Chapter 8: The New Normal

  The next four days passed in a similar fashion. Jack would exercise every morning. Then he would alternate between hunting and exploring one day, and fishing and improving the base camp the next day. In that time, he managed to hunt another four more Skees and eight more Triliax, exceeding his need for the quest, but he was looking forward to level three. The Triliax were easier to hunt now that he knew how to lure them with the Skee meat which made them more dependable to find.

  He also managed to add a couple of new additions to his base camp. He improved the cooking pit by attaching a cooking stone to it, it took a while to heat it up but let him cook like on a flat grill. He made a drying station that he used mostly for clothes and Jack was trying to make a canoe from a tree that had fallen over. He even found that running was a reliable way to improve his Constitution and throwing rocks at different targets helped to improve his Dexterity.

  The daily routine resulted in a handful of increases to his stats and one new change.

  Str. +2, Dex. +1, Con. +2, Int. +1, Perc. +1

  *Skill increased: Stealth (Novice)*

  Your Dedication to being unnoticed has paid off. Soon people will forget you are even in the same room as them.

  -Reduced chance of being noticed when actively trying to hide. Chance to leave no trace when moving.

  It was the first skill Jack had increased past Beginner. Jack wasn’t surprised it would be his Stealth skill. Jack had been focusing primarily on that skill when doing anything, afraid of being found by one of those giant creatures. The increase to his skill appeared to be small, but they had a significant change on Jacks hunting ability. He was able to get closer to creatures without them being aware of him.

  He never strayed far from Base Camp, intentionally avoiding the area that he saw the gorilla-man and giant snakes. As far as he could tell, the area he was in was relatively safe. The worst thing he came across was a large pterodactyl-like creature that was bigger than him, but it only flew by while he was in hiding waiting for another Triliax.

  Jack was on his way back home, on the sixth day of his ‘Survive!’ quest when he heard some unusual rustling nearby. By the sound, Jack knew it was too big to be another Skee or Triliax and given the range of strange creatures he had come across so far, he wasn’t going to take any chances.

  Quickly moving to hide, Jack hid in the foliage using every ounce of the Stealth skill he had. Jack wanted to get an idea of the new creature before taking any action. He didn’t have to wait long before the body of a rather large boar came into view.

  It looked like a wild boar from Earth and Jack’s first thought was that it must be from Earth, except for the size. With all four feet on the ground, it stood taller than Jack. He had never heard of a boar getting this large before, but then again, he didn’t really know much about boars.

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  It sniffed the ground as it walked, slowly approaching where Jack was hiding, and he realized too late that he had done nothing to hide his smell. With a loud squeal, the boar charged towards him. Only Jack’s reflexes prevented him from being gored from the attack. He rolled to the side, trying to put some space between him and the boar. But the boar was relentless, and it charged Jack again.

  Timing the boar’s charges, Jack quickly found himself in a rhythm of dodging and attacking. A clearing in the jungle quickly formed from their struggle. Jack was only putting small scratches on the boar with his spear, and he knew that it would only take the boar one strike to finish him. He thought of running, but he knew it would be pointless. He had already waited too long and if he ran now, the boar would catch him in the attempt. So, he kept dodging and landing small strikes when he could, looking for any opportunity to take advantage.

  The seconds continued to pass, and Jack continued to avoid its attacks. He jumped, dodged, rolled, and flipped over anything and everything to avoid the boar’s charge. The boar was desperate to kill Jack, and as he avoided each attack the boar’s desperation only grew. The look in the boar’s eyes was what terrified Jack the most. There was true hatred there.

  Jack didn’t know how long he spent fighting. He was sure it had to have been only minutes, but it felt longer. The boar had dozens of bleeding wounds. The boar only appeared to have one trick, charging at Jack in a straight line, which made it easy for Jack to keep up with. But right when Jack was starting to think he had a handle on this situation, the boar changed tactics.

  The boar charged at Jack, causing Jack to jump out of the way. Just as he was preparing to land another attack on the boar once he was firmly planted on the ground, the boar lifted its front legs and slammed them down on the ground. The ground shook from the impact, causing what felt like a localized small earthquake. Jack lost his footing and fell to the ground.

  Not wasting the opportunity, the boar charged after him again. Jack barely managed to roll out of the way, but he was in a bad position near the boar’s large feet. The boar reared up on his hindlegs again, but this time it was positioned to come directly down on top of Jack. There wasn’t enough time to get out of the way. Jack watched in slow motion as the cloven hooves of the boar descended onto him. With the last of his strength, Jack lifted his spear straight up directly under the boar’s body.

  The boar came down directly on the spear. The point of the spear found its mark in between the rib bones of the boar. As the beast’s weight came down, it was too much for Jack to hold up, and the spear immediately slipped from his hands and the butt end of the weapon slammed on the ground in front of him. For a moment, the spear held the weight of the boar, pushing the tip further into its chest and giving Jack the moment he needed to get out from under it. The boar struggled against the spear, trying to get away but its weight worked against it, pushing the spear deeper.

  The boar fell onto the ground trying to get away, but the spear was now firmly embedded. Jack jumped on the opportunity, grabbing the spear and pushing it further into the boar with all his strength. There was an audible snap and moments later the boar finally stopped struggling and the System Messages confirmed Jack’s thoughts.

  *You have killed Feral Boar*

  - Experience gained

  *Skill upgrade: Dodge (Beginner) has changed to Acrobatic (Beginner)*

  *Your understanding and use of this spell has resulted in a Skill advancement*

  -Increased chance to dodge an attack you can see

  -Increased body control when not touching the ground

  Jack fell to the ground, his stamina completely drained after the fight. He lay there barely able to move as he waited for his Stamina to refill. While he waited, he started to look into his new skill and what that might mean when he heard the thud of something hitting the ground nearby. Jack tried to get back up, but he was too drained and before he could react, Jack heard what sounded like a loud bell inside his skull before everything went dark.