“Hey, be careful! You don’t want to slip!” Ella called out to Henry, her voice tight with concern as he teetered on a loose rock in the middle of the stream.

Henry wobbled for a moment, his arms flailing for balance, before he finally managed to leap onto solid ground. He shot her a reassuring grin. “I’m fine, just a bit wobbly, that’s all. Nothing to worry about.” He brushed some dirt off his hands like it was no big deal.

I glanced at the stream, sizing it up before deciding to take the easier route. I stepped a few feet to the left, finding a shallower section. The water rippled around my ankles as I walked straight through. No need for fancy rock hopping when I had waterproof gear.

“You’re gonna get your feet wet!” Emily’s voice called from behind me.

I waved her off, rubbing the mud off my boots on some nearby greenery. “These boots are airtight. I doubt a little water will get in them.”

Ella paused for a moment before following me into the water. “Yeah, I didn’t consider that, but you’re right. These boots could probably survive a monsoon.” She gave a little shrug as she splashed through beside me.

Amelia, ever the practical one, watched us with a raised brow from the opposite side of the stream. “Doesn’t really matter, we’ll be following this river for a while anyway. But Emily’s right, water in our boots would be a pain. Let’s keep moving; we’ve got a long way to go.”

She didn’t wait for a response, already heading upstream. “We need to find a slope to get a better view of the area.”

I jogged up to join her. “You heard her, let’s get going.”

Hours passed as we trekked along the river. The stream had grown wider, more robust, with fish darting in and out of sight beneath the surface. The sound of rushing water mixed with the rhythm of our steps, but my mind kept drifting to the challenge of catching one of those fish. An idea sparked.

“Henry, hold my shoes,” I said, kicking them off and handing them over. He looked confused for a second, then the light bulb clicked.

“You’re not serious, are you?” Henry asked, raising a brow.

“Very,” I said, stepping into the water. It felt warmer than I expected at first, but the further I went, the cooler it became. 

Amelia opened her mouth, probably to tell me not to waste time, but Benjamin had already made himself comfortable on a rock in the stream, removing his shoes and carving at a stick he’d picked up. He watched me with that calm, patient look of his.

“What are you—” Ella began, but I cut her off with a quick shush, my eyes locked on a long, sleek fish swimming against the current. Just a little closer... I thought, inching forward, my hands hovering above the water. Come on…

I lunged. My fingers grazed the fish’s slick body, but it darted away with lightning speed. “Damn it,” I hissed, frustrated at how close I was.

“Close!” Owen called out from the bank, pointing excitedly at another fish hiding among some weeds. I tried again, creeping towards it, but once more, the fish bolted before I could grab it. “These things are fast,” I muttered.

Benjamin’s voice broke through my thoughts. “Atlas, try this.” He tossed something at me, and I caught it out of reflex. It was the stick he’d been carving – now a makeshift spear, its end splintered into five sharp points, held in place by vines woven between them.

“Try spearing it,” he said, demonstrating with another stick. “Remember, aim a bit below where you see it since the water distorts the fish’s position.”

I nodded, a new wave of focus settling in. Owen pointed out another fish near the water’s edge. I crept closer, spear in hand, positioning it just below the fish’s head. Steadying myself, I took a breath, then jabbed. The spear plunged into the water, and I felt the resistance as it struck the fish. It flailed wildly, but I pressed it down, pinning it beneath my knee.

I pulled out my knife and quickly stabbed the fish between the eyes, feeling it go still beneath my grip. Owen and Henry erupted into cheers from the bank as I lifted the fish out of the water.

The weight of it hit me as I dropped it onto the ground with a heavy thud. At least 20 pounds, easy. Now that it was out of the water, I got a better look at its long, Greyish body like that of a salmon but thinner with long fins extending down its back.

“Nice catch,” Henry said, handing me back my shoes.

“Yeah, not bad,” I grinned, shaking off the water from my hands.

“Have you ever gutted a fish before?” Benjamin asked, crouching down to inspect it, his eyes scanning it with quiet curiosity.

“Yeah, a couple times,” I replied, my gaze sweeping the area. Were a flat stone nearby caught my attention. I hauled the fish over, its weight still impressive in my hands, and plopped it down.

Pulling out my knife, I made a clean cut along the belly, extracting the guts with practiced ease. Hollowing it out felt almost methodical. I severed the head, chopping through the spine with a swift strike. As I turned, I nearly jumped – everyone had gathered around me, hovering way too close for comfort.

“Move, move. I need space to clean it,” I muttered, waving them off.

“Oh, sorry!” Ella said quickly, stepping aside, followed by Henry and Owen, all looking slightly sheepish.

Kneeling at the stream’s edge, I dunked the fish into the water, scrubbing away the blood vessels that clung stubbornly to the insides. Once satisfied, I held it up to inspect my work. That should do it.

“That’s a pretty good job,” Benjamin said, nodding with approval as he took another look at the fish. “We should get a fire going and cook it. Been too long since I’ve had fish.”

“I’ll get the fire started,” I offered, eager to eat.

After some time gathering stones to make sparks and carefully tending the flames, the fire crackled to life. The warmth was welcoming, and I found myself lost in the rhythm of it when Henry’s triumphant shout broke through. He came running over, holding a squirming fish in his hands, its body flopping about wildly.

“Look at you!” I said, grinning. “Want me to gut it?”

“Nah, I got it,” Henry replied, shaking his head. “But can I borrow your knife?”

“Sure,” I said, handing it over. The moment the blade slid between its eyes, it stopped thrashing, but Henry seemed to freeze too. His gaze drifted off, staring at something only he could see.

I waved my hand in front of his face. “You good?”

It took him a second, but he shook his head, blinking out of whatever trance he was in. “I just… I leveled up,” he said, almost in disbelief. “My stat screen says I gained a level.”

I raised an eyebrow. “A level? From killing a fish?”

“Yeah,” he said, sitting down, looking distracted. “It says I got three points to allocate.”

“So what now? You distribute these points, and then what?” I asked, intrigued but still a bit skeptical.

“I don’t know, man. This is new to me, too,” Henry responded, clearly trying to process it all. He paused for a moment, thinking, when Emily wandered over.

“Hey, is the fire ready yet? The fish is all cut up and good to go,” she said, but then her eyes flicked to the fish Henry had. “Wait, when did we get another one?”

Before she could ask more, Henry jumped in. “Emily, I need your opinion. If you had to allocate points to a game character, like strength, intelligence, stuff like that, what would you pick?”

She blinked, caught off guard by the question. “Uh… I don’t know. I’ve never played those types of games. I’m more into farming sims and exploration stuff. Why do you ask?”

“My core says I leveled up from killing that fish, and I need to figure out where to spend the points,” Henry explained, standing up, his eyes scanning the area. “I’m gonna ask the others what they think.”

Emily watched him jog off, still processing. “He leveled up from killing a fish?” She shook her head. “Isn’t leveling up supposed to be harder than that?”

I shrugged, standing and heading after Henry. We caught up just as the conversation turned more philosophical.

“Strength is pretty straightforward,” Owen was saying, scratching his head. “Probably just makes you physically stronger, right? But what about intelligence? Does it make you smarter or just boost your abilities, like in a game?”

Ella chimed in, her tone thoughtful. “It might make your abilities stronger. But we won’t really know until you try it out.”

Everyone tossed around ideas, debating what attribute would be the best choice for Henry. Owen seemed convinced. “I think intelligence makes the most sense. Out of all six stats, it could enhance your core abilities.”

I jumped in, unable to resist. “What about strength? If it does what it sounds like, you’d be hitting harder, right? And hey, maybe you could actually beat me in an arm wrestle for once if you put points into that.” I shot him a teasing grin.

Benjamin, ever the voice of reason, cut in. “I wouldn’t be so quick to make that choice. We don’t really know what these stats mean in practice. Could be risky.”

“I don’t know,” I replied, thoughtful now. “If strength does what we think it does, it wouldn’t be half bad.”

Henry zoned out for a moment, his gaze distant as if lost in some internal calculation. Then, without warning, he snapped back to the present. “Alright, I’ll put all three points into intelligence. Let’s see what happens.”

He bent down, plucking two plants from the ground, one in each hand. A second passed, and the plant in his right hand began to gray, slowly withering as though life itself was being drained from it. He paused, concentrating, and then the plant in his left hand darkened almost instantly, shriveling at an unnerving pace. Its petals fell away like ashes on the wind.

A cold shudder crept down my spine. Watching the life drain from those plants, I couldn’t stop the unsettling thought: what would that do to flesh? The image twisted my stomach, and then, like a tidal wave, the visions slammed into my mind.
Bodies. Cold, limp bodies piling up. Skin turned a sickly, ink-black from the same creeping poison. Faces frozen in the moment life left them.

It wasn’t fair. It shouldn’t have taken…
Taken who?

The thought snagged in my mind like a hook.
I reached for something—someone—I knew should have been there. A memory half-formed, sitting just out of reach. But the moment I tried to grasp it, my mind recoiled, as though a veil had been pulled tightly over it, refusing to lift.

Confusion prickled through me, sharp and frustrating.
Why couldn’t I remember?

The figures in the smoke dissolved, fading as quickly as they’d appeared… but the weight of them lingered. A presence just beyond the edge of my vision, felt but unseen, like they were waiting for me to remember something I wasn’t allowed to.

“Atlas… Atlas, are you listening?” Ella’s voice cut through, snapping me back to the present. She sounded concerned, like she’d been trying to get my attention for a while.

I blinked as the world around me solidified once again. Faces watched me; concern etched into their features. I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to shake the weight of the vision. “Sorry,” I mumbled, voice rough as if the poison still clung to my throat. “Just got lost in thought.”

Ella gave me a soft smile, though her brow was still furrowed. “Do you think you could help us get some more fish? I want to see if Henry can level up again if he kills a few more.”

I hesitated. “I’m not sure it’s that simple,” I replied, but then I sighed, feeling the weight of the day ease a little. “But sure, I’ll help.”

Walking to the river, Henry seemed lost in thought, his eyes fixed on his hands as if they held some terrible secret. “It’s weird,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “Having the ability to just... decay things. I’m not sure how I feel about it.” His voice was quiet, almost like he was talking to himself. “What if I can’t stop it once it starts? It’s actually kind of terrifying the more I think about it. Like, what if I accidentally use it on one of you?”

I picked up one of the spears I’d left on the rocks and tossed it lightly in the air, catching it with a thoughtful frown. “Didn’t you say earlier that you have a sense of how to control it? You told me it only activates if you will it, right?”

Henry paused, thinking it over before nodding. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He bent down and picked up the other spear, the one Benjamin had been working on. “Anyway, next time I level up, I’m putting all the points into strength. Maybe then I’ll finally beat you in an arm wrestle.” He grinned, then his face lit up with a mischievous glint. “What if it gives me a six-pack?”

I blinked at him, taken aback by the sudden shift in mood. “You? With a six-pack? Yeah, right. Keep dreaming, buddy.”

“Wow, low blow, man!” Henry laughed, and I couldn’t help but chuckle along with him. His mood had lifted, and for a moment, everything felt lighter.