Chapter 14

Puppy Girl 14

Another thick branch eventually caught me and stopped my descent. I made no effort to catch myself or otherwise dampen the fall. My body simply hit the branch like a bag of rice.

I felt numb.

A small part of me wanted to deny what had happened, but I couldn’t. I knew the truth. My Dad was just killed, and maybe the rest of my family was next.

No, this can’t be happening.

My paws tensed.

No, no, no, no!

The sorrow overwhelmed what my small body could take and manifested itself in an anguished howl. I held the howl until my voice was gone, and I rolled onto my side, whimpering softly, cradling my head under my paws.

I stayed like that for a while, letting my sorrow course through me.

No, maybe it’s alright! I don’t actually know anything for sure!

Maybe Dad would be okay. It’s possible. He has such strong magic; it wouldn’t be impossible that he could heal himself. And Mom hadn’t been beaten yet either before I fell.

I stiffened my lips and looked up. The canopy was now so far above me that I only saw the smallest hint of red sky and thin rays of light poking through the leaves. Climbing back up that far would be impossible now.

I turned my gaze downward. I was on one of the lower branches, but if I carefully hugged the trunk, maybe I could slide down without injuring myself further.

I checked my vitals.

Vitals

Health: 35 / 75

Mana: 65 / 65

Stamina: 80 / 100

Everything considered, I was lucky that my HP wasn’t any lower than that.

I knew there was only one choice as far as what I should do now. I needed to make it back to my den and see if any of my family were still there and okay. The situation looked bad—really bad—and maybe it was just flat-out denial that could motivate me forward, but that didn’t matter. If there was the smallest hope, it would never be realized if I gave up.

That giant black bird could have killed me, but didn’t; it was trying to keep me alive. That meant that maybe they didn’t want to kill my family but merely capture them. Heck, maybe that light spell wasn’t meant to kill Dad either!

So, if my family were simply captured and taken away somewhere, then the best place to find clues would be back home.

I got up on my legs, ignoring the injuries to my body, and stared down into the dark forest. First things first, I’d have to be careful. I’m just a little pup, and that bird carried me deep over the forest and away from what I guess you could call the starting area, where Mom was teaching us how to hunt.

I used {Pulse Sense} to check for danger.

Instantly, dozens of those red lines started pulsing through the blanket of darkness. Most were down below, but there were also some coming from the trees. When I searched out one of the ones above me, I spotted something that looked like a squirrel except it had tiny little horns on its head and its color matched the dull grey of the bark. It was staying very still as if trying to camouflage itself, and it was looking directly at me.

I figured I’d call it a Horn Squirrel, and if I could come up with a way to hunt them, they could make for a good food source. That one was well out of my reach, however, and I did not have any ranged attacks like Iris, Ben, or Jerry.

I paid closer attention to anything that might be hiding out below me. There was something in the grass, but the heartbeat seemed small. I shifted my focus further away. There was something larger lurking in the shadows, but its heartbeat was calm and placid.

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Remembering the calm pulse of the snake that had poisoned me, I knew I couldn’t take that for granted. But I couldn’t exactly just stay up here forever either.

Besides, whatever it was, it was a reasonable distance away, and there was plenty of overgrowth for me to hide in once I got down.

I walked to where the branch connected with the trunk, and carefully tested my paw. I wouldn’t have much in the way of proper grip, but I could at least slide. Looking down, there was another decent-sized branch I could aim for, just in case I slipped down faster than I anticipated.

So I made my move, sliding slowly at first, then a little fast, but soon my butt hit the branch I aimed for.

So far so good!

I did it again with another branch and was now a safe distance from the ground.

I used {Pulse Sense} once more. No new threats lurked, so I figured now was as good a time as any.

I hugged the tree as best I could, then slid off and down. My butt was on the ground in seconds, and I quickly wobbled onto all fours and ran right for the biggest patch of undergrowth I could see.

[Achievement! First Steps Alone]

Survived a fall, suppressed despair, and took your first steps into the unknown without your family.

+5 vigor

Yes! That’s a huge boost to my Vigor. Maybe this system thing is looking out for me? That was probably a little hopeful, but I did get the impression more and more that achievements were tailored to my particular situation. That must have meant that it had some kind of intelligence overseeing it, even if it was a machine intelligence. AI was huge in my first world, so why couldn’t it be in this one as well?

With those thoughts, I scooted carefully through the undergrowth, then hunkered down under a particularly big leaf, where I could still see out along the forest floor, and used {Pulse Sense} again.

Again, I saw many heartbeats. One of the closer ones had already scurried off—surely it was some prey that I had frightened with my own movement. There was still that one bigger one, which did not seem to have moved at all so far. I searched further out, finding mostly smaller heartbeats, but then I noticed one that was clearly much, much larger. Each thump of its heart was like a bass drum being kicked, and it was moving in my direction!

[Achievement! In over your head!]

You’ve ventured into a hostile environment while heavily underleveled. Good luck, kid. You’re going to need it!

+4 Sense

+3 Vigor

W-What!? Don’t tell me that, you stupid System! I mean, thanks for the stats, but—aaaaaah!

I quickly scurried deeper into the undergrowth, trying to suppress my trembling body. All of my focus remained on that large heartbeat moving in my direction. Soon, I didn’t even need pulse sense, because I could feel its steps shaking the ground.

Then, just after lifting my head enough to peek out from my hiding spot, it was there.

It lumbered out of the shadows between two trees. It had brown, shaggy fur, and at first I thought it had a small head attached to a long neck, which completely mismatched its thick body. That is, until the neck thing lifted and I realized that it was a trunk. The creature’s face was hidden behind its shaggy fur, but I barely noticed the glint of its eyes peek through now that my focus was there.

The trunk sniffed along the ground as its owner lumbered behind it, until finding interest in a shrubbery that it wrapped around and promptly pulled from its roots.

A mouth opened in the wall of thick fur, and I saw rows of sharp teeth that the trunk then fed the plant to.

Some of my last life’s biology lessons entered my mind. I felt thankful to see this giant thing eating plants, but I knew to still be careful. Those sharp teeth could mean that it was simply an omnivore and would still have a taste for meat. Though, considering how slowly and lethargically it moved, I did not expect that it would be a very good hunter.

The trunk went back to snuffling along the forest floor ahead of its owner, and soon it was passing by me without so much as a single sniff in my direction.

I kept still, waiting for the vibrating footsteps to carry it further and further away. Once it was gone, I let out a breath of relief just as the System dinged again.

Camouflage leveled up! 2 > 3

Ah—come to think of it, it’s not the best skill ever for hunting. Its description did say it improved stealth, but only when staying still, so maybe it was more meant for hiding?

I was very lucky to have that. Between my Pulse Sense and Camouflage, I had all the tools I needed to avoid getting into trouble while I was out here.

I went ahead and used {Pulse Sense} again. That other creature with a bigger heart beat seemed to have stirred a bit. Probably, it had heard the much, much bigger one walking through and wanted to stay clear itself.

I peeked out of the undergrowth and searched for where to go next, and upon doing so, I realized another problem.

I knew I wanted to try to make it back to my den, but I had no idea what direction that was!

I looked up to the sky, seeing scattered bits of red poking through the branches and leaves far overhead. If I were being honest, even if I could see the sun, it would be useless to help me navigate. I couldn’t do that even in my last world when I was a human. Now, with only a short time outside the den here in this world, I had no idea if the sun even worked the same way.

My best bet would be to consider the tree I had climbed down. Using that as a focal point could give me a rough idea of the proper direction; at the very least, it would prevent me from moving in the completely wrong direction.

So, I began crawling through the undergrowth, steering clear of the larger heartbeat that was now prowling a bit closer while navigating in the direction I’d hoped I’d eventually find my den. I adjusted my direction to make sure I was moving away from any other potential danger.

Suddenly, I heard fast ruffling through the trees—whatever it was, it had just broken from a slow prowl into a full sprint!

I hunkered down, looking left and right, wondering which way I should run.

Then a blur of motion shot out of the bushes—but it wasn’t aiming for me.

As it disappeared from my sight again, I tracked its motion with a fresh {Pulse Sense}.

There were many fleeing heartbeats now, but one in particular was the unlucky loser. I heard a high-pitched, painful cry that was abruptly silenced, and one of those small heartbeats disappeared.