The boar charged without warning, jaws open, crooked tusks ready to gut.

Alice leapt aside, rolled across the ground. The beast skidded, tearing up the earth with its hooves. She was already back on her feet, panting.

"Come here, little piggy..."

The monster charged again. Alice raised her hand.

"ZEPHYRA!"

A gust of wind slammed into the beast, halting its momentum. It shook its head and growled. But this time, Alice was already moving. She sprinted toward a boulder, jumped on it, and leapt onto its back, blade poised.

The boar reared. Her dagger slid across its spine. She tumbled down, dodging a crushing hoof just in time.

"Wow, it is very agile for its size..."

The beast snorted violently. Blood dripped from its flank. Wounded, but not defeated.

Alice raised her hand again. This time, she pressed her fingers into the damp earth.

"TERRAE!"

A clump of dirt burst up in front of the boar, smacking its snout. It staggered back, squealing furiously. Alice seized the moment, charging with her blade.

A slash. Then another. She dodged a kick, rolled to the side, struck behind the shoulder. Blood spurted. The boar staggered.

One last stab. Right in the eye.

The boar collapsed with a final gurgling grunt.

Alice stepped back, panting. Her breath swirled in pale clouds in the morning chill. Her rusted dagger dripped thick, almost black blood.

Ding

You have slain: Carnivorous Boar – Level 8
Congratulations! You gained 4 XP!

She bent down and retrieved the magical gem at the base of the beast's skull: a softly glowing blue shard pulsed in her palm.

"He was fast," she muttered. "And those damn tusks..."

"You dodged him four times. Not bad," Golly remarked neutrally, standing nearby.

It had been two weeks now since she started going out hunting each morning. Horned rabbits, boars, even some territorial birds called peckraptors. Nothing too dangerous, but each creature had its quirks.

For horned rabbits, she relied on stealth. A slow approach, hidden in the shadows, then a gust of wind to knock them down. They were fast but fragile. She could also bait them into charging and trip them with earth magic—but that was riskier, the timing critical.

Peckraptors attacked from above. She had to anticipate their dive, use wind to deviate and keep them to the ground. One time, she lured a whole group that she couldn’t face into a wild beehive. It was messy. But effective.

As for boars, she'd learned that pain only made them angrier. It was best to tire them out by making them crash into trees, and slow their charge by hastily making the ground uneven. They were brutal, but predictable.

She adapted her combat style. Observed. Tested. Imagined. And every time, she made it through.

And so, Alice learned. To aim faster. To track better. To adjust her tactics. Her spells cast more naturally now. Her instincts sharpened—almost feline.

The system followed her silently.

[Quest Completed: Hunt 3 Boars]
Reward: +33 XP
New Skill: Tracking – Level 1

Each small victory brought her closer to understanding this world.

Afternoons were for testing. Alice would sit cross-legged in the clearing, surrounded by rocks and hollow logs, analyzing her own abilities.

"Okay. One point in Intelligence lets me cast faster, but also gives me more MP. Basically it manages my magic. Agility... makes me faster, but also more accurate? Does it boost crit chance? Or just reaction time? Feels like it does a bit of everything."

She often spoke aloud.

Golly, busy digging in the garden, would sometimes comment.

"Agility... is when you leap like a startled hare."

"Thanks for the analogy, Professor Golem."

She opened her status window and distributed her stat points.

---

Character Sheet
Name: Alice Vanberg
Race: Vampire
Level: 5
Experience: 195 / 220

Titles:
– Fallen Noble (–5 Charisma)
– Survivor (+1 Strength, +2 Constitution)
– Gifted Mage (Two Elements) (+2 Intelligence)
– #&@!?#& (Unknown)

Stats:
– Strength: 4 (2 base +1 [Survivor] +2 distributed)
– Constitution: 5 (3 +2 [Survivor] +2 distributed)
– Agility: 13 (8 base +6 allocated)
– Intelligence: 22 (15 base +2 [Gifted Mage] +6 allocated)
– Charisma: 9 (14 base -5 [Fallen Noble] +2 allocated)
– Luck: 2 (2 base +2 allocated)

Magic:
– Wind – Level 2
– Earth – Level 1

Skills:
– Survival – Level 2
– Common Language – Level 20
– Inspection – Level 1
– Quick Casting – Level 1
– Dismantling – Level 1
– Tracking – Level 1

---

"I think a magic/dodge build is my best bet right now. I’m too fragile to tank hits, so avoiding them entirely is safer. Plus, magic lets me fight from a distance and end battles quickly."

"Don’t neglect melee. It matters."

"Don’t worry! I’m putting points into everything."

She also tested her spell limits. Wind obeyed faster. She could now generate continuous gusts, push back small enemies, even unbalance a charging boar. Earth had grown more malleable. She shaped small walls, small defensive spikes, and simple holes. The improvements were slow but steady.

One evening, tired of root soup, Alice examined a few mushrooms she'd gathered. Thanks to her increased Inspection skill, she could now see short descriptions of items.

[Inspection: Brown Mushroom – Edible. Light hazelnut flavor.]

She chose three, sliced them, and sautéed them in a pan she'd found in the hut. She added thin boar meat strips, a pinch of salt, found in small quantities in the master’s hut, and yellow tuber slices.

Golly arrived just as the meat began to sizzle.

"You’re… making something other than soup?"

"Yep. I’m cooking."

"Smells... not unpleasant."

She smiled. They ate by the fire, seated on a log. Alice told stories of dishes from her world: melty pizzas, stir-fried noodles in woks, chocolate desserts. Golly didn’t understand everything, but he listened attentively.

"Cheese… is a kind of intentional mold?"

"Yeah… sounds gross when you put it that way."

They laughed together while making jokes about food from her former world. She brightly, he with that gravelly rumble like a rockslide trying to chuckle.

But not every evening was peaceful.

One night, she woke up with her stomach knotted. A thick fog blanketed the clearing. She was hungry. A different hunger. Primal. Savage.

She rose, cloaked herself. Golly was motionless in the corner — sleeping, or in standby. She didn’t want him to see.

Bare feet slipping across the cold grass, she followed familiar trails. And quickly she found what she was looking for. A lone rabbit.

No strategy. No thinking. She moved in a trance, no longer in control of her mind or body.

She lunged.

Blood spilled as her fangs pierced its fur. The animal struggled weakly. The metallic taste filled her mouth. She drank — thoughtless. Wordless.

Then suddenly… she stopped, realizing what she was doing.

Her hands trembled as she let go of the body. Alice stumbled back. Then again. She vomited behind a tree. For a long time. Pain. Disgust.

But… she was no longer hungry.

Ding

[Achievement: Vampiric Feeding]
Blood Magic unlocked – Level 1
Effects: +20% to all stats (duration: 20 minutes)

She knelt there, face in her hands, until dawn crept through the branches.

---

One Year Later

Time passed quickly.

Alice had grown. A bit physically — though her body remained that of a seven-year-old — but her eyes had changed. Sharper. Clearer. Her movements were confident. Each spell cast without hesitation.

Golly once watched her fight a Peckraptor and said:

"You’re faster now. Like an arrow. Even if you sometimes shoot crooked."

She laughed. Then stabbed her blade with clean precision.

Ding

You have slain: Peckraptor – Level 22
Congratulations! You gained 11 XP!
Level Up!
New Skill: Dagger Mastery +1

She hunted to eat, to survive, and… to stay herself. Once a week, she would draw a bit of blood from a slain animal, quickly, painlessly. Just enough to calm the urge. She never wanted to relieve the rabbit scene again and never talked about it to Golly.

She cleaned her dagger after every battle, her hands stained with earth and blood. Golly approached, a potato in each hand.

"You shine a little brighter than before."

"I hope that’s not just the sweat."

She joked, but a Ding rang out.

[Main Quest Unlocked]
Title: First Dungeon!
Destination: Ruins of the Temple of #@€&(!?#
Distance: 1 km northwest
Rewards: Rare weapon, rare equipment, 200 XP, medallion of #@€&(!?#

Alice lifted her eyes toward the horizon.

A new wind stirred in the forest.