beautiful, calming him just enough to let the tension in his body slip away for just a moment, but in just a split second of that moment, his eyes flickered, and his vision went dark. Groaning in effort to push himself up, Salim stood, arms popped as he tried in futility to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Looking around, Salim squinted, completely blinded by the inky blackness he found himself in.

Up above, the moon was noticeably missing from the star filled night sky, most likely going through a new moon phase. Salim wasn’t sure if Fallon actually dealt with moon cycles, or if the moon had actually vanished, but was overall glad he didn’t have to deal with the moon that night. Feeling relieved, he began to feel his way back to the makeshift camp site while trying to be as quiet as possible.

As he moved, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, letting him peer through the darkness with the slight starlight above him. Navigating around trees and rocks, Salim only had an issue when he slammed his big toe against a small rocky protrusion that he hadn’t noticed before. Cursing to himself as he vowed to be more careful, he reached the makeshift blockade.

Pushing himself over the barricade, Salim made sure not to get scraped by any protruding sticks before laying out on the dirt and grass in the center of his makeshift fort. It was as soft as dirt and grass could be, but at least compared to his nights in the cave, it felt almost nice. But he couldn’t fall asleep right away, his nap from earlier keeping him from drifting off to sleep.

Alright, I need to establish a plan of what to do. I don’t know any sort of outdoor crafts or skills, but at the very least I should be able to make a spear if I can get a sharp enough rock.

Thoughts raced through his mind, he needed to acquire food, water, and what was roughly called shelter, he had two and food wasn’t going to be too hard to find with all the fish. So he needed to try his hand at bushcraft. How hard could making a spear be?

At the very least, he could start a fire, which solidly put him several years ahead of caveman capabilities. His stats, as well, let him cheat with sheer brute force and resistance to the elements, making his need for protective shelter a lot lower despite his longing for a soft bed. He hoped that in the future, his magic would let him cheat, although he would have to learn how to cast spells before that happened.

Eventually, his eyes felt heavy enough and body exhausted enough for him to give into sleep, mind abuzz with the comforts of technology and magic. As soon as his eyelids closed he was out, unconscious until the first rays of sunlight beamed through the canopy and giving him a nasty sunburn on his arm, waking him up. His eyes shot open with a jolt as he moved his arm out of the sun's way, rubbing the irritated skin as his eyes adjusted to the morning light.

Getting up, Salim let out a yawn before starting work on plans he made the night before; gathering sticks for a fire while looking for a sturdy and long branch to use as a makeshift spear. Eventually finding one that he considered good enough, Salim went about shaving the tip into shape with the small sharp pebbles that he could find. He had originally tried to use some of the stones in the river, but they were all rounded and more suited for throwing than anything else.

Over the next couple of hours he slaved away on the spear, slowly carving a point into one end, thin, but still sturdy. Splinters aside, he felt proud as he held the spear in front of him and admired his shoddy craftsmanship. The wood was twisted and slightly crooked but held up fairly well when he swung it around, testing its weight and stabbing the air a few times to get a good feel for his creation.

Leaving the makeshift fort, Salim walked over to the stream while making sure to not get too close, but still creeping alongside the water with his spear held closely to his chest. Spying a cluster of fish wandering close to the bank, he took position, bracing himself behind his spear to stab into the water as fast as possible.

One…

Two…

Whoosh.

As the spear rapidly stabbed into the bottom of the river, Salim feeling the strike shake the wood in his hands. Quickly pulling the spear out of the water, he felt relieved that the tip hadn’t broken from his miss and prepared to try again.

Not one to be dismayed after a single failure, Salim decided to lay down onto the muddy bank of the river, taking full advantage of his ocular skill by scanning for any fish that may be close to the surface. With help from his skill and some patience, he was eventually able to skewer the tale of a fish as it almost got away, quickly capitalizing on the hit he attempted to grab the fish before it swam away. The fish was a thin thing, with brown scales the same shade as the rocks below it, and was struggling as Salim attempted to pull it out of the water without dislodging the spear.

Finally dragging it up onto the shore with some careful pivoting and lots of caked mud for grip, Salim watched as it flapped around, looking for the river as it slowly suffocated. Thinking of what to do before it managed to wriggle free from his hands, he leveraged one of the river stones in his right hand, using his elbow to pin the fish. Salim slammed the rock down on its head savagely, a wet thunk sounding as the fishes movements slowed from the rock stunning it.

He was surprised that the fish was still alive, seeing as he had put his full strength into hitting it, but brushed the oddity off as some result of the system increasing its toughness. Going in for a second and third attempt, Salim slammed into its scaled head with meaty thwacks. Eventually, he relented after the notification popped up in front of his face.

You successfully caught and killed a Brown Scaled Bass

Event has been Logged.

You have gained a Level!

Throwing all his stats into [Depth] to round it out, Salim tried to shake off the weird itches as he took the bludgeoned fish back to camp and tried to cook it. Starting the fire took time, and when smoke finally began rising from the wood pile, the sun was setting. Not wanting to waste a second, he impaled the fish on his spear before setting it above the fire so that he could roast it on the makeshift spittle.

You successfully started a fire from scratch

Event has been Logged.

You have gained a Level!

Not wanting to waste more time, Salim quickly spread his stats out to bring three of them to twenty, ignoring the strange feeling of his body changing that he had gotten accustomed to.

As the fish cooked over the fire, Salim watched as the sun slowly vanished, its bottom edges vanishing behind the horizon. Thankfully, he had chosen his campsite for the dense canopy overhead and as a waxing moon peaked out from the east, only faint beams pierced the treetop. Using [Energy Sight] Salim made sure that moonlight wasn’t accidentally touching him and shifted any items he was keeping away from the scant few spots the beams did touch.

The light may have been weak as the moon's crescent was just barely visible, but he still wasn’t willing to risk contact again, not like how he had befo-

Before Fallon appeared.

Thinking as he slowly turned the impaled fish by hand, Salim thought back to what Fallon had said when they first met, how they had found him after he returned? He had glossed over it when they had said it, not thinking too much about it, but the concept that Fallon could locate him from a single beam of moonlight was frightening. Not in an obvious horror type of way, more in the nineteen eighty-four dystopian nightmare kind of way.

He shivered; remembering how he died in his previous life, getting Fallon’s attention and whatever had happened after. Trying to get the memories out of his head, he tried to see the positives.

At least I’m not alone, and they have told me a lot of useful stuff I would never find out on my own. Coping with his own loneliness, Salim decided he didn’t really want to deal with their attention at the moment, decidedly staying away from any moonlight.

Finally taking the fish off the fire, (which was starting to smell a tad burnt) Salim hefted the spear, which was now little more than dry kindling, and took a bite. It may have tasted fishy and overcooked, but it was his first time catching and cooking something that wasn’t bug or small vermin. As accomplishment filled him, a box popped once again appeared, celebrating his personal achievement.

You successfully cooked a Brown Scaled Bass

Event has been Logged.

You have gained a Level!

You have gained your tenth Level.

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