Morning mist drifted lazily across the broad river, softening the world into shades of silver and pale blue. The silence that had greeted them moments earlier slowly gave way to the natural sounds of the wetlands. Water trickled somewhere beneath the reeds, while dragonflies skimmed across the river’s surface, their wings catching the morning sunlight like tiny shards of glass.
Schools of fish occasionally broke the calm water before disappearing beneath gentle ripples, and towering willow trees leaned over the banks, long branches swaying in the breeze.
Ember stood quietly, taking it all in. "It’s beautiful..."
Mia smiled. "I thought you’d like it."
She tapped two fingers together, and a moment later a small translucent prompt confirmed the connection between them.
[Party Formed]
A party has been successfully formed.
"Shared vision," she explained, catching his curious glance. "And shared everything else, once we start fighting. Makes the day easier."
He nodded without taking his eyes off the river. "This doesn’t even feel like the same world as the Beginner Forest."
"It isn’t." She stepped onto a weathered stone beside the bank. "Every region has its own ecosystem. The monsters here fight differently, the plants are different, and so are the dangers."
She crouched beside the muddy shore. "First lesson." She pointed downward. "Never stop looking at the ground."
Ember followed her finger, his eyes adjusting to the details: bird tracks, crab trails, a winding groove left by a snake, and small, round depressions pressing deep into the soft earth.
He leaned closer. His gaze tracked a smear of fresh mud over an older print, a stalk of reed bent against the current, and tiny, rhythmic bubbles breaking the surface near the bank. The pieces connected in his mind before he even realized he was analyzing them.
[Skill Proficiency Increased]
Basic Observation — Practice has improved your proficiency.
+0.4%
"So many..."
"The wetlands never really sleep."
Then... Plop.
Something transparent bounced onto the muddy shore. It stood no taller than his knee, its jelly-like body shimmering beneath the morning sun. Suspended inside its translucent form floated a glowing pale-blue crystal.
Ember crouched lower, a slow grin breaking across his face as nostalgia from years of web novels and classic games hit him all at once. "An actual slime..."
[Appraisal]
River Slime
Level: 2
Rank: Common
Behavior: Passive / Defensive
Special Attack: Water Shot
Description: A gelatinous monster commonly found along riverbanks and shallow streams. It absorbs water to maintain its body and rarely attacks unless disturbed or cornered.
"I’ll be damned," he muttered softly. "They really look like that."
Mia covered a laugh. "You’ve never seen one?"
"Not in person." He slowly reached behind his shoulder for an arrow.
The slime paused. Its gelatinous body squished down, expanded, and then—
Splash!
Water Shot did not care about nostalgic appreciation. A concentrated jet of icy river water struck Ember square in the face.
He stood frozen, water dripping from his hair, his nose, and his chin.
Mia stared for one silent second before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. "I..." She tried speaking between giggles. "I warned you monsters here fight differently!"
Ember wiped stream water from his eyes. "...It shot me."
"It did."
"It spat at me."
She laughed even harder. The slime bounced happily on the spot, looking remarkably proud of itself.
Ember sighed. "There goes my dignity."
"You’ll survive."
"I hope so."
The slime compressed again, flattening its body like a squeezed sponge.
"This time," Mia managed to say, "maybe dodge."
The second water jet shot forward. Ember stepped sideways, feeling the chill of the spray as the attack splashed harmlessly into the mud behind him.
[Skill Proficiency Increased]
Basic Footwork — Practice has improved your proficiency.
+0.5%
"So that’s the visual tell," Ember noted, tracking its form. "It compresses to build pressure before launching."
"Watch the core, too," Mia said, lifting her staff.
"Ready when you are."
A pale blue magic circle bloomed beneath the slime, and the muddy pool around its base instantly flashed to ice. Its bouncing came to a screeching halt, trapped firmly in place.
Ember circled wide rather than charging straight in. Garrick’s lessons echoed through his mind: Never attack just because you can. Attack when the opening presents itself. As the slime stretched against the ice, its translucent body thinned, exposing the core completely.
There.
He drew, held his breath for half a beat, and released. The arrow pierced the jelly exterior with a wet thwip and struck the glowing core head-on. Cracks spider-webbed across the crystal before it shattered, causing the slime to collapse into a harmless puddle of water.
[Skill Proficiency Increased]
Basic Archery — Practice has improved your proficiency.
+0.6%
[Experience Gained]
River Slime defeated.
Experience Gained: +22 EXP
Ember lowered his bow, a quiet sense of satisfaction settling in. "...That felt surprisingly good."
Mia’s grin returned. "You looked far happier than when hunting rabbits."
"I’ve wanted to fight a slime since I was twelve."
She laughed again. "I’ll never understand you."
They ventured deeper into the wetlands, where the ecosystem grew denser. Tiny frogs vanished beneath lily pads, crabs scurried through shallow pools, and water birds stalked fish in complete silence.
Their next encounter came without warning when the river surface exploded in foam. Three silver shapes burst from the water—not ordinary fish, but monsters with rows of needle-like teeth flashing in the sunlight.
"Razorfins!" Mia shouted. "Pack hunters!"
[Appraisal]
Razorfin Piranha
Level: 4
Rank: Common
Behavior: Aggressive / Pack Hunter
Special Attack: Razor Rush
Description: A vicious freshwater fish that hunts in schools. Drawn to blood and movement, a lone Razorfin is manageable, but an entire school can strip prey to the bone within moments.
The three fish launched off the water, their scales catching the light as they arced through the air. Ember didn’t try to pull his bow in close quarters. Skidding backward through the slick mud, he scrambled up a low embankment to force them into a single approach.
The first fish hit the mud where his feet had been a second earlier, teeth snapping empty air. Ember’s boot slipped slightly on the slick bank as the second lunged mid-flight; he snapped his bowstring back to his jaw—a half-draw born of reaction—and released point-blank, the arrow knocking it cleanly out of its arc.
The third fish slid through the muck toward his ankle, but before it could strike, Mia thrust her staff forward. A sharp blast of compressed wind blew the monster backward off its trajectory. As it flailed in mid-air, an icy spike impaled the mud beneath it, freezing the fish solid long enough for Ember to finish it with a clean strike. Meanwhile, the first Razorfin circled wide through the shallow mud, attempting to flank them from behind, but Ember spun on his heel and sank an arrow deep into its head before it could leap again.
[Experience Gained]
Razorfin Piranha ×3 defeated.
Experience Gained: +60 EXP
[Bonus Experience]
You have defeated opponents of a higher level.
Bonus EXP: +6 EXP (+10%)
Ember caught his breath. "They’re fast."
"They’re supposed to be," Mia smiled, lowering her staff. "They’re also delicious."
They spent the next hour following the quieter bends of the river. Mia pointed out patches of Marsh Mint and Bitter Reed hidden among the tall grass while Ember cast a simple line into the calm pools. Not every cast brought a hit, but by the time the morning sun climbed higher, they had secured a handful of river fish and a heavy bundle of herbs.
The pace settled into a natural rhythm: walk, observe, fight, gather, move on. It was fundamentally different from hunting alone. On his own, every snapping twig demanded full alertness. With Mia covering his flank, the weight was shared.
By midday, they followed the river around a cluster of moss-covered boulders into a sheltered inlet where the current slowed to a ripple. Ancient willow branches draped over the water like a green curtain, hiding the pocket of land from the main riverbank.
"This is where I usually take a break," Mia said, dropping her pack onto a flat, dry stone.
Ember collected dry branches from the tree line while Mia cleared a patch of dirt. Minutes later, a small campfire crackled beneath an iron cooking stand. Ember cleaned the catch by the water’s edge, seasoning the fish with rock salt, cracked black pepper, and wild thyme.
Mia watched him work. "You’ve done this before."
"A lot," Ember said, turning the skewers over the heat. "In real life. I cooked for my family."
She blinked, surprised. "I guess I assumed everyone playing Asterra lived on instant ramen."
He laughed. "I prefer real food when I can get it."
The fish turned golden, fat dripping onto the embers with quiet hisses that filled the quiet inlet with a rich, savory aroma.
[Skill Proficiency Increased]
Basic Survival — Preparing food in the wild has improved your proficiency.
+0.9%
[Skill Proficiency Increased]
Basic Crafting — Ingredient handling has improved your proficiency.
+0.3%
Mia inhaled deeply. "...That smells unfair."
He handed her the first portion once it cooled slightly. She took an experimental bite, paused, and then looked up at him in genuine surprise.
"A compliment, I hope?" Ember asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Definitely a compliment," she laughed. "I just didn’t expect a hunter to turn out to be the party chef."
For a while, they ate in comfortable silence, listening to the gentle lap of the river and the hum of dragonflies over the reeds.
"So," Mia said eventually, leaning back against a stone. "Why the Hunter class?"
Ember thought for a moment. "I like the preparation aspect. Out here, you survive because you paid attention, tracked properly, and respected the environment—not just because you hit a high-damage button."
Mia nodded softly. "That makes sense."
"What about you? Why Mage?"
She smiled, twirling her staff between her fingers. "My older brother played sword-and-shield warriors in every game we owned. I got tired of watching problems get solved by swinging heavier metal. Magic takes finesse—the same spell works completely differently depending on how you read the field."
"Fits you well," Ember said.
They spent the remainder of the break trading light stories from their early hours in the game—Mia admitting to accidentally scorching her robe with an unstable Fire Bolt, and Ember admitting he’d been hit square in the face by a slime mere hours after hyping them up.
As the sun began to tilt westward, they doused the fire, packed their gear, and pushed further into the marshlands.
They spent the afternoon repeating the steady rhythm established earlier. Another pair of River Slimes fell beneath careful teamwork, followed by a brief scuffle with a lone marsh crab that Ember lured directly into Mia’s freezing spell.
By the time the horizon turned deep orange, a warm sensation spread through Ember’s limbs.
[Level Up]
Congratulations! You have reached Level 3.
HP, MP, and Stamina fully restored.
+5 Attribute Points Available.
"You leveled," Mia noticed, looking over with a warm smile.
"Finally caught up a bit," Ember said, closing the notification. He saved the attribute points for later when he could allocate them without rushing.
They stopped at a dry ridge overlooking the vast marshland as the setting sun painted the river in shades of bronze and gold. Laying out their day’s haul—fish, herbs, slime cores, and razorfin scales—they took inventory of a successful run.
Mia turned her gaze toward the deeper marsh, where the water vanished into endless stands of tall reeds.
"I didn’t bring you all the way out here just for fishing," she said with a grin. Her casual tone quieted into something more reserved as she pointed toward the misty horizon. "There’s something deeper in the marsh I want you to see."
Ember looked where she pointed. Far in the distance, rising above the reeds and heavy fog, stood the jagged silhouette of weathered stone structures—ruins that clearly didn’t belong in a wild marshland. Before he could make out details, the rolling evening fog wrapped around them, hiding them from view.
A thrill of genuine curiosity touched his mind. Whatever lay beyond those reeds was a step into the unknown. Ember stared for another heartbeat, trying to memorize the outline before the fog swallowed it completely.
"Come on," Mia called with a grin, breaking his stare. "There’s one more place I want to show you."
Ember followed her off the riverbank and up a narrow trail winding between moss-covered rocks. A few minutes later, they reached a shallow cave hidden behind a curtain of hanging vines.
Ember looked around the space. It wasn’t large, but it was dry, sheltered, and safely above the flood line. The cave overlooked the marsh from high ground, making it easy to spot anything approaching. The stone floor bore the faint traces of old campfires, evidence that countless travelers had rested here before.
"This is a pretty good spot," he said. "How did you find it?"
Mia set her pack against the wall. "I didn’t," she said, shaking her head. "An old hunter NPC told me about it after I helped him with a commission."
"He just gave you the location?"
"I had to earn his trust first." She grinned. "Not every safe place is marked on a map. Experienced hunters pass locations like these to people they’ve come to trust."
Ember nodded slowly. "Honestly, that’s probably for the best."
"Hmm?" Mia looked at him.
"If everyone knew where players logged out, someone could just wait outside." Ember glanced toward the cave entrance. "Monsters aren’t always the biggest threat."
Mia’s cheerful expression softened into a knowing smile. "Exactly. Out here, you have to watch out for more than monsters."
She crouched beside an old fire pit and began arranging a few dry branches.
Together, they lit a small fire as evening settled over the marsh, the quiet crackling flames mixing with the distant chorus of frogs and flowing water. Sitting back against the dry stone walls, Mia tossed another branch onto the fire before opening her menu.
"Same time tomorrow?" she asked.
Ember nodded. "Wouldn’t miss it."
"Good." She smiled. "The marsh only gets stranger from here."
Blue light enveloped her body as she selected Log Out, her figure dissolving into countless shimmering particles.
Ember chuckled softly. "See you tomorrow."
Taking one last look at the quiet cave and listening to the distant chorus of the marsh, he opened his own menu.
Log Out.
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