"Oh my, oh my, it seems I forgot to mention. You can only get up when the sun sets." Edmund drawled, his words slowly slurring, a full toothed grin never leaving his face. In a grotesque way his teeth grew sharper and longer, some of them slowly unable to fit his mouth.

"I'd also recommend you to stay in the fenced area.. But you may try to leave it... if you are brave enough", his voice turned an octave deeper and his eyes slowly pushed out of his skull.

Everyone watched in undisguised horror, not noticing the cloaked person stood up silently and left the others behind.

"Eew, no way dude. When's the last time you checked a mirror? I'd even prefer our resident hobo over there," he heard the ditzy blonde say and everyone's attention turned towards him for a second.

Dave decided he heard enough, he was able to accept the game without sitting on the little stone which clearly looked like a trap.

Waiting for the moment Edmund directed everyone's attention towards himself and then at the cloaked person, he slowly walked backwards. Watching everyone warily for any sign of attention, he hid behind a tree before turning around. He noticed he wasn't able to accept the game if he walked any further, so he accepted the joining prompt, while secretly listening as Edmund talked about preparation time. Seeing his shape shifting towards inhuman proportions, Dave watched as the cloaked person silently cut off the robe touching the stone and disappearing into the woods during the growing panic of the group.

A few hours ago, before Dave set out to join the gathering, he had stalked around the fenced area to search for more clues and something edible.

He spotted some slightly glowing spots on some trees. He was absolutely sure that he never saw them before, which pointed towards the survivor trait he selected.

Getting close to it he dipped his finger into the substance of the tree, licking it. He was surprised by not only the taste, but how he felt a rush of energy in his whole body. Dave took his needle dagger out of the satchel and stabbed the tree a little, trying to widen the gash and get more of the nourishing liquid.

After he had his fill, he continued walking around the fenced area and marked some suspicious looking spots mentally.

Getting a headstart on everyone but the cloaked person, Dave backtracked in search of hints for his side objective. His curiosity was picked by telling him there is a mystery. At first he thought it would be another simple survival game, but maybe finding out what the mystery entails would lift some of his questions?

'I wonder how many of those hints I'd need to decipher what the mystery is? How many more would I need to solve it then? Will it help me recover memories about where I am or how I got there? Are there enough hints for everyone to complete the side objective or do we have to fight each other to complete it? Would it count as solved if I tell the others about it after I find out? Wait..what if they have other side objectives than me? Damn, I shouldn't have left so quickly..' he thought while digging at a glowing spot in the ground with one of his makeshift spear.

His digging was shortly interrupted by a shrill scream echoing from the direction of the campfire. Dave was sure he heard Edmund talk about preparation time.

'If they are already screaming, I wonder how they'll react when the preparation time is over and he starts his "hunt",' he thought as he continued digging until his spear met something solid with a thud.

Putting the spear aside, Dave used his hands to remove the dirt around a small wooden box. If something ever screamed hint at him, a little locked box in the woods would be it.

Looking back at the hole he dug, he noticed how the glowing spot disappeared. He pushed the dirt back to fill the hole before thinking back to the description of the trait he selected.

Survivor - You think I'd crumble? You think I'd just roll over and die? I will survive.

*Higher chance of finding materials or hints for survival.

*Higher chance of surviving any situation.

Narrowing his eyes, his overthinking habit got the better of him, making him think of its possible advantages, meanings and disadvantages.

'It said higher chances for survival.. Higher chances for hints or even materials to survive. How does the trait judge that? Is it through my subconsciousness and my thoughts? Is this the pitfall of the trait? If you think or feel something won't help you survive you won't get any hints? Is my overthinking working in tandem with my survivor trait?'

Dave was brought out of his deep thoughts by a gentle light, blinding him for a second before he realized he was wasting time. He remembered his resolve about acting more than thinking yesterday.

'It seems like it's geared towards what I think has the highest chance for my survival. It literally just informed me when I got stuck in a thought loop.. to remind me acting now is more helpful?'

Realizing this was the start of another thinking session, he put the box into his sticky satchel and walked towards the next spot he remembered a glowing light at.

Passing through similarly spaced trees, he pushed through some brushes. The full moon as his only companion, lighting up his path and guiding him.

He knew he was being hunted, but he didn't know in which order Edmund would hunt them down.

Dave stopped for a while and looked at the path he left behind.

'I can't continue ripping through those bushes, it seems like they were placed that way on purpose so we'd leave a trail?'

He noticed how they were arranged to subtly guide unsuspecting people in a certain way, making them waste time if they followed along the path instead.

Name

Dave

Titles

[New] What doesn't kill you.. Is edible

*Gain slight resistance to negative effects of food only when eating them. Stats Strength 9 [New +1] Agility 9 [New +3] Vitality 9 Intelligence 7 Wisdom 8 Magic 1 Free Stats 2 [New -4] Traits

Overthinking

Anything that could happen you thought about. You are prepared.

*Lowers the chance of getting surprised

Daydreamer

Following some strain of thought further than usual.

*Higher chance of finding what you search for.

Sturdy

Some people are just built differently.

*Lesser usage of stamina during physical exertion.

*Faster gain of power through physical exertion

*Slower loss of power during longer bodily inactivity

*Higher endurance to physical trauma

Nimble Hands

Your body might not be ready, but your hands are.

*Higher success in crafting, building, trapping, anything that uses hands.

[New] Survivor

You think I'd crumble? You think I'd just roll over and die? I will survive.

*Higher chance of finding materials or hints for survival.

*Higher chance of surviving any situation.

(potential) Paranoia

You are prepared against anything, because deep down you know everyone and everything is out to get you.

*Impossible to get ambushed, poisoned, assassinated.

(potential) Secondhand success

Your success is my success, your demise is my success.

*Raises potency and lethality of secondhand weaponry, like poison, status effects, traps.

Trait points 1

'I knew it was a better idea to wait with distributing my status points. I need a little bit more strength and quite a bit more agility if I want to jump from tree to tree.. while strength will help me with jumping and climbing, agility should help my balance and speed. My vitality should be enough to handle this hunting game and in the worst case I still have 2 free stat points to give me an edge when I need it.'

Dave stretched his limbs, comparing how his body felt now in comparison to before he used the points. He found out he was quite a lot more flexible than before, easily reaching the ground with his palms while leaning forward. He had struggled to even reach his shins before.

Emboldened by his new findings he jumped up the nearest tree and grabbed a hold of a branch above him, easily pulling himself up. It took some time to find his balance, before he jumped towards the nearest tree, easily grabbing the thick branch and swinging himself up like a professional gymnast.

Amazed by his newfound reflexes, he realized the attributes work in tandem with each other, not only does strength give him a harder grip and strengthen his core muscles, it also strengthened his reflexes in combination with agility.

Agility seemed to do more than keep his muscles flexible, it helped him with his balance and reflexes in combination with strength.

'It makes sense, but I don't have enough time to prove each observation. Maybe if I get more free stat points from this later, I'll experiment with the different feeling of each attribute?', he thought idly, almost missing a branch because of his distracting thoughts.

'Right, only moonlight as a light source. I need to focus.'

No glowing lights in his field of vision didn't mean he was lost. A slight tug in the back of his mind, every time he lost direction in the monotone surroundings, guided him. Tree after tree, he swung and climbed, feeling the wind blow against his face in the cool night.

Slowly the surroundings seemed to change, nothing out of the ordinary at first. Some brushes became smaller, some stones popped out to pave a hidden path through the shadowy night. Before long he arrived at another clearing, though this time it wasn't enlivened by chattering of multiple people and a small fire.