Chapter 5

The large wolf stood at the center of a dingy cave. It had been waiting for the rest of the pack for a few hours and was becoming impatient. Starting to pace from one side of the small cave to the other it felt the pangs of hunger emerging in its stomach.

After pacing around the cave for a few minutes the hunger became unbearable and it decided to move out of the constricting cave. The cold of the cave gave way to the warmth of the sunshine and the wolf paused for a moment enjoying the heat of day. It's thick grey coat reflected the afternoon light and the newly formed scars on its back burned. It ran through the forest, it's sinuous muscles rippled as it jumped over a fallen tree in its path.

All the small animals were quick to move out of the way of the large grey wolf as it swerved through the trees, fallowing a path only it knew. The wolf ignored the small prey instinctively knowing that they would not be enough to satisfy its hunger.

About fifteen minutes into its run it caught the sent of prey, a sent it had not smelled in a while. The smell of a beast person.

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A patch of mushrooms appears along the edge of the stream. Unsure about wether they are edible or not I contemplate how I can test if they are poisonous. While contemplating, a spot in the corner of my vision flickers and a panel comes into view.

>Singing mushrooms

Rank C

Found in the forest of nightmares, and forms next to bodies of water. Makes whistling noises when boiled.

Increase Int

Increase poison resistance

{this must be the [appraisal] skill that Shia gave me. Come to think of it when it says increasing poison resistance does that make it poisonous? Can I eat it?}

Deciding I might as well try it, I pop it out of the moist soil next to the stream and bite off a small bit. The cap of the mushroom is fluffy, and I gag. I bring my hands to my throat in an effort to not throw up. As soon as the sensation passes I thrust my head into the stream, and hurriedly gulp down water to wash down the sensation left by the fluffy texture of the mushroom cap.

With that one bite I throw the rest of the mushroom to the ground, without a way to cook the mushrooms I would not be eating them. They are far too disgusting when raw.

A sudden bubbling sound draws my attention to the stream, ripples of water travel along the surface. I am reminded of the red fish I saw earlier that day. I groan in regret.

{Why didn't I think of setting up a fire pit and roasting the fish before I wandered farther into this dark forest? Oh well might as well settle down here for the night. I will catch a fish, set up a fire, and roast both the fish and the mushroom. As for sleeping arrangements well I can just sleep in a tree.}

I think for a minute about where I should set up a fire pit and pick a dry area around 10 feet away from the river. I gather 15 large rocks and set them in a circle. Next I meander through the trees searching for dry branches. With my arms loaded with firewood I head back to my circle of rocks.

Dropping my pile of firewood next to the fire circle I start to arrange the pieces of wood into a pyramid.

{Now how am I supposed to light the wood?}

I find a tree stump near the newly created fire pit and sat down.

{I found my mana but how do I use it? Ah let me check my status.}

>Status<

Name: Silver

Race: Half Angel (White tern)

Level: 1

Mana: 570/570

Health: 130/130

INT-57

AGI-70

STR-24

DEX-21

Equipped :

Brown leather boots, blue jeans, white long sleeve shirt, storage ring

Skills:

Language Translation level 1, Appraisal level 1, Magic Craft level 1 (all elements), Martial Arts level 1, Flight level 1, Item Box level 1, Map level 1

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{okay this doesn't help explain how to use my mana.}

I imagine the blue flame, produced by a Bunsen burner that I had once saw in my chemistry class, coming from my finger. And to my surprise that very same flame appears in front of me.

{It can't be that easy to produce magic...}

I try again imagining an icicle formed in the shape of an arrow. Just as before what I had visualized appeared right in front of my eyes. I grin in excitement and decide to continue my experiment after eating.

I head back and set about collecting long grasses around the stream. My nimble fingers weave them into a net. But however many times I try to catch the fish using my homemade net they always find a way to escape entanglement.

Giving up I throw my net, and it drifts away from me landing at the bases of a tree on the opposite side of the bank. I take off the brown leather boots I had found myself wearing when I woke up, and cuff the hem of my blue jeans right below my knees.

I step into the stream and the cold water laps around my calves. I stand still waiting for the surface to calm and eye the fattest fish swimming around my feet. It's scales shimmer in the light beckoning me, like an invitation to have it for dinner.

Slowly I raise my right hand in preparation to grab the fat, red fish. Angling my arm towards the fish I stab downwards. The fish is in my hands in an instant, and it struggles, moving it's slimy body in an attempt to get free.

{I was fast in my past life but I am even faster now! Having an agility stat of 70 definitely boosted my speed.}

I step out of the stream shaking my legs and droplets of water fly away from my skin. Branches snap under my bare feet but do not scratch me or cause me any discomfort. Speck's of dirt find there ways under my nails and between my toes.

The fish still struggles in my grasp it's gills flap, suffocating. My left hand scrambles over the ground searching for a good size rock. My hand encircles a fist size rock and I bring it down hard on the fishes head, killing it instantly.

I drop the bloody rock back onto the ground and dip my blood coated hand in the clear stream. With the now dead fish in my right hand I walk towards the trunk of a tree. I bend down and pick up a good sized stick. I stab the stick through the fish then head back to my fire pit.

I imagine a small red flame and push it into the kindling in the middle of the wood pyramid, and push the end of my stick into the soft, dry soil and position the fish in a way that cooked the side of the meat evenly.

While the fish is cooking I collect the fluffy mushrooms and stab a few with a stick. They now looked like mushroom kabobs. I place my mushroom kabob next to my half cooked fish and watch as the fluff of the mushroom bubbles away.

As soon as I deem the fish and mushrooms cooked I blow lightly on the food attempting to cool it down. When it was sufficiently cooled I shoved the fish into my mouth. It is plain tasting because I had no lemon, salt, or pepper to season the meat. On the other hand the mushrooms were delicious, the texture no longer makes me gag and has a smoked flavor.

I collect as many mushrooms as I can and attempt to open my item box. It takes a few minutes to figure out how to circulate my mana in a way that opens a pouch next to my hip. I found I was able to materialize my item box wherever I wished it. As I put my mushrooms into the pouch I realize that there was already something in my box. I reach in and pull out a knife.

I examen the knife closely, there are groves in the handle to better hold onto it. The blade is sharp made up of a hard mettle that I had never seen before. As I am inspecting the knife a ding sounds in my ear.

I look around trying to pinpoint where the sound came from. I'm my peripheral vision a map had materialized. It showed a grey dot rushing towards a silver dot. Confused I take a few steps backwards and the silver dot moves backwards also.

I put out the fire and thumb my only weapon, the knife, into my hand. I prepare to fight whatever the onrushing grey dot represents.