He failed to climb to the tree's branches yet again. Shaking his head, he looked at his status screen and his two skills, Body Adaptation and Climbing. Both had basically stayed at the same level in the hours he had gotten them. Climbing he could understand because he still somewhat sucked at it, but he felt like he had come a long way in adapting to his body.

  How do the skills even work in this world? He sat on the ground, watching his tail move with no input on his end. Right, he was a cat. An intense feeling of body dysmorphia hit him at that moment and he couldn't help rolling over and pressing his body against the grass. Half of his mind was screaming at him, and the other half was trying to process everything.

  Lying on the grass, he could feel everything and more. His nose twitched, finding the smell of the dirt and grass particularly earthy. The tongue feeling particularly rough against the roof of his mouth. The grass on his body cool, chilling... real.

  As for his tail, no comment. That thing was just impossible!

  Deep breaths Kiel, you've been through worse... probably. You are now a cat, you almost died on your first day, you are lost and honestly, this could hardly get any worse.

  Strangely enough, this helped calm him down. The grass wasn't bad either. He got up slowly, testing his paws on the ground. He had work to do. The traction was good. His paid attention to his form as he run. Not great, but it could be worse. Regardless, he managed to pick up a good amount of speed before he reached the tree.

  He was excited for all of one second... before he reached the tree and almost faceplanted into it. Right, maybe that was too much speed. He used more energy pushing into the tree than climbing, and with that went all of his momentum.

  After failing this time, it got him thinking about the skills again.

  Were they just a representation of his actual skills, or did they confer abilities onto him? He guessed he could move easier on this body after running around for so long, which might be why the skill was at level two. Or it was because the skill had reached the second level he could walk better in this body.

  He felt weird about the latter possibility. He didn't want a mere status screen stealing his achievements. Besides, he had been told he was good at adapting, even if it hadn't been the best time of his life back then.

  Maybe he was focusing his energy on the wrong place. There were three key items in surviving in the wild. In order of importance, they were water, shelter and then food.

  Thankfully, he didn't feel particularly thirsty, and the trees protected him from the sun. To add to that, there was an intermittent breeze that cooled him from tail to paw. All of a sudden he had an urge to lie down and rest. It took more willpower than he cared to admit to resist the call.

  Lastly, he had the snake for food. He hoped it wouldn't come down to it, mostly because he was used to eating cooked food, but if push came to shove, he believed he could force himself to eat it. Shaking his head, he focused on what was important. Which was beating this stupid tree before searching for water.

  He walked away from the tree, slowly, getting some distance.

  About two meters away, judging it was enough, he started running. This time he paid less attention to his form and more into finding the right timing. Having restrained himself, this time he managed to keep more of the momentum as he went up the tree. His claws dug slightly into the tree, giving him traction. He felt like he could go on forever, and this wasn't any simple old tree. His momentum slowed down on the second meter, but he didn't need to continue for much longer. When he actually reached the lowest branch, he couldn't believe it.

  "Well, that was easier than I expected." He thought to himself. A victory for never giving up!

  The branch wasn't wide enough to stand on it without feeling vertigo, but he'd done it! He could already see a thicker branch a bit further above if he wanted a place to rest comfortably.

  How did the saying go, a climb a day keeps the death at bay. Staying close to the trunk of the tree where the branch was the thickest, he dared lift his head up from the wood and into the horizon. His nails dug into the wood enough that he was feeling like he wouldn't slip towards the ground wasting his efforts and opportunity.

  He wasn't high enough to look down upon everything, but it was a start. The forest extended as far as he could see, but it turned out cat vision wasn't as good as human's in long distances. He never had a problem with nearsightedness when he was a human, but as a cat his eyes could use some work. Which meant that he didn't know how large the forest actually was.

  The day was young as he hadn't managed to fall back asleep after the snake attack. He decided that he had to find water before it became an issue. At least now if he found himself lost... well, more lost in any case, he could climb up a tree for a better vantage point.

  Psyching himself up for exploring a deadly forest, he hadn't considered another problem... getting down the tree.

  "No wonder cats get stuck on trees." He thought to himself as he stared at the ground almost three meters below him. Definitely looked like a couple more looking at it from here. He wasn't even halfway up the tree and the drop felt like he was jumping to his death. "It's just a decision... you've seen cats fall from thrice this height, fall onto concrete and walk away." He stopped, took a deep breath and let it out. Then he jumped and the second it took him to reach the ground felt like an endless drop.

  His jump wasn't perfect, but he'd still managed to land on his feet. That of course didn't mean his whole body didn't hurt.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  His tiny heart was beating a mile a minute and he took a few minutes to rest. Perhaps climbing up a tree every time he wanted to check his way was not a viable solution. While he didn't expect he would get lost, and there weren't many reasons to return to this place after finding a source of water, he still didn't want to leave the place he started at behind.

  He felt that losing his way back would make him actually lost in an unfamiliar forest with no one to turn to for help, and that was a scary thought. The clearing felt safe, snake attack aside, and he'd already explored everything there was in it. If he changed his line of thinking, he'd already defended this place, it was his!

  He shook his head out of the downward spiral it had gotten into.

  "There is no home for me inside the forest." Aside from searching for water, he also needed to search for signs of people, humans preferably but he would take what he got. He was going to get out of here and enjoy a nice quiet life.

  He then remembered his actual home, a small house where he lived with his parents. He remembered why he chose to study in a university as far away from home as he could find and laughed. Home was where you made it.

  The only thing he missed from Earth was his phone, but he was never that enthused about it. He spent a small period of his life addicted to the internet and until he reached out for help, he'd been miserable. Granted he had been miserable in the university too, but at least then he could go out once in a while and hang out with his classmates.

  He was nineteen with no one to call a best friend and his relationship with his parents was a story best left untouched. He believed he could do better this time. Can't reach rock bottom when you're already there unless you start digging. I won't start digging.

  So he left the clearing behind. Being in the midst of trees and the serenity of the forest, gradually improved his mood.

  What improved his mood even further, however, was the sound of running water after just half an hour of walking. It was a faint sound and following it would have been close to impossible had he still been a human.

  In the same vein, finding his way back after half an hour of walking in a forest with no trails was also impossible, but he didn't mourn the loss. A few minutes later, following the sound, he found his source of water... and the monsters that occupied it.

  He wished he could identify the monsters ahead like he could in games, but that was an ability he lacked. The monsters were short, bipedal, green, and blended with the forest so well he would never have seen them if they decided to hide in tall grass. Though considering how tall he was, that didn't make for very tall grass.

  Thankfully, they seemed to have rocks for brains and the intelligence to match. Their usage of tools was bare bones, and they communicated through what seemed to be different kind of grunts. For a moment there he wondered if that was how early humans seemed to other animals.

  There were a few dozen of the monsters, half of them unarmed, the other half equipped with sharpened sticks and stones. At least the ones furthest from the group and closest to him didn't seem particularly strong physically; not that it would do any good for him now.

  Looking at his status screen again, his pitiful two in body wasn't going to cut it. He didn't know if he could train that up a bit, but this was definitely not the time. What he did know, however, was that if he wanted to survive, he would have to pick his battles carefully, especially if there were creatures like these around. Maybe after a few levels this wouldn't be so bad.

  He honestly didn't know what he had been expecting from a forest in another world. A deer would have been nice. Maybe a sheep? Something non-lethal at least.

  The monsters didn't seem that strong as they rested close to the river. If he was still a human taking one or even two at once might have been possible, simple even. The problem laid in their numbers, and in the fact he wasn't a human but a cat.

  Going around them to a lower point of the river would take a while, but he would be able to avoid a fight, which was the path he decided to take. Unfortunately, his instincts didn't include instructions on effective stealth. As he was backing off, a goblin turned its head towards his direction and started growling, immediately gathering the attention of the rest of the goblins.

  Not a lot got up and started heading towards his direction, just the five furthest from the group, which were more than enough to turn him to shish kebab.

  Stealth promptly abandoned, he started running away from the group and they started chasing, abandoning likewise their careful approach.

  While he ought to be as agile as a cat, running turned out to be a bit harder with his life on the line. Worse yet, while he dodged past trees at full speed, the goblins were gaining on him. His dexterous movements didn't help his short stature, however, where every step the goblins took was two of his. He sped up even more. These small giants were faster than their physique betrayed.

  That said, having a few mad creatures chasing him like their life depended on it had a way of motivating him like nothing else.

  Three entire minutes later of running at full sprint, he was ready to pass out. Thankfully, the goblins weren't doing much better. He'd managed to avoid capture by the skin of his teeth, dodging past jumping goblins when they were close enough to attempt and pushing his little body to its limits.

  By now he was again completely lost, all thoughts about the nice river forgotten in the mad scramble for his life.

  Still, he was in a better condition than the goblins. As he looked back, they were barely even walking towards him. They were spread out, some even catching their breath further behind.

  Looking at their condition, he decided that it was time to risk it for the biscuit. He'd never killed anyone before, the snake didn't count, but if there was a time to start, it was now. He didn't know what came over him, a sort of animalistic instinct took over the decision making part of his brain.

  The goblins would pay and in return for losing the blessed water of the river, he would drink their blood!

  Thinking about it again, that was gross, he would settle for spilling it.

  Charging back at the nearest goblin, he circled behind it. The goblin was too tired to respond in time and he managed to jump on its back, his tiny claws digging into the back of the goblin and helping him climb up its torso.

  At this point all that was guiding him was instinct and rage.

  In the seconds he had as he climbed its back, there was only one target where he could potentially kill the disgusting creature. Two actually, but he would rather aim at its neck than its nether region.

  He reached its neck, and before the goblin could throw him off, he extended his claws, and ran his front leg across its neck as viciously and as hard as he could. The goblin caught him the very next second and threw him off with a shriek, but it was already too late for it.

  It held its neck tightly, yet it seemed to do nothing for the poor goblin. Blood just kept gushing out of the wound he'd caused, and Kiel stared at the creature in disbelief. He couldn't believe that had worked. He couldn't believe what he had done.

  There was also a small part of him that didn't believe he'd just killed a living, breathing, admittedly not very smart, creature. A few seconds later it dropped to the ground, still clutching at its throat. It was disturbing to say the least, but he didn't have time to ponder on it any further as the other goblins had recovered somewhat more and moved to the dead goblin.

  They were saying something to it in a guttural language he couldn't understand, but there was nothing they could do to help the dying goblin. When the rest of the goblins recovered from the shock of losing one of their own and charged at him, he left. They didn't bother chasing him this time.

  If he was completely honest, he didn't feel comfortable exploring yet. However, he still had some daylight and finding water was a necessity. The day was young as he hadn't managed to fall back asleep after the snake attack. He decided that he had to find water before it became an issue. He hadn't drank anything yesterday, and today he was feeling parched. Also At least now if he found himself lost he could climb up a tree for a better vantage point and escape potential predators.

  didn't hadn't considered another problem... getting down the tree.

  Next time he would try climbing down a bit first.

  aside from the snake he'd killed, he still didn't want to leave the place he started at behind.

  He had He was nineteen with no one to call best friend and his parents was a story best left untouched. He believed he could do better this time. Can't reach rock bottom when you're already there unless you start digging. I won't start digging.

  His first few steps were heavy, leaden with indecision. Being in the midst of trees and the serenity of the forest, however, gradually improved his mood.

  The goblin was ready to feel his wrath!

  and extending his claws he ran his front leg across its neck as viciously and as hard as he could. he clawed as viciously and as hard as he could at its neck. The goblin caught him the very next second and threw him off with a shriek, but it was already too late for it.

  He failed to climb to the tree's branches yet again. Shaking his head, he looked at his status screen and his two skills, Body Adaptation and Climbing. Both had basically stayed at the same level in the hours he had gotten them. Climbing he could understand because he still somewhat sucked at it, but he felt like he had come a long way in adapting to his body.

  How do the skills even work in this world? He sat on the ground, watching his tail move with no input on his end. Right, he was a cat. An intense feeling of body dysmorphia hit him at that moment and he couldn't help rolling over and pressing his body against the grass. Half of his mind was screaming at him, and the other half was trying to process everything.

  Lying on the grass, he could feel everything and more. His nose twitched, finding the smell of the dirt and grass particularly earthy. The tongue feeling particularly rough against the roof of his mouth. The grass on his body cool, chilling... real.

  As for his tail, no comment. That thing was just impossible!

  Deep breaths Kiel, you've been through worse... probably. You are now a cat, you almost died on your first day, you are lost and honestly, this could hardly get any worse.

  Strangely enough, this helped calm him down. The grass wasn't bad either. He got up slowly, testing his paws on the ground. He had work to do. The traction was good. His paid attention to his form as he run. Not great, but it could be worse. Regardless, he managed to pick up a good amount of speed before he reached the tree.

  He was excited for all of one second... before he reached the tree and almost faceplanted into it. Right, maybe that was too much speed. He used more energy pushing into the tree than climbing, and with that went all of his momentum.

  After failing this time, it got him thinking about the skills again.

  Were they just a representation of his actual skills, or did they confer abilities onto him? He guessed he could move easier on this body after running around for so long, which might be why the skill was at level two. Or it was because the skill had reached the second level he could walk better in this body.

  He felt weird about the latter possibility. He didn't want a mere status screen stealing his achievements. Besides, he had been told he was good at adapting, even if it hadn't been the best time of his life back then.

  He didn't manage to climb the tree up to the branches yet, but he wondered if it was worth to continue trying. Climbing to the branches was only a single part of the three basics of survival; water, food and shelter.

  Maybe he was focusing his energy on the wrong place. There were three key items in surviving in the wild. In order of importance, they were water, shelter and then food.

  Most important of the three was water because he would last the least without it. Thankfully, he didn't feel particularly thirsty, and the trees protected him from the sun. To add to that, there was an intermittent breeze that cooled him from tail to paw. All of a sudden he had an urge to lie down and rest. It took more willpower than he cared to admit to resist the call.

  He didn't feel particularly thirsty, and Lastly, he had the snake for food. He hoped it wouldn't come down to it, mostly because he was used to eating cooked food, but if push came to shove, he believed he could force himself to eat it. Shaking his head, he focused on what was important. Which was beating this stupid tree before searching for water. if push came to shove, but failing constantly and almost getting killed had gotten into him. He would try one final time now that he was more well rested and if he didn't succeed, he would go searching for water.

  After a few more steps, About two meters away, judging it was enough, he started running, This time he paid less attention to his form and more into finding the right timing. Having restrained himself, this time he managed to keep more of the momentum as he went up the tree. His claws dug slightly into the tree, giving him traction. He felt like he could go on forever, and this wasn't any simple old tree. then running up the tree with his claws giving him traction. His momentum slowed down on the second meter, but he didn't need to continue for much longer stop. When he actually reached the lowest branch, he couldn't believe it.

  well, more lost in any case, he could climb up a tree for a better vantage point.

  five three meters below him. Definitely looked like a couple more looking at it from here. He wasn't even halfway up the tree and the drop felt like he was jumping to his death. "It's just a decision... you've seen cats fall from thrice this height, fall onto concrete and walk away." He stopped, took a deep breath and let it out. Then he jumped and the second it took him to reach the ground felt like an endless drop.

  Their usage of tools was bare bones, and they communicated through what seemed to be different kind of grunts. For a moment there he wondered if that's how early humans seemed to other animals.

  There were a few dozen of the monsters, half of them unarmed, the other half equipped with sharpened sticks and stones. At least the ones furthest from the group and closest to him didn't seem particularly strong physically; not that it would do any good for him now.

  That, of course, didn't mean he felt confident against them. Looking at his stats again, his pitiful two in body wasn't going to cut it. Training to raise his stats didn't seem like a possibility, so he would have to level up if he wanted to have a chance against them. He didn't know if he could train that up a bit, but this was definitely not the time. What he did know, however, was that if he wanted to survive, he would have to pick his battles carefully, especially if there were creatures like these around. Maybe after a few levels this wouldn't be so bad.

  He honestly didn't know what he had been expecting from a forest in another world. A deer would have been nice. Maybe a sheep? Something non-lethal at least.

  They didn't seem that strong as they laid in the river bank eating raw fish. The monsters didn't seem that strong as they rested close to the river. If he was still a human taking one or even two at once might have been possible, simple even. The problem laid in their numbers, and in the fact he wasn't a human but a cat.

  which was the path he decided to take. Unfortunately, his instincts didn't include instructions on effective stealth. As he was backing off, a goblin turned its head towards his direction and started growling, immediately gathering the attention of the rest of the goblins.

  but just the five furthest from the group, which were more than enough to turn him to shish kebab.

  was ought to be agile for a cat, running turned out to be a bit harder with his life on the line he still wasn't entirely used to his body, and running turned out to be more complex than he thought when his life was on the line. Worse yet, while he dodged past trees at full speed, the goblins were gaining on him. His dexterous movements didn't help his short stature, however, where every step the goblins took was two of his. He sped up even more. These small giants were faster than their physique betrayed.

  That said, having a few mad creatures chasing him like their life depended on it had a way of motivating him like nothing else.

  . and They were spread out, all some of them catching their breath further behind than the one in front of them.

  He didn't know what came over him, a sort of animalistic instinct took over the decision making part of his brain

  He couldn't believe what he had done.

  , admittedly not very smart, creature. A few seconds later it dropped to the ground, dying in a very human-like manner, still clutching at its throat. It was disturbing to say the least, but he didn't have time to ponder on it any further his victory as the other goblins had recovered somewhat more and moved to the dead goblin.

  nothing they did helped there was nothing they could do to help the dying goblin. When the rest first of the goblins recovered from the shock of losing one of their own and charged at him, he left. They didn't bother chasing him this time.