Alexander woke with a start from his seemingly dreamless night. He felt amazing as usual. It could be the effect of being a slime monster; he had no neck to sleep wrong on and no legs to get cramped during the night. In addition, his slimy body was always at the perfect temperature, as long as it was not freezing, so every night he was able to sleep like a baby and wake up in tip top shape.
He stretched his slime and sprung back into a beach ball. It was time to take on his third day in Isedor.
Today, he would not be scouting or hunting. He needed to consolidate his powers. Alexander had realized from the many battles with the vampire rabbits that he was extremely vulnerable in a fight. The only reason he was able to kill so many rabbits was because they were the perfect opponents for him. They were vulnerable to fire and they relied on their agility to fight, so, if one was able to ambush the rabbit and injure it, they could easily finish it off.
But what would happen if Alexander met a monster that could resist two fireballs, or even the fire lance? He would be completely defenseless! Also, what if he was the one that was ambushed? It was pretty much pure luck that he had not been found up until this point. Alexander knew that, at some point, he would meet a creature that had superior senses that could detect him and launch a ranged attack. Since his mana sense had just 15 foot radius, if any monster attacked him from outside his sensory range, he would never be able to see it coming.
"Bucephalus, open the skill store."
The blue holographic window appeared in front of him, seemingly from nowhere, showcasing the many skills that he could purchase. There had been a few skills that had caught his eye last time, but he had to overlook them because he needed an offensive skill.
He scrolled down through the normal skills and finally found what he was looking for: the sensory skills section.
Most of these skills were not special, so they cost an average of two stat points, meaning that he would be able to buy three with his remaining 7 stat points.
There were a few options that he felt could help him greatly improve his efficiency in scouting and hunting. The first inequity that he wanted to remedy was his sense of hearing. He was completely deaf at this point in time; the only way he could hear anyone speak was if a strong magician connected a mana link directly to his mind. He missed the ability to hear from when he was a human, and it would be hard to communicate without it.
After looking for a bit, he found what he was looking for. It was a skill called vibration sense. The system described it as, "The ability to sense and interpret sound waves received through the skin."
This was the perfect skill! Although he didn't have skin, he was sure his slime would work even better at absorbing the sound waves.
The second skill that stood out to Alexander was called farsense. This skill enabled Alexander to stretch his mana sense for an extremely long distance, but only in one direction. Unfortunately, the farther away the mana he was attempting to sense, the less clear the object would appear, but this was still extremely useful. With this, there was a good chance that he would be able to discern his position in this forest, or even find other intelligent creatures!
Both of these skills cost 2 stat points, so Alexander still had 3 left to spend. He sifted through the skills for a little longer, but none caught his eye. Again, he did not look at the special skills. They would only be a detriment to him. If one caught his eye, he may end up saving 10 or even 20 stats points for the skill, making his physical stats fall behind. He figured that it would be best to invest in stats later.
The second that he bought the skills, he felt the familiar rush of the knowledge flowing into his brain. The knowledge of sound waves crashed into his hippocampus like he had known the information his entire life. Next came the knowledge of stretching mana and extending his sense beyond its borders, and projecting his will to sense objects miles away.
When he regained consciousness after the skills poured into his mind, he awoke to a world alive with sound and energy. He could hear strange bird calls, the chirping of insects, and the roar of distant monsters fighting for survival. To be honest, it was a little scary finally understanding what the forest really was like. Obviously, he had gotten lucky to have teleported into an area with only the little vampire rabbits and some lizards.
He stepped out of his small cave and listened. He heard an almost constant roar of monsters, battle cries, outbursts of pain, and even mating calls. Suddenly, a deafening screech penetrated the gentle roar of monsters, shaking the trees and making Alexander cower. The forest went quiet. Then, a roar, just as loud as the screech, pierced the air in answer. Leaves fell from the trees as the ground shook in response to the powerful battle cry.
Alexander hid in the shadows and activated his farsense skill. He looked in the direction of the deafening sounds, but all he could see was endless treetops. Suddenly, a section of the treetops burst open, and a dark shape emerged. A humongous black crow-looking creature rose above the trees, flapping its almost 20 foot wingspan and blowing over multiple small saplings. Its eyes were a dark green and acidic liquid dripped from its matte black beak. It opened its maw to reveal rows upon rows of teeth, possibly descending into its throat, all razor sharp and pointed inwards. No prey would ever escape its clutch.
The crow monster screeched again, its call answered quickly by the thunderous roar. About 200 feet from where the crow emerged from the treeline, another section burst open. This time a monstrous lion-like creature presented itself, flapping bat wings almost as enormous as the crow's which sent shockwaves that Alexander could feel in his hiding place half a mile away. The lion puffed out its majestic mane, threatening the crow, electricity beginning to spark across its golden fur.
Dark clouds began to gather over the two titans as they charged towards each other. They shot through the air and collided in a whirling mass of wings, fur, and feathers. After many bites, claw slashes, and blows, the two pulled apart, huffing and staring at the other with rage.
The lion had suffered a gruesome attack from the crow's serrated beak. A large chunk of flesh had been ripped from its flank and the wound was tinted green and steaming. The crow had come out better from the first pass. Its feathers were ruffled, but it was seemingly unharmed. Although the lion had failed, it still had a glint in its eye. It had not given up just yet.
The clouds overhead continued to darken and thunder rumbled across the dark forest. The crow was lax, reveling in its recent victory, as the lion struggled for breath. The clouds began to spark, and the crow, completely oblivious to the clouds darkening the sky overhead, looked at the lion with arrogance. Lightning sparks started to thread through the mass of dark clouds, and the crow finally noticed. It glared at the lion with contempt as the lion showed its teeth, almost making a smile.
The crow charged, hoping to finish off the lion before whatever was happening in the clouds was ready. But it was too late. The lightning in the clouds gathered directly above the crow. In a burst of light and extremely condensed mana, the billions of volts of electricity lanced down and pierced the crow between the wings. The lightning continued to the ground and connected, completing the circuit and running millions of volts through the crow's body every millisecond, cooking it from the inside.
The lightning stopped as quickly as it began, leaving the smoking carcass of the crow to hang in the air for a few seconds, until the broken husk of the once majestic crow drifted lazily to the treetops and out of sight. A second later, the sounds waves of an immense clap of the thunder hit Alexander and uprooted his entire body from his hiding place, throwing the small slime back a few feet.
The lion cried out in victory and the storm cleared. The lion then retreated to nurse its wounds so that it could fight another day.
Alexander shook in fright, his brain still rattling from the sound wave that had hit him. He now knew why this was called the dark forest, and also why the races were unable to conquer it.
He figured he would stay in his cave for a while.