After the bleeding from my wound eased a little, I opened my status screen.
=== Status ===
Username: Zak Alder
Race: Human
Profession: Mage
Level: 2
Evolution Points: 40 / 200
Health: 11
Strength: 5
Agility: 4
Endurance: 4
Skills: None
Shop: Closed (opens upon reaching level 10)
===
I stared at my status for a few moments, then focused my gaze on the evolution points. It was clear that I could raise my level by killing monsters, and this was very similar to what happened in the games I used to play before.
At that moment, I thought that I needed to raise my level as quickly as possible, and specifically reach level ten, where the shop was supposed to open. Usually, the shop is a place where you find things you always need, such as healing potions or different skills.
I shifted my gaze back to my stats. They looked… good, at least as far as I could tell. Then I stopped at Strength.
It had increased by only one point after killing my first monster.
I wondered to myself: Is it possible for an increase of just one point in strength to make such a huge difference? Could it really be enough to multiply my strength to this extent? I wasn't sure, but I had no other explanation for what had happened earlier, when I threw stones with a power I had never expected. This possibility seemed to be the only logical explanation.
I took a slow breath, then closed the status screen, realizing that I had been thinking out loud without noticing.
I muttered to myself as I thought:
Are there other people in this world? So far, I had only encountered monsters.
I truly hoped that there were humans or jinn… so I could see beautiful girls and learn magic. In truth, I really wanted to be able to shoot fire from my hands.
The more I thought about it, the more a feeling of happiness washed over me, before I forced myself to stop this kind of thinking. I stared at the ground for a moment, trying to calm my thoughts a little.
I remained staring there…
Before a faint sound reached my ears.
A distant rustling…
I froze in place. I raised my head quickly and looked around in every direction, searching for the source of the sound, but I found nothing. I told myself: I must be imagining things, or at least it's the sound of the wind. The forest was huge, and the wind's sound could be amplified within it.
But the sound was getting closer and closer. Anxiety seeped into my chest like a slow poison, before I muttered to myself: This is not the sound of wind. I immediately looked toward the fire, and without thinking, I rushed to it and extinguished it quickly.
Then I headed toward the pit I had found earlier. I ran as fast as I could despite the pain, entered it quickly, and began piling dirt over my body with trembling hands, trying to cover myself as much as possible.
I sat there, curled up, my entire body shaking, my heart pounding at a mad pace until I felt that its beating alone might reveal my location. I kept repeating to myself: "Calm down… what are you afraid of?" and tried to calm myself a little…
Then a creature emerged from between the trees in terrifying silence.
Its eyes were completely oval, round, shining in the darkness like two cold moons. Its skin was pale and smooth, as if it were made of ice itself, reflecting the faint light from the sky.
I saw it head toward the place where the fire had been. Before it stepped over it, the temperature of the area around me suddenly dropped.
The air became painfully cold, as if the cold were seeping directly into my bones. My breath turned into a faint mist, and my body trembled until I lost control over it.
I quickly turned my face away from it and curled deeper into the pit, pressing my back against the dirt and burying myself more, until the earth surrounded me from all sides.
Then… I heard its footsteps.
They were slow, and each step brought with it a new wave of cold. It came closer and closer, until I felt its presence directly above me…
It stopped.
Seconds passed that felt like an entire eternity. I didn't dare to breathe, and my body was completely frozen from the intense cold. My fingers lost all sensation.
Then…
It moved away.
I felt the cold gradually lessen, and I heard its footsteps fading as it headed to another part of the forest.
But I didn't move. I stayed there, buried in the dirt, my body frozen, my mind empty, and my heart still pounding violently. I remained in my place for long hours, trembling nonstop from the intense cold, after my body had lost the ability to respond…
Until a faint ray of sunlight slipped into the pit, then gradually became clearer, announcing the arrival of morning. Only then did I realize that the night had ended.
I tried to move, but my body didn't respond immediately.
I needed a great deal of effort to raise my head, then I pushed the dirt away from my face with difficulty. I cleared the dirt from my chest and shoulders and noticed that some of it was stuck to my clothes and skin.
After several attempts, I finally managed to get out of the pit and stand up, but my legs betrayed me for a moment, and I had to steady myself so I wouldn't fall. My body was still extremely stiff.
I lowered my gaze to check my condition, and there I noticed something strange… my injuries were no longer bleeding. The blood that had been flowing all night had stopped completely, having literally frozen from the intense cold. The wounds were covered with a thin layer of ice, as if the deadly cold had forcibly stopped the bleeding.
I swallowed silently and said sarcastically:
"How lucky I am… I've been lucky since I was a child."
I stood under the morning sunlight for some time, letting its slow warmth seep into my body, gradually melting the ice clinging to me and restoring sensation to my stiffened limbs.
I remained standing for a few more moments before I was finally able to move my neck. The stiffness was severe, as if my joints were made of stone. I slowly turned my head, cautiously examining the directions around me, until my eyes fell on a thick branch that had fallen from one of the trees. I approached it with hesitant steps, picked it up, and leaned my body against it.
I decided to venture deeper into the forest, hoping that I would eventually find a path leading me out of it…
I walked for quite some time, somewhat exhausted, before I suddenly stopped.
I saw in front of me, at a not-so-far distance, a scene that made my body freeze in place…
Two monsters were fighting.
I immediately hid behind a tree, watching what was happening from afar. One of them was massive in body, its skin dark and rough, its muscles bulging in a terrifying way. Its claws were long and sharp, and every strike it delivered left a clear mark, either on the ground or on the other monster's body.
As for the other, it was thinner, but slightly taller. Its skin was grayish, and its eyes glowed red. Its movements were fast and agile, dodging and jumping around its opponent, making use of its speed.
Their fight was… strangely entertaining. I thought to myself in amazement:
Wow… watching monsters fight is better than real wrestling.
The massive monster attacked, raising its arm and delivering a tremendous blow, but the other narrowly avoided it and countered with a swift attack, driving its claws into its opponent's side.
The massive monster roared in anger and stomped the ground with its foot, sending dirt flying around them, then grabbed its opponent by the arm and violently hurled it toward a nearby tree.
My body trembled as I watched the scene. I stepped back unconsciously, and a strong urge to flee immediately welled up inside me. I thought to myself: Enough watching, before I turn into a punching bag for one of them.
But before I moved, an idea crossed my mind that made me stop.
One of them would win in the end, that much was certain. But no matter who the winner was, they would be injured and exhausted…
An opportunity. One that might not be repeated.
I whispered in a low voice:
"How brilliant I am…"
How many times have I said this sentence since I came to this world? Maybe many times… to the point that I can no longer remember the number.
I swallowed my saliva and felt my heartbeats accelerate, but I decided to wait a little longer…
I continued watching from between the trees, and the fight grew more brutal. Blood spilled onto the ground, and angry groans filled the place. After minutes that felt like hours, the massive monster finally managed to deliver the finishing blow. It grabbed the thin monster, lifted it off the ground, then crushed it forcefully against a large rock. A horrifying cracking sound echoed through the area, before the thin monster lost its life.
But the victor was not in much better condition.
It was breathing heavily, one of its arms was bleeding badly, and its movements had become slow and sluggish.
Now…
I slipped behind it, holding my breath with difficulty. Every step I took felt louder to me than it really was. I moved extremely slowly, drawing closer little by little, repeating inside my head like a madman:
Don't look back… don't look back… don't look back…
I repeated the words over and over until there was only a single step separating us.
But my luck was bad.
I stepped on something hard beneath my foot, producing a faint sound… but it was enough.
I felt it notice me instantly.
Before it could fully turn toward me, I drove the branch I was holding with all my strength into the back of its neck. A sharp, terrifying scream burst from its mouth, and it began trying to twist around violently, but I pressed the branch harder, preventing it from turning.
When it realized that it couldn't turn, it attacked me from behind with its claws in a swift, desperate motion, aiming for my back. But its previous injuries made its movement slower.
I threw myself to the ground at the last moment.
Its claws passed over me and were instead driven into its own body. It lost its balance and fell backward heavily… but it wasn't dead yet.
I lunged toward it without hesitation. I pulled the branch out of its neck quickly, then grabbed a large rock that was nearby.
I lifted it with all the remaining strength I had and began smashing it down onto its head.
Once…
Then again…
I struck without stopping, until its head was completely crushed and shattered into pieces.
Only then did I stop striking him.
I stood there, panting, my hands trembling as the rock slipped from between my fingers. Everything around me was silent…
Except for the sound of my heavy breathing, and my heart still pounding violently in my chest.