Hector woke up slowly, at first, there was only sound. Familiar sounds of nature filled his senses as he gradually began to wake up. He felt the cool morning blow on his skin, and the firm press of tree roots dug into his back.

  He opened his eyes, light filtered through the opening at the base of the tree, softer than before. He took a careful breath and waited. Nothing hurt that he noticed, and his injuries seemed to have fully healed. His arm felt tired though, like he had worked it hard the day before, but there were no noticeable issues. He flexed his fingers slowly, watching them move.

  “Okay,” he murmured. “That’s a win.”

  Hector pushed himself upright, stretching carefully. His muscles complained in dull, reasonable ways, but nothing felt broken. More importantly, nothing felt like it was about to explode, that was the best kind of progress he could think of at the moment, he closed his eyes and focused inward. There it was again, that faint warmth, like embers buried beneath ash, mana.

  “So, it does come back on its own,” he said quietly.

  He resisted the urge to test it immediately. Last time he had tried to force things, he had nearly destroyed his own arm. Instead, he did the sensible thing.

  “Status.”

  The familiar window appeared before him, hovering comfortably at eye level, his eyes drifted straight to the bottom.

  Unassigned Stat Points: 6

  “Oh,” he said. “Right. That.”

  Hector stared at the number for a long moment. Mana had been a problem. Running out of it had almost gotten him killed, if he wanted to heal, really heal, he needed more of it. His gaze slid to Intellect and Spirit.

  “That’s the safe choice,” he muttered.

  Then he remembered the knife snapping in half. The weight of the creature crashing into him. The sickening realization that, spells or not, he had been standing there with nothing solid left to fight with. Healing was great, magic was great, but the monsters still had teeth. Hector exhaled slowly.

  He reached out mentally and began assigning points one at a time.

  +2 Strength

  Enough to hit harder.

  +2 Spirit

  More control and better healing, hopefully less… exploding.

  He hesitated, then assigned the last two.

  +2 Intellect

  Mana capacity mattered, running dry was not an option if he wanted to survive long.

  The window pulsed softly.

  [Stats updated.]

  Hector leaned back against the tree root, letting the decision settle.

  “Okay,” he said quietly. “That feels right.”.

  He closed the status window and stood, adjusting the Wampus Cat pelt around his shoulders. The forest beyond the hollow looked unchanged, massive trees stretching skyward, light filtering through leaves far above. The air was thick with the smell of earth and green growth. His stomach growled out of nowhere reminding him that he still needed basic resources.

  Hector stepped just outside the hollow and paused, scanning his surroundings the old-fashioned way. Taking in his surroundings while he gave his eyes time to adjust to the dim morning light. Nothing leapt at him, which he thought was a great start to the morning. He glanced back at the hollow beneath the tree. This temporary structure had become his sole source of shelter, the only drop of comfort he had found so far.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “If this is a tutorial,” he murmured, “then I’m treating it like training.”

  Step one: Find water.

  Step two: Map the area.

  Step three: Avoid anything that looks like it wants to eat me.

  A faint smile tugged at his lips.

  “Let’s try not to almost die again today.”

  With that, Hector squared his shoulders and started walking, carefully, deliberately, into the forest. He moved through the forest quietly, alert but not panicked. If this were Earth, it would have been just another day on the job, but this wasn’t Earth, and he had no idea what might be watching him from the undergrowth.

  The forest felt ancient in a way few places back home ever had. The trees towered overhead, easily one or two hundred feet tall, their thick trunks stretching skyward like pillars. The underbrush varied wildly, dense and tangled in some places, worn thin in others. Paths had been carved here, not by people, but by repeated use. Something moved through this area regularly.

  As he passed a particularly large tree, Hector pulled one of the Wampus Cat claws from his inventory and carved a rough “X” into the bark. It wasn’t elegant, but it was effective. Without a map or any kind of tracking feature, he wasn’t about to lose the only shelter he had found so far. The hollow beneath the tree was his anchor, and until he had something better, he intended to keep it that way.

  The forest was alive with sound; growls echoed faintly in the distance while something howled far off. He slowed when a cluster of brightly colored flowers caught his attention. He leaned closer, then froze as a familiar window appeared.

  [Analyze]

  Eden Venom Lily (F)

  A beautiful yet deadly plant capable of incapacitating biological life forms.

  “…Yeah,” Hector muttered. “That’s the last thing I need.”

  It was becoming clear that danger in this forest wasn’t limited to monsters.

  Vines hung from branches overhead, some swaying gently despite the lack of wind. As he brushed against one by accident, a strange chill ran through his body.

  [Health -2]

  [Mana -2]

  He recoiled instantly, heart jumping. Nothing serious, but the message was clear. Even touching the wrong thing could cost him. He kept a wider berth after that, eyes scanning carefully whenever he passed beneath hanging foliage. Getting tangled in a cluster of those would be a very bad day. Further along, he spotted mushrooms releasing faint clouds of spores.

  [Analyze]

  Aggressive gastrointestinal response detected.

  Fever likely.

  Hector clenched reflexively.

  “Nope.”

  By the time he moved on, he had encountered more strange plant life than he could count. Some glowed faintly. Others reacted to movement. A few seemed almost aware of his presence. He paused to catch his breath, when the system decided to acknowledge his efforts.

  [Analyze (F) Increased to Level 3.]

  Good to know curiosity counted for something. The priority list was clear. Food and water came first. Scouting came second, but only just. He was going to be here for a while, and he needed to understand what shared this stretch of forest with him. Eventually, he reached a low ridge, maybe fifty feet above the surrounding terrain. From there, he scanned the horizon.

  A glint of sunlight reflected off a distant surface, perhaps half a mile away. A stream or small lake, he could not tell yet, but it was close enough to be worth the risk. As he made his way toward it, signs of life became more obvious. Broken branches, well-worn trails marked with hoof-shaped prints.

  As he neared the body of water, he slowed down. Several trees bore deep slashes along their trunks, reminding him of territory markers he had seen when in bear country. Crouching beside a tree, Hector took a slow, steady breath. His last fight hadn’t gone well, but panicking wouldn’t help. He needed water, and this was the nearest source he found.

  He waited, five minutes, ten, then twenty, but nothing dangerous emerged. Either whatever owned this territory was elsewhere, or it hadn’t noticed him yet. Carefully, he approached the water’s edge. It was water was clear and healthy looking, especially to someone who had not had a drink in the past 24 hours.

  [Analyze.]

  Water

  Required for life.

  No magical properties detected.

  No toxins are present.

  It is… just water.

  He stared at the message for a second, then snorted.

  “Well,” he said quietly, “glad the system has a sense of humor.”

  He cupped his hands and drank slowly, swishing the water before swallowing. It tasted clean. Fresh, relief washed through him, and no adverse effects followed.

  “Alright,” he said. “One problem solved.”

  Then reality set back in.

  “…Now how do I carry this?”

  He scanned the area, looking for anything that could be repurposed into a container, that was when the water began to ripple. The ground trembled faintly beneath his feet, as heavy footsteps echoed somewhere nearby far too large to ignore. Hector straightened slowly, eyes lifting from the water’s surface, something big was clearly on the move, and it was close.