I found a bridge. At least I think it used to be one. It is little more than rubble now, but it is similar rubble on both sides of the river. I can see it from my vantage point on the nice little boulder I found. I have been searching for something to overcome my current handicap. In my smaller state I find it hard to see across the water, and much of anything really. My first thought had been to try a large root, the trees here have very large roots. Turns out they seem that much larger because of my size. Then I tried to climb a tree. I am not going to think about how badly that had gone down. I had been planning to do some recon to see if I could see if there are any creatures in or on the other side that were new to me. Instead I found what I believe to be the remains of an old bridge. I have no idea what to do with that. I can’t help but to think, and man thinking is easy in this Kitsune form. It must be the high Int stat. I actually can’t stop thinking about things. When I was talking to Ren he told me about what sounded like a war between this country and the one on the other side of the river. I wonder if this bridge had been destroyed during that war. Fights and battles, I can’t help but to wonder how the fighting went down in these woods. Having yet to meet another human I have no idea if they all have “gifts” like I do. If so then fights must be fantasy level epic. I have made my way a good few miles down the river. It is much slower moving in Kitsune form. It only took me a few days to make those miles. I can’t help but think that maybe I should be spending more time in my German shepherd form. The power that my Kitsune form packs though, and I just feel so smart. I really like feeling smart. I have finally managed to get my Kitsune form to level two. I gained a truly spectacular skill. It has made my Int stat rise through the roof. Flashfire: Damage for Foxfire is increased by base Int + (.5X base Int) (40+20)=60. Rare. That skill makes it so my Foxfire is ridiculously strong. It increases my attack by 60. I am just having a hard time losing all that fire power, literally fire power. I also dislike losing the ability to feel the magic in the air around me. It is a surreal feeling and I have gotten quite used to it. I really should switch over to my faster form though. What I really want is to find another canine form, I think a wolf would be cool. Fast and scary and strong. I would like a strong fast scary form. Sitting on my boulder I was getting ready to leave when I saw something move by the rubble on the other side of the river. Looking over I saw a boy, with short black hair and tan skin was picking his way along the riverside and the rubble. He wore a long robe with the hood down. I concentrated hard

Name: Hex

Age: 13

Mind: ???

Str: ??? Spd: ??? Int: ??? Res: ??? Def: ???

Race: Human

Sex: Male

Gender: Male

Level: ???

Gift: ???

Titles: ???-skill level too low

Abilities: ???- skill level too low

Skills: ??? - skill level too low

Skill points: ???-skill level too low

Well then. I had not realized just how weak my level one Analyze skill is. It does not even give me an idea how many titles, abilities or skills he has. He might even be a higher level than I am. He is only 13 years old, but I have no idea what the average level is for kids in this world. My Analyze skill is almost level two. I wonder how much more I will be able to see once it finally gets to that level. I am hoping that it will allow me to start analyzing the plant life around me. Speaking of plant life… I never did spend my skill points for leveling up. I am almost level twelve now, but when I got to level eleven I gained ten skill points and have a total of fifteen. I remember correctly the Herbology skill was fifteen points. Before I could really get sidetracked thinking about skills the boy noticed me. He was standing by the edge of the water staring at me. I can feel the pressure from his gaze. My danger sense was prickling, telling me that if he wanted a fight, he would be a dangerous enemy. I am too weak, I need to get stronger. I might need to start looking for fights with something higher level than the Rhabbits. The boy and I must have been staring at each other for ten minutes before the boy finally shrugged, gave a very cute wave and moved out of my line of sight. It was only after he left that I realized that we probably could have spoken if I had gone back to my human form. Oh well. I should probably check out my skills now.

Skill points: Points earned with each level up a creature undergoes. Points can be spent on new skills or on leveling old skills. Points needed to level each skill vary on skill level and how much experience that skill has gained from use already. New skills area available depending on the level of the creature and their gifts.

Obtained skills:

Analyze: Rare. Level 1. Exp (45/50) points to next level 5

Transform (canine): Cost 20 Mind. Rare. Level 2. Exp (15/40) points to next level 25

Language Translation: Ultra Rare. Level --

Zoology:. Rare. Level 1. Exp (70/100) points to next level 10

Hunting: Unusual. Level 2. Exp (10/ 75). Points to next level 30

Scavenger:.Unusual. Level 2. Exp (10/50). Points to next level 20

Keen hearing: Rare. Level 1. Exp. (85/ 100). Points to next level 5

Keen smell: Rare. Level 1. Exp (85/100). Points to next level 5.

Bite (small): Common. Level 1. Exp (50/75). Points to next level 5

Firefox: Cost 10 Mind. Rare. Level 1. Exp (90/100) Points to next level 10.

Flashfire: Damage for Foxfire is increased by base Int + (.5X base Int) (40+20)=60. Rare. Level 1. (Exp 0/100) Points to next level 30.

Skills not yet obtained:

Cooking: Enhances one’s ability to cook. Common: Points to obtain 10

Woodcraft: Enhances one’s ability to work and shape wood. Common: Points to obtain 20

Metalworking: Enhances one’s ability to work and shape metal. Common: Points to obtain 20

Herbology: Enhances knowledge of and collection skills of plant life. Common: Points to obtain 15

Mineralogy: Enhances knowledge of and collection skills of minerals. Common: Points to obtain 15

Farming: Enhances ability to grow crops and raise animals. Common: Points to obtain 15

Crafting: Enhances one’s skills in creating weapons, armor, cookware, flasks, and other objects. Common: Points to obtain 40

Alchemy: Enhances one’s understanding of poisons, magic, illnesses, wounds, and the creations of potions, antidotes and other tonics. Unusual: Points to obtain 25

First Aid: Enhances one’s knowledge of injuries, assessment of injuries and ability to treat them. Unusual: Points to obtain 30

Determination: Difficult tasks become easier when one never gives up. Boost to Str, Spd, Int, or Res depending on what one is trying to do. Unusual: Points to obtain 50

Magic Support: Increase speed of spell casting. Unusual: Points to obtain 10

I took inventory of my skills. My Hunting and Scavenger skills leveled up, I had not even noticed. My skill list is getting nice and long. My skills are getting close to leveling up, and I have two new skills I can obtain. Determination and Magic Support. I think my stubborn trek through the woods with me dragging my pack along the ground that opened the Determination skill. Magic Support probably came from my being able to use a magic skill. As much as I want Determination, I do want Herbology as well. Analyze might allow me to identify plants once it levels up, but Herbology is something that I could really use right now. I can also afford Herbology and I cannot afford Determination for at least a few levels. It is decided, I am taking Herbology then I will save up for Determination. I focused and selected Herbology and my skill points fell to zero. As soon as I exited from my skills my new Herbology skill kicked into gear. It was telling me that the trees were trees and the grass is grass and what was edible and what is not. I was not really getting more information than that, but I wasn’t getting any information before. Time to get serious about leveling up, I need to pick up the pace.

I found a good spot. A small pond that has a lot of creatures coming to visit it. A good variety of strong creatures come to eat the frogs who live in the pond. The frogs are worth a good amount of experience, but the Red Ears, a small feline creature with red tipped ears, are worth a lot more. I noticed that the Red Ears seem to love eating the frogs. At least two or three a day come to the pond to hunt for the frogs. In three days I went from level twelve to level fifteen. Red Ears have a very specific attack, they leap first with their sharp claws, then they have a loud screech that makes it very hard to move after hearing it. Their weak point is when they are getting ready to let out that screech. They pause and open their mouth in preparation, one precisely aimed and timed fireball from my Firefox takes the creature down. They inhale the fire and it cooks their insides. I have gotten rather used to the smell, in fact the smell of cooking intestines is actually starting to make me drool. Red Ears are really tasty, the frogs will do in a pinch, but the felines taste like nothing I have ever tasted before. I learned how to cook in my Kitsune form. Analyze has reached the next level, now I have a higher chance to see my opponents health mind and level. My Transform skill has gone up and my Kitsune form has gone up as well. My mind and my Int stat went up with both the base level up and the form level up. After reaching level fifteen instead of the Red Ears that usually arrived at the pond, a larger purple feline with dark maroon tipped ears arrived. It moved not for the frogs in the pond but went straight for me!

Race: Red Ear (Elder)

Mind: 2400/2400

Str: ??? Spd: ??? Int: ??? Res: ??? Def: ???

Sex: Male

Gender: Male

Level: 20

Titles: ???-skill level too low

Abilities: ???- skill level too low

Skills: ??? - skill level too low

Oh crap, this is a boss battle if I have ever seen one. It is five levels higher than me, its stats and abilities are unknown to me and its health and mind are off the charts. This truly is going to be the fight of my life. The first thing I did was throw myself to the side as quickly as I could. The long sharp claws dug into the ground where I had been hiding just a second before. I had time to let off one fireball which hit the Elder in the face, and did very little damage. Then I was moving again, the Elder slammed down where I had been with enough force that the shock wave took down some of my health. One hit and I am dead. I focused on drawing in my energy and dodgin at the same time. I weaved between slashing claws and large paws, looking for a chance to let off another Firefox. The Elder growled and opened its mouth. There! My chance! I threw as much power as I could into the flames and launched all five flames into the face and mouth of the Elder. None went into the mouth, but the flames did do some damage, the pain that flashed on the Eldar’s face told me that. I have no time to celebrate as the Elder did not allow the pain to slow him down. I began to gather my energy as I dodged the attacks that were coming even faster now. While I am managing to not get hit directly, the shock waves from the attacks are whittling down my health. If I had a health bar it would be small and reaching red. Darn this small but powerful body! I run under the Elder’s body and launch all five flames up into the under belly of the Elder. As I hoped the Elder took more damage from this attack, he screamed a loud high pitched hiss. His defense must be lower on his stomach than the sides and back. It learned from that, snaking his body in such a way that I cannot get back under his stomach. “Elder, Elder, Elder, Elder.” Chanting came from the trees around us. Once again my Language Translation and Zoology are reacting together to allow me to hear what the animals around me are saying. I can’t allow my focus to waver from the fight. The Red Ears in the trees seem to be spectators and not participants. I am getting a trial and test kind of vibe from this fight. I can think about that later, right now I need to not get my throat ripped out by these claws. I work on building up my energy again, I do not have many opportunities to attack, so i need each attack to count. Full power for each attack. “Trespassers must pay'' The large cat hissed as another shockwave threatened to knock me off my feet. I let out another barrage, hitting him in his nose. That did some more damage and blinded him momentarily. He is not moving as quickly as before so he must be feeling the pain from my attacks. I am a little shocked that he has not caught fire yet. I am scared about what kind of skills he has. So far he has only used his claws and the shock waves from his jumps. Since I cannot see his skill list or his abilities I am preparing myself to be surprised. In games when a boss gets down to half health and below they start busting out scary dangerous moves. If that proves true in this world then he will start bringing out the big guns any second now based on the way he has slowed down slightly. I drew in more magical energy as I barely dodged another, quicker barrage of slashing claws. I managed to slide back under the Elder and let go another Firefox and sunk my teeth into the highest part of his back leg I could reach. I don’t think I did any damage, but I did buy myself time to charge up another attack and was able to aim it at the underbelly again. My teeth lost their purchase, so I ran to the other leg and repeated the move. He is breathing heavily and showing signs of true damage now. Another hit or two should end this. I just need to live long enough for that to happen. I thought that I was going to be able to use the move again, but before I could gain enough magical energy the Elder began to roll. I went flying, and my health grew dangerously low, I could feel the pain in my body telling me to give in and go to sleep. Another shockwave would kill me. I pulled as much energy as I could as quickly as I could and as the Elder began to stand back up I unleashed everything I had on him. Five blue and white flames slammed into his chest and he fell back. Level raised 15 to 16. Ten skill points gained. Level raised 16 to 17. Ten skill points gained. Kitsune form level raised 3-4. Kitsune form raised 4-5. Level raised Firefox level 2-3. Level raised Firefox 3-4. Level raised Flashfire level 1-2. Level raised Bite (small) level 2-3. Level raised Zoology level 1-2. Wow that is a lot of level ups. I will look at that later, so long as I survive the next hour.