The otter brought me to the pool and scooped up a ball of water the size of my fist. It hovered above her paw, the surface undulating gently. It was so cool--magic, real magic, without wires or sleight of hand.

She pointed to herself, the water, and then to me. I’ll teach you that.

I nodded. “Yes, please.”

She gestured with her paws and siphoned the ball into five streams, each forming into a different shape. There was a tree with a broad and proud canopy, a ribbon dancing in the air, a cloud raining, the tablet I’ve seen her use, and my forearm bleeding. I watched as the wound closed.

Bringing her paws together, she recombined the sculptures into a single ball. She pointed to herself, the water, and me.

So, there were five branches of water magic, all starting from the same place, and one of them was the healing magic I wanted. It looked like she’d teach me the starting place, but didn’t guarantee the healing magic.

I pointed to the place where the sculpture of my wounded arm had floated.

The otter shook her head and pointed at me. Then she went through an absurd sequence of push ups, sit ups, running in place, and stretches.

I’d have to work for it then. That was fine with me. I wasn’t afraid of hard work, and honestly, just getting access to any magic would be worth the trade. I nodded to show my agreement.

She stopped the weird otter calisthenics and wiped her brow. Not that otters sweated, but she did it anyway. Maybe she saw it done elsewhere? A track meet for gods and spirits? The image of her in a otterized track suit made me smile.

The otter streamed the water back into the pool. I thought we’d get started with lessons immediately, but she pointed to the sun and clapped her paws three times.

Three days? She’d teach me in three days? I nodded.

The otter sighed and scratched at her cheek, no doubt wondering how she got mixed up with me. She gave the dagger one last look before diving into the pool. Payment was apparently due on delivery and not required beforehand.

I lay on my back and nudged another stick towards the fire. I’d done enough work for the day--more than enough really--and needed to rest. And if, later that night, I dreamt about running through the forest while wielding arcane and potent magics, well… it was fun. A lot of fun.

###

A bow’s no good without arrows, so that was the next task, while I waited for my magic lessons to begin.

Wood abounded in the forest, so it was easy finding branches to turn into shafts. I sharpened the ends into points and hardened them in fire. Later, once I was able to hunt game, I’d use sinew to upgrade to flint arrowheads.

I didn’t have feathers for fletching, so I prepared to go foraging.

First, I used charcoal to outline the dagger’s blade on two pieces of cedar bark. I cut away everything outside the outlines and lashed the two pieces together to make a sheath for the dagger. I looped cord around the top of the sheath and tied it around my waist. Then I repeated the process for one of the stilettos.

The sheaths banged against my legs when I walked, so I looped a cord around the bottom of each and tied them to my legs. It was still awkward, but less distracting and less noisy.

Wearing my armor and carrying my spear, a dagger on one leg, stiletto on the other, I walked into the forest feeling like a total badass.

I climbed up and around the hillside to the south, aiming for the top of the cliff to take advantage of the view. It was where I was poisoned, so I took care moving through the brush. Nothing jumped out at me, and the Survival Skill was silent when I checked it.

The trees at the top were thick, like a head of hair, a high fade above the cliff’s layers of limestone. Vines draped across the branches, especially on the trees next to the stream feeding the waterfall. The vines were dotted with small purple, orange, and pink flowers.

They looked potentially helpful, so I used the butt of my spear to knock some loose. Both the purple and orange-flowered vines were smooth, but the pink one had barbs. They were nasty too. Once caught, you’d lose flesh getting free.

The waterfall wasn’t as loud here, and I heard something drop behind me. I immediately dived to the side. Scrambling to my feet, I got the spear up in time to knock away one of the barbed vines. The thing tried to sting me with a cluster of needles set in a circle.

My butt cheek ached in memory. This was the sugar that poisoned me.

The stinger darted at me, and I batted it away again. Unfortunately, the vine was only an inch across and was too hard to stab as it weaved in the air.

Why am I always fighting worms, world? Can’t you give me something for which a spear would actually be useful?

After a minute of the two of us missing each other, I noticed that the bulk of the vine had withdrawn behind a tree, leaving only the stinger. I backed off, and when I was ten feet away, the stinger rapidly retreated.

Yes! We’d fought to a draw! I lifted my spear in… non defeat!

And brought it down immediately, stabbing a second barbed vine. This time, I clipped the vine sneaking up on me and pinned it to the ground. A quick look didn’t show any others nearby.

I dragged the spearhead across the wound, severing the stinger. The scent of mint burst into the air, and the vine fled. Suddenly, all the barbed vines climbed higher into their trees.

The scent must’ve alerted them of a predator in the area. Me! This time I raised my spear in victory! While keeping an eye on my surroundings. And the trees. Because those sugar-loving spawn of the devil loved dropping on their prey from above.

Not today though. Today, I was the winner.

I checked my Status in case the fight triggered any changes, but there was nothing related to experience points nor any new Skills. Dang, I was hoping to see a spear Skill appear.

“It sure is hard to level in this system.”

Except that I’d gotten Qi Body and Barter easily, and at a decent level too. I’d have to think about that. Later. In the safety of the cave. Now, I was enjoying the sweet, minty taste of victory. And checking my surroundings. Because, you know, devil vines.

I waded into the water to splash water on my face. The current pulled at my clothes, but it wasn’t bad, as long as I stayed near the bank. The fish avoided the waterfall, but I saw one of the little orange ones braving the area, popping up to eat insects on the surface of the water.

“You live in a beautiful place, little guy.”

The view was breathtaking. A half mile to the west, a cliff rose up a thousand feet into the air. It stretched for miles to the north and south, and the trees on top looked like they sat on a high shelf. My own cliff was just a ripple in the ground, jutting out of this escarpment’s base.

I carefully moved to my baby cliff’s edge and looked over the side. I’d seen the glen from this perspective before, but I was distracted then (by the dragon’s dung) and didn’t appreciate its beauty.

From below, the glen looked like a ladle and its handle, but from above, the hills leading up to the cliff circled around the pool like two arms. They tapered as they went to let the stream run through the gap between their fingers.

Farther east, the ground flattened into a valley. The whole scene was covered in a rich green carpet of trees. At least three or four miles away, I saw land cleared for farming and a smudge of black in the sky. Smoke. The kind produced by civilization. Or at least this world’s version of it.

Three or four miles--I must’ve run further than I thought that first day.

Amid the green canopy, movement fluttered. Small birds and arboreal creatures lived in those branches. Above them, birds of prey and scavengers hovered. I saw hawks, eagles, and even a committee of vultures circling south of the glen.

Something was dead or dying there.

I wasn’t sure what I expected to find up here. Maybe I’d spent so much time focused on what was immediately necessary, I needed a wider view. A look past shelter, water, and food. Towards hunting and magic and maybe even the town to the east. Towards making a real life in this world. Or maybe I just wanted to stab the thing that poisoned me.

Both were good enough reasons.

I headed south to where the vultures circled. Might be there was something interesting to scavenge there.