BLAIR | Chapters. 7 to 9 (Patreon)

Chapter. 7: Bitter Realization: Unrequited Struggle

I shook my head, it was pointless to think about the past. All I could do was think about my mistakes and not repeat them. But, now it wasn’t time for me to think. It was the time to survive. I knew I couldn’t kill the Knell Bear, but I had to at least scare it away. I aimed for its head but at that moment, it pounded the tree trunk. The string left my fingers prematurely from the fear of losing my footing on the tree branch.

The arrow zipped through the air, grazing its ear, embedding itself deep into its fur. The Knell Boar flinched and dug its claws onto the ground. Dust billowed forth. With a mighty roar and aura around its forelegs, it pounded the tree once more. Wood debris exploded as the trunk creaked. My heart pounded faster as I struggled to properly nock an arrow, the sinking feeling of my mistake returned like a looming threat. I aimed and shot. The arrow narrowly missed its eye and struck its shoulder blade. A cry of pain came along with a flinch, but it wasn’t enough.

The boar backed off as I prepared yet another arrow. I took a deep breath trying to calm myself, and aimed at its eye properly. If I took away its vision, then⁠— The boar charged, and my aim traced its linear path. The string snapped forth as pain flared through my fingers. The silvery streak passed through the wind and drew blood. But in spite of losing an eye, there was only a grunt of discomfort. Next came a bright orange flash⁠— it rammed into the tree. Creak after creak echoed in my ears, the trunk wobbled and toppled forward as I struggled to not fall outright. My mind rushed for answers as more wood snapped beneath me. A sea of trees encroached upon me as the ground came closer⁠— The trees.

With the feeble grip of my leather boots, and nothing but hopeful survival in my heart I jumped to the nearest tree. For a brief moment I felt as if I was flying before hitting the trunk and clinging on for my life. I could probably take the fall, but not with something that wanted to kill me so close. The tree fell as the branches and everything in its path snapped. Pain flared through my skin from the friction of my landing, the gritty tree bark and the fact that I held onto my bow did not do me any favors. Like a critter; weaving through the branches and leaves I found a new foothold. I looked towards the bear, only to see it searching and sniffing the air. It was meant to be a brief method of respite, but instead I used it to analyze my situation.

To continue or not to continue fighting? I bit my lip. The logical thing to do was to clearly just escape and run away now that it was distracted, but… I wasn’t okay with that. The thought of retreating after injuring it was… humiliating. I was the one who started it⁠—

[Blair!] Glim called out for the millionth time. This time however, I actually looked at it. [Finally! Listen to me! As your SGA it is my duty to tell you it isn’t worth it! Just look, you can run now and come back to kill it later. Once you’re stronger! If you attempt it now in your current condition the likelihood of you dying is sky-high!] Glim pleaded, but I shook my head. Hearing it, I couldn’t help but feel anger. The more he talked the angrier I got. [Blair, listen to me! You have a bright future ahead, once this whole planet thing is over, once this⁠— everything is over. If you keep up your current growth and mentality, you⁠— you’ll be at least⁠—] He shook. [It will be a life of luxury in the future!]

“If I run away now, then it would be as if nothing changed.” I gnashed my teeth.  “It would be the same as being in that bush and watching my home be burnt. The same as watching my fellow kin die.” I took a deep breath and raised my bow. ”I cannot do that. I cannot go back to that.”

Every logical part of my being told me how reckless I was being, but the sheer thought of running away reminded me of the ashes falling from the sky. Reminded me of the powerlessness I felt at that moment. I am not the same Blair as before. The arrow was ready to be fired. I am different now, I am… stronger. I narrowed my eyes looking at the Knell Boar and waited.

The beast sniffled the air, my bow string trembled from the built up tension. Just wait a bit more. My target ⁠— the Knell Boar ⁠— turned around and sniffled in my direction before looking up and locking his single eye onto me. At that moment, my muscles tensed and I felt the world slow down, it was subtle but it was enough. I felt as if my next shot was going to be perfect. I fired.

The arrow streaked through a branch and spun midair, in an instant it connected with the nuzzle of the Knell Boar, right through its nose. It shrieked and staggered, blood spluttered forth as I drew back the string with another arrow ready. The beast shook to try to get rid of the arrow stuck in its face, but to no avail. I shot once more feeling the same confidence as before. The arrow passed and nailed the back of its throat. It attempted to roar but to no avail. It clawed its face to try to remove the arrow. I can do it. I smiled.

The arrow in its nose was removed with a tug from its claws, blood gushed forth as its limbs trembled. But at that moment, it looked back at me, and his tusks emitted an orange glow. I fired another arrow aiming for its remaining eye. The Knell Boar flicked with his tusk and the arrow exploded into tiny metal splinters, giving me pause. It’s going to charge again. The beast charged, but in a different direction⁠— What? It crashed against a nearby tree, over half of its trunk depth splintered away, felling it in an instant.

It continued and hit another tree, destroying it much the same. It locked into the nearest tree to that one. I drew a sharp breath realizing what it was doing ⁠— It was destroying all the nearby trees ⁠— perhaps it wasn’t its goal at all, and it was too crazed to do anything, but I wasn’t going to risk it. I nocked an arrow and aimed at its weakest visible spot, the neck. As soon as I locked in on it, the string was let go. The arrow zipped, and hit its neck but the beast didn’t even flinch as it rammed into yet another tree.

I grunted and prepared another arrow.

◇ ◇ ◇

Blood stained the grass in a deep crimson. Arrow after arrow was fired, to no avail. No matter how many arrows were embedded into its body, tree after tree fell. Its momentum didn’t stop. My heart beat faster and faster as I realized that I was running out of arrows. No matter how much I fired, no matter how many injuries it got, it simply kept its momentum. Until finally, the nearest tree I could reasonably jump to fell. It slowly turned towards me.

I am done for. Those were the only words in my mind as I aimed another arrow. The beast rushed as I let go of the bowstring. Its tusks began to glow once more, though I noticed they were beginning to crack. Not like I could do anything with the information. I fired. The boar dodged. The arrow missed and embedded itself into its thigh, its charge not stopping. As I nocked another arrow, the tree shook as splinters flew from beneath. I aimed as the trunk began to topple, and fired once more. The arrow flew and hit its shoulder blade, but it did not change anything as its red eye stared at me with all the rage in the world. I removed my quiver and held it within my hand as well as its arrows. The tree fell down. I jumped and rolled, making sure to  not lose arrows.

I looked towards the boar only to see it charging at me, with its mouth wide open. I passed my quiver through my right arm, and with an arrow in hand I aimed once more. The arrow was shot, hitting its throat and it staggered. However, it recovered quickly and upon locking its eye on me, it seemed to make a resolution as it snorted orange light. Once again its tusks began to glow, and not a second later it broke into a charge. I couldn’t fire another arrow. I lunged the bow over my shoulder, and dodged to my left. The quiver dangled. In a split second I saw its eye narrow and a sharp turn was made. The boar hit the quiver and me included with lingering momentum. I saw the quiver bend from the strength, and soon the remainder of the impact hit me.

Shock traveled through my body, weightlessness took over as I went flying my entire arm throbbed in pain⁠— numbed in its entirety. How did its charge hurt so much⁠— I caught my thoughts as I realized that trees were getting destroyed with a single charge. A brief period of realization ensued as I hit the ground, my body rolled with pain rebounding throughout. My right arm was numbed in its entirety, though not broken. What was I thinking? My confidence, and my resolution to fight evaporated in an instant. I stopped the rolling and hastily stood up, looking around. A thirty-meter clearing was devoid of trees, only its stumps left in its stead. Splinters and trunks littered the ground, and in the middle of it. The Knell Boar turned towards me. My blood ran cold.

If I run away now, then it would be as if nothing changed. I remembered the things I told Glim. But now I felt as if I was awake. No longer drunk with my own capabilities.

I had grown stronger, but it didn’t mean I was invincible. I took a deep breath to try to think rationally, quickly realizing that my only choice was to run away. I had no arrows, and fighting the Knell Boar with my knife was nothing but suicidal. The same choice that would’ve made me scoff minutes ago, was now as sweet as honey. There was nothing wrong with running away. As the boar charged, I turned around and began to run.

It followed after me, its pace slightly faster than mine. Was it too late? I asked myself as branches cracked under our feet. And then I saw more trees, it was a forest. I had an idea. One that would’ve made me want to cry a few minutes before.

I ran into a tree, and narrowly sidestepped it, only grazing it with my arm. Sudden burning pain flared, and the echo of broken wood reached my ears. Perhaps… I could run should it get tired after breaking so many trees.

Minutes passed. Dozens of trees fell as my complexion worsened. My entire being couldn’t help but blame itself for my situation. A situation that I had created myself. A situation that never would’ve happened if I didn’t thirst for levels so much. I knew why I had stopped aiming at its eye⁠— It didn’t work the first time. But it was deeper. I didn’t want to blind it, I didn’t want to run from it.

I panted and the boar did not seem to be stopping. I circled a tree as the boar struggled to keep up with me from the turn. The trees had clearly started to get less damaged as they took more and more time to fall. But so what, it only made it much more hazardous, and the chase much more perilous. Being crushed to death would surely kill me⁠— it would kill the boar too! Kill the bear? I circled yet another tree. It seemed fixated on chasing me to the ends of eternity, it would not let go of me no matter what. The problem was how to get a tree to fall on it?

No matter how I thought about it, there was no way for it to stop, unless it included me getting injured in some way. I slipped as I tried to dodge once more, the boar rammed into the tree narrowly missing me. Splinters flew in every direction as I quickly made a decision inside my head. Was this how I was going to die? I gripped onto my knife, and before it could begin charging I lunged at its head. The tree creaked, and its tusks flicked upwards piercing my stomach with small resistance. I gnashed my teeth from the pain and stabbed its other eye with the knife.

The boar shrieked, using its temporary stagger I managed to climb onto its neck. Arrows filled its body, but that didn’t matter. I stabbed its neck, feeling incredible resistance before piercing. It continued to bellow in pain as it tried to throw me off. As my knife sliced through its neck the tree began to fall. My heart rushed to remove the knife but it was stuck. The boar jumped as I was letting go of the knife. Its orange-clad tusk banged my left arm, a mighty snap resounded through the forest, and with a cloud of dust the tree fell. A death squeal resounded.

My head felt dizzy, and my vision was blurred as I looked ahead. I could see the silhouette of the tree, and as it cleared the Knell Boar was slammed between it and the ground. It panted heavily as blood pooled. It wasn’t dead? I felt nervousness as I approached it. In its reflection I saw me⁠—

A dark elf girl, trembling with blood all over her face and arms. My golden eyes stared full of tears and despair, and my raven hair disheveled. Nothing had changed. I grabbed the dagger with some struggle, feeling the shaking from my right arm, and stabbed⁠— stabbed, stabbed⁠— stabbed. I was the same girl. I was powerless. I was a nobody. Revenge against the elves? When I was going to get myself killed by an animal just because I was too impulsive? I continued stabbing with tears in my eyes.

I didn’t know how long it passed, but eventually it drew its final breath.

[You have killed: (D) Knell Boar. Lvl 7.]

A dry laugh left my lips as the level ups came.

[For killing a being of a higher order bonus experience has been rewarded. Bonus added to Quest targets.]

[Level up: You have achieved level 4.]

[Level up: You have achieved level 5.]

[Level up: You have achieved level 6.]

Normally the levels would’ve been a joyous surprise, but this time around I couldn’t help but dryly laugh. I had gotten a Feat too and something else, but I ignored them. I laughed and collapsed on my legs. Exhaustion washing over me.

How could I be so stupid?

Things filled my mind, but in the end all I did was stare at the sky. I shouldn’t have gotten rewarded. I stared at the ground and began to sob. I almost died. I was scared. Mother, Father, please forgive this daughter of yours for almost dying. I could almost see their worried faces. I stared at the levels once again.

Just what was I thinking? Hadn’t I listened to The System too easily? Every part of my being had told me it was the key to revenge. It was the key to do everything and achieve impossibility. And perhaps that was the truth. I looked at the Knell Boar once again. But I wasn’t going to achieve anything like this.

Why hadn’t I just listened to Glim? I asked myself, I had lost track of it. I missed Glim…

Light gathered to my side and a ball came to be. [Fret not, I am here!] It chirped with all the enthusiasm in the world. [Eh, what happened to you? Oh right, Knell Bear! I told you it was a D-rank beast and you ignored me. Most of its stats are double yours, you know!]

Normally I would’ve scoffed, but I just nodded at Glim. I was stupid.

[You’re lucky you’re not dead!] It finally said in reprimand.

“I know,” I cried. “I know…” I stared at my bloodied fingers, tears running through my eyes. What had happened to me? I wanted to survive and I wanted to enact revenge. But⁠— why did I never run when given the chance? I had changed, but perhaps, it wasn’t for the best.

[Please… Blair, stop crying! This impulsiveness of yours isn’t abnormal, most integrated have the same issue. The System urges you to be stronger. It’s only natural it offers mental assistance.]

I paused. It what?

Glim bobbed up and down repeatedly, shaking as it did so. [Yes, don’t worry about it! It was classified information, but after Voting Interference it was allowed! So just calm down and things will go back to normal! Now that you know the issue, you can just relax, right?]

Normal? That was… normal? Relax?  I felt rage building up inside me as my crying ceased.

“You… brainwashed me?”

[No, no! It’s simple assistance! It just amplifies your desires and suppresses your fears! Nothing else nothing more! Please trust me on this one.] Glim pleaded, and a sigh left me feeling unsure about what it was saying. Could I really blame The System? I did not feel manipulated.

What was this world, what was… The System? Perhaps Glim was lying, perhaps it wasn’t, I could never know.

[I am not lying!]

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Chapter. 8: Interlude: Glimmering
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There was no Voting Interference, there was no classified information. But Glim did everything it could to calm her companion down. Even if it meant lying to her. Even if it meant shamelessly saying it wasn’t lying. Glim didn’t care for the perception she held of it. But every part of its being told it to not allow her to cry about the things she had done. About the impulsiveness that was nothing but her own decision. Glim had seen her very early onto her journey, nothing but a few hours into it since she was Integrated, yet in its countless years of being an SGA and its countless memory wipes. It had never seen anything like her before.

There were countless things about her, but one thing was a first for The System. An Initiated whose race was gone before Integration. She would’ve gotten an amazing Feat for it, unfortunately The System couldn’t grant things that didn’t exist outside its jurisdiction, nor could it judge them. Though Glim couldn’t really mention it to her, or even attempt to unfortunately. Such was the way of restricted information. At least, it hoped that should The System cease to be, Blair would be happy that her strength would remain.

But being a survivor alone wasn’t enough. No, it would never be impressed by such things. Her courage, if impulsive, was remarkable. Though Glim seriously doubted she wanted to avenge her own family. Of course, Glim never laid eyes on her past aside from hearing it from her thoughts. But most of the time it felt as if she used revenge as an excuse to move forward. Something that while not abnormal, was certainly not good.

Which brought it back to its main priority. As an SGA its job was to help nurture. Of course, every SGA had the same job and every SGA had varied amounts of success. But that was not important. The important part was not letting her be depressed and scared, the important part was getting her to top shape so she can continue living. And eventually nurtured into greatness. It couldn’t allow that, it couldn’t allow her to wallow on her actions. It was a prime directive that told Glim so.

[Blair, for now just drink a potion, please!] Glim pleaded, all of it sincere. He feared for her life more often than not. She glared at it with her mistiful golden eyes bloodlust present. [Don’t look at me like that! Just drink the potion. Or I will be forced to forcefully administer it!]

Blair sighed and uncorked one of the vials, much to Glim’s relief. She drank it in silence as Glim floated up and down, wondering what to do now ⁠— how to encourage her. She had finished Ecology Dissection, now she just had to claim the rewards. Unfortunately, Glim also knew talking about The System itself would do nothing but sour its mood. Glim zoomed into her thoughts only to find her pondering about the veracity of his claims, and weighing whether or not she had been brainwashed. It knew it wasn’t going to be easy to convince her otherwise, but this was frankly ridiculous. How couldn’t she trust it? Glim, the System Generated Assistant that had done its utmost best to assist her in all the possible ways! It had even informed her of danger!

[Blair, believe in me.] Glim finally said. She stopped thinking and looked at it.

“You seem awfully fixated on making me believe you this time around.” She said with a frown.

Glim paused with slight shock and once again listened to her memories. Hatred. Nothing but anger at it and The System. It shook for a second. And finally, it all went away like a flash, a sigh leaving her.

“Glim,” she spoke in a tired voice. “This is an order, does The System genuinely help or affect the mental state?”

It shook trying its best to resist the absolute, but to no avail. Against its very being, Glim began speaking. It was conflicting, it was going to be the best SGA, but as a good SGA it also listened to its orders dutifully. It couldn’t resist.

[It does not…] Glim said with a voice full of shame, quickly recovering. [Blair, why did you have to… order… It’s not right, you could’ve just blamed it on me, blamed it on The System⁠— something without feelings and only goals. You could’ve just said it took your life just like many others, but instead you decided to… force me to…]

Blair shook her head. “My mistakes should be mine and mine alone.” Glim paused, seeing a tear form in her eye. “I could’ve found solace in the fact that The System was the reason. But the elves once upon a time said that we were bloodthirsty and a sin against nature. Well…” She trailed off. “They said a lot of things. In comparison to other elves we always hunted and ate meat, I never thought of it but our warriors always seemed excited for battle. Perhaps I am simply like that…” She said her shoulders slumped and her ears also followed.

Glim thought for a few moments, trying to come up with a response ⁠— parsing through millions upon millions of stupid snarky comments and dumb things to cheer her up. But in the end, it couldn’t find anything.

[Are you okay with being like that?] It finally asked.

Blair slowly shook her head. “No I am not.”

Glim paused once again, same process, same result. Defaulting to using its own logic for once.

[Do you want to change that?]

Blair slowly nodded, and Glim felt hope at the end of the tunnel.

[Then I know the recipe just for you!] It defaulted to stupid results once again, it had to be cheerful and endearing after all! [Fight, fight, fight! That is all you must do! No wait⁠—] That didn’t make sense. It couldn’t parse a response or continuation to fix things either. Pausing for a few moments. [Blair, if you want to move forward from the Knell Boar, and the impulsive thoughts then you must continue to face them. But with me by your side, without… blocking me off.]

Glim sighed, sometimes it could speak and be helpful, and sometimes it could speak and not be helpful. It was beginning to notice a trend; everytime it borrowed from the database Blair seemed to be more upset more often than not⁠— actually it seemed to be a common report, but it was never fixed. Huh. That was odd. Glim paused and sent a report to The System, hopefully it would reply soon.

Blair slowly nodded once again, her drooping ears becoming straight once more. Glim shook, impressed at what Blair was.

A twenty-two year old elf. A species whose archetypes wete known for reaching adulthood at the age of twenty-five-plus. Yet Blair behaved like one even if she was about a head shorter than most elves. Glim admired her in an odd way, but admired her nonetheless. Due to her age, even while being an E-grade race, her stats had been barely corrected to average after her integration. Glim looked at the Knell Boar, though from the outside it seemed as if nothing changed for he was just as light.

A D-grade beast slayed by an E-grade of a lower level. Even if two races started at level one, there was bound to be a huge disparity between the two depending on their grade. Needless to say it was a feat in itself, a very rare one. Though, Blair wasn’t ready to deal with things of The System.

“Glim,” Blair called. “Is there a way you can help with my impulsiveness?”

[I can forcefully be un-ignored or force you to pay attention to me, if that is what you desire. Anything else goes against The System.] Glim sighed, though no sound was produced. [SGAs cannot assist the physical world so I cannot forcefully stop you.]

“What about the potion,” she asked with confusion.

[An exception.]

“Of course,” she let out a long breath. “Glim, this is an order. Whenever I am being unreasonable, forcefully make me pay attention to you. No brainwashing, just… make it so I actually listen to you and not…” She scratched her cheek in awkwardness. “Filter you out.”

Glim shook, processing the order, before bobbing in excitement. [Looks like you can finally trust me! I trust myself, so trust me that trust in you, who trusts in me! An infinite trust loop! What was all the self-doubt for? With me here, you shall soar in this wide universe!]

Blair smiled. Much evident to Glim, her internal struggles vanishing. “In the end, I was born a battle maniac, huh?” She chuckled to herself. Glim wanted to ask, but found it inappropriate. She was in a period of acceptance after all. So Glim did what Glim did best.

It took over her quests and analyzed the after-effects of completing the Ecology Dissection. He could choose any type of kill quests for Blair, but quickly decided on the best one. One that would allow her to grow at her own rate.

> Quest after Ecology Dissection has been queued. Quest shall be instantly accepted upon receiving rewards from previous quest.

[Ecology Dissection II (Common F): When in a strange land, one must first investigate. Reward: 3 Shards of Ambition. Condition: Kill Beasts of equal or greater level than you. (0/10)

Perhaps it could’ve chosen a more difficult quest. Something that could help her soar much faster. But it refrained. Glim simply knew better, because at the end of the day, in spite of being Cheerful and Endearing, it was still an Assistant first and foremost. Helping Blair was its duty, or at least until the tour ended. But should it deem it important enough, it could request⁠— no. That was too far into the future. It looked at Blair, the elven girl. One whose race was gone, yet she seemed to be happy at the moment. Indeed, now all it had to do was be a good companion.

And Glim would be the best companion.

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Chapter. 9: Skills & Mana
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Born for battle? I had heard an idiom like that in the past. Though I never took it too seriously, even if us Dark elves had an unorthodox lifestyle compared to every other species of elf. But it seemed that their words of accusation had some hint of truth to them, or at least applied to me. Still, The System did not affect me. Everything I had done so far was… my own decision. I took a deep breath.

I felt lost, I kept convincing myself about revenge, however… Was fighting the Knell Boar in the name of revenge? Not really… I felt ashamed at the idea of running away. It made me feel as if nothing had changed, as if I was still the same girl hiding away in a bush ⁠— hoping for my family to survive, hoping that the elves do not find me.

I stared at the corpse of the Knell Boar. Crushed under a tree whose weight I couldn’t fathom. Its diameter, thick and alien to me. It could crush a tree so thick in an instant with a single charge. I stared at my arms, my left arm was broken, but it slowly started to heal after the potion. My right arm had healed from it, but still felt lingering pain. The wound on my abdomen had closed and my bleeding had stopped. Still, that left me with one potion left.

I stared at the ground, the grass was brown and mangled. I had to be more careful from now on. Impulsiveness was going to get me killed. Only one potion left. I had used one from the Everwood Moose, and one more from the Knell Boar⁠— a trend was there. Though the Everwood Moose was unexpected, the Boar was my fault. I shook my head, feeling shame for myself. I still wanted to survive for the sake of my family. Revenge was… I didn’t know what I was doing, but staying alive was the least I could do.

With that in mind I took a quick look at my situation. I had lost practically all my arrows, the only ones remaining were inside the boar. The knife was with the boar as well. My bow was intact, and I had one potion left. I stared at myself and my blood covered body. What was I even doing? No, that was enough doubt. Part of my mind told me I was wasting time idly pondering about my life choices, but I felt it necessary; that said it was better for me to do something with my time. With that in mind, I began to gather my things. Firstly approaching the boar.

[Blair!] Glim called. [I am aware you’re em… doing things, but perhaps take a look at the System Log first?]

“System Log?”

Glim bobbed. [Yes, just think you want to see the System Log! You’ll see a list of the most recent notifications from The System. Useful to well⁠— check rewards!]

I nodded skeptically. Why wasn’t this included in the Basic Knowledge? No, that wasn’t important. I did as told, thinking about The System, and the notifications I had missed.

[System Log:

[Skills Available: Expand (1 New)]

[Feats Achieved: Expand (1 New)]

[Quests completed: Expand (1 New)]

[Level ups: Expand.]

[Kills: Expand.]

Oh. Everything was expandable? It arranged it all in a small list that could be expanded. I quite liked it, mostly because it was⁠— well it was in my mind. Unlike the quests that I could also reference with my eyes, this one was just internal. I thought about expanding the feats category only to be mentally prompted to either check everything, or the new one. There were no words, just a nagging feeling. New. A notification came.

[Feat Achieved ⁠— Bottomless Ambition ⁠— Things of your size are never enough, instead you aim to bring down those above you. +5% to all attributes. +4 Free assignable attribute points.

“Ambition is great, but meeting your match is the worst. This is my mark for eternity.” ⁠— Arkan The Bastion of Shadow, Last Bastion of the Shadow Order.]

I stared. Feats could give attribute points too? I read the quote at the end but didn’t know what to make of it. As I was about to open my status I remembered the other expandable list. In an instant another notification came.

[New Milestone reached ⁠— Skills Available]

That was all it said. Where were my skill options?

[These are the most suited skills for you:

[Skill ⁠— Archery (Passive Common) ⁠— Your path is just beginning as a master of the bow. Minute perception and accuracy bonus based on your agility.

[Skill ⁠— One-handed Weapons (Passive Common) ⁠— Your path is just beginning as a master of melee combat. Minute strength and agility bonus when engaged in close combat.

[Skill ⁠— Explosive Shot (Rare) ⁠— Overcharge your shot to unleash a highly volatile projectile. Small agility bonus shortly after firing.

[Skill ⁠— Nimble (Uncommon Passive) ⁠— Skulk, stalk, and move. +3 to Agility (Scaleable)

[Skill ⁠— Whisperer of Trees (Rare Passive) ⁠— Trees shall help you in unforeseeable ways. Bonus to all stats when touching a tree.]

I paused. There was a Rare skill, the problem was it seemed… weird. It also counted on me being surrounded by trees at all times, which was just hopeful thinking. I sighed, the destruction around me was more than evident, even if I had the skill I doubted that my fight would’ve been easier. Moreover, why was there an Archery skill? Could I combine them?

[You cannot.] Glim interrupted.

I scoffed. “Okay, but these options aren’t… great.”

Glim bobbed. [You could see the full list of what you could pick, but I highly advise against it. A lot of the skills are quite useless for you, some are skewed due to your Feats. Such as: High Jump, a rare skill that adds 20% to your jump height, or Tough Hide⁠— you get the point. There is one that lets you call all the bugs in a certain radius; mind you, you only call them, not tame them or anything.]

I paused. “Those exist?”

Glim spun. [As your SGA I should advise you that the suggestions from The System tend to be accurate. Of course, if you feel like no skill is worth your time you can look in the myriad that is the universal list of available skills. But I suggest doing so when having free time, since the list is in the hundreds.]

I frowned and stared at the skills once more. On one hand I could take a look at the list and hope to find something useful. On the other I could pick from the pre-selected skills and hope they would be a fit. Considering it depended on my future I made my choice.

“I’d like to see the extended list.” I took a deep breath.

[Brace yourself. Monsters will not approach due to the destruction.]

A seemingly endless string of letters entered my head in an instant. It felt as if my brain had been hammered and shaken in its place. The sides of my head screamed in pain, as more and more information came.

◇ ◇ ◇

I didn’t faint. That said, Glim was pretty much right on a lot of things being useless. It took me about an hour of reading to skim through them. Some examples included:

[Skill ⁠— Basic Silver Whisperer (Common) ⁠— Your voice is as sweet as nectar. +5 Charm, minute chance to sleep the target if they are in a vulnerable state.

[Skill ⁠— One-handed (Passive Common) ⁠— Your path is just beginning as a master of melee combat. Small strength and agility bonus when engaged in close combat at the price of your arm.

[Skill ⁠— Dislocation (Passive Common) ⁠— Dislocating your limbs is much easier and less painful. The resistance between your joints is lessened and so is their stress.]

The list went on, but at least I managed to gather an actual list of the skills I could pick from. Some of which were already in the initial selection.

[Skill ⁠— Explosive Shot (Rare) ⁠— Overcharge your shot to unleash a highly volatile projectile. Small agility bonus shortly after firing.

[Skill ⁠— Nimble (Uncommon Passive) ⁠— Skulk, stalk, and move. +3 to Agility (Scaleable)

[Skill ⁠— Battle Cry (Rare) ⁠— Call the attention of every single living entity on a 5m radius. Friend of foe, all shall attack you.]

[Skill ⁠— Shadow Steps (Uncommon) ⁠— Your steps are quiet and nimble, soft as feathers. Makes your steps marginally lighter. +5 to Agility.]

I was honestly quite pleased with my selection of skills, or the custom selection I had found. However, there was something that I found confusing. A lot of the skills were passive. Instead of well, not passive. Active? Something that I had to consciously use from what I loosely remembered.

“Glim…” I called. “Well I think you know what I am thinking.”

Glim shook. [Not at all, I wasn’t paying attention! It’s a conscious thing I must do!]

Oh, that was reassuring, somewhat. “Why are so many skills passive? I think that was the most common thing.”

[Well, you see. Mana is ever-present but not every being can use mana. Passive skills do not require mana, but active ones generally do. Of course, it’s not to say Passive skills are inherently worse, they are just different. Just like me, I am different! I am your companion!] Glim explained.

“I see, thanks.” I nodded, before turning my attention to the skills.

[Skill ⁠— Shadow Steps (Uncommon)] and [Skill ⁠— Nimble (Uncommon Passive)] allowed me to move faster, which… Well Agility had been my highest stat since the start, and at this moment I did not feel like it was essential to me at this moment. Though if I could choose them in the future I would. At this moment I was lacking something for battle. Well, I just needed to stay alive, but… I shook my head, I already knew the answer. I did not want to hide. I needed the strength to live a normal life⁠— whatever that normal meant now.

That led me to the other two options. [Skill ⁠— Battle Cry (Rare)] and [Skill ⁠— Explosive Shot (Rare)] Battle Cry a Rare skill, something that came after Uncommon, or a higher tier⁠— something powerful, but… Drawing enemies and allies alike? Not that I had allies, but it seemed more useful to me if I were to use a knife rather than a bow. Which… I looked around and finally, at the boar. Might be the case.

That finally left me with, [Skill ⁠— Explosive Shot (Rare)], something that was admittedly cryptic. But not much more cryptic than a lot of the other skills. Even if the other skills explained what they did, it was still inconcrete; just a general idea. But I needed an offensive skill⁠— something that helped me take down foes like the Knell Boar or the Everwood Moose with much more ease. Right now what I lacked was fire-power. Not agility for running away, nor a skill to help me with nearby foes.

With that in mind, I selected that skill. Even though it wasn’t the shiniest of them all, nor the most powerful objectively speaking.

[Skill Learned⁠—

I ignored the rest of the notification knowing what it said already, and moved onto my status. I had points to distribute.

Name: Blair | Level: 6

Race: ??? (E-Grade)

Feats: [Lone Survivor], [Bottomless Ambition]

Basic skills: Universal Understanding (NaN),

Universal Inquiry (NaN)

Free attribute points: 10

VIG: 26 | END: 36 |

STR: 23 | AGI: 41 |

PER: 35 | WIS: 13 |

Skills: [Proficient Archery (Passive Uncommon)], [Explosive Shot (Rare)]

Attunements: Dark plants (I)

Prime Currency: 100

10 points. I smiled. Vigor had helped me a lot in the last fight, so I put 4 points into it. Making it an even 30 ⁠— which got bumped to 31. Aside from that, I felt lost. Something about putting all 10 into Vigor felt wrong to me. That left me with 6 points. Which I didn’t really know where to invest. I didn’t feel like I was lacking in any way for now, at least from what I could tell. I shook my head and closed my inventory, thinking about using the points later. At the same time, I had spent a long time dealing with system notifications. In retrospect they were kind of tedious, but it was something that needed to be done. Perhaps I was going to get used to it later.

Well, now there were other things I had to do. With that in mind, I headed to the boar, its blood still fresh. I grabbed my knife, cleaned it and stowed it away. Next came the arrows, unlodging them from its body took me a couple of seconds per arrow. The boar’s hide was tough, extremely so. It felt like touching a leather covered stone rather than something organic. As the process continued the more disillusioned I felt, I only gathered the arrows whose bodies were still straight.

In the end I gathered about six arrows. My clothes had ended up in a worse state than before, but they were at least still usable. Enough for modesty at least. But it also served as a reminder that I needed new clothes soon. I shook my head, I needed more arrows to get things done. Making my own arrows was out of the question, as much as I wished I could just make more.

Where had I used arrows? I retreaded my path of destruction. Taking in the sheer amount of trees that had been destroyed, wood and blood filled the place with the occasional broken arrow.

Few minutes later, I had gathered two arrows and was back at the lake. Where I saw the Loa Vulpes that I had killed. They still had arrows in them. Which I gathered as soon as I was next to them. That left me with eleven total arrows. It was a far-cry to before but I was just happy I was still going to be able to use my bow.

I sighed next to the campsite. The destruction to one side of the forest was so painfully obvious. I turned to the Loa Vulpe wondering what to do with them, perhaps I could skin them and make new clothes⁠— though I doubted if I’d be able to do that. So I had gotten into a fight, lost a bunch of arrows, gained some levels and a new skill from the boar. What a way to go. I paused, not everything was a miss, I could still try my new skill, and after that I could deal with quests.

I set all my arrows but one on the ground, given that my quiver had been smashed into nothingness. And then grabbed my bow. I nocked an arrow and aimed at a fish that swam in the distance, it was about 10 meters away, since I wanted to be able to retrieve the arrow after the fact.

As I aimed I had a weird feeling in my head, it was like an instinct. Was this the skill? An almost imperceptible instinct arrived at my head, it was like knowledge, but not quite. I listened to it and followed the strange feeling, gathering unknown energy inside of me I guided it to my fingers⁠— moving it through my body felt as if warmth went from my very core to my arm, which was odd. Said warmth never existed for me before, yet it was as if I was suddenly aware of it. As my fingers got heated up, I tried to spread that heat towards the arrow.

In a short second, the arrow began to glow a bright green. Was this the skill?

[Good job Blair, that is indeed the skill! You picked it up faster than I anticipated. I was giddy thinking you’d ask for guidance!] Glim confirmed it.

I got familiar with the warmth I was feeling, and then let go of the arrow.

An unknown shock rippled, I lost my footing making me fall into my back two meters from where I was standing. Why had I been sent back?

[That was recoil.] Glim explained.

The arrow streaked through the air. As soon as it made contact with the water, an explosion occurred. Water erupted onto the air, the watery torrent rose to triple my height before it came down, and mist lingered. The calm lake water continued to rage from the disturbance. The fish was gone, erased from existence; the arrow much the same. It was reminiscent to the trees blowing up.  I had done that? My fingers felt cold, and slightly pained from the string. The warmth that I felt in my body had been reduced considerably. Was this mana?