The third day of travelling through the forest was a day of change. It started when I reached the top of a small hill with no trees. It was just big enough that I could see over the trees. I looked out and there in the distance was a river. It wasn’t a huge river, but I could definitely see it. I was cheered up immediately. I figured that I could get to it sometime in the afternoon, if I increased my pace and pushed myself. I looked back to the west to see if I could see the cave. I couldn’t even see the hill it was on, much less any cave. It seemed I have walked quite a distance since setting out.

  I started a slow jog toward the river. I kept this up for about an hour when a red dot showed up on my mini-map. It was directly behind me at the edge. It was also moving faster that I was. Panic began to set in, then disappeared. That was different, but panic would only have hurt me, I thought. I calmed down and moved behind a tree and tried to locate the source of the red dot. The red dot came closer and closer on my mini-map, until it stopped about 20 feet away. I saw it. At first, I thought it might be a dog. It was kind of a dog. A large wild dog with saber tooth fangs. Wild dogs could be dangerous but I was confident that I could handle one. The dog looked straight at me then lifted it head and howled. Damn, this is a not a dog, but some weird kind of wolf and I knew it was calling it packmates. I used Identification on it to confirm my suspicion.

  Animal: Sabretooth Wolf

  Level 4

  HP 22

  Description: Sabretooth Wolves are known for their tracking abilities and attacking medium sized animals for food. They will eat anything they kill. Sabretooth Wolves are also known for travelling in packs. Packs can range in size from 5 to over 100. Running from a Sabretooth Wolf will trigger its chase and kill instinct.

  Okay, not good news. If I run, they will chase me down. If I wait, the rest of the pack will show up and make the fight that much tougher. I think my best path forward is to attack the wolf now.

  I move out from behind the tree and start walking toward the wolf. I could see the saliva dripping from its fangs. I pull out my spear and was getting ready to charge the wolf, when I suddenly remembered that I have magic. First, I throw a fireball at the wolf. The wolf just moves out of the way. Damn, if I didn’t know better, I would say it was laughing at me. The wolf then started racing toward me. I quickly threw out two mana darts, and then ready my spear. Meanwhile two more red dots show up on my mini-map. Both mana darts hit causing the wolf to yelp, but did not slow down the wolf’s rush. As he came nearer, I jabbed at it with my spear. The wolf actually tried to bite the spear head. I guess it was not familiar with fighting humans. As its mouth closed around the spear head, I took a step forward and jammed the spear down its throat. A gurgling sound came out of its mouth and blood splashed everywhere. The wolf tried to retreat, but I kept pressuring it and finally landed a solid hit with the spear in its rib cage. At this point, the wolf would bleed out, but I had to prepare for the other two which were now about 20 feet away and closing rapidly. I launched a fireball at both of them, knowing it would probably miss, but at least break them up. Slow-Time kicked in as soon as the wolves split up. Everything slowed down for me. I ran toward the one on the left, and shoved my spear into its chest and straight through its heart before it could react. A quick kill confirmed as its essence flowed into me. I immediately turned to the other wolf, but before I could fully bring my spear around, it launched itself in the air directly at me. I brought the spear up to block, knocking the wolf to the side. The wolf quickly recovered and grabbed the spear’s shaft with its mouth and shook its head violently. Surprised, I lost my grip on the spear. Before the wolf released the spear, I jumped on top of it. One arm wrapped around its neck, while my free hand grabbed my knife. I was able to stab it multiple time. Each time I push the knife in to its hilt. My strength made it easy. The wolf tried to bite me during our fight, but I was able move keep my hands away from its mouth while keeping it pinned under me Finally, the wolf’s eyes glazed over and its essence flowed into me. I recovered my spear and went in search of the last wolf. I hadn’t felt any essence from it, so I knew it was still alive. I found it about 20 feet away. It was laying in the ground panting and struggling to move. I took my spear and put it out of its misery. Once again essence flowed into me. The battle done, Slow-Time finished and everything returned to normal. Slow-Time was amazing, maybe even OP. The System notification box appeared.

  You have killed three Sabretooth Wolves. You have received 0 experience.

  Your spear skill has increased to 5.

  You have learned the skill Slow Time, level 2

  There was no loot option. The last time I killed a monster, I got a loot option. Why not now? I used Identification on the three wolves. It showed the same thing for each.

  Animal: Sabretooth Wolf Dead

  So, what was the difference between the Mucus Boar and the wolves. Unsure, I thought about skinning the animals, or grabbing the fangs. I thought both would be worth money, but since I had no experience with either I would just butcher the job. So, I just left them there. The wolves didn’t turn into smoke either. Was this an inconsistency? The rules of this planet were weird.

  Taking a deep breathe to calm myself and let the adrenaline leave my body. I turned and headed east once again. I kept moving in the direction of the river, hoping to see it soon. I considered climbing a tree to get a better view, but decided it was just waste time. I marched along for another hour before I heard the wolf howl. It started as a single howl and then it seemed more and more wolf howls joined in. Damn, this could be trouble. I checked my minimap for red dots. Even though no red dots were on my map, I decided to walk quicker and listen carefully. I wanted to determine if the howling was getting closer or further away. Less than 5 minutes later, I knew the howling was definitely growing quieter, which I took as an indication I was leaving the wolves behind. I still kept a quick pace. Just in case.

  Another hour passed, and I was getting a bit tired, so I slowed my pace down to a normal stride. I hadn’t heard any howls in the last 15 minutes. I started to think it was all over. A few minutes later, the river appeared on the edge of my mini-map. At about 50 feet away, I could see the river. It looked to be a slow-moving calm river. As I approached the bank of the river, I saw two things. First there was a road on the other side of the river, and second at least ten red dots appeared on my mini-map behind me. I guess I didn’t outrun the wolves after all. As confident as I was after the last wolf encounter, I didn’t like my chances against ten.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  Should I stay on the bank of the river and fight them there or cross to the other side and hope they stayed on this side. I didn’t know if wolves could swim. I counted the dots again. Shit, now there were fifteen. Fifteen wolves would be a lot to fight. Too many. Even with Slow-time, I very much doubted that I would be able to completely defend myself. And, of course, they were running straight towards me now. I might be able to kill quite a few of them, but some would get through and that would spell the end of me. The thought of a corrupted soul prevented any thought other than survival. With this much doubt, I decided to get across the river.

  I started wading across. As I was half way through, the river came up to my waist. The wolves emerged from the forest and watched me until all of them were together gathered on the bank of the river. They seemed hesitant to enter the river and paced back and forth along the bank. Sometimes, one would take a step or two into the water, then immediately jump back. It was like they were gathering their courage before they attacked.

  I had switched out my spear for my knife before entering the river. If I had to fight in the water, the knife would be a better weapon. Three quarters of the way across, I felt something brush against my leg. Shit, Shit, Shit. I never thought about anything being in the water. I looked and saw what appeared to be a huge 15-foot snake/eel thing moving around me. Identification showed it to be a [Monster: Corrupted Water Snake, Level 5.] I kept moving toward the bank trying not to touch the Corrupted Water Snake. With the water at knee level, the Corrupted Water Snake made its move and attacked, but I was ready for it. Slow-time activated, and I was able to block the snake’s bite with the dagger. This time however, instead of retreating. I grabbed hold of the snake, a little bit too far behind its head. Of course, that was when the snake bit me, because it could freakily turn its head 360 degrees. Pain hit me, and hit me hard. Even through the pain I kept ahold of the snake but I could feel the poison being injected into me. Now I had to kill it quickly so I could deal with the poison. I raised my knife up as far as I could, and then rammed it down into and through the snake’s head. I twisted the knife as I ripped it out of the snake’s skull. Half of its head was torn away and hanging by its skin. Essence flowed into me. The snake released its bite and fell away into the river. My blood flowed down my hand and into the water. I could see black vein surrounding the bite. I quickly cast Cure All to counteract the poison, followed by Heaven’s Heal. Watching my wounds closed and the black veins disappear gave me a huge sense of relief.

  You have slayed a Corrupted Water Snake. You have received 0 experience points.

  Do you wish to loot?

  I waited until I had moved to the bank of the river before I agreed to loot the snake. Two Corrupted Water Snake fangs, Water Snake skin and a cameo with a picture of a snake on it were my reward. I decided to use Identification later, as the wolves seemed to be getting ready to cross the river. I put them all into my ring. That is when I noticed that there were more red dots coming upstream from the river. Maybe the snake’s death attracted more monsters. Maybe it was my blood. I didn’t know and I didn’t want to wait to find out. I moved away from the river bank to the road. I rested bit as I watched the red dots in the river move to my former location. The wolves must have also sensed the monsters, because most turned around and left.

  I started walking downstream, which was in the general direction I wanted to go. I turned back to see one wolf trying to swim across the lakes. Fun fact, this wolf didn’t appear to be a very good swimmer. Halfway across the river, its head disappeared under the water. A few seconds later, red spots appeared briefly on the top of the river before being washed away. Looking at my mini-map, I saw red dots in the river where the wolf disappeared. That should take care of my wolf problem. But now I was also worried that the red dots in the river might be able to leave the river and come after me. Time for me to go.

  I left the red dots behind as I continued at a quick pace down the road. I call it a road, but it’s not like the ones on Earth. Even red dirt road in Oklahoma were better defined. This one was more of a wide path with twin hardened dirt tracks on either side and lots of potholes. I mean a LOT of potholes. Something that an ATV would use, but not a car. Maybe a 4-wheel drive SUV. You could see the wheel tracks in the path, but in between the tracks, grass was growing. It was short and patchy and looked to be struggling to grow.

  I made excellent time on the road compared to the forest. As the sun started to set, I came across a small building. More of a large one room log cabin. It looked large enough to fit about 10 people. There were no windows, but there was a door. I came close and walked around inspecting the cabin. There did not appear to be any hidden areas or obvious traps near it, so I went back to the front. There was a sign that said “Peace Rest Stop for the Weary Traveler “. I knocked, because I didn’t want to surprise anyone or be surprised either. After waiting about 30 seconds and no answer, I opened the door and looked inside. There were lights from wall sconces, so I could see the entire room. There were bunk beds along the walls, and a fireplace, but other than that, it was empty. It made me think of the rest stops on highways that had no amenities, only parking spaces and overhead lights. As I stepped in a notification popped up.

  You have entered a Peace Rest Stop. This is a waystation for the weary traveler. The System prevents monsters from attacking the Peace Rest Stop. You may rest your eyes without worry. The following rules apply:

  1. Violence is forbidden

  2. Theft is forbidden.

  3. Guest may only stay for 12 hours, every 3 days.

  4. Donations are welcome.

  Suggested donation is 2 coppers per person.

  All rules are System enforced.

  Those rules seemed perfect to me. This was basically a safe zone for the night. I really needed that. I looked around and found the donation box. While walking through the forest, I discovered that I had an inventory. It was small with only 10 slots, but was quicker access than my storage ring. I now used it for small items. I called up my inventory to retrieve my coin purse, but noticed there was a money line on the bottom. My balance: 50,000 Gold, 99 Silver, 99 Copper. Holy shit, that was a lot of money. At least I think it’s a lot of money. I stared at it for a moment in disbelief, then realized that a balance didn’t put money in my hand. How do I get money from my account to my hand. After some trial and error. Okay, a lot of trial and error, I hit upon the correct method. I thought about how much money I wanted, and it appeared in my hand. I donated 5 coppers. This was more than the suggest donation, but I was so ready to NOT sleep in a tree, I thought it was worth the extra donation.

  I ate from the never-ending food bowl of bland and drank the tasteless water from my canteen. Now, don’t get me wrong, I was very grateful for the never-ending food bowl and canteen. But porridge three times a day for almost 2 months is kind of a torture. OMG, I would kill for a hamburger and a diet coke. After finishing my meal, I settled in for the what would be the best night of sleep since my journey began. I had a very realistic dream that my family was happy back on Earth and had moved on from my death. This dream made me happy, because I knew they would be alright. It felt like it was a message from Arigulius, rather than just a dream and I felt like I could move on without guilt. I don’t know if there was magic in the Rest Stop, but I was refreshed and reenergized when I woke the next morning.