3 Chapter 3: Survival

The next morning, the bright rays of sunlight gleamed onto Wilhelm's face, causing his eyes to flutter and slowly open. As he woke up, the abnormal mass of weight that held his body down was becoming more and more apparent.

Soon, his eyes snapped open and he pushed the rabbit carcass off of his body, and almost immediately after, the cold breeze assaulted Wilhelm; making him almost regret removing the morbid remains.

He scrunched up his nose and surveyed his surroundings, the morning sun was hung high in the air, illuminating the dense forest. The trees' branches fluttered in the air alongside the strong breeze, creating an almost mystical image.

Wilhelm couldn't help but admire the beauty of the world, alas, nothing was perfect. The cost of this rich and vibrant world was a large number of deadly monsters that roamed the surface. When he was attempting to fall asleep, the amount of howling, fighting, and screaming he heard during the dead of night was indescribably tremendous.

Wilhelm scanned the ground and made sure no threats were present, although his sensing capabilities were limited by his slightly impaired sight and hearing, he could still perceive danger within a wide radius due to the instincts that he had cultivated whilst in the service.

Once he made sure there was nothing dangerous nearby, he grabbed the carcass with his left hand and climbed down the large tree. He jumped down when he was about only four feet above the ground and landed with ease.

After reaching the ground, he once again looked left and right, making sure there was nothing hidden within the forest. According to Wilhelm's philosophy, it was better to be safe than sorry, it was, after all, this same thought process that kept him alive during all of those years in the military.

Fortunately for Wilhelm, there seemed to be no dangerous beasts of any kind, and without hesitation, he threw the rabbit remains towards the ground and went to go get the necessary materials for a fire.

He walked towards a nearby tree and snatched a few slender pieces of wood, he then grabbed some dry grass, leaves, and more bark. Once he found all of the necessary materials, he headed back to where the rabbit corpse awaited him.

Wilhelm placed all of the things down on the ground and first created his tinder nest, filled with things that caught on fire easily, such as the dry grass, leaves, and bark. Once he finished creating his tinder nest, he moved on to a slender piece of wood that he would use as his fire board.

He used yet another somewhat edged piece of timber to diligently cut a v-shaped notch into the fire board, once he was done with that, he created a small depression in the piece of wood, adjacent to the notch. He then placed a piece of bark underneath the notch, it would be responsible for catching the ember from the friction.

Once the preparations were complete, he crafted his very own spindle that was a slender rounded rod with tapered ends, it was about two feet in length and was perfect for spinning. He then placed the spindle inside of the notch and started rolling it between his hands, running them quickly down the spindle. He continued doing this without rest until a small ember formed on the fire board.

The moment he saw a glowing ember, he tapped the fire-board and dropped the ember onto the piece of bark beneath it, and without wasting any time, he transferred the small piece of bark to his tinder nest. He gently blew on the ember until finally, a small fire was created.

Wilhelm knew that although the hard part was complete, he had by no means finished the entire process. He quickly went to grab more pieces of wood, rocks, and dry grass which would be used to keep the fire alive.

He efficiently completed the task and grabbed the nearby sticks to kindle the flame whilst he cut down and grabbed thicker pieces of wood, and within the next hour, he had a completed bonfire with a few thick pieces of lumber stacked atop each other in a cone shape. Wilhelm, of course, didn't forget to surround the fire with relatively large rocks, as to not accidentally cause a forest fire.

Large beads of sweat trailed down Wilhelm's face as he observed the large flame with lackluster eyes, he was gasping for breath and he could already feel the blisters forming on his hand. Such tedious tasks were not meant for middle-aged men such as himself.

After resting for a quarter of an hour, he walked towards the currently dry and hollow corpse lying on the ground. He dragged it near the bonfire and started diligently skinning the rabbit as best as he could with a mere piece of edged stone.

Wilhelm had wanted to give up many times during the process, his old bones creaked and screamed with every small movement he made, however, his protesting stomach didn't allow him to stop, until finally, another hour later, the monstrous rabbit was complete.

He impaled the over-sized rabbit and heaved the long stick atop of two already prepared wooden pillars he had arranged beforehand, once that was finished, he rotated the rabbit above the flame until it was cooked evenly.

All of this was done with utmost precision; Wilhelm had plenty of experience when it came to survival, it was drilled into him, and his crew before he was deployed. Basic survival and hunting skills were a necessity in his department.

While Wilhelm was reminiscing about his past, the smell of cooking meat soon wafted through the air and teased his stomach. He hadn't eaten for an entire day and coupled with his old age, it was almost an impossible task to hold back from eating right then and there, alas, he still waited until the rabbit was fully cooked before taking it off the two wooden pillars.

He placed the scalding hot rabbit on top of a wooden plank and without waiting any longer, he edged his hands closer towards the cooked meat and couldn't help but peel a piece of it off. The grease and juice drenched his fingers as he placed the piece of succulent meat in his mouth.

He slowly chewed on the meat and indulged in the delicious flavor, as the saying went, the best spice was, indeed, an empty stomach. He quickly finished off the first piece of meat and rushed to grab another, and another, until finally, his hunger was sated.

The more he ate, the more disgusting the monstrous rabbit meat became. It even got to the point that Wilhelm didn't want to eat anymore, even if he was still a tad bit hungry. Once he finished eating, he wiped his greasy fingers on his trousers and stood up from the ground.

"I suppose it's time to allocate my state point" he whispered to himself while stroking his scraggly beard.

He had deeply contemplated about it last night and reached a conclusive decision, although he wanted to be a magician back on earth, the type of magician he wanted to be was vastly different from the ones in games. He wanted to be someone that used sleight of hand, trickery, lies, and other forms of 'magic' that the magicians on earth used.

However, simply gaining mana and magic from becoming a mage changes the art. It becomes real and boring, simply making a fireball when you are a fire mage was ordinary, you wouldn't be able to impress anyone, thus, Wilhelm decided to become an agility class.

Having an excess amount of agility gave Wilhelm much more options, such as if he wanted to become an assassin, archer, gunslinger, or even a hybrid of some sort. All of these options were open to someone that majored in agility, hell, he could even fulfill his dream if he became fast enough with his hands.

Although his logic wasn't impeccable, as a magician has its many strengths, he still decided to choose what he was best at. Training with guns all of his life increased his perception and marksmanship, it would be a waste if he didn't utilize his talents.

Thinking to here, Wilhelm didn't hesitate to place his remaining unallocated stat point into agility.

[Agility has been increased from level 9 to level 10]

[Allocatable stat points: 0]

Two messages appeared in Wilhelm's peripheral vision, further proving the reality of the mysterious world and gaming system he had acquired. He still hadn't fully accepted nor adapted to something so abnormal, however, he didn't have much of an option.

He once again felt his body lighten and his previously sore and tense muscles revitalize… 'ah, this feeling will never get old, it's as if I'm getting younger' Wilhelm thought inwardly as he stretched his limbs.

Wilhelm could immediately feel the difference in his body, and this was to be expected. If his theory was correct, it would mean that if he had a maximum agility of 9 and increased it to 10, his speed would increase by 10%. This rate of progress was unimaginable back on earth, if your body progressed by 10% in one day, you would be considered an alien.

Wilhelm didn't dwell too long on such complicated matters and decided to test his new capabilities, he first jogged around the bonfire, and then he did some jumping jacks. Not only did he find out that his speed visibly increased, albeit slightly, but his endurance and vision also seemed to progress as well, giving him a pleasant surprise.

After once again discovering the wondrous effects of the stat system, Wilhelm decided to put out his fire and go hunting. It was finally time to treat the world as he would a game, he needed to grind levels to unlock more features, mysteries, and most of all, have a better chance of survival. Adolf couldn't help but shiver in anticipation as he thought about the endless possibilities, perhaps, even his old age could be cured.

Thinking to here, Wilhelm quickly put out the fire and made his way into the forest. He trod softly and was on high alert, although he had already successfully hunted one monster, he was by no means conceited. If a monster of the same magnitude of that spider or wolf came across him, unless another stroke of luck occurred, he would inevitably die.

Thus, Wilhelm tiptoed across the tall grass and constantly surveyed his surroundings, he wanted to be capable of seeing his prey before it saw him. Best case scenario, he located another rabbit, worse case, he encountered an oversized wolf or fox.

As if some kind of higher being knew what he was thinking, two large, brown bunny ears popped out from a brush just a few meters in front of him. Seeing this, Wilhelm broke out in a wide grin.

He couldn't help but lick his lips, "ah, my target has been.. acquired" he whispered under his breath and slowly approached, being careful as to not make a single sound.