Chapter 10: The Pond

After cleaning himself of the blood he climbed up onto the root to try and look around at where he was. He remembered he had been going East and when he heard the boar he had run left, which meant he should have gone North. Looking to try and find where the sun rested in the sky through the canopy of trees he was able to locate it again. Seeing that the sun was just above the mountains to the West he decided it would be best to find a place to crash for the night. Looking at the tree towering above him he decided it was as good a place as any. Beginning his assent, he made his way to about twenty feet of the ground and nestled into a joint in the tree where the trunk met two massive branches. Holding his spear across his lap and stabbing his bowie knife into the trunk next to him for easy reach he stared off through the tree top and watched the sun set over the horizon.

He fell asleep quickly not realizing how exhausted he really was after arriving on the new planet then being chased by the boar.

Rosario awoke to the rays of the sun filtering through the tree branches and hitting him in the face. Scrunching his eyes and wanting to continue sleeping it took him a couple seconds to remember everything that had happened the previous day causing his eyes to shoot open wide and bringing him fully alert to his surroundings. He was still in the nook of the tree that he had fallen asleep in with his spear resting balanced across his lap.

Looking left around right around him, he didn't see any animals and was able to hear some smaller insects and birds making noises around him letting him know there were probably no predators around. Drinking some water and eating some jerky Rosario got ready to begin his long trek towards the Eastern most mountains. Looking at the mountains through the haze of the sunlight peeking over them he tried seeing how close they looked after walking towards them for half a day. Thankfully it seemed like the days on this massive planet seemed to be around the same length as those on earth.

Climbing down from the branch and using the butt end of his spear like a walking stick Rosario began his hike to the mountains anew.

He had been hiking for the whole morning and Rosario was absolutely enamored with this new world he was in. He had crossed multiple small streams, came across a massive waterfall, walked through a few plains, and came across so many colorful trees that surrounded him on all sides. The branches would sway gently in the breeze and the peace of the forest calmed the racing thoughts in Rosarios' head. Just a little after he had begun hiking after lunch and a toilet break the quiet of the forest was broken by the bleating of an animal and the thrashing of water.

Deciding to check out what the sounds were Rosario tried to silently make his way over to the commotion. About fifty yards away he came to a break in the trees where a glistening pool of water was. Fed by runoff that seemed to come from the mountains the pond looked to be an ideal place to sit and relax. That is to say it would be an ideal spot if it wasn't for the commotion taking place at the water's edge. As he looked out from the tree line Rosario spotted what looked to be a massive buck standing at least 6 feet tall fighting a ten-foot-long alligator. The buck's left front leg along with its back right leg was covered in blood, and it was limping badly as it used its antlers to stab at the encroaching alligator.

Rosario thought about the measly 15 points of essence he had and the 85 he needed to obtain just to get to level 1 and decided he would take this chance to get himself more essence. The two animals were fighting each other across the pond from where he currently hid in the trees. Wanting to get as close as possible under the cover of the trees he retreated back into the underbrush and moved about fifty feet from where the tree line was.

Making his way over as quietly but efficiently as possible Rosario circled the pond clockwise till he got to the forest just behind the Bucks back as it fought to hold off the Alligator. Taking a deep breath and gripping his spear Rosario began moving forwards in the trees till he reached the very edge of the tree line. From where he was peeking around a thick trunk he was about thirty feet away from the ass end of the unsuspecting Buck.

He was worried that the Alligator would see him as he approached so he patiently waited for an opportune time to strike. It took another ten or so more minutes till the buck finally collapsed from blood loss and seemed to be on its last moments. The alligator was not in too much of a better situation as it had multiple bloody stab wounds from the antlers. Crouching and moving forward across the open ground from the tree line Rosario came up behind the Buck keeping its massive body between him and the Alligator to give himself as much time to get as close as possible.

When he was only ten feet away from the buck Rosario dashed forward with his spear at the ready. Moving around the buck who was on the ground, Rosario swiftly came around the buck's side and plunged his spear at the alligator's head. He had decided to attack the alligator first as he had noticed that of the two combatants the alligator was still able to move and was the larger danger.

The alligator having moved in for the kill saw as Rosario came around the buck, immediately after it saw the motion to the side it lunged its body at the new arrival, jaws wide open to claim down on the intruder.

Rosario thrust his spear at the lunging alligator and watched as his blade hit the roof of the alligator's mouth and hitting the bone was deflected down deeper into the animal's throat. Chomping down on the foreign object entering it the Alligator's bite came down upon the spear shaft. Unfortunately for the alligator the blade had already pierced deep down its throat causing irreversible damage and massive bleeding.

Rosario let go of his spear and jumped back a couple of yards and watched as the alligator went into a death roll trying to dislodge the spear in its mouth. Unfortunately for the animal there was no reprieve and after a little while the alligators thrashing subsided, and Rosario saw the ellipsis begin flashing with a new notice. Glancing at it he saw the message confirming the alligator was dead.

[Killed: Alligator. Evo 0, Level 4]

As he walked to retrieve his spear Rosario locked eyes with the buck which at this point was raggedly breathing as it was slowly losing consciousness from blood loss. Placing his spear into the necklace and then retrieving it out immediately, Rosario was able to dislodge the spear from the alligator's throat.

Thinking about how useful the necklace was he walked in a circle that took him behind the buck as he figured it was best to be over cautious. Lining up the spear he thrust it through the buck's neck putting it out of its misery. Again, he saw the quick message pop up.

[Killed: White-Tailed Buck. Evo 0, Level 2]

Satisfied with knowing both the animals were dead he grabbed the alligator's body and pulled it farther away from the shore of the water. He definitely did not want another alligator or anything else popping out of the water and surprising him. While keeping extremely attentive to his surroundings Rosario began the tedious process of skinning the animals and salvaging what meat he could between the two of them.

As he worked he took a closer look at the levels of the two animals. He assumed that animals probably have a different way to "level up" than humans as herbivores such as the buck would never leave level 0 as they don't eat other animals and would never ingest the essence crystals. However, carnivores like the alligator consume their prey and in turn would consume the essence stone also allowing them to get the essence to get more powerful.

'I wonder if herbivores level up the way that Rena had mentioned to me. She had said something about being able to absorb essence without needing to kill, maybe that is how herbivores get stronger. It definitely must be slower than the leveling speed of carnivores though.'

Rosario had a few guesses as to how animals leveled up but if he was being honest he really was just guessing. He had no idea the intricacies of how animals could level up. Also, if animals could level up can trees and plants? What about carnivorous plants? He had so many questions and so little answers.