The first golden rays of the sun filtered through the dense canopy of Dúlach Forest, painting the mossy floor in a patchwork of light and shadow.
The birds' morning calls seemed unusually tense today, as if the forest itself knew that a hunter had awoken.
I stretched slowly, my muscles still stiff from the previous days' encounters, though surprisingly, I didn't feel the same soreness.
Yesterday had been mostly fishing and cleaning the cave — a welcome reprieve from brutal fights. My body ached less than I expected, a testament to the healing touch of sleep and my new strength from leveling up.
Sliding to the edge of the cave, I reached for my wooden flask. Water glistened in the early light, still safe and clean after boiling it the previous day.
I took a long sip, letting the cool liquid soothe my throat and wash away the remnants of sleep.
Hunger gnawed faintly in my stomach — but that could wait. Today, the forest offered opportunity, and opportunity required strategy.
I crouched beside a moss-covered rock and pulled out the system interface. A translucent panel flickered into existence in front of me:
[STATUS SCREEN]
Name: Arya
Age: 16
Race: Human
Level: 2
Experience: 120 / 200
Title: Grace of Blood
Strength: 14
Agility: 9
Endurance: 11
Intelligence: 13
Charisma: 7
Quests Available:
Active: Quest of Survival
I stared at the numbers, mentally calculating.
80 EXP to the next level.
I just hope I can pull it off today somehow. I don't have much time left to level up, and I still have to take down at least nine more Feral beasts before the week ends.
I flexed my fingers around the hilt of my katana, letting the familiar weight remind me of yesterday's victories.
No sharpening tools. No fancy preparations. Just raw skill, instincts, and a clear plan.
Well... I don't have skills!!
"Alright… let's do this carefully," I whispered, more to steady myself than to speak to anyone.
---
Crunch… crunch…
The sound of dry leaves echoed softly beneath my boots as I moved through the forest, each step measured, each breath controlled. I walked stealthily, scanning the surroundings for any sign of movement—any sign of prey.
My plan was simple: find a Feral beast and kill it in one strike, using the element of surprise before it could react.
Killing a Feral Bear had been far tougher than the Feral Wolf, but that was expected. Just like in nature, there was a food chain here too. Big predators—like tigers—were at the top, while creatures like deer sat lower.
Only, these weren't normal animals. They were Feral. Each of them carried unnatural strength and speed, a twisted version of their natural selves.
I was already lucky to have survived battles against a Feral Wolf and a Feral Bear. I wasn't foolish enough to think I could take on something like that again—not yet.
This time, I needed something weaker.
Something manageable.
A Feral Deer, perhaps.
As I moved deeper into the forest, I noticed something strange—the number of trees was thinning.
The dense canopy above me began to break apart, sunlight spilling through in sharp, golden streaks.
Have I… walked toward the village?
A chill ran down my spine.
Returning to the village was the one thing I couldn't do—the system's task made sure of that. I was certain I'd chosen the opposite direction when I left my cave, so… why did it feel like I was heading back?
My thoughts tangled in confusion until, suddenly, the forest ended.
I stepped forward—and froze.
Before me stretched a vast plain, endless and open beneath the fading light. The trees behind me stood like a dark wall, but ahead… nothing. No trunks. No shade. Just tall grass swaying gently in the wind.
A grassland.
The plains were untouched, pure green waves rolling under the horizon.
And scattered within that beauty were—
Feral creatures.
Hundreds… and hundreds of them.
A chill ran down my spine.
These Feral creatures were… goats.
But the sheer number of them completely shattered my confidence to hunt. There were hundreds, maybe more— each of them weaker than me but the sheer quantity is enough to crush me if they decided to charge together.
If even a fraction of them turned hostile… I'd be trampled before I could even swing my sword.
They were all moving toward one side of the jungle… toward the river.
Their path cut across my line of sight.
They were close enough to hear the soft thump of hooves but not close enough to spot me as a threat.
The herd flowed like a living tide— wild, noisy, and single-minded.
They were behaving like true feral goats: not docile like sheep, not following blindly.
Goats broke off, scattered, and grazed at odd angles.
From the way they moved, I guessed they were heading straight for water— my best guess from the whole mess of possibilities.
A slow idea formed in my head. A creepy smile tugged at my lips.
This is it. Perfect opportunity to farm experience points.
Goats were naturally wilder than sheep.
Sheep tended to bunch and follow one another even if it led them over a cliff; goats wandered, grazed apart, and tested boundaries.
That meant the herd wouldn't move like a single solid wall. There'd be gaps. Stragglers. Singles that drifted far enough from the group to become a target.
Which meant two things.
One: they were easier to pick off than Feral wolves.
Two: there was a good chance these dumb beasts wouldn't predict a surprise attack— probably.
I allowed myself a quiet breath and slid lower into the grass, the plan already forming in my head.
If I timed it right, picked the stragglers, and used the terrain to my advantage, I could pull off several quick kills without drawing the whole herd down on me.
Not elegant. Not heroic. But efficient. And right now, efficiency meant EXP.
The perfect opportunity to farm experience with a much lower chance of me getting killed.
Even if they spotted me, I could always bolt into the trees and lose them.
Hehe!!