Kael stood over the cracked ground where the stone had landed, still marveling at the force a simple loop could generate. With one kill after another, he had begun to adapt. Every creature he felled brought him closer to understanding this strange world—and closer to surviving it.
With a sense of hard-earned pride, he opened his status screen.
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[Level: 2] Unallocated Stat Points: 3
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He thought for a long time before spending them.
His Strength had started at 18—just two more points would bring it to 20.
He allocated two points into Strength, and a subtle shift coursed through his muscles. He felt just a little sturdier, a little more grounded. It wasn't much, but it was real.
The final point, he placed into Willpower, which brought it to 45. A light pressure lifted from his mind. He felt a faint clarity, as if his thoughts had just a little more room to move.
The next morning, Kael began what he now called level grinding. Hunting smaller beasts had become a game of tactics. He used the terrain, his teleportation skill, and his growing insight from Omni-Vision to kill quickly and efficiently.
He would find a lizard-bird perched in the trees and teleport a sharpened stick into the back of its throat mid-screech. He would wait for scaled rabbits to dart from cover and drop weighted stones from above with brutal accuracy.
He still kept his distance from anything larger than a dog. He remembered the wolf-beast's teeth, the way its claws had torn into his arm. His injury was healing, but the memory kept him cautious.
Still, he was improving.
Each hunt made him faster, sharper.
His growing mastery of Minor Teleport meant he could place objects with greater precision. He had begun experimenting with angles, timing, and even combinations—looping two stones in tandem to collide with a target from different directions.
When the sun dipped below the trees, Kael sat beside a small fire and checked his status once more.
Another level. Another three points.
He smiled and leaned back, watching the smoke twist up toward the stars.
He had a long way to go.
But he was learning.
And learning was power.