Samael was not locked up back in the prison, luckily enough. Instead he found himself outside the city walls, staring back at the gate he had just been unceremoniously thrown out of.

The man’s uncle had wasted no time in handing Samael over to the guards, and after a few whispered words into their ears, the guards had wasted no time in branding him a disturber of the peace, using forbidden magic in a public area, and of course being an abhorrent immigrant. Apologising for being unfamiliar with their customs tipped them off about that last charge.

What had been a flippant action, meant to remind the fop that he was a real person by embarrassing him in front of the woman that he was trying to impress, had drastically shifted his situation. The guards had explained in no uncertain terms, that if he was found within the principality of Stradun after today, he would face the prince’s justice. It seemed quite extreme, he had not lost any Karma and so the Construct didn’t think his actions were at all evil.

‘I got too comfortable’ Samael thought, chastising himself as he stood up to his ankles in the mud and watching the carts ride into and out of the city. ‘I’m not on Earth, and that wasn’t some stuck up shopper at his old store.’ Samael had felt so good this morning, like he had finally found his bearings, and was not prepared to be treated like dirt. He had found some pride and was immediately punished for it. Pride is a sin indeed.

His remaining money had not been taken from him, however since he had been ‘banished’, Samael was not quite sure what he would be able to spend it on. He had been informed his name had been added to a ‘list’, then warned what would happen if they found him after his grace period of one day. Beheading seemed slightly draconic to Samael, and since all a guard would have to do is ‘inspect’ him to find out his name, it didn’t really seem worth the risk to sneak back into the city, or be anywhere in the principality at all.

As one of the empty carts rolled and splashed by, Samael ran up to it through the mud, waving his arms in the air to catch the attention of an old man at the reins. Seeing how he wanted to get out of the area as fast as possible, asking for a lift might help get him away.

“Excuse me! Sir!” Samael called out as he got closer. Looking over at Samael from under a wide brimmed hat, the old man smiled in greeting as his cart slowed down. Then as he looked towards Samael, his gaze turned from quizzically friendly, to cold and distant, his smile fading from his weathered face.

“Sorry.” The old man said abruptly, turning his eyes back to the road ahead and cracking the rains to speed his cart along once more. The old man pointedly avoided Samael’s gaze as the cart zipped by him.

Turning to the next cart, which was thirty paces or so behind the old man’s, the woman driving it gave him a harsh and unwelcoming look before he even had a chance to call out to her. ‘Inspect.’ How useful it was to see someone and instantly make a judgement about them based on what you saw. Samael felt he should be angry about being instantly judged, instead he just felt tired.

His class was ‘Necromancer’ after all. From what he had gathered so far the class certainly seemed to come with a lot of unscrupulous implications. If he came across a random stranger and was given a bit of information telling him that the person dealt and worked with death, he might want to avoid them as well.

“Hey!” a guard shouted from the gate, “You keep harassing people and we ain’t going to wait till tomorrow!”

Giving up on receiving any kind of help from these people, and not really wanting it at this point either, Samael stared out at the land opposite the city. The muddy road continued out in a fairly straight line and Samael could see it stretch on for miles before disappearing around a small hill in the distance. On either side of the road, smaller paths branched out into many different fields, bordered by dry stone walls.

There were patches of trees here and there, however these small copses were dwarfed by a massive forest which Samael could see, stretching out from about a mile to the right of the road. Samael could just see the white peaks of a mountain range far in the distance, with the same forest ending at its base.

Samael had nowhere to go right now, nowhere he needed to be. His responsibilities were to himself and himself alone. The idea of travelling along the road did appeal to him, however he was not sure what he hoped to find at the end of it, also from what the guard just said, it sounded like they might come after him and would likely find him if he stuck to it. Alternatively he could go and live in the woods. He would have to use his (Non-existent) survival skills and channel his inner Bear Grylls to survive on his own amongst nature though.

Choosing between tamed farmland with probable death and wild forest with potential death, the wild forest won out. After walking along the road until he could no longer see the gate, Samael quickly stepped off the road and walked through several fields to enter the tree line.

*

‘Come on, just a little closer!’ Samael pleaded. He currently had an arm raised above his head with a fist sized rock in his hand. His eyes were locked on the form of a small rabbit, which hopped around about ten meters away from the bush that Samael was currently hiding in.

It was late afternoon and Samael’s lack of wilderness training had left him wandering around without much direction for most of the afternoon. He was not quite lost; he made a note of the position of the sun when he entered to get a rough idea on which direction would take him away from the city.

In his wandering, Samael was on the lookout for three things: Water, Food and Corpses. The first two were obvious survival requirements; the third was a potential way to help defend himself, in case any wild animal wanted to use him for their own survival requirements.

He had first spotted the rabbit hopping around and happily munching on things in a small clearing beside some bushes, about two hours into his search. It had immediately dashed away once it saw him, however the walking morsel was the first bit of sustenance he had seen, and Samael had come up with a cunning plan to hunt it.

Thus he was hidden in a bush with a big rock, ready to smush the rabbit when it returned. It took nearly an hour of impatiently waiting before the rabbit poked his little nose back in the area, though it was slightly off from where Samael had expected. Rather than the couple of meters away he was hoping for, it had popped up on the other side of the clearing.

Samael had raised his arm, rock in hand, as soon as the rabbit had bounced into his line of sight, and it was starting to get sore. Giving up on any hope that it might hop any closer, Samael tossed the rock with all his might, flinging it on a direct path towards the bunny. The stone flew straight and true, sailing through the air towards the walking meal. The rock then fell and ploughed into the dirt not even half way to the target, causing the rabbit to bolt at the noise.

“For fuck’s sake!” Samael exclaimed, as his dinner disappeared into a thicket. He rubbed and stretched his arm, trying to get the unexpected ache out. He had spent his childhood throwing things at other things, he was a good shot. His recent display was not characteristic of the old him at all, though it was perhaps characteristic of someone with only 6 base strength. Samael did have one free stat point still; he had been saving it and was tempted to dump it in his physical stats then and there.

The only reason he didn’t was the nagging worry that it could still be better used elsewhere. Until he actually made a decision however, it would sit unused and he would get no benefit from it. Abandoning the idea of eating rabbit today, Samael untangled himself from the bush and left the clearing to carry on wandering.

*

As the sun began to hide behind the horizon, the light beneath the forest canopy dropped significantly. Samael was starting to stumble over tree roots and it began to dawn on him that there was another survival requirement he should have been looking for. Shelter.

There were no artificial lights in the woods, and he had no way of creating one himself. Once it was dark, it was truly dark. Especially as the foliage above him would block any kind of starlight or moonlight.

As Samael looked around however, there were no obvious caves he could use, or overhanging rocks he could camp beneath. There was just the wood of the trees, along with the greenery of bushes here and there, which somehow made do with most of the light being blocked by the canopy above them.

It was luckily not a time of the year where Samael would have to worry about the cold, ‘assuming this world has seasons.’ He mentally added. The sky had been blue for most of the day and so there hopefully was little risk of rain either. Samael therefore felt the only thing he needed right now was somewhere he could rest his head for the night, hopefully catching a bit of sleep and energy for tomorrow.

He had not drunk or eaten anything the entire day, and his brain was semi-occupied in ignoring his stomach’s aches of protest, as well as a faint headache that seemed to be coming on. It was just uncomfortable at the moment, but Samael was concerned it might start to be a real problem tomorrow if he didn’t find anything.

After looking for perhaps ten minutes, Samael thought he found a decent spot whilst traipsing though a dense thicket of trees and bushes. It was a nice patch of dirt, nestled between the roots of a particularly large tree, covered with ancient and knobbly bark. It even had some partial cover above him, as thick bushes surrounded and protruded over the patch of dirt, meaning he had to weave under and between the shrubs to even get to the spot. His clothes would get filthy, but considering there was not likely to be a hotel just around the corner, Samael was determined to make do.

*

The sun had fully set and the forest was now truly dark. There were occasional streaks of moonlight that found a gap above him to shine through; however these occasional streaks hardly illuminated anything. They even made the atmosphere a bit worse, as they made the dark areas seem much more deep and menacing in the unwanted comparison.

Samael couldn’t sleep. He was tired to be sure, as well as starving, dehydrated and generally uncomfortable. He was also frightened. The woods were scary at night, and the forest he was in now was particularly so. Once he had stopped stomping around with his clumsy and noisy feet, the forest had seemed to come alive.

There had been the odd bird call before, it hadn’t been ominously silent, but he was now hearing the rustling of creatures scurrying along the ground. The sound of branches creaking and moaning in the light breeze, which he before had ignored, stood out in his mind, as wind caught the leaves and blew them gently back and forth. There were distant calls of unknown animals and the menacing hoot of an owl rang out periodically.

Most disturbingly were the heavy footfalls Samael began to hear just after he put his head down to try and get some sleep. These were not the light hops of the rabbit he had seen earlier, or the careful tread of a person. Instead they sounded like the weighty stride of a four legged creature that did not care how much noise it made, like it did not have to worry about being something’s prey.

Samael had done nothing except try and lie very still, breathing as lightly and with as little sound as possible. The creature had still come closer, the footfalls getting louder, until the very bushes Samael was hidden behind began to shake, as something moved its branches back and forth. Huddled in fear, Samael preyed to anything that could hear him to not end up as that things dinner.

After several moments, the rustling of branches had ceased and the footfalls got quieter, the creature having moved away. His prayers were either answered, or he was never on the menu. It was a fretful night.

*

Samael awoke with a start to the sight of the morning sunlight beaming through the canopy above, confused at where he was, until the memories from the previous day caught up with him. Sitting up against the tree trunk, Samael stretched his aching back, hearing several pops as some of the damage from a night spent huddled on the ground was reversed.

He was still tired from a broken nights rest, as well as very hungry. His mouth felt dry and his mind a touch foggy as his body screamed at him that it needed water. Steadying himself and crawling out from under the bushes, Samael went to go find it, this time mindful that he was not alone.

*

A few hours later Samael heard roaring. It was not the sound a beast might make if in a foul mood and venting its rage. This was a constant roaring, a powerful sound of Mother Nature. Hoping against hope, a thoroughly dehydrated Samael increased his steps to reach the top of a gently sloping hill. The roaring sound increased, and through the trees he could see a cascade of white, as water tumbled over and around rocks, flinging itself into the air as it descended an impressive set of rapids.

Quickly descending on the other side of the hill, Samael made a quick cursory glance around as he walked, to make sure no predators stalked the water source. In no time at all he was at the bank of the treacherously fast flowing river, on his knees and cupping some of the refreshingly cool liquid in his hands. Samael was aware that he should probably decontaminate it somehow, but seeing as he had no way of doing so, and the fast flowing water was quite the opposite of some smelly stagnant pool, it was the best he would get and chugged it down.

Then he went back for more, then some more, and another, until his stomach felt uncomfortably full. Sitting back on the smooth damp rocks beside the river, Samael just rested for a moment, feeling content as he stared out at the churning water ahead of him. ‘I should definitely stay close to this thing.’ Samael decided, as long as he did, he could remove water from his list of problems.

‘I wonder if this is the same river that feeds the city?’ Samael thought. He hoped it was, then waded into a less turbulent section, dropped is trousers and took a huge dump. He then washed himself clean as he watched it float downstream.

Walking slightly upstream, Samael removed his clothes and started to rub the dirt out of the fabric, and the grime off his own body. He felt amazingly refreshed afterwards. As he sat on the river bank, waiting for his clothes to dry in the midday sun, Samael spotted something interesting about the river, or rather, some things within the river. At a particularly vicious point in the rapids, Samael repeatedly caught flashes of silver as fish flew out of the water to jump up the river.

Samael smiled as he realised he might be able to get more out of this river than just water. ‘How could I catch them though? I don’t have a rod or a net...’ Samael puzzled, before coming up with a potentially ingenious idea

*

Thirty minutes of searching later and Samael had found what he needed. In his hand he held a large branch about eight feet in length. At one end, the wood forked out, splitting into two separate branches about two feet in length. Picking up his shirt, Samael put its arms through the forked branches, tugging it to make sure it was secure. In his hands he now held a makeshift net! Eager to try it out, he stalked over to the riverbank nearest the jumping and hopefully tasty fish.

Samael stepped out onto some rocks by the rapids, causing the fish to stop jumping as they sensed his movement. Keeping very still and crouching comfortably on the rocks, Samael waited. It did not take long before the fish got used to his unmoving presence and started jumping again, net ready and waiting, it only took ten minutes before he was able to successfully scoop one out of the air and fling it back to dry land.

Cheering at his success, Samael hopped back across the rocks and strode over to his well-earned catch, just in time to see a dark shape dash out of the trees in front of him. Having nothing to hand except the branch he was holding, Samael thrust the bottom end forwards unthinkingly, feeling a meaty thud as it connected with the snout of a snarling hound like creature.

‘Inspect!’ Samael quickly thought, panicked but still maintaining himself, as he kept the branch pointed solidly at the creature

Wild Dog Lvl 4

‘Ok that’s not so bad’ Samael thought, as the dog snarled at him some more. Backing away slowly it quickly glanced back at the fish flapping on the river bank, before snapping back to glare at Samael.

“No, that’s mine!” Samael spoke out loud, not prepared to give up his meal. Especially as this was no friendly pooch down on its luck, nor something he could befriend. The body of the dog was roughly at knee height, with the head coming up to his thigh. It was fairly mangy and epitomized the word ‘wild’. Samael could see the creature’s ribcage and it looked to have seen better days.

“Go! Hragh!” Samael shouted, trying to scare it off. The creature was not so easily dissuaded and nipped at the butt of the branch being waved in its face, dodging Samael’s thrusts to keep it back.

The two remained at an impasse for several moments, before the wild dog managed to duck under the branch and clamp its jaw onto Samael’s calf. Swearing at the pain as he felt the teeth sink into his leg, Samael lifted up the branch and jabbed it as hard as he could into the beast’s neck for a solid hit.

The dog held on to his leg, snarling as it tried to yank Samael off his feet. Angry and in pain, Samael kept thrusting down at the dog, aiming for the creature’s neck which it couldn’t protect as long as its jaw was latched onto his calf. Even without much strength, he felt something squish in the creature at the same time the branch snapped.

Letting out a wheezed yelp, the dog unlatched its jaw from Samael and started to cough. Stumbling backwards, it tried to shake off the feeling of having its windpipe crushed from a lucky hit. Not knowing he had already won, Samael dropped his broken net and picked up a large and smooth rock from the ground beside him, before smashing it down on the stumbling beast’s head.

Congratulations!

You have killed [Wild Dog Lvl 4]

Essence Absorbed

Congratulations!

You have gained enough essence to level up your class [Necromancer Lvl 1]

Level Class? Yes/No

Congratulations!

You have gained enough essence to rank up your skill {Reanimate Dead} Rank 1

Rank Skill? Yes/No