Iron chirped once, and I slowed my mad rush. Throbbing, my legs protested as I squatted in place while catching my breath. Within a few seconds, Iron hovered in front of me, pointing his beak in the direction of my intended prey. I scratched him under his chin and gestured at him to climb back into the sky.

  I summoned my spear for the second time in my life and smiled as it materialized in my hand. The whole thing really was magical beyond belief. Maybe, in time, I could become some kind of walking arsenal. That would be cool.

  Sneaking forward, I pushed twigs and brush out of my face until I could see my prey. Whistling winds filled the sunny clearing, along with birdsong and chirping insects. It looked as if the scene had been pulled straight from a painting. My prey, the beautiful buck, stood bent over a small lake, drinking without a care in the world. Its fur was pure snow and helped camouflage it against the backdrop of the white birch forest. It wore a crown of horns that would put even most kings to shame. Without any delay, I used Appraise on it.

  [Whitehorn Deer LV10]

  Iron must have had a wild amount of faith in me to just assume a level 10 monster would be an easy kill. At no point before this had I questioned the bird's intelligence. He followed orders well enough and seemed like a rather capable bird, not that I had spent time with a lot of birds before this. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I felt a bit scared at the prospect of fighting something so many levels higher than my own.

  Shaking my head, I emptied it of such thoughts. Fighting the constructs hadn't rattled me nearly as much, and that was without a class. Levels had just been a vague concept then. As long as I could cut and stab the monster, levels wouldn't matter.

  I changed my grip on the spear into a reverse one and took aim, trying to move without rattling the bushes.

  It's okay. You got this.

  Adrenaline started pumping through my veins as I steeled myself for battle. I'd use the surprise to my advantage and end the fight quickly.

  Stepping closer, a twig cracked underfoot. I cringed as the buck jerked its head from the water, staring at me for a split second before turning to run.Bursting out from the bushes, I cocked my shoulder back, then whipped it forward violently. The spear shot through the clearing like it had been created just for this moment. Birds fled their nests, insects quieted down, and the wind howled before my spear sunk deep into the buck's flank.

  It yelped and darted into the woods. Sprinting after it, I drew my sword and cursed myself for not testing out the summoning skill more. What would happen if I summoned another spear? Would I summon the same spear and pull it from the deer's flank, or would I get a completely new one?

  Splashing water cooled my body as I took a shortcut through the shallow ends of the lake. Red stains marked the buck's path. They grew larger the further into the woods I tracked it. Just as I hoped, the level advantage the buck had on me didn't play a big part in the fight, if calling it a fight even did it justice. This was more of a hunt than anything.

  I stopped by a particularly large pool of blood and bent down to dip my fingers into it. It was still hot. The buck was close.

  Chirping madly, Iron dove at me from the canopy of tree crowns. His tiny body slammed into mine, and my sense for danger flared. Throwing myself to the ground while cradling the bird, a ray of solid white burned through where I'd just been standing. I rolled to the side and threw Iron back into the air before facing down the shooter.

  Snorting, the injured buck stood half-hidden behind a white gathering of young birches. Clouds of hot breath gathered by its mouth. It tilted its head low, and another ball of magic gathered between its horns.

  I unslung the shield from my back and charged toward a nearby tree. Though I was faster than I had been before the collapse, I was nowhere near fast enough to dodge pure magic. The white ray slammed into my shield, heating up the metal rim and making it sizzle as it pressed against my skin. I bit back a groan and threw my shoulder into the tree as I took cover. Leaves shook loose from the crown and sailed down to the ground like a rain of confetti. My chest heaved up and down as I panted.

  Of course the buck is magical. What else were you expecting, Jax? A normal buck at level ten?

  I glanced down at my shield arm. Red marks painted my skin, making it throb like a fresh wound. Biting my lip, I convinced myself it wasn't so bad. I could have gotten slashed across the back again.

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  Doubting that the buck would try to run again, I sheathed my sword and summoned another spear. With a quick glance, I confirmed that I could summon one more before I had to wait for my stamina pool to recover. I had no idea how long that would take, so I had better make this count.

  I grabbed the spear in a reverse grip and peeked out from my cover. Immediately, I was greeted by a bolt of white. Ducking low, I heard it sizzle as it brushed against my hair. I raised the shield, covering my lower face, just barely letting my eyes peek over, and charged forward. The shield was too small to cover my entire body, but at least this way I wouldn't get hit in the head by a bolt of magic. Probably.

  In any case, I didn't plan on getting hit more than one last time. When I was about halfway to the buck, its horns flashed with magic again. I cocked the spear back and huddled up behind the shield, making myself as small as possible while maintaining my speed.

  The impact made me stumble, but I recovered my footing and lowered the shield, aiming for a split second before throwing the spear with all I had. Jumping in place, the buck tried to run away and evade the spear. Instead, it only turned its side to me, making itself an even larger target.

  My spear punched into the deer's ribcage cleanly. It tore through its body like a knife through butter before slamming into the tree behind it. The buck moaned and panted as it tried to wriggle itself loose, but my spear nailed it firm to the tree.

  I unsheathed my sword and approached warily, always ready to block if it decided to shoot at me again. Circling behind it, it made no such attempts. Head hanging low, it just kept on trying to breathe. My first spear was no longer stuck in its flank. Which means that either the summoned spear disappears after a resummon, or it just came loose. So that's just no help at all, really.

  Brushing my hand against its soft fur, I tried to calm it. It jumped in place, straining against the spear in its chest and let out a loud moan.

  "Shh. It's alright..." I whispered and moved up to its neck while positioning my sword for a clean cut. It stared at me with dark, wide, and gentle eyes. "I'm sorry."

  My steel bit into flesh, and blood gushed out of the wound, pooling at my feet. The buck didn't recoil or thrash around. It simply stared as calm finally settled on the beast.

  Watching as the life left its eyes, I couldn't help but feel guilty. This wasn't the first time I hunted something, far from it, but it was the first time I did so solely out of sport. I had no salt to cure the meat; I had no one to share it with. Sure, I could drag it all the way back to Aubrey's camp, but that would take hours, making me lose precious time until the blood moon.

  You have defeated [Whitehorn deer LV10]

  Skill up!

  Weapon mastery: Spear +1

  Spell up!

  Summon familiar +1

  The notifications took me off guard and put me in a better mood. So skills can level up too? Good to know.

  There was no knowing what the blood moon would bring, but my guess was that leveling up as much as possible before then wouldn't hurt. Being able to level up skills only cemented that belief.

  I pulled up my status window and tried to glean what the level ups brought. The weapon mastery one remained elusive. It seemed more like a way to quantify my skill with a weapon, rather than a skill itself. A little disappointing, really. Summon familiar, on the other hand, had both the initial mana cost and upkeep cost reduced. Nice. While it wasn't huge, I was sure it would add up in the long run.

  Looking around to confirm I was alone, I summoned a new spear. As I pulled the new one from space, the one impaling the buck started to dissipate. The change was gradual, but noticeable. After a minute or so, the buck fell into my arms. I strained to move it away from the pool of blood and to a clean patch of grass. Then I got to work.

  Using a sword to skin it was far from ideal. The hide came out bearing many unnecessary nicks and cuts, but it was better than just leaving it to rot. It might not ever make a great rug, but if I could find some salt to treat it, I could use it as a blanket when the nights got cold. I rolled it up and tied it to my bindle with a piece of sinew. After that, I removed its horns and cut off a few pieces of meat. Without a better way to store it, I wrapped it up with leaves and packed it into my bag, which was growing awfully full already.

  The sun still hung high in the sky, and nightfall was still many hours away—yet I found myself in need of storage. I sighed and cast one last glance to the buck. Nature would deal with the carcass even if I didn't.

  Retracing my steps back to the clearing, I covered the tracks I'd left with branches, leaves, and dirt. A wave of fresh air rustled through the woods as I stepped into the picturesque glade. I breathed it in with a content smile on my face. This really was the life.

  The small lake took up most of the space in the glade. Apart from it, there was a small patch of sand—more like dirt, really—a couple of bushes with vibrantly colored berries, and a wide bed of flowers. The water was still, so I couldn't drink it right away, but I had means to boil it. I didn't have a pot or anything like it yet, but all I really needed was a fire to make do. Way back, my dad had taught me how. Dig a pit, line its walls with clay, fill said pit with water, and drop in hot stones straight from the fire. Simple.

  My chest tightened at the thought of him. I hoped he and Mom were okay. Honestly, it was stupid to worry. Knowing them, they'd be more than okay. They would be thriving in the new world, just like me, especially if they got dragged into the tutorial with the other villagers.

  The one I worried for most was Brad. He was just a city guy who loved to run. He thought too much of people and often ended up getting used, a stark contrast to myself, who was the opposite way. I bet he would have slapped the shit out of me if he saw how I treated Tom. I chuckled.

  Resting my hands on my hip, I looked up to my circling raven. "Well, what do you say we set up shop here for a while, Iron?"

  He chirped happily, which I took as approval.

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