After an hour's rest told by his trusted watch, Anit started his descend towards the unnerving and unpredictable forest floor. He tore off a piece of vine before descending, withered as it was it still needed Anit to give his all to even remove a small part of it. He wrapped the vine around his right arm.
When he reached the lower branches, he scouted the ground first before climbing down. He tip-toed to a rock he spotted from above, which could be big enough to be used against threats he may encounter.
After looking around a bit to avoid any new dangers cropping up, he fetched out his racket from the kit still strapped tightly to his back. Then with determination(?) showing up on his uncaring face, he swung the racket with its head flat on a nearby tree stump. He did that repeatedly until...
*Smash*
The racket's gutting was broken off.
Anit then picked up the rock he found before and passed it mid-way through the racket's head frame, he then fixed it there by wrapping the racket head and the intertwining the rock with the vine's loops.
Lo and behold!
Anit now held his first weapon in the uncaring wilderness, a make-shift mace.
[INT: 16→17]
[WIS: 17→18]
[Crafting Level 1 Learned]
'...Interesting'
Even then though Anit being the focused individual he was, started contemplating his next moves.
Until...
*Snap*
He was made aware by that sound, that he was now being hunted. He turned around facing its source with the mace ready in hand. The predator must have also known that hiding was useless at this point. From the unassuming luminescent bush a figure jumped out, directly lunging at Anit.
Anit didn't freeze being subjected to such hostility, finding such an action highly inefficient. He rolled out of the way to make the beast collide with the trunk he had his back against and turned around to face his attacker.
A white, furry but big hare was stuck to the tree trunk.
Anit cautiously made his way to his furry adversary. And found its horn stuck...
'A horned rabbit?'
As Anit scrutinized this aberration, he quickly positioned the mace above the creature's head.
*Screeching*
It screeched in panic as if it sensed its impending doom and pushed its degenerated arms against the trunk but found it entirely useless. Anit swung the mace with all his might and smashed the beast's head.
'This is quite unexpected...'
Instead of the gore he expected to cause the impact was only able to knock out the beast. The screeching's end brought a dreary silence as if the forest mourned the forthcoming loss of one of its children.
Finding it unsafe to continue gawking at the shear resilience the creature in front of him displayed, he started to bash that beast's skull repeatedly.
'Crunch'
Well the spine gave in before any substantial damage was inflicted to head.
'But it did the job'
[Mace Mastery Level 1 Learned]
'Information please...'
Fed up by such enigmatic obstructions to his vision Anit demanded their discriptions, fully aware they will be as much uncouth as they were before.
[Crafting: This just displays your level of competence in this trade according to the general census dating from the birth of first sapient lifeform...]
'Finally!'
[Mace Mastery: #@$!% Doodles....]
'... Never mind then, its quite obvious from the first explanation... '
Now pulling his first hunt from the tree trunk, Anit lumped it across his shoulders and started his climb back to the safe place he may just call his new home. Just when he reached the webbing laid out by the lower branches he smelled something fishy and unpleasant. Curious he focused on that smell-
[Activated Focus Boost(2)]
Anit found his surrounding greyed out and all sensations lost, all except his sense of smell.
'... Heightening of senses... No, muting of other senses and highlighting the one being focused on... This is gooood-'
Anit quickly traced the smell back to an unassuming bare branch, too bare compared to other ones. His gaze there resulted in movement of the dark brown textures which covered the 'branch', the 'branch' transitioned from its original colors to sickly green. The blobby and off putting visage the 'branch' now displayed would make one question his daily crack quota, which Anit would and will always vehemently refrain from.
The serpentine creature now in the branch's original position lunged at him with speed surpassing-
'Why it's looking so sluggish... Oh!'
Anit could already guess what caused this sudden drop in the abomination's strike. The active skill though not controlled by that Interface, displays it when he puts his maximum focus on the task he wants to do, just like how all Anit wants now is to study the creature's movement and provide an effective counter. This also caused an additional effect of deceleration in his perception of time.
Suppressing his immense curiosity, he attacked with his mace which he readied before incase of any unexpected threats he may encounter. He aimed the slug-something at the spot just a bit near its head which he deduced may have been the general weak spot of creatures which such seemingly low-grade body structure or according to how the Interface may have described-
'Squishy, easy to splat with low END and VIT'
[Consumed 30 MP]
'Hmmm... Expensive...'
Though now it seems that Anit's cognitive and mental facilities were the only ones which were boosted, his mace took ages to reach the serpentine-shit's presumed weak spot. Its head was cleanly blown off, Anit hardly felt any resistance and was bathed in the creatures body, now dispersed into-
'AAHHHHH!'
-corrosive slime.
Anit's body steamed, his skin bubbled as the slime invaded his face melting his lips, nose and just a shy bit away from doing the same to his eyes. His whole body was subjected to unimaginable torment not excluding his psyche, which subsequently also cancelled off the focus boost.
[Deactivated Focus Boost(2)]
The pain his nerves fired off couldn't be suppressed with mere indifference, he tried his best to bring his cool back, to search for a solution. But was met with something he couldn't have envisioned.
He was surrounded.
By the kins of the same being which just recently met its demise in his hands.
......
[Shlelp: Lowest-tier, hare-like horned rabid creatures. Mostly inhabiting or rather infesting lush forests, major hotspots of wood mana. These furry berserkers are known for their high reproductive prowess and their horn, a common magic catalyst which they use to give them an 'edge' during combat.]
[Slursh: Lowest-tier, will-less serpentine slime monsters. These gelatinous creatures are usually taken as an omen for that regions fall. With their instinctual strategy of collective hunting, competent camouflaging ability, high reproductive prowess and their corrosiveness, they make good assassins for a Demon's army.]