Isekai Elf King: Architect of a New Empire

 Leo strolled through the forest, down gently rolling hills. He followed the brook as it meandered onward. The forest seemed picturesque—beautiful green trees with dappled light streaming through their leaves, with berry bushes in the small gaps between the trees.

 Occasionally, the gaps were larger, and Leo would encounter a sunlit meadow of grass with a carpet of flowers throughout to provide variety to the scenery. Bees buzzed, squirrels squeaked, and birds chirped as if nature itself were declaring its joy.

 Eventually, the brook met a pond at the dip between two small hills. It was a tiny pond that never got more than a few feet deep. A second brook also fed the over-ambitious puddle, and a small stream left it at the opposite end, about forty feet from where the brook entered. The pond was the center of a meadow, with the tree line about sixty feet from it in all directions, and flowers and grass were all around the jumped-up pothole.

Although it was barely a body of water, no more than a few feet deep even in the center, Leo took the opportunity to carefully wash his new body and the clothes he wore. He figured he looked like an idiot, lying in the shallow water lengthwise and rolling around, scrubbing himself. But that was preferable to smelling like a sloppy serial killer. Although the stains likely wouldn't ever go away, Leo still washed his clothes. At least he got the smell out. Mostly.

It was barely into the late afternoon and still relatively warm and sunny.

Once Leo had gotten out and dried himself, his stomach grumbled. He took his bow from his back, nocked an arrow, and hid behind a tree about sixty feet from the pond. Animals head to water, right? Although there are feeder brooks, but still…

After a few minutes' wait, a fox came nosing out from the trees on the other side of the clearing. It sniffed the air a couple of times, but fortunately, it was upwind of Leo. It cautiously walked down to the pond, glancing around carefully and still sniffing, before it bent down and lapped at the once-again clear waters.

Now's my chance!

Leo drew back, as hard as his new weak, noodle-y arms would allow, and fired his arrow.

 It sailed to the farthest end of the pond from the fox and dropped into the water with a barely audible plop.

 One of the fox's ears twitched, but it otherwise remained blissfully ignorant of the attack.

 Well, frik.

 Leo drew back again, trying to aim as carefully and as on-point as he could. He focused, drawing breath in and out, and then, when he felt he had attained the perfect Zen-archery state, he released again.

 The arrow flew on a fairly straight line toward the fox, but it dipped low, hit the ground once at a flat angle, and then plopped into the pond as well.

 Although it was at least closer to the fox, which jerked and took a few running steps, before looking around. The fox returned and started lapping at the water again.

 Since it's obviously sensing no danger whatsoever from me… Leo thought, briefly half-disgusted with himself and half-amused.

 Eventually, the fox wandered away from its idyllic—and depressingly peaceful—drinking spot.

 Leo collected his two arrows from the pond, one from an area a few inches deep, and the other from the center, which was a few feet deep. He then spent a bit of time air-drying himself off again.

 So, do I try to ambush something with the sword, or practice the archery with two arrows and try for a ranged hunt again? Or just follow the stream hungry and hope for the best?

 It occurred to Leo that he didn't really know how to start fires without a match, and that his new status sheet said he had penalties to resist disease. I probably shouldn't eat raw meat. This is starting to all feel like me being an idiot.

 Despite that, a bit of a stubbornness possessed Leo. He might be out here a while, he wasn't sure, and it made sense to learn to hunt and start fires while he wasn't yet starving.

 There are only about five places an animal could remain hidden till it reaches the edge of the treeline around the pond. I'll hide in a tree, like a jaguar, and strike from above.

 Although, I still smell faintly of blood.

 Feeling both smart and like a complete jackass, Leo stripped off his shirt and pants, placing one by each of the two trees at the upper and lower ends of the pond, where the brook entered, and the small stream exited. Hopefully, that'll drive animals away from those points, and toward the tree I'm in, which is farthest from the bloody clothing.

 Now just in his underwear—which seemed like they were made of silk—Leo went back to the tree he had been hiding behind and looked up. It was a small tree, like most at the edge of the forest, and its first branches were within jumping height.

 First, he leapt up and put his sword onto the lower branch. Then he leapt up again, grabbed a branch, and prepared to power his way up. But his new, weak arms weren't up to the task. After a moment, he figured out that he could essentially run up the side of the tree with his new agility while holding the branch and fling himself over.

 Sweaty and irritated at his weakness, Leo found himself on the lower branches of the tree. He picked his sword up and moved to crouch in a clump of leaves.

 Nothing appeared right away. Leo spent the time almost involuntarily thinking over the implications of everything that had happened. Most of his thoughts turned to Audrey. He really hoped that she wasn't dead. Watching her get shot had been painful and shocking, but since he had seen her soul at the end being pulled into the gate, he hoped she was still… alive… somewhere.

 Although that creates a lot of moral questions. If she occupied someone's body, did she push their soul out? This guy seemed to be volunteering his body, at least, what with lying down on the altar and all. And did her soul go nowhere, if there wasn't a volunteer?

 Leo had no idea if she was dead, in some body he wouldn't be able to identify, or a roaming soul, if this world had those.

 Either way, though, she's lost to you, partially through your failure. Just like Lisa was. Because you weren't good enough.

 Leo wrenched his mind back from that depressing line of thought, as he had trained himself to do over the years and forced himself onto a different tack.

 He glanced around, spotting no animals. He adjusted his stance on the branch, as his legs were killing him even after just a short while.

 My status sheet was interesting. I wonder what the normal maximum number of perks is? And I wonder how leveling works, since I was clearly listed as Level One, prominently right under my name. I wonder what the magics I possess allow me to do?

 I still can't believe that I'm even thinking about magic. I wonder if I'll still have magic once I get home? Man, that would be crazy. Maybe I could be a superhero.

 Leo was pulled from his amusing train of thought by a soft rustling below him.

 A small deer cautiously made its way through the sparse detritus below, just barely stirring the leaves. Its fur was a faded brown dappled with white, and it had scars along its flanks. Likely an older one.

 Leo gripped his sword tightly, tensing, preparing for when the deer's careful stride would take the animal beneath him.

 Don't fuck this up, Leo. Hit hard, but make sure to roll on the fall. This body is weaker than your old one, but it's incredibly agile. Use that.

 The deer kept slowly walking forward until it was right underneath Leo.

 Leo felt the moment. With a half-meant prayer, he dropped down, swinging his sword in an arc onto the neck of the deer.

Leo strikes elderly deer for 12 damage (sword 4, critical x3(base critical x2, plus .5 for Predator perk, +.5 for 20 agility)). Elderly deer is mortally wounded.

 Leo's strike cleaved the neck down to the bone and partway through, despite his weak strength. He rolled as he hit the ground, lightly cutting himself on his own sword. The 'Elderly Deer' collapsed to the ground and then briefly bleated while looking at Leo from where it lay on the ground, with accusing eyes. Its head dropped and it expired.

Leo has slain elderly deer. 0 experience gained. Only sentient creatures and magical beasts provide experience.

 Well, ain't that just peachy? Leo thought to himself, irritated, even though he hadn't been trying for experience.

As he stood, his mind went off on a tangent, and he wondered at the morals of a world where you could get experience, and presumably power, by killing sentient beings. Probably a bit on the dark side.

 Leo pulled out his sword and looked at it. "Well, I have steel," he said to no one in particular. "I wonder if I can find a stone that's similar enough to flint to make sparks?"