-"*Sigh*...I thought they'd be easy prey due to their low stats, but these little fuckers run fast if you're not careful".

I talked to myself whilst chewing on a roasted piece of meat on a stick near the campfire that I made. I've been trying to hunt my damn launch for about 2 hours now.

First I managed to sneak up on one of them but I did not predict the heat required to actually cause any serious damage, so by the time the little bastard started warming up, he discovered me and ran away; the same happened with dropping the temperature. but after 2 hours of running back and forth and using my skills, I managed to hunt me some game thanks to these new skills that I unlocked:

-[Fireball(LVL 1): Conjure a fireball and throw it at your target, deals additional DoT] *DoT: Damage over Time.

-[IceSpike(LVL 1): Conjure ice spikes (1 per 2 LVL) and launch them towards your target]

-[Earth Manipulation(LVL2): allows User to manipulate earth at varying degrees]

Classical spells Indeed, remind me of a certain MMORPG I used to play, back in the day. I should note too that the last skill I unlocked was when I had VI try and sharpen the edges of an elongated stone I picked up, as a makeshift knife for basic skinning.

And so with that, I'm now considered a Mage(self-proclaimed). So after a good meal, I started thinking of what to do next:

-"Hmm...it's still around 2 pm so maybe I'll test and discover some new magic? in retrospect I could've tried to drown the hamsters in a water ball now that I think about it, but even better: If I manage to find civilization I'm fairly certain I can get knowledge and learn spells faster than my current way of doing things...So the question is: Where the hell do I go now?"

-ping-[Possible solutions: Mana Behavior observations shows a possibility of spreading User's mana to scan the surrounding]

-"Like a Radar, I guess. VI try and scan a meter or two around me, and compile a 3D minimap of the results"

-ping-[Spreading mana...scanning...scan complete...compiling minimap...placed in the top right corner of FOV] *FOV: field of vision

-ping-[EFFICIENT MANA MANIPULATION reached LVL 5]

The skill level up was nice, but oh man did this "minimap" look weird in the corner of my vision, it's like a 3D hologram without colors of my surroundings, it's nice for a piece of art but not what I need at the moment:

-"VI change the perspective of the minimap to an eagle view, and enhance it with colors" I did not consider it a hard task, since VI has an extensive neural network that got a boost as well, so coloring an image wouldn't be that hard of a task, besides I don't need a detailed satellite view map, I just need a general one with points of interest.

-ping-[Changing perspective...complete...coloring...complete...further analysis can yield in better mana efficiency and discretion, proceed?]

-"Sure, Information is power, I can waste a bit of time"

...

I was lying down on the grass with Charlie my hamster pet, as I decided to name him, napping inside one of my palms when VI pinged me:

-ping-[Analysis Comlpete...Minimap mana consumption decreased by 95%...changed from pouring mana into the surroundings to sending and receiving singular mana particles to replicate a radar...Minimap now allocates 5 mana for running...elapsed time: 35min 13s]

-"That's some nice stuff there, and it is safer, if I guess correctly I am pretty sure someone can sense my mana if I keep scanning my surroundings, but with this I don't think they will be able to. Since I am not pouring mana out of me constantly, I'm just sending as little as 5mana outwards then receiving them back, It might appear like a simple natural mana leak from an outside perspective."

I picked up Charlie and placed him on my shoulder under the hood I was wearing. And I gotta say God's taste in clothing is not bad, to be honest. I was wearing some leather boots, leather pants, a simple white shirt, and above it I had a white-grey hooded poncho that extends all the way down to the beginning of my palms, I gotta note it's opened in the front so it can be worn like a jacket, and it's tied with some straps, all in all, I looked quite nice and most importantly the outfit was comfy.

with that, I stood up, took a deep breath of fresh air, and decided it's time to journey out of this forest.

-"*squeak?*"

-"yes we're going somewhere else, Charlie"

-"*squeak?*"

-"I don't know if there's better grass there!" I rolled my eyes, 'damn hamster...'

-"Anyway, VI what's the range on the Minimap?"

-ping-[Minimap scan range is 10 meters and an additional 2 mana per extra 10 meters of range]

I nodded and ordered VI mentally: 'I have mana and I ought to use it, expend 700 mana, that should cover 3.5km, report any abnormalities or human activity.'

-ping-[Minimap zooming out to 3500m...scanning...complete...elapside time : 10s]

-ping-[Found Small humanoid creatures, User Memory scan Show compatibility with Goblins, distance: 2130m west]

-ping-[Found A river and a human settlement, classification: Town, distance: 1503m east]

-"Civilization! I hope the hamsters fur I managed to skin sell for something to rent a night at an inn; but those goblins seem dangerous, VI scan them again and give me a possible analysis of their behavior".

-ping-[Further Scans show at least 200 goblins, Movement behaviors shows a slow march east, possible destination: Human Town, ETA: 8hours]

-"Fuck, that's bad...VI plot the safest route to Town but one faster than the bastards, I need to deliver this information. I'm sure they'll give me some money as a reward too, I need some capital to survive".

and So After VI took the captain's helm I began my journey to Town.

... 

*rustle*

A bunny was eating grass in peace near a tree where birds were chirping above its head.

It liked this spot because it's far from the wolves hunting grounds and its noisy siblings.

But what it did not expect was to suddenly feel the temperature dropping, The bunny could see and feel the warmth of the sun above its head, sure it was around 3 pm but the air was still warm, so why did it turn cold all of a sudden it did not know. It tried to turn its head to see what's happening but to its utter shock, it did not manage to do so. A second later it felt its body go limp and the last thing it saw was the birds flying away.

...

-"Making the Ice spikes condensed and thin is better than their default size indeed. That's a nice catch here too. I know this is another World but I don't think a green rabbit is normal, I mean Inspect says its name is 'Emerald Rabbit'. I don't think I'll eat it, not that I have time to anyway." I conjured another ice spike, this time I made it triangular and thin then cut the belly of the rabbit with it to drain its blood, the results were better than using the stone knife.

-"*squeak*"

-"You want to taste the grass that rabbit was eating? sure, but we move back in 10, I don't need to rest a lot with this fit body."I stretched my back and inspected my muscles, I'm no narcissistic person but having been born with a severe case of scoliosis and some other health issues I never was the sporty type and that did not help with me being an introvert and lazy, so my happiness and pride at having a fit body is a genuine one, not to mention also that having good stamina is handy with women *cough**cough*.

-'Vi, how much longer to Town? and any abnormal activities with the Gobs?'

-ping-[Eta to the river: 1hours, Eta to town: 2hours]

-"Good, so I'll make it to Town by around 7 pm if I hurry and they'll have around 4hours to prepare for the attack"

-"...How's the grass?"

-"*squeak!*"

-"right, I won't disturb you. Tho that meat I ate a few hours ago was really tasty you know?" I told Charlie with a mischievous smile.

-"*squeak!!!!!*"

-"hehe...come we'll keep going" it seems Charlie still values his life above the grass's taste.

...

as predicted by VI I took around an hour to reach the river, and oh boy it's different looking at the minimap and seeing it in person.

It's a wide river, about 10m apart, give and take. And while there was no bridge in my eyesight, I did not bother to check the minimap as the water here is quite shallow.

-"I have my water magic but I guess freshwater is different, maybe I'll refresh my face with some of it. here I'll let you down if you want to drink too."

-"*squeak*"

-"hmm, Well it is beautiful but it's still just a river. a minute or two and we'll move. you think I should wash the fur?"

-"*squeak*" I swear I could see him shrugging in the mental link.

-"yeah...I figured you don't have that kind of knowledge" I'm grateful no one is here to see me talking to a rodent...

The running water was slightly cold, I washed my hands, refreshed my face, picked the hamster, and moved in large but careful steps to the 'other side'...of the river, there is no far far away galaxy here, probably. The minimap radar is pretty minimalistic but it gets the job done in detecting moving entities, it shines in cases like here where I needed to watch my steps in case of mud or sharp rocks underwater, but with VI zooming in my minimap to highlight dangerous spots and even using the advantage of augmented reality, I could literally see the rocks and mud spots in red under the water, and if I did not know better I'd think they were some kind of gems.

10 meters is not that wide for a river but it took me around a minute to cross it carefully, then I ordered VI

-'VI, Run a periodic scan from my position to the Town's, focus on finding abnormalities in the terrain such as a road, maybe I can meet my first farmers since coming here before reaching town.' They'd make for good test subjects to check the language difference too.

-ping-[Processing...Periodic scan initiated...discovered traces of humans footsteps, possibility of a road, distance: 203 meters north-east]

-ping-[Human agricultural activity detected, distance: 340 meters north-east]

-"Good," I said while whistling a favorite symphony of mine, I believe it was called "Für Elise", a good way to pass time while jogging.

-"Ikimashou"

-"*squeak*"

-"Don't cringe at me, it sounded cooler in my head. Let's go"