“Level two,” John said, mouth agape.

  He never thought he’d ever see that, maybe in retirement. He hardly knew anybody who had ever surpassed the first level. And here he was, no longer stuck on the first level.

  Even his status had changed from settling to settled.

  Status: Settled

  Because he had leveled up, another system message appeared.

  Core Adaptation Available

  Options:

  Body

  Mind

  Craft

  Endurance

  Hearth

  John stared at the five different cores that he could adapt, surprised. He felt like a kid in a video game store, overwhelmed by all the different choices he could have, all the different games that he could play.

  He sat there in wonder as he debated which one to choose next.

  6

  STRANGERS

  John tapped his finger against his stained jeans, pondering which core adaptation to choose.

  Hmm, he thought to himself, thinking it over. I feel like my body probably needs a little bit of a boost.

  After all, he was feeling more exhausted than he had ever felt in his life. Chopping all the trees and making new tools, and building things. It would probably be best to strengthen himself first.

  Given that survival was physical as well, he went ahead and chose the core adaptation for his body, receiving a system message afterward.

  Core Adaptation Chosen: Body

  Effect: Slight Fatigue Efficiency — Physical exertion drains less stamina

  John nodded in approval. I think that’ll help.

  And just then, as the system message disappeared, the storm coming down from the mountain, entirely dark purple like a royal cloak, rumbled in intensity.

  He stared at it for a second, captivated by its dark beauty as flashes of purple lightning filled the sky. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Before he knew it, rain began to fall steadily across Meadowreach Valley, and the wind continued picking up, gently rustling the trees and the flowers nearby in his meadow by the river.

  A soft hush of rain descended upon his little homestead.

  John immediately withdrew to his tent, now very much grateful that he had built his little windbreak, which modestly protected his little fire, though it wasn’t much.

  Several times, as he sat there, listening to the rain tapping softly against his tent, he worried that his little fire would lose the fight against the rain. But thankfully, it endured, as the rain wasn’t very heavy, though it was enough to make the fire work for it.

  If anything, it was rather peaceful, listening to the soft rain and cozying up inside his tent, extending his hands to keep warm.

  Having nothing else to do, John pulled out his journal and government-issue pen and began writing his thoughts. He wrote about the windbreak he had built, his fishing, his slight feeling of guilt over eating the cute fish, and just overall the strange forest.

  He also wrote about his theories on why this strange new world was not modernized like his own. There were plenty of resources around here. There were different races like elves and dwarves, fairies, and potentially much more.

  Why had they not built towers and cities? Or maybe they had, and this was only just more uncivilized terrain.

  But as John thought more on the ruins that he had seen and the strange portals, he guessed maybe something sadder had happened here. Maybe civilization had lost its way, and nature had reclaimed it. Could something catastrophic have happened to it? And now this world had returned to its more primal roots.

  It was hard to know for certain, as this world was new to him and his own world.

  Thankfully, reports of the natives were peaceful, and he hoped to meet one of them soon, ask them all his questions, and make some friends.

  John smiled, thinking of the drawing of the elvish girl, and maybe something more.

  After journaling for some time, he increased in his Journaling skill.

  Journaling (+5): lvl 1 (10 / 100)

  Satisfied, he put away his journal and decided to make some tea.

  John had a little bit of the glowing algae left, though not much, but it would be enough to make a weaker version of it. He withdrew his cooking pot, held it out of his tent to catch some rainwater, and put it over the metal grate above the fire and stoked the embers beneath, trying to keep it alive. The tea steamed gently, cooking amidst the rain and giving him five points in his Cooking skill.

  Cooking (+5): lvl 1 (15 / 100)

  It didn’t take too long to cool down, given the cooler atmosphere and the rain. When it was done, he drank from the pot, sipping the hot tea and receiving the glowing effects. He held it close to his chest to stay warm, watching the glowing algae along the stream flicker softly as the night descended and the storm continued to roll over him.

  And perhaps it was because of the tea, he thought he heard some faint, violin-like music drifting down the stream.

  It was soft and haunting, yet beautiful.

  Was someone playing a violin?

  He perked up immediately and leaned a little out of his tent to peer down the stream.

  Could that be another settler? John thought to himself, putting the tea down and jumping to his feet.

  Or maybe it was someone—or something—else.

  He hastily made his way out of the tent and staggered into the wet grass surrounding his little homestead. It was hard to see, given the rain, so he held up one hand to his eyes to block it.

  As he looked, he could have sworn he saw something farther down the river, down the stream.

  Long golden hair.

  The violin music suddenly stopped, and whoever it was withdrew from the stream and into the dark forest.

  “I must have scared whoever that was,” John said, though he did not feel afraid.

  The music had been beautifully serene, even though it was sad. He kind of liked that music anyway, as his favorite weather was cold and rainy nights, reading a good book, or playing video games and having a hot drink.

  Feeling slightly deflated, he returned to his tent, dripping wet, and tried to warm himself by the fire. But as he turned around to his little campfire, he saw another shape.

  This time, the thing did not move.

  It looked like a small white wolf pup, though instead of matted fur from the rain, its fur was made entirely of crystal—faceted and glowing faintly, as if cut from a million diamonds.

  The small wolf cocked its head at John.

  It stood by his little campfire and tried to head toward his tent.

  John’s eyes glanced to his bedroll, where his supply kit was open, and a couple of his protein bars lay open.

  As John stepped closer to the wolf pup, the crystal creature began to growl softly, though appearing more nervous than anything.

  John raised his hands slowly in a non-confrontational manner.

  “Hey, I’m not here to hurt you,” he said, as if the pup could understand.

  But maybe it did.

  It relaxed slightly as John made his way to sit down inside his tent to shield himself from the rain, though the pup quickly scurried out of the way and went to the other side of the fireplace.

  John looked back at his supplies, grabbing one of the chalky protein bars. He tore off the wrapper and broke off half of it, tossing it toward the pup.

  Initially, the crystalline pup jumped back a little from John tossing the protein bar. Its eyes flicked up to John in distrust. Then it looked down again, licking its lips and taking a big sniff, as if determining whether it was a trick or not. The pup stretched out its teeth and took a small bite.

  It wasn’t long before the little pup lunged over it and gobbled it up in just a few seconds.

  John smiled at the cute little creature, who looked back at him with a slight amount of trust, though not much. His friendly gesture had won a sliver of trust as the pup decided to curl up beside the fire, still wary though, and keeping an eye on John.

  Companion Bond (+5): lvl 1 (5 / 100)

  John raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  “Companion bond,” he said quietly. “Huh, that’s new.”

  The crystalline pup also raised a brow, though not in the same delightful manner that John had.

  Did it notice that its bond with John had increased, too? John had no idea. But at least it was something.

  Feeling content that the little pup had some food, John crawled into his tent, taking off his clothes, which hopefully would be dry by tomorrow. Though he doubted it, since he couldn’t leave them by the fire.

  At the very least, maybe he had made a new friend.

  He was content with that as he wrapped himself in his sleeping bag, almost immediately falling asleep while listening to the rain.

  The sweet, melancholy violin music permeated John’s dreams, leaving him in a blissful state as he woke up the next morning. He briefly reflected upon the strange golden figure, possibly an elf, who had been playing the violin.

  As he thought of the strange musician, he immediately remembered the crystalline pup.

  He sat up in his sleeping bag, almost getting vertigo from how quickly he tried to see where the pup was.

  The pup was gone.

  John’s heart sank.

  He was further saddened that the fire was low. The fire was extinguished, possibly because of the rain, which had left the entire grassy bank of his homestead completely soaked.

  John took a heavy sigh, feeling a sudden pain of loneliness.

  He didn’t realize it, but he kind of liked the idea of having a companion, even just a wolf-like dog, to hang out with in this new world. John had always told himself that he was a loner and didn’t need many companions, but inwardly he knew that he longed for friendship.

  As he got up and put on his still-damp plaid shirt and jeans, which felt a little uncomfortable, he looked down at the small wolf prints in the damp soil around the campfire.

  He decided to take another small piece of his few rations bars and left it by the quieted fire. The pup was probably new to having a companion and more than likely did not trust John.

  After all, he was a stranger in this foreign world. John didn’t want to force any closeness with the creature. If the pup wanted to, it could return. Even if it just had the snack, that would be more than enough for John.

  After stretching his legs, John went about his morning routine.

  He walked to the stream, which had filled even more thanks to the previous night’s rain, refilling his canteen and drinking deeply.

  Hydration: 100 / 100

  Unfortunately, he was beyond starving, as he really hadn’t had much to eat the last few days.

  Hunger: 10 / 100

  John’s eyes flashed to the schools of fish, most of them glowing as they played in the slightly flooded stream.

  His stomach growled in protest.

  Like always, he agreed.

  Though when he looked down at his belly, which was usually extended above the waist belt, it seemed slightly flatter, though not completely.

  John grunted in satisfaction as he returned to grab his fishing pole.

  Maybe being out here in the wilderness, he would finally stick to a healthy diet that he had always tried and failed at the start of every new year.

  With his basic fishing pole in hand, John spent most of the morning fishing, which he found incredibly relaxing. Instead of standing in the water, though, he decided to stay along the muddy stream bank, enjoying the cool morning breeze. To his surprise, he did not catch just one fish this time, but two—both of them Emberfish.

  Fishing (+10): lvl 1 (20 / 100)

  Like before, he took both of the fish over to his campfire, but then he stopped, realizing that he had no more wood, having used it all for his windbreak, which was thankfully still standing.

  The fish flopped anxiously in his hands.

  “Wait right here, okay?” John said, placing them down in the now-cold stone ring, hoping they wouldn’t flop too much.

  Setting down his fishing pole, he picked up his government-issued axe again and made his way into the woods. Instead of spending hours chopping wood, he decided only to gather what he needed for today and possibly tomorrow. He got into a nice rhythm, chopping some of the smaller trees.

  In the end, he gathered four more logs, increasing his Woodcraft skill.

  Woodcraft (+20): lvl 1 (80 / 100)

  I’m getting quite good at this. Though he felt exhausted already, having no food in his stomach and still being quite the amateur at chopping wood.

  He dragged the four logs back to his little campfire, where thankfully the fish had not escaped. Unfortunately, since it had rained, the little stone fire pit was damp, and there were no embers left.

  However, the logs he had gathered were a bit sheltered, being sunk a little into the woods, and were not entirely wet. But he would have to find some dry tinder to make it work.

  He rushed back into the forest to find dry tinder underneath nearby logs and the underside of fallen branches that were still dry. Thankfully, he found enough and rushed back to his little campsite, throwing the thin bark strips, dry grass, and kindling that he had found onto the bottom. He then split one of his logs several times to make it a lot easier for the fire to get started.

  After doing so, he used the ferro rod and the striker to scatter sparks across the dry kindling. It took several tries, but eventually a faint wisp of smoke began to appear.

  “Yes,” John said, lowering himself down and blowing gently into the bundle until a small orange glow appeared, leading to the first flame.

  It was immensely satisfying, bringing life to a little fire like this.

  Once the smallest of the kindling caught, he added more until it grew more and more. Then he added the split log, leading to a nice, toasty fire.

  Hearthcraft (+5): lvl 1 (20 / 100)

  John immediately added the fish to the metal grate and began cooking them while the fire roared to life, crackling pleasantly and creating a rich, smoky smell. It didn’t take too long to cook both of the fish.

  When they were done, he quickly ate one of them while saving the other for the pup, just in case it returned.

  Cooking (+10): lvl 1 (25 / 100)

  Feeling somewhat fuller from his fish breakfast, he took stock of what he had so far.

  John had a couple of rations bars left, which he decided to save just in case. He had one day left of firewood if he used some in the morning and the evening. He was going to have to be much more consistent with chopping wood and focus his time diligently on home-building tasks and survival tasks, as he wanted to expand his little tent into something resembling a log house.

  Given that he had enough wood for tomorrow and tonight, he figured it would be best to explore his surroundings a bit and see if there were any more fruit or vegetables that he could forage to make his meals a little less boring and a bit more sustaining.

  Leaving the cooked fish next to the protein bar on the ground for the wolf pup, John picked up his axe and headed out to the nearby forest to explore a little farther than he had before. He made sure to follow his marked trees so that he wouldn’t get lost on his way back.

  He was immediately glad that he had marked some of the terrain before, given just how immersive the forest was and how full of life and easy it was to get distracted. There were so many strange, fancy creatures that he had no idea what their names were or how they functioned, especially the massive elk that he spotted an hour or two into his walk. Similar to the deer that he had seen the other day with veins of vines and flowers, this one certainly had a strange appearance, as it had frost clinging to its antlers and leaving an icy essence in its wake, while ice veins stretched across its mostly blue body. The elk didn’t give John any time to appreciate its beauty and quickly disappeared into the woods, leaping over brush.

  John wasn’t too disappointed, though, as the brush that it jumped over revealed a cluster of glowing mushrooms that John had not seen previously. Curious, he pushed through some of the underbrush to reach where the elk had jumped, coming upon a strange cluster of glowing mushrooms. Each of them in the shade had rounded pearly caps and electric glowing veins pulsing with light and emitting a soft humming tone. They were like a tuning fork, which he could feel and hear.

  What is this? John asked himself, lowering down to touch one of them with his axe, just in case it released a puff of poison like the blue one that he had seen.

  This one did not try to kill him. Instead, it pulsed, sending an echo through his body and the light along its veins, blinking gently.

  John’s mouth opened slightly in awe.

  “I wish we had these at home.”

  But then, as he processed his own words, he realized he was home.

  Never in his life had he felt more at home than in this foreign fantasy world, as strange as that was.

  Smiling, John grabbed one of the mushrooms, receiving a system message about it.

  Songcap Mushrooms (Rare): A softly humming forest mushroom that glows with musical resonance. Safe to eat and mildly nourishing. Slightly improves one’s singing ability.

  “I’m not opposed to singing,” John said as he studied the item description.

  He carefully cut a cluster of them with his axe.

  Foraging (+10): lvl 1 (15 / 100)

  Having enough for two servings, John decided to go ahead and devour one of the mushrooms right there, as he was beyond hungry.

  Immediately, a strange sensation tingled in his throat.

  He quickly turned around to see if anyone was watching him—fairies or elves or whatever else—but he seemed to be alone. John cleared his throat, hardly believing that he was trying this. He sang one of his favorite songs from Earth. As dorky as it sounded, he started singing “Singing in the Rain” from the 1950s movie.