I headed outside the cave, quickly looking around and making sure there was no danger in sight. I didn't want to get distracted by something and have a demon sneak up on me.

The clearing was just as I remembered it, though.

Tons of crushed Cirilka, blistering heat, boulders lying around, and the dead sword-demon I had fought.

But even though the surroundings were quiet, that didn't mean they were safe. No matter what, I had to remember to be diligent and careful while out there. I had no idea what would next come out from behind a rock; maybe it would be a level 1 Keilatrix, maybe it would be a demon lord.

I started making my way to the edge of the flat area, past the piles of dead Cirilka.

The nice part about setting up a base in that clearing was how easy it was to find. The blue light emitted from the cave was the perfect beacon, meaning I didn't need to worry about getting lost while exploring.

That said, if it's so easy for me to see, won't the demons have an effortless time finding it as well?

Yeah, that's most likely going to be a problem. I might have to move soon.

Right now, though, I want to go kill some things. I'll look for new base locations while hunting for demons.

Click

Just before taking a step out of the clearing, I heard a noise behind me.

A single crack, something sharp on rock, and then a high screech.

Something hurtled through the air behind me.

Instinctively, I hit the ground flat.

A black blur flew above my head, and a massive tarantula crashed onto a boulder in front of me.

The Tiletik had stopped its momentum completely, staring down at me with its gleaming ruby eyes.

Something tingled on the back of my neck, and I turned my head to see two more of the spiders sitting on the other side of the clearing.

Are you kidding me? A three-on-one?

I growled and backed towards the cave entrance. I needed to get in there and use it as a chokehold; that way, they wouldn't be able to surround me.

But moving too quickly would agitate them. I had to be careful.

No sudden moves.

I carefully inched away from the spiders, and my eyes flicked to the corner of my vision, to my list of active skills.

What could work here...

Time Dilation won't make me move faster, my magic isn't useful at all in combat, I can't rely on my Reflexes while fighting three of them.

The spiders began to slowly crawl closer, and I could see their legs start to tense.

My eyes widened as I noticed the perfect skill. It would increase my Agility by a lot, and use a single SP once every few seconds.

"Sprint!"

Instantly, I felt like I had just drunk six mugs of coffee. I felt a pulse in my chest, and a faint yellow glow emanated from my skin.

At the sound of my words, the Tiletik's sprang into motion, all three leaping towards me.

They were still incredibly quick, but now, I was faster.

I sprang backward like an elastic, easily avoiding the three spiders.

Starting to laugh at my newfound power, I quickly noticed where I had landed.

I was aiming for the edge of the cave so I would easily be able to use it as a chokehold against the spiders, but I leaped too far.

After the jump, I found myself directly above the center of the cave.

Then I started falling.

I rolled all the way down the slope, sharp rocks scratching me all over, and slammed into the ground face-first, clouds of dust flying everywhere.

Not the best landing.

But hey, it worked!

I stood, spitting dirt out of my mouth, and looked upwards to the opening.

My eyes widened in shock.

The three Tiletik's were already jumping down towards me.

Shitty spiders! Just give me a second to catch my breath, will you!

My sword flashed out, and blood splattered outwards from the first Tiletik.

Then the other two landed on me.

The two demons each weighed something like ten pounds, and they both crashed into me from twenty feet in the air. I was sent staggering.

They started biting me.

The bite of a single Tiletik already hurt like multiple bee stings compressed into one spot, and now there were two of them crawling all over me.

I'll simplify things for you: It really fucking hurt.

"Ahh! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Get off me! GET OFF ME!"

I hit the ground and started rolling, lashing out blindly with my sword and screaming my head off.

I felt the Cirilka blade cut into something, and the weights on my body dropped off, the pain stopping.

Unsteady, I managed to stand.

The three spiders were scattered around the cave, cautiously staring at me.

My HP was on 6/17, my SP 9/14.

I deactivated Sprint, and my Stamina stopped decreasing.

My position was looking good. I had all three of the spiders in view, and the cave was too thin for them to flank me. They would have to jump straight at me from their current positions, and I could easily counter them.

Well, I would be able to easily counter if I could react fast enough. These spiders had already proven to be incredibly fast. But that would be fine, since I had a plan.

Standing at the ready, I muttered under my breath.

"Blood Rush"

The world around me sharpened, as if I had turned on some kind of filter to increase the clarity. I could acutely sense every pinprick of feeling on my skin and clearly smell brimstone in the air.

I could see every strand of hair bristling from the back of each Tiletik. The ruby gleam of their eyes.

My pupils dilated, my muscles tensed, my legs bent. I knew what was coming, and I was ready.

The first Tiletik leaped forward.

My sword slashed upwards from my side, cleaving off three of the spider's legs.

As the black blood flew through the air, new strength flowed into my body.

The two other Tiletiks jumped forward simultaneously, and I spun on my heel to face them head-on.

Double Hit

Before either demon could reach me, my sword sliced through the air at impossible speeds, cutting into both of them.

They were dead before they hit the ground, and I felt even more power flood into me.

I heard movement at my back and twisted in time to see the last Tiletik dashing forwards.

Since I had already injured it badly, it wasn't nearly fast enough.

In fact, it looked pitifully slow.

Twisting the sword in my hand, I stabbed downwards in a flash of movement, piercing through the spider and into the rocky ground.

I stood; my hard breaths the only sound in the cave.

You Have Slain: Tiletik Spiderling, Level 2

You Have Slain: Tiletik Spiderling, Level 2

You Have Slain: Tiletik Spiderling, Level 3

Jumping: Level 2 Acquired

Reflexes: Level 3 Acquired

+52 XP

I deactivated Blood Rush, and the world around me dulled.

Checking my status, I saw I only had 4 SP left. It seems like all those skills had drained my Stamina quickly.

I looked around the small cave.

All of the dead demons in there were really starting to take up space.

....

Making my way out of the clearing, I decided to head downhill. I really didn't want to go up, near that Abitsimus colony, and this was the direction those three Tiletik's had come from. Even if I absolutely hate those little bastards, they're great for getting XP, and some of the weakest demons I've encountered yet.

Hopefully, they wouldn't have some sort of mega-nest where hundreds of them live together.

Oh god, I just raised a flag, didn't I? Now I'm totally gonna get killed by a hundred giant tarantulas.

Nah, I doubt that'll happen, I've never heard of tarantula's grouping up in large numbers. Although, I actually have heard of things called social spiders, who live together in colonies. But tarantula's are different, right?

I tried to remember everything I could about spiders and tarantulas.

Uhhh, don't female tarantulas eat the males during reproduction? I remembered that because of how gross it is.

Anything else?

Nope! I never paid attention during Biology! I have no clue!

Okay, but if females eat males, they're most likely not social enough to form large groups. I probably don't have to worry about fighting hundreds of Tiletik's.

Probably.

And if I do come across a large group, I can just activate Sprint and run like crazy. Problem solved.

....

While walking, I passed a multitude of dead demons.

They obviously hadn't died of natural causes. They were ripped to pieces, burnt to a crisp, sliced up viciously, all of the corpses were disgustingly mutilated.

The carcasses were all at least partially eaten, adding to the gore.

Each one was different, and I was honestly amazed at the variety of demons around. They were all sizes, all colors, all sorts of shapes, and with many unique body parts.

In particular, one looked like an eight-foot-tall fleshy humanoid, but with an exoskeleton of yellow bones used like an armor. Although, it didn't seem like the armor was very useful, since the demon had been ripped in half.

While taking a closer look at the huge armor-demon, I noticed a small black blur trying to rush towards me.

Oh hey! Another Tiletik!

Aw, he's so cute when he's alone!

I brandished my sword and stepped closer to the spider.

You Have Slain: Tiletik Spiderling, Level 1

+6 XP

After walking in the heat for another five minutes, I was starting to feel a little parched.

I cupped my hands out in front of me and formed a tiny orb of water, just small enough to not spill.

I quickly drank all of it and sighed contentedly.

Magic is so darn convenient, man. Even though I only know a single spell. Yes, I only know one spell.

I'm not counting the stupid one that makes snow. That's not a spell, that's a party trick.

I sat down behind a large boulder and grabbed a small piece of Cirilka I had kept in my pocket. Although it literally tasted like spicy flour and had the consistency of pure fat, it was still food, and I was hungry.

After the snack, I got up and kept walking.

It was getting hard to see the blue beacon from my location, so I turned and walked in a different direction. I decided to just keep wandering around in sight of my base, until I killed a few more spiders.

If I saw anything over level 5 or 6, I would use Sprint and run back home. I did not want to risk my life in a pointless battle. Even if the thrill of a good fight was nice, it wasn't worth it.

Now that I had a decent supply of food and a renewable water source, my chances of surviving this whole fucked-up situation had increased immensely. Of course, I still had to figure out how to actually leave, but at least I wouldn't starve to death.

While thinking to myself, I came across a small incline.

Climbing over the rise, I passed a horribly burnt boulder and came into a clearing.

There wasn't much dust on the ground, only bare rock.

On that stone ground was a large cluster of dead Spiderlings.

I counted nine Tiletiks in total, each one sliced perfectly in half. Every single one of them was cut into two even pieces, by some sort of clean blade.

I wasn't surprised by the fact they were dead. These guys were super weak, and other demons around here could quickly kill them.

I was simply shocked at how they had died.

Each carcass was clean, cut into two parts, and left behind. It was like the victor of this battle hadn't wanted anything to do with the corpses.

Previously, while I was wandering, I had encountered many other dead demons. All of those had been either entirely or at least partially eaten and mutilated. Those demons had been ripped apart and consumed.

But these Tiletik's were left behind. They were cleanly killed, all in the exact same way, and forgotten.

To be honest, it looked exactly the same as when I killed a demon.

It was like something intelligent had been fighting these things.

I wasn't sure if I was terrified or elated at the realization.

Something else was nearby—something smart, something that killed in the same way I did.

No, not something.

Somebody.

Another person was in this place with me.

....

Whoa, no, we shouldn't get our hopes up. For all I know, maybe there's some sort of intelligent demon that can use a sword. Or magic. I could see the aftermath of a magic-fight looking like this, with perfectly even and clean wounds.

And that would fit my luck, too. An intelligent demon capable of using attack-magic.

Damn, I can totally see that.

A demon like that would probably be the resident boss of this area.

Maybe even a demon lord?

No, probably not. If average mobs I can fight around here are level 15, like that Imp I ran across, a demon lord would probably be around 75 to 100. Maybe even higher, if this is one of those super long JRPG's.

Oh god, I hope the max level isn't 1000 or something crazy. That would actually take forever to achieve.

Wait, I shouldn't get distracted, I'm in the middle of something.

I took one last look around at the scattered Tiletik's and kept moving, thinking about what I had seen.

If whatever killed those spiders was a human, I would finally have something to rely on. An ally.

But if it was a demon...

I suppose I'd have to say hello the only way I can.