Dan, the boat maker, lay dead at his feet. Aaron tapped the rapidly cooling corpse with his foot, inspecting the bruises that littered his skin. From the man’s expression, he could tell his death hadn’t been a peaceful one. A spark of anger rose in his chest, threatening to violently explode. He wasn’t angry at the man's death. No, he had barely even known the man. Even if he had, he was an objectively terrible person, responsible for ruining hundreds of lives - no one would miss his presence.

No, what really angered Aaron was the bitter taste of failure in his mouth. He wasn’t used to his plans failing like this - it felt like everything he had tried had gone sideways. His prodding of Dan’s corpse grew increasingly rough. His logical mind battled to reign in his emotions, packing them away in the tight box he usually kept them.

However, the day's events had loosened his restraints. He had almost been killed one too many times today. He was at his breaking point. Emotions, as well as memories that he usually repressed, lingered at the surface of his mind. Most strongly, he felt guilty - an emotion he rarely felt. His mind wandered to the family he had left behind, the dreams he had failed to accomplish, and the failures that led him to be locked away in this place. All these factors combined with his headache from earlier put him in an absolutely murderous mood.

He almost wished a monster would come his way. A good fight was just what he needed to take his mind off his failures. He took a deep breath. That line of thinking wasn’t productive. He needed to focus on what he could do now to minimize the chances of his future plans ending in failure. “What do you think happened to him?”

“Someone killed him.” Tony pointed towards the slight outline of a muddy human-sized footprint. “They're fresh - a couple minutes old at most.” He crouched down to get a better look at them. “Based on the size and dirt distribution of the print, I’d guess the person who made it was a tall man who weighed around 230 pounds.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow. Even with his enhanced perception, he had missed the faint track, not to mention the litany of information the old man was able to glean from it. Now that Tony had pointed out what to look for, it was easy to track the trail of footsteps around the corner. Still, it went to show that high stats alone were useless without the necessary experience to back them up.

“You think the man killed Dan?”

Tony nodded. “He had a lot of enemies; it wouldn’t surprise me if the killer was still in the area.”

Aaron scanned the cold gray prison hallway for danger. There was none. Other than cracked concrete and empty prison cells, nothing was out of place. It was eerily quiet; the only sounds that registered to his ears were echoing screams in the distance and the faint sound of falling rain. For the literal apocalypse, things were too peaceful.

His eyes narrowed as he picked up a faint footstep in the distance. He glanced at Tony, he nodded back at him. Someone was approaching. It seemed his wish had come true; he had something to distract himself from his thoughts.

In the back of his mind, his new skill Improvised Weapon Mastery activated. It gave him vague impressions of what he could use as a weapon if the need arose. Rebar stakes sticking out of the concrete, poorly attached metal bars, and sizable chunks of concrete that had fallen to the floor; the skill made each object stand out. As he laid eyes on the materials, knowledge on how to best extract and use them flowed into his mind. For now, the knowledge was limited to vague impressions of techniques, but as the skill leveled, he was confident it would become even more useful.

The steps neared, and he was forced to act quickly. Without the time to properly extract the metal, he was forced to choose a less dangerous weapon. He picked up a small chunk of concrete and stuffed it into his pocket. Improvised Weapon Mastery subtlety altered his hand position to better conceal the weapon within his pants.

Congratulations! Improvised Weapon Mastery Lvl 1→2. 1 Skill Point Awarded.

A tall man weighing about 230 pounds crossed into view with a cheery smile. “Hello, I’ve been looking all over the place for other survivors,” the man enthusiastically yelled to them. Aaron waved back then placed his other hand in his pocket, trying his best to keep a maniac grin off his face - the man’s foot was the exact same size as the faint dirt footprints. He was almost certain this smiling giant was the one who killed Dan; he’d soon have his revenge on the man for ruining his escape plans.

As the tall man came closer, blue letters appeared over his head.

Human | Warrior Lvl 3

Based on his level, the man’s physical stats should all be well into the double digits. Quite the scary prospect, especially when he was low on mana. He doubted he would be able to finish the man with just Mana Bolts. Luckily, he had come prepared. He grabbed a handful of sand he had hidden in his pocket. With the power of tactical pocket sand and a small rock, he was confident he would win. Now he just had to wait for the right time to strike.

The man stopped in front of them and introduced himself, still smiling widely.

Tony stepped forward and shook his hand. Covertly, Tony positioned the man’s hand so that Aaron could see his knuckles; they were covered in blood. Without a doubt, he had killed Dan. He had killed their ticket off the island. The spark of anger in his chest multiplied, turning into an inferno. He could practically feel the heat radiating off his chest. “You have strong hands; I’m glad to have someone like you at our side.”

Andre, otherwise known as the tall man, laughed. “Thank you. I try to keep up with my exercise.”

They talked for a moment, sharing information. The seconds seemed to drag on as he was forced to stare at Andre's fake smile. It infuriated him. It reminded him too much of his own. Finally, Aaron had enough of waiting. Without warning, he threw a handful of tactical pocket sand into the warrior’s eyes. Andre closed his eyes a moment too slowly, allowing the blinding substance to strike true. He stumbled back, his hands desperately working to get the sand out.

Aaron didn’t give him a chance to recover. He smashed the piece of concrete into the man’s face. Flesh tore under his assault, but the man’s system enhanced bone structure held strong. That changed after three more direct hits. Bone shattered under rock.

With a roar of pain, the warrior’s bloodshot eyes snapped open. Like a rocket, the man burst into action and punched him in the face. The attack was too fast to dodge. Aaron braced for impact. A fraction of a second later, his head snapped backward; crimson liquid dripped down his split lip. Almost immediately, another wild punch rocketed towards him.

He ducked under the blow, then released a series of Mana Bolts to create some space. The neon blue balls of mana crashed into Andre’s chest, cracking his ribs and forcing him to step back. Aaron smiled; taking the Power Path had drastically increased the spell's damage.

“Go! Beat him up, Aaron,” Tony cheered from the sidelines. Aaron rolled his eyes; Tony seemed to enjoy violence a lot for a so-called pacifist.

Aaron raised his hand, ready to fire off another Mana Bolt at a moment's notice. His earlier barrage had blown through a third of his mana, but Andre didn’t know that. As long as he acted confident, there was no way the man would be stupid enough to charge forward.

Right on cue, Andre glowed red then charged forward. The mysterious red energy empowered him, boosting his speed to new heights. Not wanting to get hit, he emptied the rest of his Mana Pool, firing off a wave of Mana Bolts. The blue and red energy clashed. Sparks flew, lights flickered, and both their respective skills weakened. In the end, his Mana proved victorious. Even while depleted, his Mana Bolts packed enough of a punch to brutally contort Andre’s body where they impacted. However, the warrior’s charge did not stop; he had too much momentum behind him.

More dead than alive, Andre shoulder-checked Aaron, so hard that he was sent flying. Spittle shot out of Aaron’s mouth as the air was forced out of his lungs. He flipped through the air once, then slammed into the wall like a pancake. He slid to the ground with a groan of pain. The warrior hit like a truck. Fortunately, he was dead. Running face-first into a barrage of Mana Bolts wasn't the smartest idea.

Human | Warrior Level 3 Slain! 150 Exp Gained. Congratulations! Improvised Weapon Mastery Lvl 2→5. 3 Skill Points Awarded. Congratulations! Mana Bolt Lvl 27→29. 2 Skill Points Awarded.

Tony touched his shoulder, his hand glowing green. “Are you alright?”

Aaron touched his split lip, wiping off blood. Physical pain was preferable to emotional turmoil. The fighting had provided him with a distraction from his thoughts. Now that it was over, well, the memories didn’t return in full force, but they hovered just below the surface. He could live with that. “I think he cracked my ribs, but other than that I’m doing great.” He put on a smile.

Tony stayed silent, searching for the right words. Judging by his facial expressions, he didn’t find them. After a long moment, he gave up on his quest with a melancholy smile. “Did I tell you about the time I had to outrun bulls with explosives implanted in them?”

Aaron groaned; then returned to the status quo, ignoring the old man’s made-up story. Instead of listening to the story, he focused on the bright green light on his shoulder. Now that his skill with magic was slightly more developed, he was able to magically sense the ability. The mana structures within the skill were a mystery to him. He didn’t even have the fidelity to clearly see them, but he paid attention to them all the same, doing his best to memorize their general shape and size.

He moved his attention to his chest. Inside of it, he could feel Mana slowly circling. Small pathways branched out from his center, carrying small dredges of Mana to his extremities. He closed his eyes and did his best to follow a small drop of Mana’s journey through his system. It floated slowly, as if drawn in by some unseen source. He managed to track the blob of energy for a few seconds before it disappeared from his perception.

“Don’t fall asleep on me now. I’m just getting to the good part of the story.” Aaron stopped his exploration of his inner Mana. As much as he enjoyed watching the motes of energy float about, he wasn’t in a situation where he could afford to focus on them for too long.

Occasionally, a low-level monster would cross their path, interrupting Tony’s story. Each time, the old man would rise and eliminate them with brutal efficiency. Luckily, monsters weren’t included in his vow of pacifism. After disposing of the monster, he would return and continue healing Aaron. Before long, he ran out of mana, but he demanded to finish his story before leaving. Aaron didn’t mind. His body ached; a little rest was just what he needed.

Aaron reflected on the fight with the warrior. All things considered, it had gone alright, but there was still room for improvement. In the rush of events, he had forgotten to utilize Minor Metamagic on his Mana Bolt’s. Or rather, he couldn’t muster the needed concentration while someone was punching him in the face. Additionally, the warrior's movement skill had caught him off guard. He would have to be on the lookout for similar skills in the future. Other than that, he had done alright. If he had to rate himself on a scale, he would give his performance a four out of ten.

Mercifully, Tony’s fabricated story ended. “So, what’s the plan now?”

Aaron closed his eyes and listened to the rain. It was time to go back to the drawing board. His number one priority at the moment was obtaining a supply of food and water. After that, he’d have to find a fortified position away from the monsters. At some point, he would have to sleep. He’d prefer not waking up as a monster chew toy if he could help it.

He focused himself on what he could do in the moment. The easiest place to acquire food and water was the kitchen. All its resources might have already been looted, but it cost nothing to check it out. The only problem with that plan was that the kitchen was right next to the cafeteria - the place the high-leveled monsters seemed to guard fervently.

He used his advanced Mind stat to recall the details of the map he had seen in the Warden’s office. It would add extra time to the trip, but there was a side entrance to the kitchen - one that would completely bypass the kitchen. If there proved to be nothing of value left in the kitchen, he could just investigate another food storage site.

He stood up. “Let’s raid the kitchen.”