Leveling up felt like getting an energy drink injected directly into his bloodstream. He felt his reactions improve, his dexterity with his hands increased, thoughts became faster and more coherent, and finally he felt his body rejuvenate.
A quick glance at his status page revealed his 'health' had gone up by an entire 20 points. While this number seemed to be an abstract depiction of his overall physical condition, it could be seen as if it had almost doubled. His constitution and ability to survive whatever was to come would most likely benefit from this upgraded stat.
On top of all the theoretical benefits he received, he seemed to have fully healed. A quick inspection of his body revealed no more wounds or dead skin, he seemed to be in peak condition.
With his new found strength, he decided to improve his living conditions. Sleeping in the grass was fine and dandy when he was a starving level 1 scavenger, but now he was a whole bracket above that!
He first started by gathering rocks and placing them around the already burning fire. He then sharpened some sticks and hung the three gutted Pond Frogfishes up so they could cook slowly near the fire. They were quite yucky but they were valuable nutrients. He also noted that the size of the Frogfish seemed to be related to the level of the creature; the higher the level, the bigger the creature.
[Level 1 campfire constructed.]
It seemed like buildings were part of this system, it would be useful to know when they were completed and ready to use. Especially when Oliver got to building the more complex structures his survival skill hinted at. However, as he tried to focus on complex buildings he could construct, a fog seemed to hide most of the information, as if they were censored.
He tossed the thought to the back of his brain, he had work to do.
He walked around the lake until he found a rather sharp and grey rock. It had been cracked along one side and seemed like a perfect fit for an axe head. He stuck it in his pocket and went to find a solid branch, most likely from a Star Gazer Tree as the wood seemed quite durable and well suited for heavy duty tool crafting. These trees were abundant in the surrounding woods, he quickly found a recently felled branch.
Using the rock to gouge an indentation on one side of the handle, he then placed a burning ember into the recently cut slot. The fire burned the wood quickly as it was relatively dry, working its way down towards the center. Oliver would occasionally dump out the embers and scratch out the charcoal. About half an hour was spent burning, dumping and etching until the handle had a fairly large hole inside it. He let it cool and readied the paracord in his pack to secure the ax head into the handle.
[Stone hatchet successfully crafted.]
[Material: Star Gazer Wood & River Flint.]
[Quality: average.]
Oliver realized that he had indeed been correct about his condition affecting his handy work. The hatchet seemed to be much more solid that the crutch that now leaned uselessly against a nearby tree. This was important information to note.
Like George Washington and his axe, Oliver set about cutting the first tree he deemed useful. Sadly this one was not a cherry tree but rather a white-barked, deciduous species known as a 'Paper Mill Birch'.
The hatchet dug deep into the living wood and cut out chunks of the trunk at a time. In less than five minutes, the tree had fallen over and only a waist high stump remained where it used to stand. Oliver cut away the branches from the main trunk and proceeded to cut it up into many different lengths. He dragged the logs back to the campfire and started to bind the logs to a nearby Star Gazer tree. This would be his sleeping platform and would let him sleep away from the bugs that lie hidden in the grass.
He used the branches that were not too thin as pallets for the rectangular frame, layering Billow Willow leaves as a makeshift mattress for the time being. He sat down to see if it could hold his weight, with a few cracks he managed to find a comfortable spot and stared up at the leafy canopy above. If he didn't know where he was he might have mistaken the bright shimmers that flitted through the leaves to be sunlight. Alas, he was not anywhere near seeing the sun.
[Sleeping Platform Constructed.]
[Rest option now available.]
[Sleeping conditions: Poor.]
[Would you like to Rest? Yes or No?]
"Poor Sleeping conditions? Give me a break, I'm trying my best here!" Oliver felt the system was unjust in the appraisal of his work. The option to rest as being a choice also intrigued him as he could always sleep whenever he became too tired. Perhaps there was something else this option could unlock for him?
He went and stoked the fire and moved the fish away from the heat, just in case they burned as he slept. The fire should still be alive by the time he awoke. He made his way back to his wooden cot and saw the Rest option pop back into view. With an internal nod of his head, he selected to rest.
His consciousness immediately faded and he fell into a very deep sleep.
***
Oliver awoke with a start, his sleeping platform arguing with creaks and groans against the sudden movement. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, He took in the scene around him. To his shock, the forest seemed alien to him. Gone was the bright sunlight that emerged from the crystals, they instead glimmered in dark purple flashes that gave very little light at all. His campfire had gotten low, but the resulting light was enough to illuminate the nearby environment.
He quickly looked around and saw no danger immediately present. He took the opportunity to stoke the fire back to a roaring flame, the shimmer skidding over the black lake water. Oliver nibbled on one of the cooked Frogfish, it was still highly disagreeable but it filled his stomach.
As he munched on some of the white fish flesh, occasionally spitting out some fish bones as they threatened to choke him, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. As if he was a trained warrior, he furrowed his brow and focused on all his senses to an extreme degree.
His vision registered no movement, whatever had alarmed him was either camouflaged or hidden from view.
His olfactory bulbs registered a slightly putrid smell that was similar to a live Frogfish but distinct in its own way. He focused on that smell and it became prevalent, as if whatever was emitting it was getting closer.
He could feel no vibrations in the ground. It did not necessarily mean this was a small creature, but it certainly reinforced the idea of some kind of stealthy ambush predator.
His sense of taste did not relay him any information about the outside world, but rather the inner workings of his own body. He could feel the heat in his mouth as his heart began pumping oxygen to all his muscles, his body was warming up so that it could be limber and ready for a fight. He felt his jaw clench as he continued to listen to the outside stimuli.
If this was earlier in the day he would have been absolutely oblivious to the presence of any threat. His ears had also been heavily damaged by frostbite and a rather bothersome ringing had never left his mind since the crash. The level up and the food had remedied both these afflictions. With his newly improved and healed ears he focused intently on the sounds around him.
The forest was quiet. He listened for anything that was different from his memory of the clearing. Water could be heard burbling a distance away where the brook fell into the pond. Some flying insects could be heard buzzing invisibly in the darkness. Everything seemed to be just as it was before until he heard the sound of blades of grass brushing up on some sort of moving object. It was directly behind him.
Time slowed down as he heard the explosive movement of something propulse itself towards his back. As quick as his body could manage it, Oliver leaned right and dove towards the hatchet. While he thought he was in the clear for a few moments as he did not feel anything impact his back, he realized that something had grabbed onto the back of his calf mid-air.
He landed as he felt screaming pain erupt from his lower left leg. His hands clutched the wooden handle of the axe and he immediately tried kicking off whatever was gnawing on his leg. The first few kicks hit nothing but air, he twisted during that time, attempting to be able to see his attacker instead of blindly kicking at it.
A green shell circled between Oliver's outstretched legs. Dozens of legs could be seen moving it along at a rapid pace. It was extremely quick and its body was armored by the mottled green carapace it had on its back. It leaped at Oliver's nearest leg, the many legged body becoming airborne as it did so. Oliver caught a glimpse of an open, circular mouth lined with rotating teeth. The maw of this shelled animal looked like something out of a horror movie and Oliver had already felt the damage it could do if given the chance to bite again.
Taking advantage of the creature being in the air and unable to change its trajectory, Oliver swiped at it quickly with the stone head of the hatchet. The attack struck hard and impacted the crustacean slightly off-center. The collision broke off several legs and dented the softer stomach armor. It bounced a few meters away, spinning wildly as it flew through the air.
Oliver did not give it much time to recover, he jumped up and raised the hatchet above his head as soon as he did so. The adrenaline in his body allowed him to forget his ripped up calf and pounce to where he had seen the shelled animal land. It still lay there, trying to flip itself onto its back. It was unable to do so quickly enough, most likely because it was missing a good chunk of its appendages.
Oliver slammed the hatchet down as hard as he could directly into the creature's mouth. A sickly splat was audible as he smashed through teeth and guts, the clawed legs of the creature scrambling in every which way. He brought up the hatchet and then smashed the creature's underside another time, this time ending the frantic movements once and for all. The crab-morph twitched a few times as its internal organs shut off for good.
[Level 1 Green Devourer Multipod killed.]
[30 experience points acquired.]
[Requirements for Fisherman class reached.]
[Would you like to learn: Fisherman class? Yes or No?]
Oliver sat down breathing hard. He still held the hatchet in case another one of these things was around. He did not see any but that did not mean that they couldn't be hiding in the reeds on the shore or farther inland. It seemed the peacefulness of the forest did not last when he entered this twilight version of it.
There still seemed to be a few perks to being in this night biome, firstly was the presence of creatures that could be killed for experience. The Devourer Crab was a good example of such a creature. Secondly, Oliver had learned that 'classes' could be unlocked and added to his repertoire if conditions were met. In this case it was the Fisherman class.
With inward approval, information about a multitude of bizarre creatures flooded into his brain. The triggering of many neurotic synapses in his skull was quite a pleasurable experience, it made the hairs on his entire body stand on end. He learned a multitude of fishing techniques and traps he could build.
What he had originally thought would be simply a class that would help him fish seemed much more complex than that. The fisherman class came with different techniques to use a fishing rod, but the class also focused on using the rod as a combat weapon. This was more than a simple fishing hobby but a dedicated way of life. New system notifications popped up in his vision as the torrent of information subsided.
[Fisherman Class successfully acquired.]
[New skills obtained: Fishing level 1, Water Divination level 1, Aqua-form Biology level 1, Swimming level 1.]
Fishing seemed to have everything to do with the act of fishing and using the fishing rod. This skill seemed to also be inherently related to combat with a fishing rod, however Oliver was doubtful it would be a good weapon against armored enemies like the Devourer Crab.
Water Divination allowed him to track sources of freshwater for him to drink, but it also gave him the ability to read water currents and get additional information from simply looking at bodies of water. This would be useful in tracking his next Pond Frogfish meal.
Aqua-form Biology was an interesting skill. The fisherman class seemed to also pursue targets outside the water, this included terrestrial crustaceans, slugs, snakes, crocodiles, etc. A long list of creatures and their characteristics filled Oliver's mind. He was surprised to learn that the many toothed Green Devourer Crab he had just killed was distantly related to hermit crabs and was also completely edible. It certainly was not very appetizing but it could not be worse than the Frogfish.
Swimming was a general skill that was exactly what it was supposed to be. It helped Oliver swim in efficient ways for either long periods of time or short fast bursts. Not the most amazing skill but it certainly wouldn't be wasted if he had to cross a large body of water or something of that type.
Dragging the corpse of the dead crab back to the campfire, Oliver simply placed the shell on the fire and waited for the crab to cook. It would be a messy dinner but he expected it to taste much better than his previous meal. During this time he kept his eyes peeled for any other creatures that decided to ambush him.
The night was silent except for the sounds of a few animals clashing at the other end of the biome, in the direction of the cave Oliver had previously found. Oliver had no interest to go and witness what was going on at the moment due to his chewed up leg. It hurt but it was not unbearable, the crab had gouged out a good chunk of his calf but everything remained attached.
With the crab ready, a pungent smell of crustacean wafting through the air, Oliver chowed down as fast as he could, worried the smell would attract other predators. The fire seemed to do a poor job of keeping the critters at bay, he could not be too careful.
The Devourer Crab was quite delicious, although it would have been better boiled than simply roasted over a flame. Its flesh came easily out of the legs, Oliver used the multi-tool as a poking instrument to get the hard to reach pieces of meat. This crab was only a level 1 crab, and it was only as big as both of Oliver's fists put together, the meal was completed in only a few minutes.
He stoked the fire and went back to his sleeping platform, allowing the healing energy of the food to repair his calf as he rested. He assumed he would be safe from harm since he had not been attacked previously when he had rested, perhaps the system actually spawned things instead of simply waiting for time to go on. He would investigate this further.
With the system awaiting his answer, he again activated the 'Rest' feature. His vision darkened and he fell into a deep sleep.