A month passed.
The forest no longer felt alien to him.
The boy—Davin—had grown leaner and stronger.
Survival in the wild had sharpened his instincts, dulled his fear, and left behind the soft edges of the life his overprotective young mother ,Gaela, had raised him up in.
Now, he crouched on the branch of an old tree, body coiled like a spring.
His golden eyes flickered faintly with power as he stared down at his next meal.
A hulking creature rooted through the underbrush below, its hooves crushing leaves with every heavy step.
Davin's lips curled into a grin as he activated his newly acquired skill.
[Skill Activated: Celestial Eye]
[Name: Irontusk Boar]
[Rank: Feralkin]
[Tier: Low]
[Threat Level: E-Class]
[Affinity: 0]
'Irontusk?' he wondered internally, careful not to speak aloud.
'What kind of name is that?'
[That means its tusks are literally as hard as iron. Be cautious around them.]
He didn't respond. He just steadied his breath and waited.
The boar, large and dark brown-skinned with gleaming black tusks, lumbered closer beneath the tree. It had no idea it was being stalked.
Davin leapt.
The scythes in his hands curved downward like a predator's claws, aiming for the boar's spine.
But at the last second, the beast shifted.
Davin missed.
He crashed into the forest floor with a painful crack, air bursting from his lungs as a jolt of agony surged through his ribs.
[Status Acquired: Fractured Rib]
[HP: 230/280]
Pain flared through his side, but there was no time to recover.
The boar, startled for only a moment, locked eyes with him—and charged.
Not away but toward him. The intruder in its peaceful territory.
Davin's eyes widened. But before he could dodge.
Thud!
The tusks hit his chest like a battering ram.
He felt them puncture his side, shallow but intensely painful.
For a moment, his world blurred as he was thrown across the ground like a ragdoll, slamming violently against a tree.
[-70 HP]
Blood spilled from his mouth. He gasped, wheezing, everything spinning in his vision.
The boar snorted, pawed the ground, and charged again.
In desperation, Davin reached for his remaining scythe. The other had slipped from his hand in the fall.
As the boar lunged, he swung with everything he had.
Shlick!
The scythe stabbed deep into the beast's neck.
The boar squealed and stumbled—but its momentum didn't stop.
Davin was flung once more sent smacking against another tree.
[-40 HP]
[HP: 120/280]
[Warning: You have lost over half of your HP. Replenish or risk unconsciousness.]
The system's voice rang in his mind as his vision darkened at the edges.
"... Restore... health to maximum—"
*cough!
"—damn it!"
He struggled to speak, blood trickling from his lips.
[-1600 Pulse Points]
[+160 HP]
A golden light then erupted around him, warm and radiant. His wounds stitched themselves shut in seconds, bones aligning with soft cracks.
And the pain faded into a dull memory.
The boy stood taking a deep breath.
'Can't believe I fucked up a great opportunity like that.' He thought picking up his scythe.
"Now, where did you ran off to...?" He muttered gazing down at a blood trail.
~~
Far ahead, the wounded boar dragged itself away, bleeding and trembling. But before it could take another step it heard a sound from its side—
Rustle!
Then a golden-eyed blur suddenly appeared from the foliage.
Shunk!
And delivered the final blow with a scythe, sending the beast's soul to eternal slumber.
[+2000 Pulse Points]
Later that evening, the smell of sizzling meat filled the forest clearing.
Davin sat cross-legged beside a crackling fire, turning a large slab of boar meat on his campfire that he'd lit from sticks.
Flames licked the pork's surface, slowly searing it to a delicious golden-brown color.
He sniffed. "Close enough."
He wasn't a chef in his previous life—not that he remembered much of it—but he did know that golden-brown usually meant edible.
This had become routine...
Hunt during the day.
Camp by night while cooking his day's kill.
Squirrels, rabbits, birds—whatever he could catch.
Fruits were scarce, and the Virelume fruit even more so.
His search for it continued, guided by what he half-joked was his "heart"—a gut instinct that nudged him in certain directions without explanation.
Today had been his first attempt at something bigger and riskier. And he had luckily survived the hunt.
Of course, at the cost of pulse points...
Beside him, a small pouch crafted from tanned hide lay on the ground. It was crude, stitched with vines, but functional. His second creation using the [Forge] skill.
Davin sighed as he turned the meat again. He could almost imagine salt, pepper, a little garlic being seasoned on it.
"One day," he muttered, eyes rising to the moonlit canopy.
"One day I'll say goodbye to this crappy Tarzan life."
But for now?
He chewed on boar meat and listened to the sounds of the wild.
He hoped—perhaps foolishly—that he might stumble upon the Virelume fruit... and at last fulfill the system's first mission...
"Damn this stuff is good! From today onward—pork chops for dinner!" he grinned, relishing the taste of his first successful boar hunt.