I sat on the tree branch, looking down at the monster that circled below me. The ‘Hex’ on it was running low and would fade away soon, and then I’d have to repeat the process. I knew that it should only take one more ‘Hex’ after this to finish it off.

For the last hour, I’d been sitting in that uncomfortable position, killing one monster after another. Killing them with nothing but ‘Hex’ was slow, but this was also a lot safer than trying to use a sword. In fact, I’d pretty much given up on the sword entirely.

I hoped that if I killed enough of these rat dog monsters, then I wouldn’t have to worry about running into more of them while I made my way through the forest. Unfortunately, the monsters didn’t seem to run out. I would just barely kill one when another would show up.

By this point, I was completely exhausted and ready for a good sleep. It felt like it had been a full day since I’d woken up in that weird pool, but the sun had never set. In fact, the light had never changed at all. I was tempted to just find a good spot to curl up and take a nap, but there wasn’t anywhere safe enough for that. If I was on the ground, the monsters would get me, and if I tried to sleep while up in tree, I was likely to fall out and then break my neck. And then the monsters would get me.

I was also getting pretty hungry and thirsty, but I hadn’t found anything to eat or drink either. Well, there were those weird glowing fruit, but I had a bad feeling about those. When I’d picked one out of curiosity, it had smelled wrong. Pungent and sour, with a hint of something that reminded me of vomit. After that, there was no way I was going to try to actually eat one.

“I NEED to get out of here,” I grumbled.

The ‘Hex’ was still active on the monster below me, though it would wear off soon enough. I didn’t feel like waiting so I fired another one at the creature. It staggered as a second aura went on top of it. Then, as I watched, it staggered again, suddenly seeming even sicker and weaker than before.

“I can have two Hexes on them at the same time,” I said in realization.

I mentally ran the numbers, not that there were many to run. When I put a ‘Hex’ on a monster, it lasted for about two minutes before it went away. However, after I used a ‘Hex’, it only took me about one minute before I could use it again. If I was careful about it, I could double up on my attacks and kill the monsters a bit faster.

“Now, if I only had the energy to keep doing this,” I muttered.

The monster died shortly after this and a popup suddenly appeared in front of me.

YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 3

This was the second time that I’d gotten a popup like this, telling me that I’d leveled, but I didn’t really notice any changes other than some minor updates on my status page. I knew that leveling was one of those video game references, but I wasn’t sure what it meant for my actual situation.

After this, I looked around and listened for any more monsters, then carefully climbed out of the tree. Once I was on the ground again, I stretched and cursed how uncomfortable that had been. But better uncomfortable than dead. Again.

I picked up the sword from where I’d left it at the base of the tree, then left the area, wanting to get away from the monster bodies. Once I was far enough away, I checked for danger again, then began hiking up my robes. I really had to take a piss, and as I’d already found, doing so as a chick was a bit messier than it had been before. Especially when I was out in the forest rather than in a nice bathroom.

A short time later, I was carefully making my way through the forest again, straining all my senses as far as I could. I was on high alert, not only looking for more monsters, but also for food, water, and a safe place to rest. I was in a bad situation and it was only getting worse with every hour.

Then I found something, though not one of the things that I’d been hoping for. However, it gave me a surge of hope anyway. It was a trail. A trail through the forest.

“It has to go somewhere,” I mused aloud, knowing that trails didn’t just make themselves. Trails meant people who used them. They went places. Places that might have other people.

I looked back and forth, trying to decide which direction I should go. I didn’t see any signs, so this was pretty much a flip of the coin. After I picked one of the directions at random, I began following the trail, feeling a little lighter and more energetic than before.

Of course, I’d just gotten comfortable with the idea of having a way out when I heard the growl of another monster. I immediately went back up the nearest tree that I could climb, just barely making it before the monster appeared.

“Here we go again,” I grumbled as I blasted the monster with a ‘Hex’.

This time, I was able to really test out my idea of doubling up on my attacks. As soon as my ability was ready to go, I put a second ‘Hex’ on the monster while the first one was still going strong. The monster immediately became weaker, stumbling around as it slowly took even more damage. Just one more blast after that one, right after the first one wore off, and the rat dog quickly fell down dead.

“I can kill them faster than before,” I said with a sigh of relief. “But it still takes time.”

With that, I slowly climbed out of the tree, nearly slipping and hurting myself. At that point, I was so tired that I didn’t think I’d have the energy to climb another tree the next time a monster showed up. And if I couldn’t do that, then my chances of surviving were pretty slim.

I staggered along the trail in the direction that I’d been going, still carrying my sword and becoming even more tempted to just drop the thing with every passing minute. At this point, the weapon had become little more than extra weight to haul around. I certainly wasn’t using it to fight the monsters anymore. However, the main reason that I didn’t abandon it was that I didn’t want to be unarmed and without a tree the next time a monster appeared.

Each step became harder to make. Each foot became hard earned distance traveled. At this point, I was going so slow that my tits didn’t even have a chance to really bounce around. That might be the only good thing about moving at such a slow pace.

Eventually, I saw something ahead of me. An opening in the trees. I blinked and continued moving towards it, not sure what I would find, only that it might be something different.

When I reached the edge of the trees, I just stopped and stared at an open field full of grass. A few hundred feet away, right in the middle of the field and where the trail continued to pass through, there was a stone arch. That was interesting, but not nearly as much as what I saw off to the side.

“Water,” I gasped, my eyes going wide.

There was a small pond, one that was only about thirty feet across. But it was water. I would have drooled at the sight of it if my mouth hadn’t been a bit dry. I didn’t even hesitate before heading straight for it.

I was about halfway to the pond when I heard the growling behind me. I looked back, my heart jumping in my chest as I did so. It was one of the monsters. No, there were two rat dog monsters, but both of them had stopped at the edge of the trees. Neither of them made a single move to step into the field itself, in spite of the fact that I was now out in the open and an easy target.

“Damn chihuahuas,” I muttered, not taking my eyes off the monsters.

The monsters remained where they were, growling and looking menacing, but not making any further moves towards me. After a bit, I began to relax a little. For some reason, they didn’t seem to like this open area, which meant that there could be something even worse in here waiting. Either way, I was thirsty, and there was water.

As soon as I reached the edge of the pond, I looked back towards the monsters. They were gone, having moved back into the trees and out of sight. I just nodded at that, dropped to my knees, and used my hands to cup the water so I could drink. I had a brief worry that it might be poisonous, but it tasted fresh and clean. The best water I’d ever had in my life.

Once I had my fill of water, I looked around and noticed that there was a wooden box sitting beside the pond. It was about a foot tall and a couple feet wide. I just stared at it for several seconds, because other than the trail itself, this was the first sign that I’d seen of other people.

“At least I have something to sit on,” I mused.

I expected the box to be empty, but when I opened the lid to look inside, I was surprised to find food. There were a few pieces of fruit, ones that looked a lot more familiar than those weird glowing ones I’d run into earlier. These ones were just apples and pears. And even more impressive was the fact that there was a whole loaf of bread.

For several seconds, I just stared at the food suspiciously. A clearing where the monsters wouldn’t go? With clean drinking water and now food? This was too good to be true, and in my experience, if something looked too good to be true it probably was.

“HELLO?” I called out, wondering who’d left the food there. It looked pretty fresh, so it couldn’t have been there long. “IS THERE SOMEONE OUT THERE?”

There were no answers. Nobody responded and I didn’t see any other indications that someone else was nearby. I waited for about half an hour, then I just gave in and ate.

“I just hope this isn’t poisoned,” I muttered.

I sat on top of the box and continued waiting to see if anyone would show up. I was no longer hungry or thirsty, but I was still tired and needed to distract myself. Because of that, I brought up my status page and looked it over again.

CLASS: ENCHANTER
LEVEL: 3
FREE STAT POINTS: 5

FOCUS: 6
PERCEPTION: 7
PRESENCE: 7
STRENGTH: 5
VITALITY: 6
DEXTERITY: 7
AGILITY: 6

TALENTS AND AFFINITIES:
-ENCHANTMENT
--BANES

ABILITIES:
-HEX

SOULBOUND ITEMS:
-ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS

I still wasn’t sure what this all meant. What I did notice was that my free points had increased again. They’d gone up by one after I’d hit level two, then again after level three. And my perception score had gone up by one point too.

And then, there was that bit about soulbound items. It listed some kind of armor, but I had absolutely no idea of what to make of that. I could sort of feel it…a bit like how I felt my ‘Hex’ ability, but it also felt like it was just out of reach.

“I’ll figure it out later,” I muttered before letting out a loud yawn. “I’m too tired to think right now.”

I looked back towards the trees, noting that there were no signs of the monsters. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that they weren’t even there. Then again, maybe they weren’t. Maybe they’d given up on waiting for me and had gone back into the forest.

For the first time since encountering the first monster, I actually felt relatively safe. Safe enough that I could afford to rest my eyes. Just for a minute.