Dawn was still hours away when Arin entered deeper into the forest, moving east toward territories he'd only scouted from a distance. The notification blinked at the edge of his awareness, persistent and demanding.
[Stealth (Tier 1) - Temporary Storage: 22 hours remaining]
Twenty-two hours. Less than a day to gain enough essence to level up, earn that fifth skill point, and unlock the third slot he desperately needed. Every minute that passed was a minute closer to losing Stealth forever.
Arin pushed the thought aside and focused on hunting. He knew where the goblins had their camps. He'd seen their patrols during his scouting missions, watched their movements, learned their patterns. Now he would use that knowledge.
The forest changed as he moved deeper. The trees grew denser, the undergrowth thicker. This was territory claimed by creatures who didn't fear humans, who saw the woodcutter camp as distant prey rather than an immediate threat.
It was also dangerous. More dangerous than anywhere Arin had been since leaving Vyrdan.
He didn't care. He needed essence. He needed to level up. Nothing else mattered.
***
The goblin patrol was easy to spot once Arin knew what to look for. Three of them, moving through the forest with crude spears and leather armor scavenged from who knows where. They talked in their guttural language, laughing about something, completely unaware they were being hunted.
[Goblin Scout - Level 3]
[Goblin Warrior - Level 4]
[Goblin Warrior - Level 4]
Arin studied them from the canopy above, calculating. Three opponents. One scout, lighter and faster. Two warriors, stronger but slower. If he attacked from above, took out the scout first, the warriors would be isolated.
It was a simple plan; all he needed to do was execute it flawlessly.
He positioned himself over the goblin scout, waiting for the patrol to pass beneath his branch. When they did, Arin dropped silently, his mass compressing into a wedge shape as he fell.
The scout never saw him coming. Arin's wedge form struck the creature's head with enough force to snap its neck. Before the body even hit the ground, Arin was flowing over it, dissolving, absorbing.
[+14 Mass]
[+10 Essence]
The two warriors spun around, weapons raised, eyes searching for an enemy they couldn't see in the darkness. One of them barked something in goblin speech, probably a warning or question.
Arin was already moving. He flowed across the ground faster than the goblins could track, coming up behind the nearest warrior. This time, he didn't use finesse. He simply engulfed the creature's legs, pulling it down as his acidic nature took effect.
The goblin screamed and tried to stab at Arin with its spear. The weapon passed through his gelatinous form harmlessly, and seconds later the screaming stopped.
[+12 Mass]
[+8 Essence]
The third goblin ran. Arin pursued without hesitation, flowing through the undergrowth with single-minded focus. The goblin was fast, but Arin was faster. He caught it within fifty yards, pulling it down from behind.
[+10 Mass]
[+6 Essence]
Three goblins dead in less than two minutes. Efficient. Brutal. Necessary.
Arin checked his status. Essence was rising, but not fast enough. He needed more.
[Current Essence: 134/140]
Close to maximum capacity, but nowhere near enough for a level up. The shadow cat had given him 28 essence and that plus the beetle in the sewers had been enough to go from Level 6 to 7. He probably needed forty or fifty more essence to reach Level 8.
[Stealth - Temporary Storage: 21 hours, 15 minutes remaining]
I have to keep moving and keep hunting.
***
By midday, Arin had found and destroyed two more goblin patrols. His mass had grown beyond where he'd started the night; his essence was at maximum capacity, but still no level notification.
[Current Mass: 142% of base]
[Current Essence: 140/140]
He was full and couldn't absorb any more essence until he spent some or leveled up. But the level wasn't coming. How much more did he need?
Frustration burned through Arin's core. He'd killed eight goblins. Eight. And still nothing. The system was supposed to be predictable. Kill creatures, gain essence, level up. Why wasn't it working?
Maybe he needed stronger prey. The goblins were Level 3 and 4. Weak targets. Maybe the system wanted him to challenge himself more.
Arin's thoughts turned to the goblin encampment he'd seen during his earlier scouting. The large one, with maybe fifteen or twenty goblins total. That was reckless. Suicidal, even.
But he had essence to burn now. And the clock was ticking.
[Stealth - Temporary Storage: 18 hours, 30 minutes remaining]
He headed toward the encampment, moving faster now. Desperate.
***
The goblin camp was exactly where Arin remembered it. A clearing with crude shelters made from branches and animal hides. A fire pit in the center, currently smoldering. Goblins were moving about their daily activities, completely unaware of the threat approaching.
Arin counted fourteen visible targets. He knew there might be more inside the shelters.
This was insane. Even at his current size and with maximum essence, attacking this many at once could get him killed.
But Stealth... that skill that would let him become invisible in shadows. The skill that would make him a true hunter instead of just a survivor. He couldn't lose it.
Arin positioned himself at the camp's edge and used Charge on the nearest goblin, a warrior standing guard.
[-5 Essence]
The attack came from nowhere, a red mass slamming into the goblin with enough force to crush bones. Before the creature could scream, Arin had engulfed its head and silenced it permanently.
[+14 Mass]
[+10 Essence]
The noise attracted attention. Two more goblins came running, weapons drawn. Arin didn't wait for them to reach him. He flowed forward, meeting them head-on.
One goblin managed to swing its club before Arin reached it. The weapon connected with his mass, dispersing a chunk but not stopping his momentum. Arin engulfed the goblin's weapon arm and pulled, acid burning through flesh until the creature dropped its club with a shriek.
[-8 Mass]
[+12 Mass]
[+8 Essence]
The second goblin tried to run. Arin caught it, absorbed it, and moved on.
[+10 Mass]
[+6 Essence]
Now the entire camp was aware of his presence. Goblins poured out of shelters, grabbing weapons, forming a defensive circle around the fire pit. They were scared but also angry. This was their home, and something was attacking it.
Arin should have retreated. He should have taken the wins he'd already earned and escaped. But the notification kept blinking, kept reminding him.
[Stealth - Temporary Storage: 18 hours, 5 minutes remaining]
He attacked again.
The next few minutes were chaos. Arin flowed through the camp like a red wave, striking targets of opportunity, using Charge repeatedly to break through defenses.
[-5 Essence]
[-5 Essence]
[-5 Essence]
But there were too many. For every goblin he killed, two more attacked. Spears stabbed into his mass, clubs dispersed chunks of his body, crude arrows passed through him but still tore away pieces.
[-12 Mass]
[-10 Mass]
[-15 Mass]
[-8 Mass]
The goblins were learning to fight him. They spread out, attacked from multiple directions simultaneously. Arin couldn't protect himself from all angles at once.
He managed to kill three more before his essence ran dangerously low, and his mass had been reduced to barely above his starting size.
[Current Mass: 108% of base]
[Current Essence: 56/140]
He had to retreat now or die here.
Arin compressed his remaining mass and raced toward the forest edge, abandoning the fight. Goblins chased him for a dozen yards before giving up, their angry screeches following him into the darkness.
He'd survived. Barely. But he hadn't leveled up.
[Stealth - Temporary Storage: 17 hours, 50 minutes remaining]
The worst was that he'd wasted essence and mass in the process. Arin rested in a hollow tree, processing what had just happened. He'd been reckless and stupid. Let desperation override tactical thinking.
But he couldn't stop now. Not when he was this close. The goblins had given him essence even if he'd lost mass in the exchange. He just needed to be smarter about his next fights.
He needed to hunt weaker targets and rebuild mass. Arin had to learn to be patient.
Except patience meant time. And time was the one thing he didn't have.
[Stealth - Temporary Storage: 17 hours, 42 minutes remaining]
Arin forced himself to rest for an hour, hunting small prey to rebuild some of his lost mass. Rabbits, squirrels, and a fox that wandered too close. Nothing that gave much essence, but every bit helped restore his size.
[Current Mass: 118% of base]
[Current Essence: 64/140]
But it wasn't enough. He needed bigger prey. Arin needed stronger creatures that gave more essence per kill.
His thoughts turned to the dire wolves. He'd seen their territory during his travels. Dangerous, yes. But also predictable. Wolves hunted in specific patterns, den locations that could be found and exploited.
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And they were worth more essence than goblins.
[Stealth - Temporary Storage: 16 hours, 20 minutes remaining]
Arin headed north, toward wolf territory and danger.
***
Night fell again, and Arin's body ached in ways he hadn't thought possible for a slime. Every part of him felt strained, stretched thin by constant fighting and regeneration. But he couldn't stop.
The dire wolf den was hidden in a rocky outcropping, exactly where Arin had remembered seeing tracks days ago. Two wolves, sleeping just inside the entrance. Adult specimens, powerful and dangerous.
[Dire Wolf - Level 6]
[Dire Wolf - Level 5]
Higher level than the goblins. This would give significant essence if he could win. However, they were also much more dangerous, especially when combined.
Arin knew he should scout more. Watch their patterns. Plan his approach carefully.
Yet for some reason, the thought of losing a skill he believed he needed made him do the opposite. Arin attacked immediately.
He dropped from above, landing on the Level 5 wolf before it could fully wake. His mass engulfed the creature's head, blocking air while his acidic nature burned into its snout and eyes.
The wolf thrashed violently, throwing itself against the den walls in an attempt to dislodge him. Its claws raked through Arin's mass, tearing away chunks with each desperate swipe.
[-15 Mass]
But Arin held on, just as he'd held on to the shadow cat. Held on through the pain, through the fear, through the certainty that this might be the fight that finally killed him.
The Level 6 wolf woke and lunged, jaws snapping at Arin's exposed mass. He couldn't defend against both wolves at once. All he could do was finish the first one before the second one finished him.
The Level 5 wolf's struggles weakened. Stopped. Arin absorbed it quickly.
[+22 Mass]
[+18 Essence]
Then the second wolf's jaws closed around a large section of his body.
Pain exploded through Arin's consciousness as teeth tore into his core, threatening to rip him apart completely. This was worse than the shadow cat. Worse than anything since the original wolf pack that nearly killed him weeks ago.
[-20 Mass]
Arin split his mass again, sacrificing the chunk caught in the wolf's jaws to save his core. The wolf bit down on the decoy while Arin's true self flowed up its body from behind.
He didn't try to engulf the head this time. Instead, he flowed into the wolf's mouth while it was occupied with the decoy, sliding down its throat before it could bite or shake him loose.
The wolf's eyes widened in panic as it realized what was happening. It coughed, gagged, and tried to vomit up the foreign mass invading its body. But Arin was already inside, already burning through soft tissue with his acidic nature, already claiming the kill from within.
The wolf collapsed, choking, dying slowly from the inside out.
[+20 Mass]
[+18 Essence]
Arin emerged from the corpse, reforming outside the den. His entire being trembled with exhaustion. He'd won, but only barely. Another fight like that and he wouldn't survive.
[Current Mass: 125% of base]
[Current Essence: 100/140]
It’s still not enough for a level?! How much more I need?
[Stealth - Temporary Storage: 14 hours, 10 minutes remaining]
Arin's core pulsed with a mix of rage and despair. He'd fought all day and all night. He had killed dozens of creatures and nearly died multiple times. Yet still the level wouldn't come.
Maybe I should give up? I could just return to camp. They might be wondering if I'm still alive.
But then he remembered the shadow cat. Arin remembered how Stealth would have made that fight so much easier. He also knew that all the future threats would require him to be stronger, faster, and better.
No. I can’t give up. Levi wanted me to live… to help protect others. Stealth would help me to do that.
Arin forced himself to move, hunting through the remainder of the night. More goblins died to his slime. A wild boar gored him badly but eventually fell, unable to overcome his power. A giant spider, whose venom slowed Arin down, died before it could paralyze him.
Each fight took something from him. Mass, essence, pieces of his consciousness that felt like they might never fully heal. But he kept going because stopping meant failure, and failure meant losing Stealth forever.
***
Dawn approached, and Arin found himself in a part of the forest he didn't recognize. He'd wandered too far during his desperate hunt, chasing prey without tracking his location. Now he was lost, exhausted, and running out of time.
[Current Mass: 132% of base]
[Current Essence: 138/140]
[Stealth - Temporary Storage: 4 hours, 22 minutes remaining]
I only have four hours, and I still haven’t leveled up.
Arin's thoughts were becoming fragmented and difficult to hold together. Was this what dying felt like? Not from injury, but from pushing too hard for too long?
He needed to rest. He needed to stop and recover, but the clock continued to tick.
A sound caught his attention. Heavy footfalls, moving through the undergrowth. It was something big.
Arin turned his vision toward the sound and saw it emerge from between the trees.
A bear. Not just any bear, but a massive specimen easily twice the size of the dire wolves. Its fur was dark brown, almost black, and scars covered its muzzle and shoulders from countless fights.
[Forest Bear - Level 8]
It was higher than anything Arin had fought except the shadow cat. This creature would most likely kill him easily in his current state.
But Level 8 meant essence. Probably enough essence to finally push him over the threshold to Level 8 himself.
The bear saw Arin and paused. It didn't appear to be afraid.
Why would it be afraid of me? It probably thinks I’m not a threat… I might not even be food to it.
Arin knew he should retreat and try to find easier prey. But easier prey hadn't been enough. He needed this. Arin needed something big enough to finish the grind toward his next level.
The bear took a step forward. Arin compressed his mass, preparing for what might be his final fight.
Then something unexpected happened. The bear stopped, sniffed the air, and turned away. It lumbered off into the forest, apparently deciding Arin wasn't worth the effort.
Relief flooded through him. He'd been spared by the bear's disinterest.
But he'd also lost his chance at the essence it represented.
Arin watched the bear disappear into the forest and made a decision.
What am I doing? If I keep chasing after a level or a skill, I’m going to die. Maybe not today, but someday. It’s like I’m… losing myself to a hunger for power. Is this what Levi had meant when he talked about those who were foolish and fought above their level?
A memory of a slip of paper Levi read, talking about some adventurers who had died, trying to take on a quest that was above their level. His maker had seemed sad and muttered about how foolish it was to pursue power that blindly.
Yet there was one more memory that bubbled up.
Just like Levi's murderers had been obsessed with winning at any cost.
The thought hit him like a physical blow. Was he becoming like them? So focused on gaining power that he'd sacrifice everything, even his own survival?
No. He wouldn't. He couldn't.
Arin turned away from the direction the bear had gone and started moving west. Back toward camp. Back toward the people who cared if he lived or died. Back toward being something more than just a hunter chasing the next level.
The Stealth skill would expire. He would lose it. That hurt, but it was better than losing himself.
[Stealth - Temporary Storage: 4 hours, 5 minutes remaining]
He traveled for two hours, moving slowly, conserving what little essence he had left. The forest began to look familiar again. He was close to camp now. Close to home.
Then he heard them. Voices, human voices, coming from ahead. But not woodcutter voices. These were harsher, meaner. Laughter that held no warmth.
Arin crept closer, using the last of his caution, and saw them.
Bandits. Five of them, sitting around a small campfire, dividing up loot. And there, tied to a tree, was a child. A girl, maybe eight or nine years old, with tears streaming down her face.
The bandits were arguing about what to do with her. One wanted to ransom her. Another suggested selling her. A third just wanted to kill her and be done with it.
Arin's core burned with sudden fury. This wasn't about levels anymore. This wasn't about Stealth. This was about something more fundamental.
These were predators. And Arin was a guardian.
He studied the bandits, assessing threat levels.
[Bandit - Level 4]
[Bandit - Level 5]
[Bandit - Level 3]
[Bandit Leader - Level 7]
[Bandit - Level 4]
Five opponents. Too many to take at once, especially in his current state. But he had the element of surprise. And he had something they didn't: nothing left to lose. If he couldn’t save this girl, he would never be able to forgive himself.
Arin waited for the right moment. When three of the bandits moved away from the fire to set up their sleeping area, he struck.
He dropped from the trees onto the Level 3 bandit, engulfing the man's head before he could scream. The bandit thrashed, trying to alert his companions, but Arin's acidic nature worked quickly.
[+16 Mass]
[+12 Essence]
The Level 4 bandit nearby turned at the sound of the struggle and saw Arin. He opened his mouth to shout a warning.
Arin compressed into a wedge and launched himself at the man's throat using his Charge skill.
[-5 Essence]
The impact crushed the bandit's windpipe and he fell, choking silently.
[+14 Mass]
[+10 Essence]
Now the others were aware. The remaining three bandits grabbed weapons and formed up, the Level 7 leader in front.
"What the hell is that thing?" one of them shouted.
"Kill it!" the leader ordered. "Before it kills us!"
They attacked as a cohesive unit, demonstrating effective training and coordination. These weren't random thugs, they were experienced fighters who'd learned to work together.
The leader had a sword while the other two carried axes. All three weapons came at Arin from different angles, trying to force him to defend against attacks he couldn't all block.
Arin split his mass again, creating two separate forms. The decoy took the leader's sword strike while the real Arin flowed around to attack from behind.
But the leader was smarter than the goblins. Somehow, the man recognized what Arin was doing, and he spun immediately, his sword cutting through Arin's real body.
[-18 Mass]
One of the axe-wielding bandits struck next, his weapon dispersing another chunk of Arin's form.
[-12 Mass]
This was going badly. Arin was losing mass faster than he could regenerate, and his essence was depleting with each defensive maneuver.
But then he saw it. The tied girl had been working at her ropes, using the distraction of the fight to try and free herself. If Arin could just hold these three off for a few more seconds, she might escape.
That became his new goal. Not victory, just buying time.
Arin flowed between the three bandits, taking hits deliberately to draw their attention away from the girl. Swords and axes tore through him repeatedly, each strike removing more of his mass.
[-10 Mass]
[-15 Mass]
[-8 Mass]
He was dying. His slime was dissolving, and his core was barely holding together.
But the girl's ropes came free.
"RUN!" Arin tried to form the letters in the air, but he didn't have enough mass left for clear communication. Just a rough "R" shape before even that dissolved.
The girl understood anyway. She ran, disappearing into the forest faster than the bandits could react.
"Forget the brat!" the leader shouted. "Kill this thing!"
The three bandits turned back toward Arin who made his way toward the bushes. He wasn’t sure he could do much. His mind was starting to wander, and a memory of Levi, his maker’s face, bubbled up into his mind.
Footsteps drew close as Arin rolled into the bush and saw movement. A snake was coiled up, it’s glassy eyes focused upon the three men charging the bush.
Without hesitating, he places his whole body upon the snake, feeling his acid disolve flesh and scales.
“Where is it?” one of the bandits shouted.
An axe struck some of the branches but Arin ignored it.
[+7 Mass]
[+6 Essence]
[Level Up! You are now Level 8]
[+1 Skill Point]
[You now have 5 Skill Points]
His core pulsed, and Arin felt power flow through him. Leveling up stabilized his mas,s and his mind felt alert.
The timing was perfect. Arin immediately spent the skill points.
[Spend 5 Skill Points to unlock 3rd Skill Slot? Y/N]
[YES]
[Skill Slot Unlocked!]
[Accept Stealth (Tier 1)? Y/N]
[YES]
[Stealth (Tier 1) Acquired!]
Power flooded through him. Not just the essence restoration, but the new skill activated immediately. Arin's form seemed to fade, becoming translucent, harder to see even in broad daylight.
[Stealth Activated - 3 Essence per minute]
The bandits lost track of him. Their weapons hacked at the bush, one metal edge almost nicking his stealthed form.
"Where'd it go?" one shouted.
"There! No, there!"
They couldn't find him. He felt strong, no longer afraid.
Arin wasn’t prey anymore, he had become the hunter.
Arin moved like a shadow among them, striking from angles they couldn't predict, fading away before they could counterattack.
[-3 Essence per minute - ongoing]
One bandit fell, and then the second. Finally, only the Level 7 leader remained, spinning in circles, trying to locate an enemy he couldn't see.
Arin dropped stealth just long enough to strike, engulfing the leader's sword arm and pulling. The man screamed as acid burned through his wrist, forcing him to drop the weapon.
Then Arin engulfed him completely.
[+20 Mass]
[+18 Essence]
It was over. All five bandits were dead. The girl escaped. And somehow, against all odds, Arin had survived.
He collapsed, his form barely holding together despite the gains in essence and mass. He'd pushed too far, taken too much damage. Even with the level-up, his body was on the edge of failure.
[Current Mass: 115% of base]
[Current Essence: 128/160]
Arin lay there in the bandit camp, too exhausted to move, and tried to process what had just happened.
He'd spent twenty-four hours hunting desperately, nearly killed himself multiple times, all for a skill. And in the end, he'd gotten it not by grinding for experience, but by saving someone who needed help.
Just like Levi would have wanted.
The irony wasn't lost on him.
Arin rested for several minutes before forcing himself to move. He needed to get back to camp. Needed to show Gareth and the others he was alive. Even more, Arin needed to process everything that had happened.
But first, he had to find that girl. He had to make sure she'd actually reached safety. A child alone in the forest wouldn't last long, even without bandits chasing her.
Arin activated his new Stealth skill and began searching.
[Stealth Activated - 3 Essence per minute]
The skill felt natural, like it had always been part of him. He moved through shadows without disturbing them, his presence barely registering to the forest's other inhabitants. This was what he'd needed. What he'd nearly died to acquire.
Was it worth it?
He didn't know, but he had it now. And he would use it to help others, to protect the camp, to become the guardian he'd promised to be.
Starting with finding one lost girl and getting them both home safely.
