5. First Hunt

*Howwlllll*

....

....

Suddenly a loud howling echoed throughout the forest and the fields. It kept on going, lasting for minutes but it never ceased. It was a strange and unfamiliar sound, not a wolf howl but something far worse. Finally the sound faded and as it did the forest also become deadly quiet, as if all the birds and animals had fled.

As soon as Alex heard the sound of howling, he woke up from his thoughts and he quickly kneeled on the ground with his bow drawn. He didn't know where that sound had come from but it was too late to think about it now.

Alex steeled his nerves, as he slowly started to observe his surroundings. Nothing showed itself. It was completely silent, nothing happened for many moments.

But, Alex still didn't make any movements, he was on high alert, his heart was beating crazy and his hands were shaking. He was afraid that the howling was a sign of something else, something he couldn't see or hear, but something that could still be here and waiting for him.

Again...

He quickly scanned the surrounding area with his eyes, there was nothing. He stood up from his kneeling position and looked around for a while before he finally relaxed and lowered his bow.

Alex realized he was not in a safe place, he was alone and, was surrounded by trees and bushes. To make things worse, there were no paths or roads; it was just a forest full of tall trees with low grass on the ground.

If some wild beasts attacked him than he wouldn't be able to run or hide. He was not a warrior, he didn't know how to fight animals or monsters or whatever it might be, and he had no idea where he was. He could be anywhere in these woods that were so confusing to him.

He needed to move away from this place quickly before something else could happen to him, or worse yet... something could come out of the woods and attack him. He needed to find a safe place to stay for now and figure out what he needed to do next.

"For now, I should try to find a source of water and search for food and a place for shelter, not only that, I also have to be careful of other peoples. I need to find an area where I can hide from other people." Alex thought about what he should do next before he finally started to walk away from the howling sound and deeper into the forest.

Moving in the dense forest, Alex was vigilant against any sneak attack from any beast that may lurk behind the trees and bushes. He needed to be careful of everything around him.

Despite his vigilance, he didn't think that anything could sneak on him because of his high perception skill. But even with such skill he couldn't see or sense everything at once and sometimes things were hidden from even high perception skill.

But then again, He wasn't sure what else there was in this forest other than trees and bushes so there shouldn't be any monsters or beasts hiding among them. So he still needed to be vigilant against any possible danger that lay in wait for him in this forest.

Even in normal situations there were a lot of things which were hidden from view or undetectable by human senses.

He listened to potential dangers, but still, it wasn't a easy task. The forest was not silent.

Birds sang, distant roars of beasts rang out frequently, and the rustling of the leaves as the wind swept through was louder than what he was used to. This was likely linked to his slightly higher perception.

Alex couldn't tell if it was a bird song or some other animal's roar, so he kept on listening as he continued walking deeper into the forest.

After walking for some time, Alex already started to feel tired. Because of his weak body, Alex was never good with putting his body in too much physical exercise at once. As he felt himself getting exhausted, Alex decided that it would be best if he stopped somewhere and rest for a while.

After walking for some distance, he found a small place where there were no trees growing nearby.It was mostly grass, except for several small hills that were covered in flowers, the colors of which ranged from pale pink to deep purple.

Alex decided to rest here for a bit. He suddenly heard some rustling and munching sound coming from the cleaning. Cautiously, He moved closer to the sound.

There in the cleaning, Alex could see an unnatural looking red-furred wild boar that was easily above 3feet, with extremely dense leg muscles that resembled those of an oxen with a sharp, protruding horn jutting out of its forehead. Its eyes were eerily black with some tint of red to them as well, which made the beast look both fierce and intelligent at once.

It was very different from anything Alex had seen before in his time on earth.

[???-lv3]

Alex used the the identify skill for more information but it was not much a help as it only showed the level of the beast and nothing else. The creature looked dangerous enough so he moved away quickly from it and hid in the bushes. He didn't want to find himself face to face with whatever this thing was.

Alex started to ponder on what should he do next. Should he go for the kill or just leave it alone? As tempting as it might be to hunt down such a rare specimen, Alex wasn't quite sure if he could pull it off.

"No, I can't leave it like that. To survive in this new world, I will have to activally hunt down beasts and gain TP and experience. I can't miss this chance " Alex quickly made up his mind to hunt down this beast.

Alex draw his bow.

He looked at the beast and nocked the arrow. He raised his bow as he focused. He focused on the beast,his vision instantly sharpened, instinctively knowing that Archers Eye had activated. Time seemed to slow down ever so slightly as he pulled back the string.

The moment was perfect, his fingers perfectly aligned with the string, ready to release. The animal was standing in one spot now, completely unaware of the danger. Alex sighted the target and shot.

The arrow streaked through the air as it hit the target. The arrow pierced through the neck of the beast, sinking into the skin right beside the horn. The animal roared in pain and surprise at the sudden impact.

A second later, it stumbled backward, falling flat onto the ground. The animal was still alive, however, so he continued to shoot at its head to finish it off. A few more arrows struck their marks until there was no movement from the dying beast.

Alex sighed relief and took a deep breath. That was close!

Alex looked at the system messages.

•You have slain [Boar Cub – lvl 3] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level. 6 TP earned.

*'DING!' Class: [Archer] has reached level 1 – Stat points allocated, +1 free stat point.

*'DING!' Race: [Human (G)] has reached level 1 – Stat points allocated, +1 free stat point.

Looking at the system messages, Alex felt good about getting his first kill after starting his adventure in this strange new world. The stats were nice and he could feel his skills getting better too.

Name: Alexander Bright

Age- 22

Height- 5.4 ft

Weight- 47 Kg

Race: [Human (G)-lvl1]

Level-1

Class: [Archer- lvl1]

Profession: N/A

Health Points (HP): 130/130

Mana Points (MP): 120/120

Stamina: 70/70

Strength: 5

Agility: 6

Endurance: 9

Vitality: 7

Toughness: 6

Wisdom: 15

Intelligence: 16

Perception: 13

Willpower: 10

stat points: 2

N/A

***

After the successful hunt, Alex continued to walk forward.