Ilaria watched Ray walk out through the village gates until his figure was swallowed by the trees. She told herself it was sensible. He wanted space, and the council had made their decision. Still, the quiet sting in her chest annoyed her. It had only been days, and yet Ray had already carved himself into their routine like he belonged there. Not in the way a citizen belonged, but in the way a problem belonged. Loud, inconvenient, impossible to ignore. He had looked back once, raised a thumb, and kept walking like he was heading to the markets instead of into wilderness that killed the careless. Ilaria hated that she admired it.
“Well,” she said, turning as the rest of the group gathered behind her, “we can’t let him catch up to us so easily. How about we hunt something higher level?”
The suggestion landed exactly how she wanted. Arj’s eyes brightened, Alif’s grin came out sharp, and even Jarl looked like he had been waiting for an excuse. Rayleigh did not change expression much, but she shifted her weight in that quiet way she had that usually meant she was already thinking about routes, angles, and how best to end a fight before it started. They had been buried in Finrial politics, council demands, and border patrols. A proper hunt felt like breathing again.
They moved out the far side of the village and into the mountains where the air thinned and the ground grew harsh. The trees gave way to rock and scrub, and the paths stopped feeling like paths. It was the kind of terrain that punished sloppy feet and rewarded patience. Ilaria’s pace settled naturally. This was where she felt like herself.
“By the way Ilaria, how’s your training been going lately?” Arj asked.
Ilaria exhaled through her nose. “Honestly, it could be better. I feel like I have hit a wall. Finding motivation has been hard lately. I have been doing my best for the clan, but father thinks I should focus on being a diplomat.”
“What do you want to do?”
Ilaria slowed for half a step, then brought up her character sheet without thinking too hard about it. She pondered what would be best for her.
“I mean, I want to be a ranger. I’ve always been good with the bow, and I’ve been dumping my points into dexterity. It just suits me you know?”
Alif and Rayleigh both laughed.
“Yeah,” Alif said, “I still remember when you were five and your grandfather gave you a short bow. You were so excited you accidentally shot him in the foot.”
“Guys… Why bring that up” Ilaria said embarrassed.
The group laughed anyway as they stepped into the cave’s shadow, and for a few minutes the tension in her shoulders eased. The hunt would fix her mood. If nothing else, it would remind her that she was still useful beyond sitting in a council room and listening to old elves argue about risks they were too scared to take.
***
Ray left Finrial behind and tried not to look over his shoulder too often. The village had felt like a pocket of order in a world that otherwise made no sense. Stepping beyond the gate felt like stepping off a cliff, except the ground did not drop. It stayed flat and normal, which somehow made it worse. He walked until the village sounds died, then slowed down and forced himself to think properly.
He still had five unallocated points, and he had zero interest in meeting another monster while undercooked. He remembered Ilaria’s advice about getting every stat to ten. He also remembered that he did not trust anything about this world enough to make choices blindly. So he kept it simple. He wanted to move faster, react faster, and not be caught flat-footed again. Agility first.
Ray opened his character sheet and allocated the points one at a time. After each point, he tested his body the only way he knew how. Short steps. Quick turns. A few awkward lunges with his dagger. Nothing dramatic, but he paid attention to the details like he was back at work hunting for errors in a spreadsheet.
On the fifth point, he noticed the change. It was slight, but it was there. His body felt lighter, he felt faster with his movements. Not more graceful… just nimble. It didn’t feel like he could wield a weapon better or anything. It also didn’t feel like his balance or flow of movement increased. Rather, it felt like he could react faster, bring his body to motion quicker. Ray filed that away. It seemed that Agility would be helpful for initial movements, not necessarily acrobatically, but start, stops and that kind of thing. Maybe maintaining higher speeds.
He pushed on into the woods beyond the village biome, alone again. The trees here felt less watched, the undergrowth less broken by patrol traffic. It was still the same world, but it no longer had that clean border feeling that Finrial’s edge had. Ray’s plan was simple. Hunt something small. Learn how the system worked in the field. Do not get cocky. He also wanted to find siltvelt again, not because he wanted to drink it, but because he had learned what it was. Poison water. That could come in handy. Maybe he could find ways to filter it and turn it into a magical compound later for poison potions, or find other uses for it directly.
Ray recalled Ilaria giving him a short talk on the liquid. Siltvelt was not generally harvested, as aside from its poison qualities, there didn’t seem to be any benefits. Ray on the other hand, thought that this would make a powerful addition to his arsenal. If it virtually immediately killed humans on ingestion, maybe it could be used to fester cuts or kill on contact with say… a dagger. He didn’t know how effective it would be as people increased their strength, but at least for now it could be something of a trump card if needed. Hey… worst case he could throw a vial of it at someone’s face and hope for the best.
He walked for about thirty minutes before he made his first real adventuring mistake. He stopped in an open patch, sat down, took a sip from his drink, and let his brain drift. It was only a moment. A few seconds where he stopped scanning the tree line and started thinking about food instead. It was enough.
A low growl rolled out from the bushes ahead of him.
Ray stood in one smooth motion and drew his dagger. His heart kicked hard, but his hands stayed steady. He backed toward a tree to cut off one side, then lowered his pack to the ground in the centre of the clearing. If he had to move, he did not want to be tangled in straps. If he had to run, he wanted the pack as bait. That thought made him feel like a bastard, but survival did not care how nice you were.
The growling did not stop. It circled. Ray kept his eyes moving and forced himself not to overreact. Whatever was out there was not charging blind. That meant it was thinking. That was not comforting.
Three shapes slid out of the brush. Large black cats with sleek fur and claws that caught the light. They moved low, controlled, and far too confident. Ray did not like the way their eyes kept checking him like they were measuring distance. He used Identify as quickly as he could, one after the other, keeping his breathing quiet.
====================================
Identify: Ravenous Feline (F)
====================================
Level: 2
System Touched
This agile cat can quickly decapitate prey with its sharp claws.
====================================
====================================
Identify: Ravenous Feline (F)
====================================
Level: 1
System Touched
This agile cat can quickly decapitate prey with its sharp claws.
====================================
====================================
Identify: Ravenous Feline Alpha (F)
====================================
Level: 5
System Touched
This agile cat is an alpha. With claws that can quickly decapitate, it is faster and stronger than other members of its Panther Cat race.
====================================
“At the end of it, you are still beasts,” Ray muttered, mostly to keep himself from spiralling. “Come on. I can do this.”
The alpha did not move first. It did not need to. A flick of its body language sent the other two forward like trained dogs, and they split around him immediately. Ray tried to keep both in view, dagger lifted, feet set. One went right. The other went left. He tracked the right one for half a second too long and the left one pounced.
Ray raised his left bracer just in time. Claws scraped leather instead of throat, and the impact shoved his arm back hard enough to sting. The cat landed, swiped again, and Ray blocked with his right bracer while trying to stab with his dagger. He missed the belly by centimetres. Teeth sank into his right shoulder and the pain flared hot and sharp, the kind that stole your breath.
[You have been inflicted with: Bleeding (Minor). You will take 2 health points of damage every ten seconds indefinitely, or until wound is bandaged]
Ray swore and forced himself not to panic. He twisted, tried to shake the cat off, and stumbled because his brain was still not used to combat being real. The second feline lunged in, claws flashing, and Ray backpedalled until his shoulders hit bark. He ducked a bite, felt fur brush his cheek, and stabbed upward on instinct. The blade caught deep. The cat shrieked, staggered, and toppled, but the dagger stayed lodged. Ray’s stomach dropped. He had just disarmed himself.
The wounded feline didn’t stay down. It thrashed, claws carving shallow lines across Ray’s forearm as it tried to regain its feet with the dagger still buried in it. Ray stamped down hard on its shoulder to pin it, felt something give a fraction under his boot, and nearly slipped when his injured leg buckled. The clearing spun for half a second. Blood was making everything slick, his fingers, the hilt, the leather straps on his bracers, and the world had that sharp, too-bright clarity that came right before panic took over.
The alpha’s growl changed pitch. It wasn’t anger. It was decision. Ray heard the brush shift and knew it was moving before he saw it. He dragged air into his lungs and forced his focus down into simple problems. Get the blade back. Don’t let them take his throat. He grabbed the dagger with both hands, braced his shoulders, and wrenched. Pain ripped up his arms as the lodged steel came free with a wet tear, and the feline collapsed for real. Ray didn’t even look at it. He turned on the movement, because if he waited to think, he’d die.
The alpha chose that moment to join.
It moved faster than the others, and it hit with purpose. A swipe opened Ray’s left leg just above the knee, ripping through leather and skin like it had been waiting to see how he responded under pressure.
[You have been inflicted with: Bleeding (Minor) stacked. You will now take 5 health points of damage every ten seconds indefinitely, or until wounds are bandaged]
There was nothing for it, Ray would die if he didn’t do something. He charged the downed feline’s corpse, shielding his head as best he could while the remaining cat and the alpha raked him from behind. Pain lit across his back. His bracers took a few hits, but plenty got through. He grabbed the dagger’s hilt with both hands and ripped it free in one brutal motion, then spun without thinking and threw it at the alpha.
He did not expect it to work. He expected to die trying.
The alpha pounced at the exact wrong time. Its jaw opened for Ray’s neck and the dagger sailed straight into its mouth, punched through the upper jaw, and buried itself into its skull. The alpha’s bite still snapped shut on Ray’s outstretched arm before it fell, teeth punching deep enough to make his vision flash white. Then the weight went dead.
Ray stumbled back, gasping, arm shaking, blood running down his fingers. The final feline hesitated, eyes wide, then bolted into the trees. He cried out in pain but had no time to think. He saw a blinking red plus icon in his peripherals. Ray didn’t have time to deal with that. With no other weapons, he raised his fists.
“That’s right, run away pussy!” Ray, coughing blood and laughing at the same time. He quickly brought up his status screen to see how bad the damage was. As soon as he did, he heard more system notifications.
[Ding! Congratulations, you have reached level 3]
[Ding! Congratulations, you have reached level 4]
The status window followed only after he received the notifications.
Ray’s stomach turned cold. Twenty-six. And dropping fast. He didn’t have time to think. He tore strips from his shirt and went for the worst of it first, leg and shoulder, then his arm, pulling the cloth tight until his hands shook. The bleeding slowed as the bandages bit down. It was messy and crude, but it was something.
He didn’t stop there. He flashed his character sheet and dumped every point from his two new levels into Vitality. Anything to help him survive a little bit longer. He chose Vitality over Body because he wasn’t sure if Body would give him empty health that still needed time to regenerate, or if it would fill instantly. At least Vitality had to matter for recovery.
Ray sighed in relief, hobbled over to a tree and sat down. He was already exhausted. He knew he wasn’t in good shape to move. He would have no choice but to wait. The problem was, he was in the open. He needed to find a safe spot to hunker down, at least until he regained enough health to feel comfortable again. As he stood, he could die in a single hit by probably virtually any beast right now.
When his breathing steadied, he moved to collect what he could. He reached for the alpha’s body first and tried to store the dagger properly. Instead, the corpse vanished with a puff of smoke. He blinked, tried again with the other corpse. It vanished too.
“Well,” Ray muttered, voice hoarse, “that is handy.”
It seemed the System turned this into more of a game world, where items were looted from creatures attached to it. Would this be the case for everything with the system… even himself? He couldn’t think about that right now though.
He didn’t like how exposed the clearing felt, not with his health that low. He forced himself to limp away, scanning constantly, listening for movement. He followed the direction the last feline had run, more out of logic than confidence. Predators ran back to dens. Dens meant shelter.
He found it a few minutes later. A small cave mouth half hidden by brush and stone. The air inside smelled like fur and old blood. Ray hesitated, then stepped in anyway because the open forest felt worse.
In the far corner, a smaller cat huddled low, making thin, pathetic sounds that barely counted as a growl. Its eyes were wide, not predatory, just scared. Ray used Identify again, slower this time.
====================================
Identify: Panther Cat (F)
====================================
Level: 1
A kitten, scared and alone without a leader or a pack.
====================================
[Congratulations, Skill: Identify had reached level 3]
Ray stared at the beast for a moment. Well… That was different wasn’t it. It was no longer a ‘Ravenous Feline’ and seemed to be in a panicked state. He lowered himself to the ground. He was too tired to fake strength. “I am sorry I killed your family,” he said quietly. “I am alone too.”
He pulled out a strip of raw meat he had bought in town, set it down near the kitten, then leaned back against the cave wall and waited. The kitten did not move at first. It trembled like it expected a trap. Ray did not reach for it. He did not chase it. He just sat there, breathing through the pain, keeping one eye on the cave mouth and the other on the small creature that looked like it had been born into the wrong life.
Eventually the kitten crept forward, grabbed the meat, and retreated a step. It did not run. It ate in small, fast bites, eyes flicking between Ray and the entrance. When it finished, it hesitated again, then inched closer, more curious than brave.
Ray lifted his hand slowly and scratched behind its ears. The kitten flinched, then leaned in. A soft purr started up, quiet at first, then stronger. A moment later it climbed into his lap like it had decided the world was safer there than anywhere else. Ray felt something tighten in his chest that had nothing to do with wounds.
It also was not lost on him that the kitten was not marked like the others. It was not “Ravenous.” It was not “System Touched.” It was just a frightened animal. Ray did not know what that meant yet, but he knew it mattered.
He stayed awake longer than he needed to, listening for anything outside, letting the kitten’s warmth settle against him like a stupid comfort. When the night finally pressed in and his body could not keep going, Ray lay down on the cave floor with the kitten curled against his side and let exhaustion take him.
Character sheet at the end of chapter 8.
