Zeke squatted by the stream, washing the dried blood – some of it his, some of it belonging to the trolls he’d killed – from his upper body. Despite his high endurance and vitality, he’d picked up quite a few scars since being reborn into the hellish system of caves, the most prominent of which was a jagged, red scar angling across his stomach. It had healed, but his brush with mortality had certainly left its mark. Similar pale lines crisscrossed the rest of his body as well, evidence of his struggle since being reborn into the Caracoa cave system.

If it wasn’t for the slight glint in the running water, Zeke would have gained another scar, but if nothing else, he had become a product of his environment. And given that his environment was a cave system filled with things that wanted to kill him, he had developed a sixth sense for when danger was afoot. Or in this case, a-fin, because only a mere instant after he saw the glint, a yard-long creature rocketed out of the water and straight toward him.

Zeke reacted with exceptional speed, rolling to the side as the fish flew past him, snatching up his club along the way. He came to his feet in a fighter’s crouch, fully expecting to pounce on a beached fish. So, he was quite alarmed when the fish came at him again, gliding along in the air like gravity was nothing more than a suggestion. Tiny, blue motes trailed behind it, but he was far more concerned with the shark-like teeth in the fish’s open mouth. Still, Zeke had the presence of mind to use [Inspection] on it.

Flying Barracuda – Level 8

Even as he dodged another one of the fish’s kamikaze strikes, he couldn’t help but groan. It was bad enough that he had to fight the trolls, but now he had to account for flying fish as well? What else could this cave throw at him?

He swore under his breath for asking such a cursed question, because only a moment later, he felt something latch onto his legs. He looked down to see fleshy tendrils, the bottoms of which were studded with what looked like tiny, toothy suction cups. No sooner had he felt the tentacles wrap around his legs than the pain erupted beneath them. It felt like getting stung by a thousand bees, but it didn’t end there. Instead, fire crawled through his veins, emanating from where the tentacles had bitten into him.

Poison.

So, not only was he being assaulted by a flying fish, but he also had to deal with a venomous squid as well? Or was it an octopus? He didn’t have time to figure it out, because the fish was making another dive towards his face.

Activating [Leech Strike], Zeke waited until the last possible second before swinging at the fish. It dodged to the side, taking a chunk out of his shoulder. Zeke gritted his teeth; he’d survived fighting an entire village full of trolls, and he refused to let a fish kill him, flying or not. So, he activated [Heart of the Berserker], feeling the increased strength, dexterity, and agility flowing through him. Even so, the barracuda was quick – unnaturally so – and it took him six more passes before he managed to land a solid blow. Luckily, its constitution seemed to be lopsided, and the moment Zeke connected with his club, the creature went flying across small cavern to collide with the uneven wall. Zeke was rewarded with a small influx of energy, telling him that it had, indeed, died.

Which left him to deal with his other attacker, the octopus he’d ignored until this point. Only about thirty seconds had passed, evidenced by the first decrease in Zeke’s endurance, and already, his leg had gone mostly numb. Part of that was because of the poison, but it was also due to the insane pressure the thing could bring to bear with its tentacles. It was like a boa constrictor, only it also poisoned you while squeezing the life out of you.

Zeke activated his inspection skill, and he was rewarded with the thing’s name and level:

Wall Creeper – Level 11

More, he also got a slightly better look at his attacker, and he was horrified to see that its tentacles were around two inches thick and capped with barbed talons reminiscent of a bird of prey. In addition, Zeke got his first glimpse of the thing’s body, and he nearly retched as his disgust reached an entirely new level. It looked like a misshapen chimp, if said chimp had been crossed with a jellyfish. Most of its torso was entirely clear, which let Zeke plainly see the thing’s organs, veins, and all sorts of things that should’ve been hidden by skin. Thankfully, its head was the same pitch black as the tentacles, preventing him from seeing too much in the dark.

Instinctively, Zeke knew that if he left the tentacles where they were, he wouldn’t survive. The poison was mostly being counteracted by his high vitality, but, eventually, it would wear him down. Once it did, he’d be easy prey for what he suspected was an ambush predator. The only problem was that the thing was entirely boneless, which meant that each time he swung his club, it bent around the weapon.

Even as he swung wildly at the Wall Creeper, Zeke knew he was in trouble. Like the fish, the thing was far quicker than him, so hitting it was mostly an exercise in futility. He was also on a timer, because every second that went by brought him closer to the threshold where he’d be forced to deactivate [Heart of the Berserker]. So, if he wanted to survive, he knew he needed to change tactics, and in a hurry. He grimaced as a plan took shape in his mind.

This was going to hurt.

Zeke dropped his club, then bent down to grip the Wall Creeper’s tentacles. Banking on his strength overwhelming the thing’s endurance, he started to pull. His primary goal wasn’t to dislodge the tentacles, but rather, he intended to rip them apart entirely. He hoped that would give him the opening he needed to dispatch the thing.

However, the moment he wrapped his fingers around one of the tentacles, a few problems manifested. First, the Wall Creeper went insane, lashing its free tentacles towards him like whips. They didn’t just sting a bit, but instead ripped into him like serrated daggers, sawing through his flesh and injecting their hateful poison. In addition, the tentacles wrapped around his leg constricted even further, exerting enough force that they would’ve ground most bones to dust.

But Zeke wasn’t a normal person, and even though he’d already ticked past the second endurance decrease associated with his berserking skill, he had more than enough to prevent his bones from snapping under the pressure. It did hurt, though, and if he hadn’t already gone through the crucible that occurred when forcibly evolving his race, he might’ve succumbed to the agony. Luckily, he had endured far worse pain, and the thing’s attack felt almost pitiful by comparison.

With a battle cry that shook the cavern, Zeke exerted every ounce of strength he could muster, ripping the tentacle in two. He tossed the loose piece aside, then went to the next, repeating himself three times before his leg was freed.

That’s when the Wall Creeper tried to flee, using its remaining tentacles to drag itself along the cavern floor. It had just reached the wall when Zeke caught up, bearing his club. It only took two overhand strikes to dispatch the thing, and by the time it was dead, it was an entirely unrecognizable mass of transparent flesh, slime, and snake-like, black tentacles. Zeke stood over it, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he released [Heart of the Berserker]. It slipped away, the mana that had empowered the rune retreating back into the bead at the core of his pathways, and the overwhelming power that had coursed through his veins was replaced by a hollow weakness. He sagged to the ground, bending double as he tried to get ahold of himself.

It seemed that the skill’s price was more than just the step-like decreases in his endurance. There was an aftermath he’d have to learn to deal with as well. But he’d learned not to let his guard down, so he quickly took stock of his injuries.

The fish had taken a few chunks out of his upper body, but he’d dealt with worse from fighting the trolls. They would heal pretty quickly. Looking down at his leg, though, showed him a mass of shredded flesh that looked like it had been through a meat grinder. If his endurance had been any lower, and his bones had actually snaped, the thing would’ve ripped his leg right off. It was a stark reminder of just how dangerous his world had become.

Zeke looked around for more threats, but he saw nothing, even when he studied the small cavern’s ceiling. The Wall Creeper’s name wasn’t just for show, so he’d have to be extra vigilant from now on. The same could be said for the various rivers, streams, and lakes that ran through the cave system. He wasn’t fool enough to think that his attackers had been unique.

He limped back across the cavern toward the stream. His leg burned with the poison, but he hoped that it had already been broken down by the combination of his high vitality and the effects of [Leech Strike]. The skill wasn’t extraordinarily strong, but the healing was proportional to the strength behind his strikes, so it had often made the difference between victory and defeat. But without that constant influx of life energy, it was only his natural regeneration that stood in the way of the poison. He could only hope that it was up to the task.

Cupping handfuls of water, he rinsed his leg off. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but it was mostly functional – so long as he didn’t have to fight again for a couple of days, he’d probably be fine. However, that addendum wasn’t the most comforting, given that he had yet to go without battle for such a long time.

Once his wounds were cleaned, Zeke ripped the remainder his linen shirt into strips, then washed them in the stream before wrapping them around his legs in a makeshift bandage. He didn’t know if it would help much, but it seemed like the right thing to do – especially given that he could detect traces of mana in the stream. It wasn’t nearly as strong as that first stream he’d come across, but it was still there nonetheless. Perhaps it would assist the healing process, and if it couldn’t, there would be no harm done.

His injuries taken care of as best he could, Zeke retreated back to where he’d built his fire. It had died down to embers by now, but he had plenty of fuel. So, he piled a few broken timbers and some moss onto it, and his efforts were rewarded with a healthy blaze. That helped, if for no other reason than that the heat provided a bit of rare comfort.

Finally, he crossed the small cavern to the other side, where he found the dead barracuda. Curiously, it didn’t look much different from a normal fish from his old world. It was long, fairly slim, and obviously built for speed. More importantly, it had a healthy bit of meat on it – which reminded Zeke that he’d been living off of foraged mushrooms for months. A little meat would go a long way, he thought.

So, without further hesitation, Zeke grabbed the fish’s tail and carried it back to his fire. After that, he set about cleaning the thing. As he worked, using the stone-bladed knife he’d gotten from the very first armed troll he’d killed, Zeke’s idly thanked his Uncle Mike for taking him fishing a handful of times. He’d been young, then, and he barely remembered the lessons he’d learned, but the vague familiarity served him well.

Inevitably, his thoughts drifted back to his father. Most boys were taught such skills by their dads, but that responsibility had fallen to his mother’s brother. He’d only been a few times before his father put a stop to it, though. It wasn’t baseball, so it wasn’t important, according to his old man. At the time, Zeke hadn’t thought much of it, but later, he would figure out that his father was living vicariously through him. The man had failed as a ball player himself, and so, he’d resolved to push his son towards the peak he’d never reached. Zeke would’ve felt bad for him if the man hadn’t been such a terrible human being who had used abuse as a training tool, then abandoned him the very moment his baseball career had ended.

But even as his mind swirled with resentment, something inside Zeke snapped. He’d been fighting trolls for months. He had just been attacked by a flying fish and an octopus monkey. And he’d been resurrected into an entirely new world filled with magic and incredibly powerful skills. For all he knew, he would never see his father again. So, why was he still letting the man affect him?

Certainly, he’d had a tough go of it, back in the old world. But none of that mattered anymore, right? He needed to look to the future, instead of constantly looking backward at things that had faded into irrelevance. So, with that in mind, Zeke pushed the useless thoughts aside and focused on what really mattered – making his way through his new world. And doing so felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Zeke finished cleaning the fish, fileting it before using a pair of sticks to suspend the meat over the fire. He wasn’t certain how long he should cook it, so he probably left it there for far too long. But in his defense, he had no idea if there was some sort of magical bacteria living inside of it, so from his perspective, it was better safe than sorry.

Without further ado, he took a tentative bite of the still-steaming meat. At first, he only tasted fish, but after a few seconds’ worth of chewing, a searing energy erupted in his mouth. It wasn’t painful, though. Far from it. The energy seeped into his very cells, nourishing him in a way he’d never experienced. It was like that single bite had been enough to restore him from the aftermath of [Heart of the Berserker].

He stared at it for a long moment, amazed at the power in that meat. He took another bite, then turned his vision inward, where he saw tiny, pulsing balls of energy coursing through his pathway. With each pulse, that area of his body grew a bit stronger, and when they got to his legs, he could feel the injection of vitality. It wasn’t enough to heal it outright, but it did give him hope that a single night’s rest would get him back on his feet.

It was a great discovery, and he soon wolfed down the rest of the fish before settling in to rest and recover.