Deliver to me rot, and I shall turn it into flowers. Deliver to me your hate, and I shall turn it into love. Deliver to me what ails you, and I shall make it your aid. Deliver to me your dying flesh, and I shall turn it immortal! Your wish is my command! My intentions are clear! To think that all I offer and more can be yours for the meager price of a soul…

- Wilpa, a Demon

No use looking a gift horse in the mouth. I untie myself from the branch, and in a display of finesse that would have impressed yesterday’s me, I hop off and land on my feet. Still gotta get used to this new body, almost stumbled there. Stomach grumbling, the realization that I haven’t eaten in what must be approaching half a day (assuming the day-cycles are similar here, which they very well might not be) hits me. Add that to the mental list of things I need to accomplish. Picking up a stick, I write it in the mud to give me a more visual representation.

Secure A More Permanent Residence Find Food Level Up Gain Skills Get Home

*Ding*

[New Skill (Writing) Gained!]

[Writing] - Improves [Dexterity] When Writing Based On Level

Not sure how useful that’ll be, but I’ll take it. Wanting to make the best use of the time I have that I can, I set out in search of a place to stay, choosing to head downstream along the river. Passing by the wolf, I eye it hungrily, though I quickly put the thought out of my mind as it has surely spoilt by now. Along the way, I put my skill [Identify] to use.

[Identify] - Allows For The User To Learn Information Of Target. Amount And Accuracy Of Information Gleaned Increased Based On Level And [Perception]

The first things I use it on are the oddly purple and pink flora.

[Tree] - It’s A Tree

[Grass] - It’s Grass

Well, that wasn’t very helpful. I continue like this for an hour or so, using [Identify] on everything I see until I stumble upon a different kind of tree that holds fruit.

*Ding*

[Identify Reaches Level 2!]

[Takka-Takka Tree] - A Tree Bearing Sweet Fruit

I pick one of the light orange, disk-shaped fruit from the tree. It has thin, almost translucent skin, though I can feel that it’s very waxy. It fits neatly in my hand.

[Takka-Takka] - A Nutritious Fruit, Though It Is Mildly Poisonous To You

What did I expect? Of course, it’s poisonous to me. It’d be too easy to be on an alien planet and have the food be not out to get me. I’ll take a couple, but before I eat any, I’ll see if I can’t find something else. At least the air is breathable… I should probably knock on wood. Glancing nervously towards the Takka Takka Tree, I do just that. Once I’ve finished de-jinxing myself, it occurs to me that I have nothing to carry them in. On the one hand, I could use my shirt, it’d be easy, and I can quickly be on my way. On the other hand, this is a great opportunity to gain some skill levels. Eh, what the hell? If I’m gonna play the part of an outdoor survivalist, I might as well do it all the way.

I once again go through the laborious process of crafting, though this time, the goal is to create a basket of sorts. Things go much smoother this time around, likely thanks to my [Crafting] and [Foraging] skills. A mere hour and a half later, and I have a wonderful basket to work with! Wondering what it will say, I throw an [Identify] its way.

[Woven Basket {Shoddy}] - A Basket Made Of Plant Fibers, Ivy, And Vines. The Creator Shows Extremely Poor Ability With This Creation.

Okay, maybe not great per se, but really? “Extremely poor ability?” That just hurts. On the upside, my [Crafting] went up, even though my [Foraging] didn’t. I wonder why.

With the perfectly fine just the way it is basket done, I gather up five of the fruits just in case and head back towards the river bank. All this time, I’ve heard plenty of animals, and there were quite a few absolutely terrifying calls, though I’ve caught sight of very few. The ones I have seen run off before I can figure out what they are. That said, they were all weird, the oddest of the bunch being a four-legged creature with hooves that had dark blue and red stripes. Standing about 5 feet tall at the shoulder, and approximately 10 feet long, I would be lying if I said that the first thing I did wasn’t hide behind a tree. It had a head between an elephant, and a deer, with no antlers nor trunk (though the snout was fairly elongated), long, drooping ears, short tusks, and goat-like eyes. My heart plummeted when I stepped on a pile of leaves, but the thing just perked up and ran like the wind deeper into the forest.

Just as the first of the suns creep towards the edge of the sky, I spot a cave on the other end of the river.

“Something’s in there, and it’s going to try and kill me, isn’t it?” I ask out loud as I carefully make my way across the shallow river. Now that I think about it, it’s more like a wide and deep stream or creek. While I do make a point to hold my basket of fruit above my head, this area of it only comes up to a little ways past my belly button, though back where I started could easily fit one and a half of me standing on top of one another. Once I get over to the cave, I realize that bodies of water aren’t the only thing I misname. It would quite frankly be more apt to call it a dip in the wall. It can’t go back for more than 10 feet and is maybe that wide as well. I’m not complaining though, as nothing seems to be making this their home.

I plop down on the floor, taking one of the takka-takkas out from the basket.

*Grumble*

It said that they were only mildly poisonous. Along with my increased [Constitution] and [Vitae], I should be fine. I already have the [Pain Resistance] skill, perhaps this will give me the poison equivalent? Worst comes to worst, I always have [Life’s Decree] that I can use if these things turn out to be more than I can handle on my own. And it’s not like there are other fruits anywhere around either. All I’ve seen are these, and from what I have experienced since being here, it’s too dangerous for me to head too deeply into the forest to search for something else. Even if I do find something else, or hunt an animal, I doubt it would be good for me to consume. Fuck it, let’s see how eating one goes.

Bringing the fruit to eye level, I slowly peel away the waxy outer layer and bite into it. It’s delicious, almost like solidified honey and green tea. After eating it, I sit up against the wall and wait. A while later, nothing happens, so I eat another. By this point, the blue sun is halfway gone. Still nothing. I eat the last ones in one sitting. A few minutes later is when I feel it, a sickening, searing sensation in my stomach.

*Ding*

[New Skill (Toxin Resistance) Gained!]

[Toxin Resistance] - Decreases The Ability Of Poisons, Venoms, And The Like To Harm Your Body Based On Constitution And Skill Level

I have mixed feelings about this. Maybe I just hadn’t eaten enough before to cause a reaction? I open my status, noticing that my health has gone down by a point. A little bit later, and it goes down by two at once. Then three. That’s when I begin to worry. I expected to maybe throw up a bit, have some stomach cramps. You know, mild reactions, but this is quite literally killing me! Hopefully [Life’s Decree] does its job.

*Ding*

[Toxin Resistance Reaches Level 2!]

Maybe I should wait a few minutes. It doesn’t hurt too bad thanks to [Pain Resistance], and if I’m going to get back to Earth, I’ll need to at least be powerful enough to explore without the worry of being instantly turned to mush by a passing monster. So I do. I wait until my health has ticked down twice more, which takes a half hour or so, bringing me to 30/45 HP. I activate the skill. My health instantly spikes close to full, whilst a glob of liquid shoots up my throat and out of my mouth. It hits the floor with a wet splat, giving off an acrid stench.

That must be the poison. How can something that tastes so sweet hold something that smells so bad? I can’t say it wasn’t worth it though, I even made it to the fourth level! Maybe danger increases skill level increase? Otherwise, that was a very quick session of point gain. Either way, I think I might have just found an easy way to progress for the time being, even if it is a little painful.

Before it can turn completely dark, I go out to another one of the nearby takka-takka trees and fill my basket with 15 of the insidious fruits. I make my way up one of the regular trees since I don’t want to stay in the crevice unless I have something standing between myself and any hungry night prowlers.