That Damn Tree

“You have leveled up. You now have 24 skill points available. No additional skills were added. You’re now level 6.” That robotic voice from earlier speaks into my head again. I still don’t understand how to even see those kinds of things.

I begin looking around. A sea of trees and rolling hills the tranquil sounds of the soft winds blowing through the leaves. The grass was soft to the touch. I take a deep breath and get onto my feet. The way the ground leaned pushed my body slightly down the hill that I had landed on. One foot after the other I slowly make my way down the hill.

Once I make it down the hill I catch myself to slow down my momentum on a tree stump. In an instant all of my energy leaves me. My legs fall under me as I go back to a feeling I’ve been too familiar with. My back against the grass under me. My energy is continuously draining out of me as I attempt to look around to see what is causing this phenomena.

As I look above me I notice the leaves above me grow bigger. The Branches reached down towards me slowly. I would feel myself begin to panic. Slowly the branches wrap around my body. Its leaves obscuring my view of my surroundings. ‘Am I about to die? Again? Why does this world hate me so much? Does anything I do mean anything? Of course it’s that damn goddess’s fault. She knew exactly what she did. That Bitch!’

In a moment of rage I swung my hand around my arm becoming a bear claw as It slices through the tree completely. A weird black smoke came out of the tree as it slowly withered away. I lay there with my mind still trying to understand what just happened.

“You have leveled up! You now have 32 skill points. You have acquired the following skills. Life drain Level 1, Mana control level 1, Regeneration Level 2. You’re now Level 8!” The familiar robotic voice calls out to me yet again. Still in shock I looked at my arm which was back to normal. ‘What the hell is going on?' I ask myself as I accept the fact that I have no clue what anything means.

I keep looking at my arm as I try to make it turn back into the bear claw. But, nothing I did seemed to work. Then, as a last ditch effort, I recalled the feeling of what I had felt before when tied in that tree. I swung my hand at a tree and my arm had become that bear claw from before. The claw slashes through the tree.

“Demonic Claw has risen to Level 2” The Robotic voice calls out. ‘Wait so using a so-called skill levels them up?’ I finally use my brain to think about how the more I use a skill the more they level up. Though I still don’t understand most of it. I don’t know how to see those skills if at all. “Man I wish I could find a way to see my skills” I mutter to myself. Suddenly my eyes fill with all sorts of information.

‘Name: Albert: Level: 8. Species: Human.’ “Ok so that’s my name, level, and I sure as hell hope I am a human. Now where to see the skills.” I look around my field of view searching for anything that says ‘skills’ “Found it!” I look at some of the more interesting skills I have. Demonic Claw Level 2, Cardio Level 2, Regeneration Level 2, and Life Drain Level 1” I again talk to myself. “What the hell is Cardio? Is that like a stamina skill? Weird”

I Keep looking deeply into each detail of my skills. Still not understanding any of what I’m reading. After a while I finally blink and all of the words go away. I start looking around for a place to walk towards. But, all I see are trees. I finally built up the courage to just pick a random direction and make sure I don’t touch another tree.

After some time I start smelling what smells like fire. However, I don’t see smoke. I walk towards the smell sometimes going in circles trying to find where the scent was the strongest. Suddenly, the sound of laughter I can hear in the distance. Slowly approaching them I try not to draw any attention to myself as I investigate the sound.