Chapter 2: On the prowl.

[You have leveled up.] Elrica jumped back upon hearing the sudden sound before looking around.

[You have reached LV 1] The female voice came once again.

[All stats have been raised] From all directions, no it was coming from inside his head.

'Level and stats huh.' Elrica focused on the most important terms.

Levels and stats also existed in Spectral but there was no female voice in people's heads.

'Do the worms contain some sort of hallucinogens?'

'Wait, the worms.' Elrica immediately came at the conclusion that the worm eating was the reason behind his level up.

No it wasn't the worm eating, it was the worm killing that triggered his level up.

'This seems similar to the leveling in Spectral although no voice spoke to you.'

'Maybe be I can speak to it.'

"Hello." Elrica whispered but no answer arrived.

'Maybe there a certain key word needed?'

"Level up"

"Attributes"

"Status"

"System"

Elrica tried all the words he could think of but it seemed hopeless.

Seeing that the sun had long risen Elrica decided to postpone his attempt at communicating with the voice in favour of finding a settlement.

Although settlements have people, and people were very dangerous, wilderness was even more dangerous.

Elrica started climbing a nearby tall tree, although his strength was low his body was very light and he had tons of experience.

The dress wasn't made for survival in the wilderness and was already covered in dirt while having a few years in places.

Elrica valued mobility more than fashion, so he ripped the skirt of the dress at the sides in favour of high mobility.

Finally reaching the top of the tree, Elrica reached a branch that had a birds nest nestled on it.

The mother bird flew away leaving her nest full of eggs. Elrica sat upon the branch and put the nest on his lap.

Looking off into the distance he looked around for any signs of civilization while popping a few eggs into his mouth, chewing roughly, Elrica ground the eggs into fragments and swallowed everything, eggshells and all.

Finishing his snack, Elrica threw down the nest and climbed down, sadly there was nothing but an endless sea of trees in all directions.

Luckily he had plentiful experience in wilderness survival so his next steps were clear.

Secure shelter, water and food, luckily there's was a pond nearby and food was all around so making or preferably finding shelter was best. If he found a nearby shallow cave it would be best.

Elrica searched the nearby area for a few hours, never going too far from the pond, his only source of water.

He would occasionally say different words in an attempt to talk to the voice but that seemed futile.

Soon the sun set once more and after a day of exploration Elrica found no sturdy natural shelter however he did pick up a thick and sturdy branch he found.

Grabbing it with both hands, he swung it a few times to get a feeling for it. It was quite heavy so his thin arms couldn't swing it around effectively but it would do for now.

Elrica spent the night on sleeping on a tree branch, unconcerned with the possibility of falling, Elrica slept like a stone.

•••••••

Over the next few days, Elrica explored more of his surroundings, finally finding a small cave half an hour walk away from the pond.

With shelter secured, Elrica got to start improving his life. Sharpening the tip of a thin branch, he fashioned it into a wooden spear.

As the days passed Elrica would fish in the nearby pond using his spear to secure his daily sustenance but Elrica wasn't satisfied however.

From time to time all sorts of animals would come to drink from the pond. They were similar to the dear he saw in his past world only they were brown instead of gray.

Preparing a few spears, Elrica hid in some foliage near the pond. He waited for hours without movement as he silently watched the pond.

After many hours, finally a dear came to drink. After looking around its surroundings for predators first, it dipped its head and started drinking, At that moment Elrica swiftly stood up and hurled one of the wooden spears at it.

If this was his first attempt at something like this he would have likely missed or not thrown it with enough force to wound the animal but Elrica spent 40 years in the spectral world where battle and warfare was a part of daily life.

With 40 years of experience although Elrica was no master at spear throwing he was still adept enough to successfully hurl the spear with proper form allowing him to pierce through the dears neck.

The dear didn't die and immediately took off running, Elrica having already expected this took off right after it.

Although the dear was much faster compared to him, Elrica still chased after it, even as the chase grew longer and he ventured farther from his settlement and from the only place he knew about in this new and foreign world Elrica's resolution was unshakable.

What propelled him to chase after this dear even as he was cut by branches was the same thing that allowed him to keep his sanity in the Spectral world even as he died over and over.

It was the insatiable desire to seek and overcome adversity and misery. Although it may seem that some hide and meat was all he stood to gain, that was only part of what Elrica strove for.

After pursuing the dear for maybe an hour or so, it finally collapsed from exhaustion. Panting heavily and with her lungs burning Elrica stood next to the dear.

Uncaring of the weak gaze the dear sent him he unlodged the spear from its neck making it hot blood shoot out, the dear wriggle a few times before breathing it's last.

[You have reached LV 2]

[All stats have been enhanced]

The monotonous female voice announced.

'Whether in this world or the other one, killing is still the best way to acquire strength.' Elrica thought.

"Seek adversity, seek strength and the rest will follow. I believe it was the pursuer who said that." Elrica muttered.

*Crack*

*Snap*

Elrica was awoken from his musings by the sounds of branches cracking. From behind the wood work emerged a few prowling figures.