With a soft thud, the last of the two possessed Hags hit the ground. The forest loomed all around me, dark and brooding. Looking at the last of the hags, I shivered. Alone again. Warm, damp air clung to everything, including my face, and I wiped the moisture away. Not the first time, nor the last I knew.

Taking a quick look at the Hag bodies, I hoped I wouldn't come across more of them. Or more of those boars, I thought, looking around the woods that suddenly seemed more dangerous than they had in a while. Supressing my rising tension, I began moving in the direction of the Vine Temple.

Barring any more unfortunate incidents, I would reach the edge of this danger zone in three days. After that, I would need to cross an area that held one small camp and a few patrols before I reached the border of the dangerous area that surrounded the Vine Temple. Depending on your point of view, it was clear sailing from then on.

I wonder what happened to Scar, I thought, wishing the Wirg was here to guide me around dangers.

After I had left the cave, and safe in the knowledge that the Vengeful Spirits were roaming around, I had shouted her name to no avail. Not odd, as I had never called her by it before. I hoped that the fact that she wasn't with Smell meant she had gotten away from the Hags. Perhaps I would find her after I left these woods.

With my attention constantly stretched thin from trying to keep track of everything around me, I was weary when it began darkening. For a moment, I wondered if I should push on, get further away from the Hag caves. Empty or not, more could return.

No, it's too dangerous at night, I thought to myself, only partially because of the danger.

Looking around the creepy forest, I knew I wouldn’t be resting here. The large, gnarled, and leafless trees were so open anybody could see right inside, and the bushes were no more than burned branches.

I continued onward with a grunt, adding a place to rest to my list of things to watch out for.

Hours later, the world around me had changed to a dim landscape of grey, and I finally found something. Standing a little away from the rest was an enormous tree that towered over the others. Unlike the other vegetation, it still had leaves; brown at the edges and so dark in the center to be almost black, but leaves none the less.

Standing below it, I rubbed one of the fallen leaves between my fingers and tried to remember what Agga had said about poisonous and non-poisonous trees. After a moment of digging through my tired mind, I remembered enough to discern that the tree should be safe.

Remembering the last time I slept in a tree, I forced a grin. Let's hope this one has such a great braided bed of branches.

The tree had none, but many of its branches were wide enough. I found myself a place to wedge myself in so I wouldn't fall down and ate some of my rapidly dwindling rations. I had enough to reach the temple, but I would need more soon after. Looking around the dark grey world below, the near silence began weighing on me.

I summoned my status to distract myself. It was the first time after getting free of the Hags, and I blinked as I saw a line at the top.

> Slain one of Lischen's Favored

> You have gained the title' Rot Bane'

Those titles again, I thought with a frown. Reminding myself of the usefulness of Well Spoken, I knew I needed to figure out what these things did. How many did I get by now, three? Wondering how I could find them, I searched the status but didn't find a section dedicated to titles.

As I scanned the status, I did see something odd that distracted me from the titles.

> Derived Strength: 16

> Derived Dexterity: 15

> Derived Constitution: 10

> Derived Intelligence: 8

> Derived Common sense: 1

> Derived Charisma 1

Active attributes: (Easily changed)

> 24/33: Muscle mass

> 03/120: Fat

> 26/39: Coordination

> 22/30: Stamina

> 06/10: Learning rate

> 375/443: Knowledge

> 03/30: Beauty

> 4/60: Grooming

> 07/60: Well spoken

My strength is a point lower…

I frowned as I tried to understand what I saw. So far, my attributes had only ever increased. Well, not all of them, I thought as I noticed fat. Back in the library, the abundance of food and rest had slowly increased it to five, but now it had dropped to three again. Was there a connection with it and strength?

For a long time, I lay thinking about the intricacies of the status screen until I finally fell asleep.

--

When I woke the next day, the first thing I missed was the warmth of Smell pressed against my back.

How quickly you can get used to something, I thought as I got up.

My whole body was stiff from the odd sleeping position, and I scanned below and around the tree. Now that it was day, I could see further, but the vegetation, even as sad as it was, blocked my view. After trying unsuccessfully to look through it, I climbed to the top of the tree.

Holding on to the thinning branches that swayed far more than I liked, I looked across the dark forest. It seemed to go on for as far as I could see, and I noticed more of the towering trees like the one I was in currently.

I was about to climb down and continue when I saw something move in the forest far to the right. Focusing, I held my breath, listening, and watching.

A massive shadow moved below a tree, so big that I could see parts of it through the tree and some bushes beside it. At the edge, it stopped.

Feeling my hackles rise, I held my breath as I watched.

A long taloned claw inched from below the tree. Attached to it was a massive, wingless bird. Covered in brown and black feathers, I knew it probably blended in with the surroundings perfectly. At ground level I would never have seen it. Even from this far away, I could see the two massive gleaming black eyes above a stubby, curved and gleaming beak.

The bird moved fully into view, and its eyes locked onto something I couldn't see. It froze, then it surged forward, its body bent close to the ground while it moved at a speed that had my hairs stand on end.

If that thing sees me…I thought. From how it moved below the tree, upright it must be well over three meters tall. After a few seconds, it disappeared from my view, chasing after whatever was unlucky enough to have drawn its attention.

I waited a few minutes for something to happen and when nothing did I climbed down from the tree.

Looking around, I realized again how useful having Smell and Scar had been. In hindsight, they must have guided me around many more obstacles than I realized at the time. If I came across another group of Wirgs, I was going to befriend all of them if I could.

At a slower pace, waiting and stopping behind trees on occasion, I traveled further along the edge of the dangerous region.

Although I heard many odd sounds, in the end, I managed to get through another day of traveling non-stop and ended up in another tree.

I need a faster way to travel, I thought, lodged between two branches while my mind drifted away weary from a day of constant vigilance.

The next day I woke with a dream slowly fading from my mind. The only part that I remembered was that I had ridden on a massive black and red stallion across a hellish, volcanic landscape while hordes of blurry demonic figures chased me. My eyes wouldn't focus on them, and all I could see were burning red eyes.

Taking a deep breath, I shoved the dream away. Although it had ruined my sleep, it did give me an idea, one that seemed slightly far-fetched, but that was worth a try.

An hour later, I stood before a fallen tree. Although it had been there for a while, its massive trunk had only just begun to rot. Wondering if there was a size limit to Soften Wood, I placed my hand on the tree and cast the spell. I felt a rush of energy leave me, but the branches of the tree seemed to droop only slightly more. Using my fingernail to slice through the bark, I noticed that it wasn't as hard as before, but not really soft either. Just softer than before.

It will have to do, I thought.

Grabbing my ax, or what was left of it, I started chopping away the branches and clearing off the roots. The ax's warped blade made it hard work, but after a few hours, the trunk was cleared of excess material.

"Let's hope I'm not just wasting my time," I muttered. Taking a deep breath, I cast another Soften Wood, and this time my nail-test showed the spell had worked its magic.

Applying my knife to the smaller areas, while using the ax for the larger ones, I began slicing at the massive trunk. I wasn't aiming for pretty this time, just useful. When the sun reached its highest point, I stepped back, wiping sweat from my brow and examining the thing in front of me.

It resembled a horse that lay on the ground, its legs folded below it, and its head bent forward as if it were resting. Well, if you squinted, were far-sighted and had never seen a horse before. But still, I was hoping it would do. It even had a wooden saddle carved into its back and a few long pieces of Hog leather attached to carved pins as reigns.

I barely remembered casting Harden Wood in my haste to see if my plan would work and rushed into casting four at the same time. When my fingernail only left a minute mark on the wood I knew it was ready. I pressed my hands on the abominable wooden horse and drew in a Vengeful Spirit. One answered almost immediately, although not as fast or with as much fervor as in the Hag caves.

Fluid and without a sound, the wooden horse rose, two burning green eyes looking at me with a question.

"Now we're talking!" I said with a grin.

The Vengeful Spirit looked at me, and I ignored it for a moment as I grabbed my bag. When I was about to pick up my ax, I saw that the parts that had warped were cracked and splintering now. Picking it up, I struck it with one of my fists, and more splinters fell down. Remembering how I had made it in Agga's small shop, I realized it was the only thing I had left from that time. It seemed so long ago now.

I took out my knife, cast Soften Wood on the ax, and cut the blade from the long handle. When I tossed it on the ground, a large portion snapped off, and I gave it a final look before raising the handle and heading towards the Vengeful Spirit.

"I need to get out of this forest," I said, looking at its eyes. An immediate affirmation flowed to me, and with a grin, I mounted the wooden horse in a single fluid motion. Holding the saddle with one hand and the reins in two others, I wondered if the Vengeful Spirit could move as I wanted it. Drawing on the reins, I tried moving it left and right. It took a few times, but eventually, the Vengeful Spirit understood what I wanted.

Looking around the forest, I nodded. I would have to draw in a Vengeful Spirit every hour, but as that didn't seem to drain any energy, it should be fine. Now I only had to navigate around any potential Terror Birds, giant carnivorous plant hogs and whatever else this forest housed.

"Let's go," I said, automatically pressing my heels in the wooden sides of the horse. The horse shot forward, and a soft ping came from my status. Feeling my body quickly remember how to move in the saddle, I took a quick peek at the status.

> You have created a class skill

> Vengeful Mount

> Drawing in a Vengeful Spirit inside a large body will enable you to ride it. The Vengeful Spirit will behave like a well-trained mount. When there are no other Vengeful Spirits, summon duration doubled.

"So, now I only need to make something with wings next time!" I said with a grin, wondering how aerodynamics would work with a creature made of wood.