After cooking and eating the meat he had stolen from the Gloomkin yesterday, Kael had slept better than he had in days. Even with the clear sounds of predators moving through the night, none had come near his treehouse. That, in itself, was strange. The first night, he encountered the panther-like beast that had nearly ended his life, but since then, he hadn’t seen anything like it. He suspected the presence of the Gloomkin had something to do with it. Their numbers likely made this section of the forest less appealing to solitary predators, during both the daytime and the nights. He still remembered the first Gloomkin he saw wandering in the night. He guessed only the truly desperate or particularly aggressive beasts would linger around this area.
That was good for him, but it wasn’t what he was here to think about.
He turned his attention back to the tree, refocusing on why he had come here in the first place. He opened his Status page and brought up his skill list.
[Skills]
Essence Shaper – Rank 1
(Allows the user to shape, reinforce, and manifest Essence-based constructs. Current efficiency: 10%.)
Body Reinforcement – Rank 1
(Allows the user to Temporarily enhance and reinforce their body using essence. Depending on the amount of essence used.)
His eyes locked onto the second skill.
All this time, he had thought he was working on the Essence Shaper skill, specifically the reinforcement aspect of it. He had assumed that channeling energy into his muscles was the first step in learning how to shape essence properly. But he had been completely wrong.
His experimentation had led to something entirely new.
The realization sent a wave of frustration through him. He had been at square one with Essence Shaper all along. Kael guessed that the one time he had actually done something related to it was forming that tiny, unstable sphere of Essence. On the one hand, he was glad he wasn't considered an essence-based construct, but on the other hand, he had no fucking clue about where to go now.
Still, that wasn’t the only revelation. A thought struck him as he remembered something from the day before—the moment when he lost control of the floating sphere, and it fell, touching the wooden plank inside his treehouse.
For a brief second, the wood had glowed. Not only that but when he had touched the spot, it had felt different.
That… could be the reinforcement aspect of the skill.
His pulse quickened at the possibility. But as tempting as it was to investigate, he wasn’t here for that. Not yet. He needed to focus on his actual goal for the morning.
Kael exhaled slowly and turned back to the tree. He tightened his grip on the antler blade, its weight familiar in his grasp. If the Body reinforcement skill was now officially part of his repertoire, then he needed to understand what had changed compared to before.
To start, he tested the blade against the bark. With a slow, controlled motion, he sliced into the tree. The result surprised him.
Even though he had put only a small amount of force behind the cut, the blade bit deeper than expected. The wound on the tree was clean and noticeable—far more than what he had anticipated.
Frowning, Kael opened his Stats page to check something.
He had gained 4 points in Strength since arriving. That was a significant jump from the 8 he started with. He hadn’t felt twice as strong, but he was definitely stronger than before. The ease with which he had cut the tree confirmed that.
Satisfied with the baseline test, he gritted his teeth and slashed at the tree with full force.
The blade bit in deeper into the tough wood—around two centimeters.
Not bad. Now for the real test. Kael took a deep breath and focused, pulling Essence from his core. He directed it into his right arm, the same way he had done before in battle. The familiar warmth spread through his muscles, enhancing them. A faint, nearly invisible blue sheen flickered over his skin. He swung again.
THUNK.
The blade sank three centimeters deep.
A clear improvement. The difference between enhanced and unenhanced strikes was noticeable, even though the boost wasn’t overwhelming. But the true benefit wasn’t just the added force—it was that his body moved smoother and faster when enhanced. Even if the strength boost wasn’t massive, the agility and fluidity of his movements made up for it. And he suspected that flesh would be much easier to go through, as shown by the Gloomkin.
Kael flexed his fingers and carefully cut off the flow of Essence—this time, instead of just abruptly stopping, he willed it to return to his core in a controlled maner.
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The pain didn’t come.
His eyes widened slightly at the realization. By treating the connection as a string—something that needed to be retracted instead of severed—he had avoided the usual backlash. That’s it… He was starting to understand how to manipulate Essence without harming himself in the process.
Encouraged, he decided to experiment further. He closed his eyes and focused inward, trying to “sense” his new skill. He hoped for something—anything—that would give him more insight. But all he got was a vague confirmation of what he already knew and had done to get the skill. He opened his eyes, frustrated. It wasn’t much of a revelation. Still, he pressed on.
Kael spent the rest of the morning practicing. He didn't fully know how he was going to do the reinforcement part of this skill either so he focused on what he could do for now. He enhanced different limbs one at a time, methodically testing the effects. His left arm reacted the same as his right, the power increased uniformly across both. Same for his legs. He also noticed the speed at which he stepped to push off the ground being enhanced when he reinforced his legs. Which he suspected would let him run faster and his legs feel more responsive than usual when he could enhance both legs at the same time.
That could be useful in a fight.
One thing he refused to try, though, was enhancing his head. He didn’t even want to imagine what could happen if something went wrong.
Next, he tried something new. After all the skill description had said it was meant to enhance the body, not a limb.
So instead of enhancing one limb, he attempted to enhance two at once by splitting the tendril of Essence coming from his core. The moment he tried, he felt the difficulty.
The tendril wobbled unsteadily, unable to divide properly. One side received too much, while the other barely had any. His control wasn’t precise enough.
Then, he lost his grip on the flow entirely. A painful snap echoed through his body as the tendril snapped back, sending a surge of raw energy throughout his system. He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain.
Damn it. Still not there yet.
After a short rest, and waiting for the pain to go away, Kael tried something just for curiosity’s sake. He attempted dragging two small tendrils from his core at once, soon finding out that that was even harder than splitting one tendril. He barely managed to start before the energy collapsed on itself.
Sighing, Kael opened his stats part of the status. His eyes settled on one particular stat.
Stats:
- Strength: 12
- Agility: 14
- Endurance: 10
- Intelligence: 10
- Wisdom: 11
- Essence Control: 9
If I assume it does what it is written there, and I keep leveling up resulting in Essence control increasing, I might be able to split the tendrils properly, boosting more than one limb. Or get one more tendril involved. Settling on that idea, Kael noticed that he had never closely monitored the changes Essence Control made before and after leveling up. He decided he would pay closer attention next time.
Kael glanced up at the sky. The sun had moved near midday. He pushed himself off the tree, rolling his shoulders.
“Time to steal food again,” he muttered, chuckling at his situation.
He moved out, hunting for another opportunity.
Kael moved through the forest with careful, measured steps, his eyes scanning the surroundings as he searched for prey—both the edible kind and the kind that would give him experience. The previous night’s meal had satisfied him, but his body was still adjusting to the increased physical demands of his training. He needed more food, and more than that, he needed to keep leveling up. The fight against the Level 4 Gloomkin had shown him that even with an advantage, combat in this world was unpredictable. He had won, but the fight had not been clean. The closer he got to the Gloomkin’s territory, the more he realized he couldn't afford to be sloppy.
His boots barely made a sound against the forest floor as he maneuvered through the underbrush. He was moving further from his treehouse, deeper into enemy-controlled territory. His grip tightened on the antler blade as he kept his body low, weaving between thick roots and foliage.
It wasn’t long before he picked up signs of movement ahead. A rustling sound. Then a faint chittering. Kael immediately slowed his pace, lowering himself behind a thick bush. He waited, listening. The sound came again, footsteps shuffling lightly against the dirt. Peering through the gaps in the leaves, he spotted them—two Gloomkin, both smaller than the one he had fought yesterday, both Level 1. They weren’t armed, but their clawed fingers and sharp teeth were still enough of a threat if he wasn’t careful.
They were searching for something, sniffing at the air, scanning the ground. Then, just ahead of them, one of the creatures perked up, eyes locking onto a small clearing where a hare crouched near a tree stump.
Kael watched, interest piqued.
The forest was filled with these creatures. He had already stolen food from the Gloomkin once, but now he was seeing first hand just how common hares were in this area. That was good news. If the Gloomkin kept hunting them, then he had a reliable way to track their movements.
One of the Gloomkin lunged, scuttling forward with surprising speed. The hare tried to bolt, but the second one was already moving, cutting off its escape. Within seconds, the creature was trapped between the two small monsters. It squealed in panic as the first Gloomkin clamped its clawed hand around the back of its neck, shaking it violently, until it boke its neck before tossing it to the ground. The second one let out a pleased chitter, crouching down to inspect their kill.
Kael waited. He wasn’t in a rush. Two Level 1 Gloomkin were not a challenge, but patience was a weapon, just like any other. Sometimes it rewarded to wait.
The two monsters sniffed around, scanning for more prey. When they didn’t find any, their body language shifted. One of them let out an annoyed clicking sound, and the two began to bicker. Sharp teeth flashed as they snapped at each other, their frustration clear, and then a scuffle broke out, ending with the two on the ground.
A smirk tugged at Kael’s lips. Using this chance he moved. The first Gloomkin barely had time to react before his blade was slicing down. He had enhanced his arm moments before, channeling just enough Essence to give his strike extra force. The antler blade cut deep, carving through flesh with terrifying ease. The creature let out a short, strangled cry before collapsing forward, blood pooling beneath its twitching body, having its back cut open.
The second Gloomkin froze in confusion for half a second. That was all Kael needed.
With a swift movement, he lifted his foot and slammed it down on the monster’s skull. A sickening crack echoed through the forest as bone shattered under his weight. The creature spasmed once, then went still. Kael then proceeded to end the first one with a quick stab to its back aiming for where he tough something important must be.
Silence followed.
Kael remained in place, scanning the surroundings for any sign that he had been heard. The forest remained still. No chittering. No approaching footsteps.
He exhaled slowly, then crouched down, inspecting the bodies. The kills had been fast, and efficient. He had struck before his enemies could react and ended it before they could make too much noise and get attention. He was also satisfied with the amount of difference the enhanced strength had made. The first Gloomkin had barely put up a fight, and the second hadn’t even had time to process what had happened before it was dead. The System’s familiar chime echoed in his mind.
[Experience Gained: 7 EXP x2]
He took a deep breath, letting the notification settle, noting he only got 7 exp per kill before glancing at the dead hare. Fresh meat. He reached down, grabbing the lifeless creature by its hind legs. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for now.
Kael wiped the blood off his blade and stood, casting one last glance at the corpses of the Gloomkins. He wasn’t sure how intelligent they truly were, but he doubted they would ignore two missing members for long. He needed to leave before more of them came searching.
With that, he turned and disappeared into the forest, heading back toward his treehouse. He would eat well tonight. And tomorrow, he would push himself even further.