Chapter 10: New Forest 2

I don't remember the entire night clearly. When I fled into the forest I didn't have any goal other than to get away as far as possible from that damn slaughter. So I just mindlessly charged deeper and deeper into the forest until I felt I was safe. The problem was...I never really felt safe no matter how far away I got. So I just kept running...until I couldn't. This resulted in me, an already wounded wolf, burning all my stamina and collapsing in the middle of the forest at night.

By then the pierce wound from what I'm guessing was a fireball earlier exploding the wagon had stopped bleeding completely. That's probably thanks to bleeding resistance. I need to find a safe place for me to rest or at least hide. I can already feel my conscience slipping and If I pass out in the middle of this forest I'll be easy prey for any creature looking for a meal. I hastily set myself up against a nearby tree and scanned the area. I noticed my eyesight had improved albeit only a little. Still, it looks like that skill...um...what was it? Increased...no...Heightened yeah that was it. the heightened sense of sight skill.

[Skill: Heightened Sense of Sight Lv:2(possessed)]

There it is! It seems this skill also improves my night vision as well. I certainly see better in the dark now. Anyway, these pretty much reminded me of my senses as a wolf. I almost forgot as a wolf I do have the ability to smell and see better. I if I remember I had another skill except it was for smell. Which makes sense, as far as I know, all members of the dog family possess excellent noses. I guess I just have been in either too much shock from being reincarnated or I've always been in a deadly situation and just never noticed it. One thing I've wondered about is the way some of my skills seem to...replace my own traits. Like night vision for example. Wolves already have that as a trait but I seem to possess it as a skill instead. It also seems...weaker than normal. But if I level it up the potential could go beyond the normal limits of a wolf from my world... it's strange.

Anyway, I need to find a place to hide and quickly. I started to move again but gingerly. I also tested my nose and smelt the air. It was as if a whole new set of information had been sitting right in front of me and only now I had decided to access it. This new information had been a lot of scents. Like a lot. Some are far weaker than others obviously but I could still pick them out it was amazing. And the surprising thing was I knew a lot of them. I had read once that a dog can remember a human's scent forever. Although It wasn't like that, I could classify a certain thing like that as a whole. In other words, most of the leaves smelt really similar. I guess I had just been taking in scents unconsciously? Well, either way, This is very useful. As I messed around with my new ability I picked up a certain scent. A weak one. but it was without a doubt there. It was a creature that I had a particularly close encounter with.

Goblins. I immediately scanned the surroundings for any sight of them. Of course, I knew I wouldn't find any but I couldn't help but check. I had to be sure. If I had any knowledge of how scents worked then, of course, one as weak as this means they wouldn't be here but still. I had the strange urge to follow the scent to find the goblins but common sense shut that idea down quickly. I kept on moving until I eventually found a dead hollowed-out tree. It seemed to be just on the verge of collapsing and had a hole about the size of me in it. Perfect I suppose. I crawled in the hole and did my best to sleep in an odd position.

I woke up the next day feeling oddly refreshed. I got out of the tree after looking around for anything big enough to eat me. The second I landed on the ground I faced a fact all creatures had to. Hunger. Horrible horrible hunger. I realized just how little I had actually eaten in my life as a wolf. If I don't eat I'll die. I looked out to the forest. I need to find something to kill. What's something I would be able to hunt down. As I scanned my mind for anything like this I came to a conclusion. How about a rabbit.

This proved to be harder than I thought it would be. I had no idea where a rabbit would be or how one smelt. I also didn't know where they would den. In my search for the rabbit, I had come across a few odd-looking mushrooms but after a quick analyze they proved to be poisonous. I had poison resistance, yes but I didn't want to have to resort to that just yet so I simply remembered their smell. About 10 minutes later I did come across a new smell and after following it did turn out to be a rabbit. Just that it was dead and all that was left were bones. An interesting thing about it was that this particular rabbit had a horn sticking out of its head. A horn would make things more complicated...eh it's probably fine. They might have a horn but surely something like that would slow them down. Plus I got the smell from the corpse. There are no scents around here but if I can find one I should be able to follow it back to where ever the rabbit is. After a couple more hours of wandering around the forest and avoiding dangerous-looking parts, I finally came across a scent. I followed the scent through the forest when I finally came across A rabbit. It did indeed have a horn and was currently chewing on what to looked to be a seed. I wondered how I should go about this. Analyze.

Analyze Results:[Horned Rabbit: A horned, soft-furred, large-eared, burrowing mammal with long hind legs. The horned rabbit is an omnivore that feeds on mostly hay and grass. It lives on its own due to its horn causing problems if several lived together under the ground. The only exception is when the rabbits are having a child together. Both genders have a horn although the females are slightly smaller. Horned rabbits have no resistance to magic or physical attacks]

It lives underground...that would be annoying I really can't get it if it gets underground. The horned rabbit was standing still. I slowly closed in stopping every time it lifted its head up or even moved slightly. When I was close enough I stopped. I was right behind it. the only thing between me and the rabbit was some overgrown underbrush. the horned rabbit went to take another nibble of the seed it was eating and the second it did I lunged from behind. The rabbit itself was only about twice the size of my head. I opened my maw and latched my teeth onto the rabbit's body. I bit down trying to kill it quickly but it struggled in an attempt to break away from my hold. It was hopeless of course. I crunched down shattering its spine and any chance of it getting away. I then picked it up in my teeth and looked for a safe place to eat it when a new message came my way.

Requirements to gain [Skill: Stalk] have been met, gained [Skill: Stalk Lv:1]

"Oh! A New Skill!" I said a bit excited. Stalk eh? I'll analyze it later though I have to find a place to eat this. I had wandered far away from the dead tree. Farther than I imagined I would at least. As I looked around my hunger only grew and holding the juicy corpse in my mouth wasn't helping in the least. I eventually succumbed to hunger and just ate in the forest. Eating the Rabbit was...weird. It was as if my humanity disappeared for that moment. As I was tearing through the rabbit all I wanted was to find more of them and rip them apart as well. It didn't even have to be a rabbit. It...wasn't a...bad feeling.

When I finally snapped out of it my mouth was covered in blood and I was still in the middle of the forest. I was getting thirsty now. I needed to find some water. As I looked for a river or lake I analyzed Stalk.

Analyze Results:[Stalk(Skill): A skill that decreases all sound made from movements while stalking prey. While this is a passive skill it is only activated when stalking prey. If you are stalking prey and then attack said prey this will deactivate. Will not decrease the sounds made by your voice when stalking prey]

Oh, so it makes me quiet. That can be really useful for a wolf especially one like me who is forced to go it solo. I don't know how effective it is now since it's only level one though. I continued on when I noticed another goblin scent that was stronger than the one before. I was tempted to follow it again but I still needed to find a water source so I continued looking. I stumbled across a river after another hour or so and it was pretty late by then. I dipped My mouth in and took a couple of drinks.

In the middle of doing this, I felt something wrap around my back. I immediately jumped forward into the river trying to escape from whatever had grabbed me only for it to come with me. As I landed in the river its grip had loosened on me and I was able to break free from it in the water. As I attempted to swim back to the bank I noticed that whatever had grabbed me had disappeared. I would have looked around some more but I needed to get out of the water first. As I got out soaking wet I had the strange urge to....shake. I couldn't really stop myself not like there was any reason too anyway. After I was finished with that I heard some activity in the water behind me and swiftly turned around. The water was moving in a very odd way. It also looked...slimy? Analyze.

Analyze Results:[Basic Slime: A creature made of a small mass of a gelatinous substance. It sees by using its core to "feel" the surroundings of about a 10-meter radius with a form of mana perception. It can change its color to better blend in with its surroundings. It can also almost limitlessly shapeshift its shape. The only limit is its current mass as well as a basic slime it can shapeshift slime. Its slime also has weak acidic properties. It is also nearly immune to physical attacks. The only exception to this would be if the physical attack was so strong it literally destroyed the slime or if you attack its core which is susceptible to physical attacks. Slimes are extremely weak to most magic attacks and fire, however. The slime's slime can regenerate as long as the core is still intact.]

"Acid?!" I said surprised as I tried to check my back to see if it had been hurt. I could see the singed hairs on my back but it seems the slime hadn't been on me long enough to do any damage. That's all dandy but how am I supposed to kill it? I don't know how to do anything involving magic and physical attacks are pretty useless unless I can somehow damage the core.

The slime slowly shifted towards me its size being shown to me. It wasn't that big, only about as tall as me and maybe about 3/4 of my size, but it still seemed big enough to protect its core and melt me alive. I needed to figure out a way to attack the core without being forced to go into the slime. I could run too...but I still haven't confirmed its speed. I doubt it could be that fast and getting away couldn't be that hard. But I can't just run away from a fight like this...I'll have to fight more eventually and I won't ever get stronger. Plus...for some reason...I feel like hunting.

I stepped back trying to get an accurate idea of the slimes speed as it continued towards me slightly speeding up but still only about at a slow jog. I went over a few ideas in my head to kill it. I could flee and then come back and ambush it when it's not prepared. But then again it's not like I could sneak behind its back while it's not looking. According to the analysis the second, I come in with 10 meters it knows where I would be. That also means if I run out of its range it wouldn't be able to find me though...I could go out of range and then charge in as quickly as possible and break the core. I would have to jump headfirst into that acidic slime though. I guess you have to do what you have to do.

I had been keeping pace with the slime before but now I ran out of its range of vision and went off to the side. I then waited to try to figure out what time would be best to attack. after a couple of minutes though the slime had simply stood still before heading back to the river. It then dug a small hole into the ground where it shoved its core into. After that, it stretched itself paper-thin along the dirt and grass waiting for prey to come.

Looking from outside I realized if I hustled I might be able to shatter its core before it could even take its normal shape. After a few seconds of going over this, I finally sprung into action. I charged into its range and leaped into the air. The slime had lost immediately began to shapeshift the second I entered its range. While incredibly fast I got just enough to jump right on top of the core. The slime instantly began to wrap around my body trying to consume me but before it could do much I clawed at its core until it finally cracked apart.

The slime that had been wrapping around my body collapsed on the ground motionless. I examined my legs and lower body for any damage. the hair around my ankles and such had been completely singed off. The higher it got though the less damage. My ankles felt like someone had been pressing a frying pan against them and I had gone into the river for the second time that day. As I got out of the river one thought came to mind. I need some magic.

That slime had been a pain to deal with and it was only a basic one! If I encountered a different type or evolved version then I would be in trouble. I couldn't even deal with 3 goblins on my own...and to be honest, the very idea of magic sounds so...cool, to say the least.

I wondered where to start though. I knew I had the ability to use mana or whatever since it said something about an mp increase in the level-up report. hmm...Analyze Mp.

Analyze Results:[Mana Points: The energy used to do magic. If the amount of mana points you have left is zero then you can't perform any spells. The amount of mana you regenerate or MRR(Mana Regeneration Rate) depends on your level(MRR can be boosted with the use of skills, perks, titles, equipment, or potion). All creatures have mana inside of them but not all can do magic due to the lack of the mana perception]

"Mana perception? How the hell am I supposed to get that?" I said confused. Do I have to perform some special "act" to fill requirements...or maybe kill a certain creature? hm...could I get through skill points? What did I say last time? I mean it didn't show up when I said its name just now...do I have to add something or ask for it...maybe both? I'll just do them both at once. I want a Mana Perception Skill.

No...? Then what the hell is it?! Can I not get it through skill points? I mean what other explanation is there? As long as it's a skill...what if it's not a skill?

I want Mana Perception...Perk?

Perk Points:100- you have enough skill points left for requested Perk(Mana Perception)- Would you like to gain Perk(Mana Perception) Yes-No

Yes← No

Perk: Mana Perception learned. Remaining Skill Points left:[0]

This time the feeling hit me like a sledgehammer. When I said using my nose was like discovering a new set of information then this was discovering a whole new world. And it hit me all at once. Everything around me was nothing but mana. The dirt had mana. The grass had mana. The rocks had mana. The forest had mana. Everything had mana. And finding this out hurts. A lot.

Before I knew it I was rolling on the ground whimpering in pain while slobber was flying out of my mouth. I continuously tried to put my forelegs over my head in an attempt to rub my temple. Slowly the pain died down as I got more and more used to my surroundings. And when it finally disappeared I have to say the new world around me was nothing short of beautiful. Everything was full of mana and glowing. Each type differed as more and more information came to me. I could indeed perceive mana now. I probably would have enjoyed this if not that about a min or so after the previous events a strangely tall...goblin(?) showed up. It was wearing what looked like previous humans clothes that had been ripped at the bottom to fit the thing. They were also covered in dried blood. I looked into its eyes and used analyze.

Analyze Results:[Hobgoblin: A evolv-The analysis was forcefully canceled as the thing charged me laughing like a maniac holding a dagger...and it looked like he knew how to use it.

Chapter 10: End