[Dryad LV. ???]

This was the first time Irena saw something with three question marks. If she was originally an inhabitant of this world, she would probably be terrified. Especially at level 4 herself.

But she wasn’t. For now, her only experience with creatures above her level was that they were delicious.

That being said, this one looked humanoid, and greeted her. She wasn’t a savage to charge at everything.

Also, it was small, and therefore cute.

“Hello” She greeted the girl that smelled like a freshly dug ground, and trees. “I am here, because I have no idea where I am, or how not to be here”

The Dryad looked at her, and raised her tiny brow. ‘She’s cute.’ (Was what they both thought)

“What’s your name?”

“Irena.”

“So you’re saying you got lost, huh?”

Irena nodded.

“Your level. Why is it so low?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re level 4, but you said you wandered in here. How?”

“I never said that. I was just doing my own ting, and ended up here. I don’t know how.”

The dryad sighed. “Sweetheart, how old are you?”

How rude, you don’t ask a lady her age. But Irena didn’t mind that much, she wasn’t even thirty after all.

“Twenty nine, why?”

The dryad pondered on something.

“Where are your parents?”

Okay, that was getting irritating. She made an annoyed look, and replied truthfully.

“Dead.”

The green midget gave her a poorly hidden look of pity, and started floating.

“There, there. I’m sorry. It’ll be alright, little one.”

Strange, Irena was pretty sure she wasn’t the small one here.

“How am I little?”

“Oh, sorry. I forgot it’s a sensitive topic to you giants. Now tell me, what do you want to do?”

“I’d like to sleep.” “I was trying to make myself comfortable just now.”

“Well, sorry to wake you up. You want to have a nap before we continue talking?”

Okay, this Dryad clearly treated her like a child. Which wasn’t too surprising. If this one here was just like the ones in stories, then Irena was probably looking at something old enough to be her great, great, great, great grandmother.

But hey, it didn’t seem hostile, and Irena needed some shuteye.

“Sure.”

“Want me to sing you a lullaby?”

Okay, this was getting ridiculous.

But Irena was never the one to pass up an opportunity like a genuine dryad singing specifically for her.

And hey, there was something amusing in a creature that could fit on her palm treating her like a kid.

“Yes, please.”

The dryad gestured for her to lie down.

Irena had nothing to lose here. Also, the green cutiepie was much too adorable to decline its request.

The dryad stroked her head, and started singing.

It was a nice song. It didn’t have any lyrics, just sounds. Nice, calming sounds, but with interesting turns. Good music, as far as Irena was concerned.

She listened in silence. Once the song died down, she drifted off to sleep, and dreamed of pickles. Ones prepared with brine, dill, horseradish and garlic.

There was a low chance of Irena dreaming of cucumbers pickled in vinegar.

Dryad singing was way too pretty to make her have bad dreams.

………………………

When she woke up, it was already morning. She was greeted by the dryad.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Mhm.”

“Well then, let’s continue our conversation. What do you want to do?”

“What are the options?”

“Well, You can stay here for a while. Other than that, there is civilization to the west, and more forest to the east. With even bigger trees and creatures.”

Both sides looked tempting. Like mashed potatoes with butter and a breaded chicken breast.

There is only one choice here. That is, to eat everything.

“Well, how about I go to the civilization first, stock up on veggies and walk around, and then head east?”

“Both choices come with their own set of dangers, I’ll have you know.” The dryad warned. In the west, you’ll stand out a lot. Some may try to hunt you.”

“What do I do to not stand out?”

“There is nothing you can do. Sweetheart, you are a giant. Most people there will be roughly my size.”

‘Uh. What’

It was the first time Irena considered that maybe, just maybe, her ears weren’t the only thing to change.

‘Am I an actual giant? The big kind?’

An animal run past them. She could recognize it even without the {Identify} skill.

[Moose LV. 8]

It didn’t even reach her knee.

‘Well, fuck.’

She was a giant.

“Are there any other giants there?”

“Yes, but none of your kind, as far as I’m aware. Don’t be too trusting of them.”

With that, Irena lost her option of ‘not standing out’ before she even considered it.

Still, it wasn’t so bad. There will be no one to call her short anymore.

Except maybe other giants, but she had her shovel, and this was a fantasy world.

As for being hunted by some little assholes, she was glad she chose [Hunter’s perception]. None would take her by surprise, at least.

“What about the east?”

“There are truly colossal creatures there. Bigger than any humanoid giant. At your level, you’d just be a snack.”

“Can I stay here for a while then? To level up.”

The Dryad made an expression of deep consideration.

“Yes, but don’t overhunt. No killing just to leave your prey untouched, unless it’s self defense, you hear me?”

“That’s obvious.”

Irena was no damn poacher. Not for fun, at least. She would hunt things, eat as much as she could, and leave the rest to any predator who might fancy her leftovers.

Rinse, repeat.

“Oh, right. But do kill anything with red eye whites. It indicates a sickness of sorts, and should be snuffed out. I normally take care of them myself, but if you happen to spot one, do squeeze some experience out of it.”

That was a valuable information. That being said, there was that one thing missing.

“Can I make myself a shelter?”

“Sure, just don’t overdo it. I’ll show you a spot.”

……………………….

Irena picked up her things, put out the fire, thrown the carcass over her shoulder, and followed the dryad.

They headed west, and quickly arrived at a clearing. It had a lot of rocks around, and was in a nice location near the stream, but not right next to it.

“Here. Build yourself something small.” The Dryad said, and vanished into a tree.

Irena was once again left alone. For lack of anything better to do, she got to work.

The pig carcass was covered with nearby herb, that was supposed to ward off insects. All in all, everything was coming along nicely.

She tried building something similar to an iron age round house, and mostly succeeded, with some minor differences, like the amount of moss on the roof.

It was even similarly warped, although not intentionally.

She broke the stone, cut the wood, and generally had a lot of fun.

Who wouldn’t, building a hut is a great pastime, even if it doesn’t level you up.

Once she finished, she had to face her other work.

Normally, preparing this much meat would be enjoyable.

This time however, she lacked spices, veggies, fruit, and even basic tools, such as a pot.

You can’t just roast everything on a stick.

But there were different options.

Like smoking. She never made one herself, but a smokehouse isn’t the most complicated of projects.

Sure, It’s difficult, but smoked bacon would be well worth the effort.

She dug the ground, shifted stone, cut and connected wood.

She was lucky to find some oak.

Once the smokehouse was done, she cut the hogzilla up, gathered some hardwood, focusing mostly on fruit trees and shrubs, and began preparing food. A lot of it.

All this took her surprisingly small amount of time, her endurance shooting up to 25 points in the process.

And once she was done settling in, it was time to do something more.

She would need to do some experimenting with smoking various meats.

And for that, she had to gather various types of wood and of course, dead animal carcasses.

A lot of dead animal carcasses.