The sun bled orange through the canopy, shadows stretching long and sharp.
I craned my neck upward. "Climbing might be smarter than sleeping on the ground."
A sturdy oak stood nearby, its branches thick and low. Perfect.
Or so I thought.
The first time I tried to climb, my foot slipped on the bark and I slid straight down on my backside, hitting the ground with a solid thud.
"Ow! Stupid tree." I rubbed my sore tailbone, glaring at the trunk like it had tripped me on purpose.
Round two went better—at least, until I realized I'd forgotten the blanket.
I froze halfway up the tree, staring at the neatly folded cloth lying smugly on the forest floor. "…Are you kidding me?!"
Climbing down turned into its own horror show. I hugged the bark like a terrified cat, muttering, "Slow… slow… don't fall… don't die…" until my feet touched the dirt again. By the time I grabbed the blanket, I was sweating more from nerves than effort.
"Fine. Round three. You win, tree."
The third attempt actually worked. I scrambled up, tied the blanket between two branches into a makeshift hammock, watched it sag dangerously, retied it, and decided that was "good enough."
…Maybe.
Back on the ground, I gathered a pile of sticks and dry leaves. "Alright. Time to put all those years of Man vs Wild marathons to use."
A spark of fire magic flickered from my fingertip. The pile caught instantly, flames crackling bright and warm.
The sight eased the tightness in my chest. I warmed my hands over the fire, then crouched beside the horned rabbit's body.
That… was when the real nightmare started.
The knife wasn't much, but it was sharp enough. I pressed it against the fur, tugging at the hide—
Schlk.
The smell hit me like a punch to the face.
My cheeks bulged. "Urgh—!"
I staggered sideways and vomited into the bushes, retching until my stomach felt like it had turned inside out. The sound echoed embarrassingly loud in the quiet clearing.
When I finally straightened, pale and sweaty, I glared at the rabbit's body. "Ugh… no TV program ever showed this part. They just skipped to the campfire scene where the meat looks tasty. This is disgusting!"
It took three more tries, lots of gagging, and a steady stream of curses before I scraped off enough meat to cook. My cuts were uneven, ragged, and messy. At one point I dropped a piece straight into the dirt and almost cried.
"This… is not easy at all." I held up a pitiful strip of meat like it was a trophy.
Finally, I skewered the chunks onto branches and roasted them over the fire. The smell was… not great. Burnt hair lingered, mixing with the acrid tang of charred flesh.
I chewed one bite, grimacing. "Ugh… this is terrible."
Still, hunger didn't care about taste. Slowly, I finished every scrap. Warmth spread through my belly, and with it came a weary satisfaction.
When I turned back to the rabbit's body to clean up, I noticed something glowing faintly in its chest. Curious, I poked around until my fingers brushed something smooth and solid.
I pulled out a crystal the color of polished earth—brown, warm, and pulsing with faint energy.
"…So this is its mana stone." I held it up beside the blue slime ones. The contrast was obvious. "Different monsters, different drops. Nice."
Sliding it into my satchel, I sat cross-legged by the fire and decided it was time to check something else.
Status Menu
Name: Lucian Vanheart
Age: 5
Level: 15 (180/2000 EXP)
Title: ???
Stats
HP: 620/620
MP: 280/340
STR: 4
AGL: 4
Mind: 6
Attribute: Fire.
Skills: Mana construct.
Spell:
Low Tier: Fireball [10 MP]
Intermediate Tier: Roaring Fury [40 MP]
Unallocated Points: 10
My eyes lingered on the MP. Down sixty already…
I reached into the satchel and pulled out one of Kael's mana potions. The faint blue glow lit my fingers, and for a second I was tempted.
"…Should I?"
Just one sip and I'd be back to full.
But then I sighed and stuffed it back into the bag. "No. I'll be sleeping soon anyway. Better to let it recover naturally than waste one of these."
A faint smile tugged at my lips. Look at me, making smart survival choices already.
I leaned back against the trunk, sipping from the copper water flask Kael had tossed into the bag. The cool liquid was refreshing, though it made me realize just how dry my throat had been.
"Good thing he included this," I muttered. "Because there's no way I'm pulling a 'drink your own pee' episode. Tomorrow, I'm looking for a river stream for sure."
Packing the flask away, I climbed up into my hammock-nest. The fire flickered below, shadows dancing up the bark as night pressed in.
Crickets chirped, frogs croaked, and somewhere deeper in the forest came the distant howl of something large. I stiffened, clutching the blanket tighter around me.
"...Okay. Creepy. Very creepy."
A twig snapped nearby. I froze, heart pounding. It was probably just a rabbit. Or a squirrel. Or a squirrel-rabbit hybrid monster with fangs the size of knives—
"Stop. Stop. Don't think about it."
Curling tighter into my blanket, I forced my eyes shut. The hammock swayed gently, the fire's glow keeping the worst of the shadows away.
Despite the fear, despite the nerves, a grin tugged at my lips. "This is… kind of fun."
And with that reckless thought, I drifted into my first night in the wild.