Wolves, creatures of the forest

The forest was similar to how I remember it from the last day. A warm wet smell of dirt and leaves permeated the air while we walked. A warm breeze was in the air.

"What are we looking for?" I asked while following her steps.

"Is a flower, white, pointy petals, blue core" she answered while guiding the way "You should recognize it easily when we see it."

"And what is this creature?"

"A white wolf of Martis" she fixed her glasses "They are dangerous this time of the year while they are hunting"

"A white wolf in a forest?" Shouldn't that be weird?

"Get used to that sort of situation. White wolves in places like these are the norm more than the exception" she mentioned while raising a finger, like she was giving me a lesson.

"Are wolved dangerous?" I asked, the question seemed weird when I asked.

"They are usually level 3 or 4. But this wolf in question is a level 10 threat" so, once again, several levels over me.

We continued walking. Dara tried to explain to me some elements of the System before we found any danger.

"First: Every stat has a base that naturally goes from 1 to 20. Different skills and weapons logically use different stats. Bows use AIM and STR, for example, while a mace uses STR. DEF and RES usually are used when defending, for physical and magical damage respectively"

I opened my stats and checked on them. All of them had 10, meaning I was average on everything.

"HP and MP have a base of 100 and a maximum of 200. And every time you level up your stats increase by 10% of your base stat"

"Then your current stats are double what you started"

"Exactly" she nodded while looking over her shoulder towards me, smiling "Then you have skills and items. They have levels too"

"Yeah, I remember my sword gained a level while fighting Balor" I mentioned and looked at it. I was wearing it on my belt. No way I would be around without something to defend myself.

"They increase by 50%, and their levels depend on use and on what you use it" She then looked to the front. I noticed her ears perking up and pointing to the front "The more dangerous your target, the faster it levels up. But only up to 1 level over yours"

Her body language caught my attention. Although I was processing the information, something about it made me feel something was about to happen.

I opened my equipment menu and went for the sword.

[Lv2 Short sword]

[STR: 30 DEX: 0 INT: 0

AIM: 0 DEF: 18 RES: 0]

[Slot: 0]

[Materials: Iron, Aegis Stone]

[Made by: Malthew]

I could not see where the stats of how much experience the sword had was. What I understood is that this weapon was stuck until I gained at least one more level.

"Then equipment is a better way to grow in stats over just gaining levels" I pointed out. Seemed the most logical way.

"There are other ways to obtain power, but yes. You require items to be powerful. Armor and equipment you wear can increase your HP and MP besides the other items"

And if I use one of them, I can use the pertinent stat to gain an advantage on VS Checks, which is still a dice roll. If I only gain 1 point of stat every level, then I will be outmatched easily. Weapons and armor will help me reduce that breach.

The item's stats bonuses count as double for me. Good thing I got rid of that underwear as it reduced my stats by 4 points instead of 2, it is safely thrown on a spot of my room.

"How about now for a practical exercise?"

"Excuse me?"

Í heard ruffling on the bushes, something was moving on them. Dara stopped and started to walk backward until she was beside me.

"Good luck" She then pushed me forward.

"Huh?!" I said, regaining my footing.

A phite wolf came out of the bushes, it had 2 black lines under each eye. Then another and another. They were three and growling at me.

"Seems we found them feeding, they are rare to attack without provocation" 

I raised my sword while looking at the wolves, they were starting to growl.

"Support me with your magic," I said.

"Negative. This is a test. You better put in your best effort"

"What?!"

I managed to hear one of them bark at me and jump. I moved to the side and tried to hit him while I dodged. Miss.

"They are going to attack you too!"

"My robes have a slot used to reduce aggression from monsters, so as long as I don't attack them, I am safe"

You traitor! All of you are crazy!

Now I was surrounded by the wolves, and they were higher level than me. Maybe only a couple at most, but still, that alone made them dangerous. All I have with stats is my weapon!

"I will get you for this!"

I ran towards one of the wolves and it managed to dodge my attack, another one took the chance to attack me. -19. Then a second one decided to bite my leg, -15. But I managed to make it let go. I felt the pain of both of the attacks, but I somehow felt that I could continue fighting.

HP: 66/100

The third one tried to attack, but I managed to dodge. I countered and managed to hit it for 47 points of damage. It yelped in pain and when it tried to turn towards me again, it limped and had troubles standing.

I took a chance and attacked with my sword, slashing it with it. Another 44 points of damage. The wolf fell, dropping to the ground and slowly turned into essence. Some fur and fangs were thrown on the floor.

+55 EXP Level UP!

Level 1->2

HP: 100->110

MP: 100 ->110

STR: 10->11 DEX: 10->11 INT: 10->11

AIM: 10->11 DEF: 10->11 RES: 10->11

+1 Skill tree point!

At least, I knew I was progressing.