Chapter 5: Happy Hunting

The forest was gentle as a light breeze blew through wind causing the leaves to rustle, the cascading of shadow, the brilliant landscaping, and the variety of trees. Florence couldn't help but admire the beauty that lay before him as he slowly and carefully walked through the ocean of trees, each tree different from the last as some seemed to be actual trees while others were oddities, unique and fantasy-like which showcased more of the fantasy aspect of this game. So far he has understood a few things such as the two elven arts, these race-specific skills allowed him to use a move list that was better suited for his stats and has a few special abilities and unique moves but it seemed most were locked by a level and percent requirement. This meant that Florence was restricted to the pride and true, shoot an arrow, and hope that your aim is good enough to actually hit something. Truly he wasn't sure what to expect deep in this forest as he had no general idea of just how this world worked or the mechanics of it, all he knew is he didn't want to be caught off guard nor put a creature on guard. Each step was careful and light, his elven body helped with this as it was naturally or at least partially born to exhibit this nature as a creature of a forest. Unfortunately, there was the fact that his steps at times would become uneven and he'd mess up, the crunching of fallen leaves, the snapping of petrified twigs, each sound alerting creatures that he hadn't known about. He was lucky enough to yet be unfortunate to disturb a hostile mob but if he didn't keep himself in check then he would soon find out fairly quickly what this game's combat system had to offer. Each pussy footing step he made began to follow a rhythm, he kept his path secured and quiet, only making noise when he would fumble and make a mistake. Light and quiet curses would flutter from his mouth as this happened, it seemed they chose not to put in a profanity filter in order to give this game a sense of realism. Florence wasted no time as he walked, his eyes darting between trees and through clearings as to make sure nothing was hunting him or danger might lurk in his path, to put it simply this place might not be a jungle but a forest yet it was a place he was unfamiliar with. There is no need to cause trouble where it isn't needed, after all, he was the one invading their world, and not the other way around. His stomach growled as a new status popped up under his health, Hungry. Of course, that impending source of realism would invade his avatar, and what better way to do this than introduce a survival system. He took a deep breath before sighing, laying his bow beside a tree as he took a gentle seat next to it, fortunately, the game was kind enough to include rations in his starting equipment and this meant a better chance of surviving. As Florence opened his menu he spotted a notification, Interestingly enough he pushed it to the side as he fished out a ration and opened it up. As he began to unwrap the cloth the air began to permeate with the smell of dried and lightly salted as well as peppered meat, a welcomed surprise as he saw just what his ration contained. Thin strips of meat, made to be jerky laid in his makeshift plate, besides it was a small cracker-like square that seemed to be as thick as your average rice crispy but was much tougher and didn't offer the sweet taste of marshmallow nor the comforting snap, crackle, and pop. He decided to start with the cracker, taking a bite into it as an audible crunch seemed to echo through the forest. A light groan left Florence as the dry and rather bland taste overwhelmed him, it was like eating a tasteless baby food paste. He shuttered as he tried to eat it as quickly as possible, not wanting to make much more noise than he absolutely had to, the point of being quiet didn't seem to be on the agenda of the cracker as it crumbled with each bite he took. As he swallowed the last bit of the off-putting cracker he sighed, the toughest deed was done of partaking in this meal and now was time to indulge in the meat. Gently he reached out to grab his jerky only to be met with a spine chilling growl of a wild animal, a bit of fear piercing Florence as his eyes began to assess the situation. The smell of death coiled around his nose, a rot like smell piercing and overpowering his sense as ten-foot to his left was a wolf that was soaked in a deep crimson, its yellow teeth showing as its muzzle showed in true fashion this creature was on the hunt. His eyes met the wolf's, a sudden window popped up.

"Feral Wolf Lvl:??? Stats:??? Skills:???, Appraise has gained .three percent, use this skill more to level it up"

This meant trouble for Florence as a shaky hand slowly reached out for the bow that sat beside him. Either the appraisal skill was too low level to tell him anything or the skill based itself off something else but this spelled trouble for the boy as he had yet to get into a scrap that allowed him to actually put the combat into perspective. As the feeling of treated wood met his hands Florence wasted no time in pulling an arrow out and taking aim at his target. The loud snarl of the wolf met the sound of Florence's adrenaline-filled heart, the small orange organ began to accelerate everything in a moment's notice. As the arrow was notched and pulled back the wolf had made it six feet closer, much to Florence's surprise there was no aiming indicator or anything to assist in this fight as it was only pure skill. As he let the arrow fly Florence watched as he gave the beast a few inches off the top, only skinning the beast though it wasn't enough to halt the creature. Another arrow was notched and pulled back as the smell of warm blood invaded his nose rather harshly, it wasn't his own but whatever stained the wolf's fur. The wolf was now on top of him, ready to strike as he began to pull back the arrow. A rather loud curse left his mouth as he took a rather quick step back, just escaping the maw of the beast as it snapped its jaw shut with power. The back step put a three-foot gap between him and the beast, just enough to actually get a decent placed shot if he was lucky. The sweet sound of the bowstring snapping back into place as an arrow was let loose, a dull thunk, and a whine of pain escaped the wolf as it was pierced in the lower back. It wasn't enough to put the creature down but at least he was able to damage it, a growl of pain coming from the wolf as it lunged forward for a bite. Instinct momentarily took Florence over as his right hand curled into a fist and struck the beast on the snout, forcing it to close its jaws and go off target just a hair, a hair enough for him to back step again and put more distance between his foe and himself. Taking damage wasn't a very good option for the fact that an eight in constitution could spell disaster, this encounter needed to end and fast as he drew an arrow and took aim. He needed to wait for the wolf to get close enough so he couldn't miss and he could end this, Florence took a deep breath as he slowly exhaled, his aim calming as he waited for the perfect moment. The angry wolf shook its head, growling as it rushed towards its target and made another lunge, this time it would be a success as the wolf sailed through the air, hellbent on tearing out the throat of this prey. Florence blinked for only a moment, his target now at eye level with him and soaring. Four feet. Three and a half. Three foot. His hand let the string free, the arrow speeding out as it embedded itself between the eyes of the beast and rather deep as the wolf died, a corpse now impending its crash into him before another backstep put him out of harm's way once again for the third time. He panted as a few windows popped up, letting him know that he had put the creature down for good.

"Congratulations! You have defeated the level 3 Feral Wolf and been awarded fifty-two experience points! You have leveled up to level 1! You have learned a new skill: Backstep: 0%!"