– Day 2 –

The Evening Hunt

...Shut up stomach. How do you expect me to hunt if you won’t be quiet!

...Ah, so hungry…

I slip through the forest as quietly as possible while watching my footing and path to avoid disturbing any potential prey.

The sun is currently beginning to set, but here, in the forest where I currently reside, it might as well be midnight.

..Hmm, didn't I see--

[Activate Night Eye]

[ — Minus 1% max mana while active ]

HP: 44 / 90 MP: 162 / 198

Whoa, heh heh, this is really cool!

With [Night Eye] active, it might as well be midday right now. Talk about perfect vision. This will make it a lot easier to hunt… It could probably be useful for assassinations as well..

*shakes head*

No. Lets not role-play an assassin character. It could get really messy. None the less, this skill is hugely beneficial.

I continue to proceed slowly through the forest, observing my surroundings and footing, paying close attention to tree branches, undergrowth and the like to ensure I’m not being hunted myself.

It only takes a second to go from hunting to being hunted after all. The slightest sound could alert a potential prey to my location, and I could quickly become their prey instead...

..I did watch a lot of survival programs in my past life, who knew I would actually pull from it--

Huh..?

As I stand beside a tall oak tree, straining my ears to listen for whatever made that sound. I spot something.

A black boar…maybe?

I say maybe because it has four tusks, not two and three tails, not one. Black isn’t right either; it’s grey with pale orange stripes and white spots. It has bright red tuffs of hair on its head and pale yellow eyes.

I’ve said it once but I’ll repeat it, [Night Eye] is convenient to allow me to see this much detail when it’s pitch black.

So let’s review the hunters' handbook.

Step one and two complete. Prey found and identified.

Based on my hands alone, close quarter combat is a no-no, but I only need to worry about that if it decides to charge right at me. I'll need to ensure my footing and confirm I can escape if I have the need to.

Step three complete, I can escape through those trees to my left which will hamper its charge.

Step four, aim for the weak spot.

Seeing as this is my first time using magic, aiming is going to be an impossible task as I don’t even know my spells effects. I can only assume its eyes would be its weak spot anyway as I can hardly google it, and regardless again, I’m unlikely to hit anything with pure accuracy.

My best guess for the starting spell would be [Blood Boil] which I believe is going to be a damage over time spell, followed up with [Blood Wound] and [Blood Syphon].

I’m thinking [Blood Syphon] most likely cannot be used without an open wound. This is yet another guess, but it's likely a combinational spell, or it’s meant to be used on an already wounded target.

Anyhow, enough prep. Step 5, attack!

HP: 45 / 90 MP: 181 / 198

> Press [Blood Boil]

…Huh?

> Press [Blood Boil]

Nothing happens?

For heaven's sake! Why doesn’t this come with a new players guide!! There should at least be an FAQ!

..Shitty game..

..Hmm, maybe it’s similar to the inventory system? Look at the target, and think of the spell.

[Blood Boil]

HP: 45 / 90 MP: 175 / 198

*Gurgle*

*EEERRRKKK!*

Okay then, so it is like the inventory system. What’s more, it seems [Blood Boil] is an instant cast spell!

A red bar appears above the boar-like creature and its decreasing quickly. The boar is quite clearly in distress after receiving the spell and is looking around for its attacker, for me. It seems it hasn’t yet spotted me.

I should take advantage of this while I can!

[Blood Wound]

HP: 45 / 90 MP: 155 / 198

Huh? Another instant cast spell?

A giant wound appears on its upper belly, and blood sprays out onto the grass beside it, straining it red.

At the same time, our eyes have met.

‘Er.. Hi..?’

It begins to charge. That red bar above it looks to be its remaining health which after that last attack would be at roughly 25%. It’s got balls attacking me in this situation but I guess it’s figured out running wouldn’t work.

With this, it should be game over!

[Blood Syphon]

HP: 45 / 90 MP: 149 / 198

Again, no delay in casting. Is all blood magic instant cast?

Blood pours out of the boars wound and starts to wind up into a round ball beside it. The boar lets out a heavy squeal before it finally falls to the floor with glossed over eyes.

It’s dead, but the blood is still being pulled out of its corpse, swirling around and into the balled pool beside it causing the ball to continually get bigger.

Without any warning, the floating pool of blood suddenly begins rushing towards me.

“Eek~!”

..I’m blaming that girly cry on a long day and let’s be fair, who wouldn’t scream, it was completely unexpected!

..Granted the skill is called 'Syphon'... *Sigh*

I had instinctively guarded my face with my left hand while holding my right hand out to try and stop it hitting me dead in the face, but after a couple of seconds, I came to realise it hasn’t hit me.

Slightly confused, I remove my hand from my face to see something bizarre. It appears my right hand is absorbing the blood!

HP: 60 / 90 MP: 155 / 198

Hunger: 95% Thirst: 2%

Blood State: Low

If there was any doubt before this, there is none now. The class [Awakened One] is something of a vampire type class.

I have revived not as a human or an elf but a monster. A monster not unlike this dead boar.

A deep and dark realisation blankets over me.

“I'm likely to be hunted if I head to the town, aren’t I?”

...

*Menu*

EXP: 10 / 150

Sod it. I was antisocial in my last life anyhow, and the friends I kept could be counted on one hand. So what if I’m alone. Worst comes to worst; I’ll role-play a criminal type…

No sooner did this cross my mind that I remember attempting an evil playthrough of my favourite RPG.

By my second hour in, I had already turned into a goody-goody helping everyone. Of course, I always told myself the EXP for good guys was better but the truth, if I’m not lying to myself, is that I don’t like the idea of hurting people that don’t deserve it, even in a game.

Don’t get me wrong, I could hurt someone if push came to shove, but it’s not in my nature to do so without provocation...

This by no means translates to the idea that I’m a pacifist; if someone needs to die to protect my way of life, hand me the knife–

“This has gone to a very dark place hasn’t it…”

*Sigh*

I decided to push this revelation and subsequent conversation to the back of my mind for now and turn my thoughts back to the boar. After all, I still need to gut it, skin it, butcher it and store the winnings in my inventory. I then need to gather wood and try to start a fire so I can then cook the meat to eat it.

I should probably mention that I have no experience with this sort of thing. I’ve never even hunted before, so this is all entirely new for me.

*blink*

I take the sword from storage and use it to slice the boar's abdomen open wide. The sword is far too long for this task, but considering I have no alternative, I will have to make do.

The sword is as sharp as it looked so this was actually quite manageable.

I proceed to pull out all the entrails through the newly created gash… I have to be honest; there isn't a single drop of blood left in the animal which is making this a painlessly easy.

I cut off the small intestine, pull out the heart and lungs, behead the animal and begin to skin it.

…This part isn't going so well.

I had no idea this was so difficult! I guess most of the difficulty is coming from the tool chosen for the job, but jeepers, I am destroying the meat–

Wait, do I even need to skin a boar? Surely the flames will take care of the wire like hair follicles..?

..I’ve started, so I’ll finish. Besides, I have no idea, and I’m starving so let's not take pointless tangents and crack on.

Skinning complete!

…is what I would like to say but this…this is just a mess. It’s done enough that it shouldn’t cause an issue with cooking so time to butcher the carcase.

This should be straightforward compared to the previous two tasks.

I cut the boar up into sections and then pieces before placing them into my inventory. I have nothing to wrap the meat in, but it should be safe for consumption for the next day or two out of the heat. The joints prove a bit difficult, but I manage none the less.

I should also store the remains in storage as well. Don’t want some predator sneaking up on me drawn by its scent.

*blink*

Time to gather wood and kindling for a fire!

After about an hour of wood gathering, I’ve come to a small clearing in the middle of the forest.

There’s a small house here; a fenced off area with crops growing and what looks to be a chicken coup maybe?

The house is very modest, with no second floor. The roof seems made of straw and the walls wood with clay? No, mud layered over the branches. I assume this is to block the wind and help retain heat. There are no windows on the house, just a reddish door with a bronze handle.

No light is currently emanating from the house, but there is a small steady stream of smoke rising from the chimney which I take to mean it’s occupied.

A chill catches me, and I shiver. There is definitely a fireplace inside keeping the house warm, how envious.

I stand in the middle of the clearing and look to the sky. Just like yesterday, it’s indeed a fantastic sight to behold.

Standing here I can see the moon is high in the sky. It’s most likely midnight which explains why no light is coming from the house. Its occupants are most likely sleeping. Waking them in the middle of the night would most likely not be a wise idea.

One more time, [Night Eye] is genuinely impressive.

I should return here tomorrow morning. An isolated area like this will prove an invaluable chance to see if my race is feared or hunted amongst humans.

With that thought, I leave the clearing and head back into the forest to where I killed the boar.

Time to make a fire!

How hard can it be? I thought to myself. It's only fire. For the next three bloody hours, I would find out just how easy it wasn't.

I first attempted to use the sword, torn shirt and two sticks to make a fire with some of the kindling collected.

I used the sword to round the first stick and bullet shape the end. I bore a small hole in the middle of the second stick, so the first fits into it.

I then took a third stick and the torn shirt to make a sort of basic, not fit for bowing, bow, putting the first stick in the middle with the bullet-shaped end facing down, twisting the cloth around it.

This should allow me to make an ember in the bored out hole in the second stick by using a rock as a pivot to hold the first stick in place while using the bow to rotate the first stick…but it’s not going so well as the mouthful above describes.

Two more hours of swearing later and I finally get a fire lit, but well, it’s dawn…