The Level 1 stag charged straight at me, and I met it head-on.
It dipped its head, horns aiming for my torso, but I leaned in, slamming my left shoulder into its skull. The impact nearly stopped us both in place, a shockwave rattling through my body.
My heart heated up, the core hungrily absorbing the energy.
I grinned.
"Give me more, little deer."
Stepping back, I turned and sprinted away. The stag roared and gave chase. Once I gained some distance, I stopped, pivoted, and charged again. My left shoulder met its skull once more—another brutal impact. My entire body trembled, but the heat inside my heart surged.
I glanced at my Essence store: 3/5.
That was enough. Without hesitation, I turned and bolted. But this time, instead of running straight, I kicked off a tree trunk, grabbed onto a branch, and climbed up, leaping between the trees.
I stopped and waited, watching the beast charge toward my tree. Just as it was about to reach me, I kicked off a branch from the opposite tree, using it as a pivot to rotate midair.
As I spun, I pushed two units of Essence into my right leg. A surge of energy flooded my muscles, making them denser and more compact, like coiled steel ready to explode with power.
The leg felt more powerful. And the pain flared instantly, hot and sharp but this time, I could manage it.
With all my momentum, I brought my leg down in a devastating axe kick, slamming it onto the stag's back.
Crack.
Its spine shattered under the impact. The beast buckled, its body collapsing as the force drove it into the ground.
I stood up limping. My leg hurt not as much as the right arm but still the essence transfer did burst some veins.
I took a deep breath and turned around. Only two level 0 stags were left.
A couple of good punches and a solid tackle later, I lay sprawled on the ground, the two dead stags beside me.
[Level Up!]
[Level 2 → Level 3]
"I guess that went well," I exhaled.
I took stock of my injuries, my right arm was completely unusable, and my left leg wasn't much better. My arms and chest were covered in cuts from the apes, and my shoulder throbbed from the repeated stag collisions.
Still, I raised my good hand in the air and did a tiny victory celebration.
That was one of the most thrilling fights I had ever been in. I had taken down a group of seven abominations alone. Even I could hardly believe it.
Grinning through the pain, I pulled up my status screen.
[Status]
-----------------------------------------
Name : Billion Ironhart
Race : Human
Class : N/A
Laws : N/A
Level : 3
Talent :
- Generator 1
- Essence : 2/5
Attributes :
- Strength: 15
- Constitution: 10.5
- Dexterity: 10
- Psynapse : 7
Unused Stats: 5
-----------------------------------------
My Essence was back at 2/5, and I still had 5 unused stat points. But I wasn't sure how to use them yet. I needed to come up with a strategy, what kind of fighter did I actually want to be?
Our stat distribution and the experiences we went through from Level 1 to Level 25 determined our class options.
If I wanted to focus on defense and become a tank, I'd have to invest in Constitution. If I aimed to be an assassin-type fighter, I'd need to pump my points into Dexterity.
And if I wanted a class that let me control elements in battle, I'd have to increase my Psynapse as much as possible then select a starting element class.
Before my talent awakened, I had planned to be a frontline fighter, always in the thick of battle. I liked getting my hands dirty, so my original plan was to focus on Strength and Dexterity and aim for a warrior-related class.
But now? Everything had changed.
This talent introduced Essence, and on top of that, it gave me extra attributes.
And then there was what my grandma said, my talent was called Generator, not Essence Generator. That had to mean there was more to it than I understood.
I exhaled.
"Too much to think about."
Shakily, I pushed myself to my feet, took one last look at the dead beasts, and started limping toward my abandoned bag.
After reaching it, I patched myself up with some temporary first aid, gulped down some water, and forced myself to move. My next goal was shelter, so I set off toward the hill in the distance.
It took me four hours of tracking, avoiding a couple of apes, stags, and even a herd of stinking boars, but I finally reached the base of the hill.
Along the way, I used 1.5 of my unused stats to boost my Constitution to 12, hoping to speed up my recovery.
I reached the base of the hill, every step sending a fresh wave of soreness through my body.
The terrain was rough, uneven, with jagged rocks and thick roots twisting over the ground. I needed shelter before nightfall, but so far, I hadn't spotted any caves. Even if I did, there was always the risk of something already living inside. I wasn't in the mood for another fight.
I kept moving, scanning the hillside for anything useful.
After what felt like an hour of searching, I finally found what I was looking for, a cave entrance partially hidden behind a cluster of boulders. It wasn't deep, maybe ten feet at most, but it was dry, and more importantly, empty. No bones, no foul smells, no signs of anything making this its home.
Still, I didn't trust it. I climbed a nearby tree, settling into a thick branch that gave me a clear view of the entrance. If anything lived there, it would come back eventually. I just had to wait.
Three hours passed. The sun dipped lower, the shadows stretched longer, but nothing showed up. No beasts, no movement, just the quiet rustling of leaves in the wind. That was enough for me.
Climbing down, I made my way back to the cave and grabbed a massive rock nearby. It was heavy, but I managed to drag it over to the entrance.
With a final push, I wedged it into place, sealing myself inside. The space instantly felt tighter, the air cooler. I let out a slow breath and slumped against the wall.
I slumped against the cool cave wall, letting out a long, exhausted sigh. My entire body ached like I had just been thrown from an aircraft. I glanced down at my bruises and cuts, shaking my head. There was the ankle, the right arm, the right leg and the shoulder.
"Well, Billion, you really outdid yourself today," I muttered.
"First, you get jumped by a pack of abominations. Then, you nearly get turned into roadkill by a bunch of angry stags. And to top it all off, you spend three hours sitting in a tree like some lost bird, waiting for a cave to tell you if it's haunted or not."
I rubbed my temples.
"And let's not forget, you reached Level 3 in a day! Yay! Amazing! Except, oh right, you also almost lost an arm in the process."
I raised my injured arm slightly before wincing.
"Yep, real smooth. Truly a warrior in the making."
I stared at the rock I had used to block the entrance.
"At least I had the genius idea to seal myself inside. If a beast does come sniffing around, it'll either think I'm not home or that I've buried myself alive. Either way, problem solved."
I exhaled, letting my head rest against the wall.
"Tomorrow's problems are for tomorrow. Right now, I just need to not die in my sleep. Preferably."
And with that, I closed my eyes, hoping I wouldn't wake up to something trying to eat me.