An unknown amount of time passed as Kiera slept dreamlessly, the conscious half of her mind on edge. She was in a state where the slightest of noises would wake her up from her sleep— even her hands tightly clenched her stone club.
Suddenly, her entire body froze as she opened her eyes, sensing a large movement from the nearby bushes.
According to the small vibrations on the ground, it was quite a large animal, even though its steps were nearly silent.
"Shit, it can still detect the fish's smell even after so long?" Kiera understood why whatever beast it was ventured into her camp after hearing it was sniffing around.
Luckily, her body and clothes were still covered in some mud, so it probably helped in blurring her scent. But it still didn't stop her palms from sweating profusely, being a hair's breadth away from death was not something anyone could get used to, even after experiencing it many times.
Minutes that seemed like years later, the unknown beast left after realizing no food was to be found. Yet Kiera was in no state to get back to sleep, sinking into a long session of deep thinking until dawn instead.
The mixture of utter helplessness, weakness, and even fear for her life made her humiliated and angry. As a former assassin, she never felt her life wasn’t in her own hands until the day where she was betrayed.
Experiencing that spiteful again where she was akin to a lamb to the slaughter, a doll to be shredded, made Kiera want to choke someone to death from the sheer fury she felt. But, it also enlightened her— she realized it couldn’t continue like this. Hiding and running forever was impossible, and it was certainly not her style.
Back on Earth, she had access to an immense variety of weapons— from Commando Knives to Machine Guns and even Rocket Launchers. Even the SIG Sauer she used to carry everywhere was enough to resolve the life-threatening she has been through in the last twenty-four hours.
However, this world likely had no guns; what she needed was personal strength— the strength to kill lioness-sized wolves with her bare hands, and to get that, she had to level up.
Immediately getting to work to bring the plan she formulated in her mind into life. First, she crafted another torch and began collecting more vines. By the time she was satisfied, ten torches had gone to waste, two hours passed and seventy vines were collected.
She then began collecting fallen leaves and flower stems, acquiring five leaves and thirty flower stems before she decided the amount was sufficient. Returning to her camp, Kiera proceeded to the last phase of her plan’s groundwork.
She took the leaves and bound them into a fishing net, warping a vine around the net’s outer edge she could use to close the net with just a pull. She then extended the vine to six meters long by tying five more vines to it.
The flower stems were the finale of the whole preparation business, with Kiera tying all thirty with extended vines and then tied the vine’s tips to her fingers, three for each one.
Suddenly, a notification popped in her head, pausing her work.
[Conditions met, General Passive Skill {Crafting} acquired.]
"Oh? A skill?" Keira uttered in wonder; the abrupt gain came as a surprise to be sure. She didn't expect or even thought about receiving a skill.
But the surprise was a welcome one, as information related to crafting flooded her brain. Ways to make basic traps, shelter, utensils and more all appeared in her head.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the blueprints she learned required tools she didn't have.
"It seems like repeating the same action several times can grant you a skill concerned with that particular action," Kiera concluded, planning to confirm her conclusion in the near future.
Fishing net and bait in hand, Kiera nodded in satisfaction— it was time to execute her plan. Arriving at the river’s coast, she threw the half-closed fishing net into the middle of the narrow river, the wind opening it completely by the time it landed.
Two rocks she put inside it beforehand assured it would immediately sink upon contact with the water while the flower stems floated directly above the sunk net, Kiera wriggling them with her finger.
Many fish gathered above Kiera’s casual trap and the moment the majority of the flower stems were inside a fish’s mouth, Kiera pulled the vine, closing the fishing net on the clueless fish.
She then quickly dragged the net to the coast, afraid the terrified fish would tear their way through the not-so-durable leaves. Alas, the fishing net was heavier than she thought, and several fish succeeded in escaping as she pulled with the entirety of strength her little arms could muster.
The fishing net out of the water and right at her feet, Kiera got to work— lifting the club above her head, she struck down, and the sound of stones hitting the ground and fish spines snapping resounded in the area, only slightly suppressed by the reverberating sound of flowing water.
[Tier 0 Lv.1 Herring defeated, EXP received.]
[Tier 0 Lv.1 Salmon defeated, EXP received.]
[Tier 0 Lv.1 Trout defeated, EXP received.]
[Level up! {Mortal Lv.2}, +5 to all battle stats.]
…
[You defeated 22 creatures within a short time frame, bonus EXP received.]
[Level up! {Mortal Lv.4}, +5 to all battle stats.]
"Three entire levels!" Kiera uttered in excitement as she observed the changes in her body. Swinging the club, she could barely feel its weight, it was as if held a pencil in her hand.
Agility, speed, strength and awareness, everything about her surpassed even her former self. She didn't think a few hours of work and three levels easily outmatched 28 years of harsh training.
"Is this the difference between a magic world and a barren world?" Kiera recalled the notification she received just when she reincarnated. But her fascination didn't last long, as she was too eager to level up again.
Throwing the fishing net again, Kiera waited for the fish to gather before she closed in speeds even the quickest of salmon couldn't sense. However, she herself couldn't comprehend how strong she was as the fishing net just crashed into her the moment she pulled.
"Damn, that was out of the blue, it was as light as a feather!" Kiera muttered as she wiped obliterated fish parts from her face. At the same time, though— a wide grin covered her face. "Being strong certainly feels good."
She made quick work of the surviving fish, clicking her tongue when a whole thirty of them only leveled her up once.
The next bunch didn't level her up at all; instead, she received a notification that made her quit fishing completely.
[Individual {Kiera Ashborn} vastly surpasses all Mortal Beasts categorized as {Fish} by life form quality and level, rendering the individual incapable of receiving EXP from killing {Fish}]
...
“Hmm,” Kiera sat in her camp, munching on a grilled salmon while she thought about her next steps. Her primary goal was to become a magician, but she had to reach Mortal Lv.15 first, according to The Guide. Otherwise, her body would break down under the burden of mana. As for meeting this world’s inhabitants, she preferred becoming a magician first before she would search for any civilizations.
So for her goal to be achieved, she had to start hunting seriously if she wanted to progress through the ten remaining levels fast. Crushing fish to death was no longer an option, but she had an idea how to make all these carcasses she had useful to her.
Kiera unconsciously cracked her fingers, her eyes gazing sharply at the distance, seemingly at nothing at all. But in reality, her mind played scenarios of what she planned right in front of her eyes as if it was an illusory projector.
It was a habit she had, something her mind triggered every time she knew her next mission might be life-threatening. She would first think of several courses of action she could take, then carefully analyze them and eliminate the unreliable ones.
And when the process came to its end, Kiera was instantly on her feet, a faint smirk appearing on her small face.
Hours later, the night was already occupying the sky for a good while as Kiera lay down in her camp, hidden beneath the enormous fishing net.
A thin layer of leaves separated her and the pool of fish blood and viscera smeared on the net’s open interior. And even though the horrible stench effortlessly penetrated that layer, Kiera still lay unmoving and undisturbed, a shield made of branches, stones, and vines in her left hand, while a huge club made out of a meter-long branch and four pairs of stones was held in her right.
Several meters away, two dead fish acted as bait, exuding a similar vomit-inducing smell.
With this, Kiera hoped to lure a hungry predator and ambush it. Well, according to last night’s experience, she believed some beast would invade her camp again.
It was a risk, if she tried to ambush something too strong, she’d die, but if she tried to look for EXP sources while wandering the forest, she might be attacked by other powerful creatures or just be ganged upon by wolves again.
Thus, it was more advantageous for her to hunt in a situation she could control, at least until she became strong enough.
And as she already foresaw, the rattling from the bushes soon came, accompanied by faint vibrations traveling through the ground all the way to her position. Assuming it was the same beast from last night, Kiera became slightly agitated— it was no coincidence, it meant it lived close to her camp, and maybe even detected her by now, without her knowledge.
"All the more reason to why I should attempt killing it, this guy has no business being alive if all it does is contributing to making me worry.”
Grasping the fishing net’s vine handle tightly between her right hand’s fingers, she silently waited while listening to the munching noises several meters away, her body as ready to move as it could be.
As silence fell once again, Kiera knew it was the moment her plan would be executed flawlessly, partially, or just fail, her hopes for the first option rising as she felt the unknown beast coming toward her position.
The beast subsequently sniffed the net before licking it, its tongue touching the now irritated Kiera.
Not wasting any time, she immediately pulled the handle and successfully warped the net around the beast’s head.
A deafening roar followed, prompting Kiera to actually flinch at the sharp pain she felt from her eardrums. But it didn’t stop her from taking a good look at the beast, its identity making her nearly regret ambushing it.
Nevertheless, there was no place to regret when a Leopard the size of a Siberian Tiger was right in front of her— its body language hinting it was obviously angry while it struggled to claw the fishing net from its face.
Bringing her club above her head, she swung it down on the leopard’s head with all her strength, causing the leopard to roar in pain and Kiera to swear at its skull’s durability.
She repeatedly swung it, bringing the majestic beast to its knees, its roars turning into loud whimpers. Blood already tainted the net as Kiera lifted the club above her head and swung it for the last time, making a sickening crunch reverberate in her ears before the leopard’s body went limp, and it collapsed to the side.
[Tier 0 Lv.9 Leopard defeated, EXP received.]
[You defeated an enemy four levels above you, bonus EXP received.]
[Level up! {Mortal Lv.6}, +5 for all battle stats.]
[Level up! {Mortal Lv.7}, +5 for all battle stats.]
“Two levels, nice,” Kiera chuckled in joy before her gaze settled on the leopard’s corpse, her cheerful expression turning serious. “That was dangerous, its body is fucking tough! Only after I struck it more than dozen times did its skull shatter. If it succeeded in tearing off the net, I would’ve become worse than those fish I hunted…”
“But its fangs will certainly be useful,” Kiera smiled in satisfaction, extracting the four seven-centimeters long from the giant cat. She could make a decent set of daggers from these, a weapon she was experienced in using.
Stretching out of habit more than actual necessity, Kiera made her way to the river to wash herself from the blood and filth only for her to instantly stop in her tracks upon arriving at the riverbank.
Her pupils constricted as her eyes caught the sight of dozens of glowing circles floating inside the bushes at the other side of the river. A shiver traveled down her spine as she realized they were all eyeballs, and those eyeballs were directed at her.
“Damn it, it’s time to run,” Kiera clicked her tongue and sped in the opposite direction, a whole wolf pack after her.
