Another day, another list of chores to do.
After settling in this cave, I've started using a few things as my alarm clocks to wake me up.
The usual one would be a particular bird which has made its nest near my cave; it looked like a mix of a chicken and peacock.
Sounded like a chicken, too.
Another adapted alarm clock was the rustling of the bushes.
This one could be from one of those neo-deer, skrurrel (a squirrel/skunk combination), or a bear, boar, or anything else, really.
Since this cave was close to a water supply, all sorts of animals pass here, but the usual time they do is in the morning, when the night of predators ends and prey animals are more comfortable to go to a drinking spot.
This time, it was the sun that woke me up.
After my first week, I formed a natural habit of waking up when the sun rises.
Since I didn't have night vision, I only felt safe roaming when the sun was shining down light.
Though at this point It wasn't that I needed sleep; with Regeneration, Endurance as well as my Orcish Blood and Survivalist's Instincts, I could practically function fine for an entire week without rest.
It's just that it's become a habit of mine to rest and replenish energy at any chance I can.
The morning schedule is simple: eat, gather, hunt.
With my new skill Survivalist's Instinct, what used to be a four-hour scavenger hunt was now just a breezy, twenty-minute walk because everything that's useful to me in the forest gets marked in my eyes once it's in my radius.
First thing I found in my walk was a decent patch of 'Sprinting Root'—a fibrous thing that gives a small stamina boost.
Tastes like dirt, but it's better than the 'Mystery Mush' I ate during my first week here.
Puking rainbows while a giant eyeball looks at me is not something I want to experience ever again.
After my walk, I checked my traps to see if it caught anything noteworthy.
If they caught something worthless, poisonous, or just something I didn't like, I'd let it go.
But if it did catch something eye-catchy, then it's off to the drying rack.
Sometimes, along the way, I catch the attention of a troop of lightning monkeys that try to pester me and take my spoils away.
"Ook! Ook!"
"Ooo~oook…"
"KOO!"
Seriously, those monkeys must have an A-rank skill called 'Annoyance'.
At this point, they're too fast for me to catch, and they're smart enough to avoid my traps, so I just let them be but keep a close eye on them.
Oh, right, forgot to mention.
Every 'animal name' I've said at this point?
I just made them all up.
Yup, all me.
I don't know what other people call them, or if they even know they exist, but that's what I like to call them.
Anyway, after that, I spend my time grinding my skills and XP by tracking down mean and big animals to fight.
Win or lose, I end up learning something, so picking a fight never ends up to be pointless.
Today, I tracked down the red boar that was terrorizing the area close to the humies, thus threatening my contract with the humies, which I can't allow.
As soon as I spotted it, eating some wild berries, I stood in front of it and began mean-eying it.
It snorted in response, seeing my action to be a challenge against itself, and began its charge.
Knowing how to deal with this creature, I used Roar to disorient it.
It wasn't going to be enough to make it scared or halt completely, but it did enough to make an opportunity.
Putting my axe to the side, I grabbed it by its tusk and stopped it dead in its tracks.
Surprisingly, boars are stronger than they look like, and heavyweight was literally and metaphorically carrying me.
With all my strength put into my feet and core, I pushed the boar off the ground.
As I did so, it squealed so loud that I wished I had a free hand to open up the options menu and lower the volume.
*Whump!* *Thwack!* *Thwack!* *Thump!* *Splat!*
In the end, I used a tree to finish the job.
By that, I mean…you know that scene of a certain, big green guy smacking that Asgardian God until next Tuesday in that certain film made by that certain Superhero comic company?
Yeah, I basically did it like that.
Not the cleanest of kills, but if it works…
With this, my unarmed combat should've been upgraded.
As for the XP…
28.
Only got 28 XP.
Damn the devs of this game; wasn't this on normal difficulty?
No, I'll not complain.
Just…bring this boar back to the cave.
It's the end of the day, anyway.
…
…
…
At the end of the day, when all tasks are done, I sit down right outside my cave, where I've set up a campsite, doing menial tasks to fill up my time.
Like adding some defenses near my cave, checking the things I have, inspecting my axe's durability, and such.
It's basically a ritual to end the day.
If I don't do this, I feel like I really will lose my mind, thinking about my old life and the contrast of its gentle calmness compared to the abruptness of my current situation.
…Even then, I still let my mind wander off into nostalgia about things I saw, heard, and experienced back then.
Reminds me about who I am.
And also, it's one of the very few things that add humor to my life.
Singing some tunes I remember, or chuckling from jokes, or trying to forget embarrassing memories; it made my life less mundane.
Anyway, back to what I was doing.
While I do that, I let the boar meat cook on a makeshift pan—which was just a flat, smooth rock—until it looked tender enough.
It still tastes awful, don't get me twisted, but at least I don't get sick or gag anymore.
Saying that, it might just be my Iron Stomach working overtime.
Anyway, as I ate, I opened my Status Screen to see if anything's new.
+====================================+
// STATUS SCREEN //
+====================================+
|NAME: Grul
|RACE: Orc
|CLASS: None
|LEVEL: 15
|XP: 38/400
+------------------------------------+
|HEALTH: [█████████] 100% |
|STAMINA: [█████----] 60% |
|MANA: [----------] 0/0 |
+------------------------------------+
|ATTRIBUTES:
|STRENGTH: 34 (+8 Racial) |
|DEXTERITY: 22 |
|VITALITY: 31 (+9 Racial) |
|INTELLIGENCE: 15 |
|WISDOM: 15 |
+------------------------------------+
|SKILLS:
|- Unarmed Combat (B) (Passive)
| ↳"Everybody was kung-fu fighting!" - Carl Douglas … Increases effectivity of unarmed combat.
|- Sprinting (C)
| ↳ Drastically increases movement speed at the cost of stamina.
|- Regeneration (B+) (Passive)
| ↳ Increases speed at which wounds heal.
|- Orcish Blood (A) (Passive)
| ↳"Orkz is made for fightin' and winnin'!" - Ghazghkull Thraka … Bestows a formidable constitution and innate combat prowess. Provides a significant bonus to physical attributes and combat effectiveness. Also changes your diction when talking to others.
|- Throwing (C+) (Passive)
| ↳ Increases the accuracy and force of thrown objects.
|- Iron Stomach (C+) (Passive)
| ↳ A growing tolerance for poorly prepared, rough, or unappetizing food. Reduces the negative effects of consuming spoiled or low-quality ingredients.
|- Endurance (B+) (Passive)
| ↳ The ability to sustain physical effort despite fatigue, hunger, or injury. Increases stamina regeneration.
|- Intimidating Aura (B+) (Passive)
| ↳ Beings feel a sense of pressure when they're around you. Makes people feel more inclined to agree with you or even submit.
|- Roar (C+)
| ↳ "THIS IS MY SWAMP!" - Shrek … Potentially cause enemies to be terrified or confused. Probability proportionally increases with level difference.
|- Trap Making (B+)
| ↳ Allows the creation of exemplary traps using raw materials which could incapacitate, severely wound, or eliminate the one caught inside of one.
|- Axe Mastery (C+)
| ↳ "Here's Johnny!" - Johnny Torrance … Increases efficiency of axes you are using.
|- Heavyweight (D+) (Passive)
| ↳ "Move 'em on, head 'em up, head 'em up, move 'em on, move 'em on, head 'em up, Rawhide!" - Frankie Laine … Causes all things with a weight greater or equal to 10 lbs. to have their weight value reduced by 20% when you carry, hold, or drag them.
|- Survivalist's Instinct (A) (Passive)
| ↳ Provides a complete, intuitive mastery of fundamental wilderness survival techniques. Also grants a heightened awareness of the environment, allowing for the automatic detection of food, water, resources, and hidden dangers. Gives a moderate boost to stamina regeneration and overall perception.
|- Shadow Hunter (B+) (Active/Passive)
| ↳ "The predator's silence is the prey's oblivion." ... Seamlessly blends movement with the environment to achieve near-total concealment. Drastically reduces visibility and sound while moving. The longer you maintain concealment and focus on a target, the higher behavioral information you gather, or crit rate, should you choose to strike at the poor victim.
|- Comprehension (E) (Passive) (New!)
| ↳ "Do you…UNDERSTANDDDD?!" - Rubber Soul … Slightly reduces threshold required to understand something.
|- Negotiation (E) (New!)
| ↳ "Life is negotiation!" - George J. Seidel … Slightly reduces the price of goods or provides a small bonus when persuading someone.
|- Maintenance (D) (New!)
| ↳ Increases durability when equipment after being repaired or maintained. Slim chance to permanently increase a random stat of the equipment.
|- Grappling (E) (New!)
| ↳ Strengthens hold over a target, making it harder to shake you off. Also stuns a target for a short duration after successfully initiating a takedown maneuver.
|- Brawler (D) (New!)
| ↳ Enhances ability when fighting close quarters.
|- Mercy of the Strong (A) (Passive) (New!)
| ↳ When deciding to be merciful to a defeated target, adds a stack of 'leverage' on to that target and applies a psychological effect onto the target which makes them more agreeable to you. When the stack reaches five, automatically converts into a 'wisdom' stat.
+====================================+
As can be seen, I was steadily growing.
A smile sneakily crept on my face as I noticed.
As for my new skills…I can understand most of these, but what's with Comprehension?
'Threshold for understanding'?
It's way too vague of a description for me to understand.
But from what I remember of my past life, if I merge it with another skill, I'll be able to acquire an overpowered skill.
At least for mages.
Of which I am not.
Still, it has a pretty nice passive effect on XP, so it wouldn't hurt to have.
Also, that last skill…Mercy of the Strong.
It looks like it's very easy to exploit, doesn't it?
Wonder what it's effects are going to be like if I upgrade it…
After a while of thinking about the possibilities these new skills have, I felt like going to bed.
But before I could even enter my cave, a pop-up appeared in front of me.
-Quest Received-
▣The Next Step▣
Instructions: Reach Level 25. The surrounding region is dangerous but rich in experience. Survival is mandatory. Progress will be tracked.
Rewards: Class Selection, New Feature Unlocked, Activation of Certain Mods
-Optional Quest Received-
▣New Frontier▣
Instructions: Venture deeper into Quintus Forest and visit a certain ruin.
Rewards: Hint for the main quest
…Woah.
Am I…seeing things?
I feel like everything happened all at once.