Si was lucky enough to find a tree hollow.
As expected of another world...
...to have such tall trees.
While this place might be a bit small for a tall adult, it was very spacious for her. Two neighbors had originally lived here, but she had slaughtered them both.
<#Water Magic: Water Arrow>
As long as she wanted to use magic...
...she naturally knew how to use it.
The system would help her construct the magic circles and control the flow of mana. All she had to do was control the magic, aim at the target, and fire. It was unbelievably simple.
With a heavy "thud"...
...the magic knocked the two-meter-long snake flat on the ground.
However, the power of the Water Arrow was quite weak.
Although the snake had been knocked to the ground, it shook its head and crawled back up, assuming a counter-attack stance.
The temperature around Tsukasa suddenly rose.
She followed up by using fire magic.
<# Fire Magic: Fireball>
She didn't give the
snake a chance to strike back.
After a few fireballs,
the snake's body was charred black.
The aroma of roasted meat began to waft through the air.
EXP gained.
It seems that experience points can indeed be obtained by defeating enemies.
It might even be the only way to get them.
After all, she had tried many methods before but couldn't gain any experience points. It really felt more and more like a game, but something bothered her. If this was the only way to gain experience, wouldn't that mean the fundamental law of this world was to encourage living beings to slaughter one another?
"I'm probably overthinking it..."
Tsukasa shook her head.
She didn't have the luxury to worry about such things right now.
Gaining EXP had another benefit.
That was being able to confirm whether an enemy was dead or alive.
Faking death wouldn't work in this world, because there wouldn't be an experience point notification.
Confirming the snake was dead,
Tsukasa still cautiously used Water Arrow to shoot it further away. She couldn't deal with bugs or snakes; even though she was a Transmigrator, things she wasn't good at remained things she wasn't good at.
She was simply afraid of snakes and insects.
Even though the snake was dead, she didn't want to get close to it.
Having killed the snake,
she looked up at the bird's nest in the tree.
HP: 100/100
MP: 60/60
SP: 50/50 (50/50)
...>
Tsukasa wasn't sure if they were actually monsters.
After all, even the villagers had levels.
And they were far too weak.
They couldn't be the monsters that villagers with an average level of 5 to 10 would be afraid of, so they were probably just wild animals, right?
She lacked information about this world.
She could only judge for herself through the Appraisal skill, but as the level of Appraisal increased,
she would obtain more information.
Water Arrow!
Without hesitation,
Tsukasa used magic to blast the bird's nest down.
Two Dodo Birds flew up. Instead of fleeing, they fiercely charged at her.
"Don't even think about it!"
The Dodo Birds were Level 3 and Level 4, with an average attack power of around 15. If she were hit, with her current 20 HP, she might die very quickly.
"Triple Fireball!"
Just as the Dodo Bird couple was about to strike,
Tsukasa used Triple Fireball at point-blank range.
The fireball damage was as high as 150.
The Dodo Birds were killed instantly.
"Whew..."
"That was a close call."
Although it wasn't a particularly difficult battle,
it was her first fight after all.
She was still very nervous.
Moreover, her health pool was incredibly thin.
This undoubtedly added to her anxiety.
"Food successfully acquired."
Tsukasa looked at the two roasted Dodo Birds,
and the bird eggs that had fallen from the nest.
She felt very lucky.
"Appraisal doesn't seem to have a negative effect on animals, so why do the people in the village react to it?" Tsukasa had discovered the snake and the bird's nest hidden in the tree through the Appraisal skill, but to her surprise, they hadn't noticed. Back when she Appraised the villagers, they all had some kind of reaction.
That was also why she was careful about using Appraisal.
"It seems that for some unknown reason, these animals can't detect Appraisal. I don't know if they count as monsters, or if monsters can detect the influence of Appraisal..."
It was always better to be cautious.
The Appraisal skill was the foundation of her survival in the wild.
Without this skill,
she wouldn't even know what those birds were called.
Dodo Birds.
They looked similar to chickens,
but they could fly.
And they were as large as big roosters.
She just didn't know how they tasted.
After moving the Dodo Bird carcasses and the eggs into the tree hollow, Tsukasa took out the only thing she had on her—a worn-out small knife—and began to dress the Dodo Birds. Since she had mastered both water and fire magic,
starting a fire was no challenge for her.
Drinking water could also be obtained through magic.
As long as she could find ingredients, she wouldn't starve.
The preparation of this meal couldn't be called delicious.
The quality of the Dodo Bird meat wasn't bad.
It wasn't far off from chicken, and even more tender.
However, the gamey smell was also stronger.
Without any seasoning,
the roasted bird meat
could only be described as unpleasant.
But the roasted bird eggs were quite tasty.
After eating her fill,
Tsukasa hid in the tree hollow to sleep.
Although she didn't want to sleep
out of fear,
she had to.
Even though eating could restore her status,
due to exhaustion,
her SP was still dropping.
Sleep was a necessity.
A person cannot go without sleep.
When she woke up, it was already afternoon.
The snake's carcass had already been scavenged.
Because she had dug a hole and buried the leftover Dodo Bird meat beforehand, no animals had approached the tree hollow.
Perhaps it was because there were traces of magic left here.
Animals instinctively avoided this place.
But this was ultimately just her speculation.
"My status has recovered."
Her SP was back to full.
Because she had eaten a full meal earlier,
she didn't feel hungry.
It was different from when she was in the village.
Even though the bird meat had been unpleasant,
it was able to fill her stomach.
Watery porridge couldn't fill a stomach.
"Escaping really was the right decision."
Though the future was uncertain,
at least she didn't have to go hungry anymore.
She counted the remaining bird eggs.
There were four left.
Though they were bird eggs,
they were larger than ordinary chicken eggs.
With her current appetite,
they could last her for two meals.
"But for now, I still need to look for food. However, it's almost evening, so I should wait until tomorrow to go out and explore."
Tsukasa lay in the tree hollow.
It wasn't exactly comfortable.
She thought she should find some dry grass to bring back tomorrow.
With nothing to do,
she calmed her mind to sense the magic power.
Perhaps she might even gain a new skill because of it.
When night fell,
the system's voice echoed in her ears.
Skill "As expected."
Si opened her eyes.
The effect of Meditation was to increase the MP limit and MP recovery speed; it could also restore MP when actively entering a meditative state.
For her, it was a very practical skill.