Kaine’s eyes lay wide and steady, as he stared into the beast’s maddened gaze.

Male Goldebeest [Level 2]

As it huffed and waved its long sharp horns at him, standing beside its fallen mate which whined in pain.

Kaine clicked his tongue in annoyance, he was down to his last javelin from all the hunting they had done today. And instead of targeting the large bear that was on the way, or Rey nearby who was completely out of javelins and wielding her short-sword…The beast eyed only him.

As its hooves suddenly stomped forth, the beast rushed at him, horns held low and pointed. Galloping with tremendous power towards him.

Immediately Kaine released his weapon, watching briefly as it sailed by the beast’s head, missing entirely.

Using the same momentum, Kaine rolled forward and sideways too, evading the charge as the beast galloped past him.

Slowed down.

Turned around, and as he stood back up, charged at him once more.

Kaine was about to unsheathe his sword as he stood up, but seeing the beast continue its relentless assault, he chose to evade instead.

Being given no time to pull his weapon out, as the monster’s large white frame charged past his previous position. Grass being pushed and squashed aside as its powerful feet raised a trail of dirt wherever it passed.

It bellowed out loudly, angered and frustrated as it turned to face the slippery Elf. Stomping its hoof up and down several times, as it tried to intimidate him.

But Kaine was far from intimidated, as he finally found time to pull his weapon out. He did not move, even as Slayn and Jedd arrived to stand next to him, Kaine held his ground.

Continuing to meet the Goldebeest’s enraged eyes.

“Outta the way, we got this bastard.” Jedd said, as Slayn roared out ferociously at the smaller monster.

“No, you’re a big target and easy to hit, unless you want to lose your bear then step off. This one’s mine.” Kaine spoke harshly, surprising both Rey and Jedd. Jedd who then turned to chastise his words, she then saw his hardened gaze.

Seeing those cold calm eyes.

She and her tame moved to stand a few feet behind him.

Leaving nothing between Kaine and the maddened male, as when it saw the grizzly back away, immediately charged forth.

Kaine finally moved as it did, quickly taking a stance, he came to stand with his left side facing the beast while raising his hands up, blade held steady and at a 180 degrees angle towards it.

He took a quick, deep breath.

Forty feet away now.

As it approached, as it galloped.

As he both heard and felt the ground shake with its every step, and with every shudder of the dirt it came closer.

Thirty feet away now.

As with every quake of the earth, its pointed horns came closer.

As it huffed and frothed at the mouth with anger.

Then, as it came within twenty feet of him Kaine released that held breath.

And with that release of breath, he suddenly moved. Swiftly, like the wind which his blade cut, Kaine flowed down and forwards.

Ten feet now, as Kaine anticipated its movements, as the beast easily rushed through those ten feet within mere moments.

Mere moments through which Kaine flowed out of its path, the beast passing beside him…As his blade swung low, the sound of slicing flesh and bone reverberating throughout their surroundings as the Goldebeest collapsed and tumbled forward.

Kaine continuing his swift motion came to stand facing the fallen beast, still holding his blade in the same manner, yet now it lay wet with dark, almost black blood.

As between him and the struggling beast lay its severed right leg, cleanly sliced off below the knee.

The Goldebeest whined and huffed in both agony and anger, as still it rose back to its three remaining legs, its fourth now dangling shorter than the rest and leaking a stream of blood beneath it.

It wailed out at him, struggling to approach Kaine whilst waving its horns about.

Kaine stared at it coldly, with blood splattered across his face and chest, a thin calm smile too. Giving Rey and Jedd who watched, instead of the simple, quiet and socially awkward guy they had seen at first, it gave them the impression of a hardened killer.

As he stared, eyes wide and empty.

As he remained steady, almost frozen in preparation.

As the beast now loomed before him, rising onto its hind legs and bellowing out with both fear and hatred.

Yet still, Kaine did not move…

Even as the Goldebeest’s one hoof descended towards him…

Kaine…

Did not move.

As his hands began to shake.

As his eyes unfocused.

“Jor!” Rey then shouted out, snapping him out of his daze.

Kaine then refocused just in time to move under the beast’s hoof, as the Goldbeest suddenly impaled itself on his raised blade. Yet, falling upon him even as it wailed its final breaths before death.

The beast’s weight pushing Kaine down to the ground as it collapsed onto him, his world going from white with streaks of gold, then immediately to pitch black.

“Shit, Jor!” The last words he heard through the mountain of fur.

As he blacked out.

-

-

Feeling the rush of warm water across his face, Kaine woke with a start, rising up to find himself staring with wide eyes at the slowly flowing river ahead. As Roy and Jedd held him above the water, his face and chest drenched as they had just dropped his head within.

Level up!

Martial Level 2 reached!

+1 to all Martial stats.

3 Neutral Martial Points available for distribution!

Titles unlocked! {The Reckless} Title unlocked!

+25% Agility

+25% Dexterity

-5% Physical damage resistance

“Wha-Pfft!-What the fuck?” He managed whilst spitting out water, then coughing the rest out of his lungs.

“Hah, it’s alive!” Jedd exclaimed with relief as they set him on the ground.

“Gave us a fright there newbie, that thing really crushed you.” Roy chuckled.

{ [Life]: 4/12 }

“H-How long was I out?” Kaine asked through scattered breaths.

“Two hours?” Farvo mused, “You were still breathing and shit at two hit points, Jedd got tired of waiting when she saw your health regenerate so…” The dwarf gestured at the water.

“Ah…thanks?” Kaine chuckled too as he weakly rose back to his feet, seeing the relief wash over all their faces, all but Rey who stared at him with cold and annoyed eyes.

“That was idiotic,” Rey then said with a harsh tone as she glared at him, each awkwardly turning to her. “The fuck’s the point of trying to show off if that’s how you’re going to end up? Think before you do something stupid again like that, idio-” She said, as Jedd stalked to stand behind her.

Jedd’s hand crashing down onto Rey’s head and cutting her off, “Let it go, he’s fine now. Not your job anyway.” She said, then walking over to Kaine, suddenly and calmly slapping her hand across his face.

{ [Life]: 3/12 }

Kaine felt every bit of it, his left cheek now burning slightly with pain, as he turned to meet Jedd’s hardened glare.

“This ain’t just a game anymore, and none of us can handle it all on our own, so share some of the weight okay?” Jedd said, as her wide grin returned.

Kaine glanced between them all, Lara looking flustered and worried, Farvo chuckling in amusement, and Roy looking calm but also slightly amused. Looking over Jedd who was the epitome of motherly within this ragtag group, his eyes then befell Rey who glanced away in annoyance.

“Yeah…Sorry.” Kaine apologized, rubbing his reddened cheek as his body relaxed from the sudden awakening.

“Alright, the sun’s goin down and we’ve still got shit to get ready.” Jedd then exclaimed as she turned to the rest, “No way we’re hunting any more today, so let’s get this camp going as quickly as possible. Rey you help Farvo with the woodwork for the tent, Jor you’re helping me with cleaning up our kills and Roy, help Lara with the tent’s cover. Any questions?”

None had any.

“Alright, good, get to work then!” Jedd exclaimed, then dragging Kaine as she grabbed a basket of plantfibre on the way, “Guess you’re with me, lucky you.” Jedd mused, “And by that, I mean that I hope you don’t get queasy easily.”

Kaine now followed her, as she stopped dragging him along by the shoulder, he followed her to the pile of dead Goldebeests Slayn had dragged to camp, the large Grizzly also lying next to them. Less so guarding them and more so digging in on one while two others lay ruined and torn apart next to it.

Fresh…wasn’t the word to use anymore, as the smell hit Kaine the moment they began approaching the bear. Seeing flies and other bugs storming around the two ruined corpses the bear had already finished off. “What are we doing exactly?” Kaine asked as he tried to cover his nose from the powerful smell of blood and spoiling meat.

“Basically? Cleaning up these bodies from parts we could use before feeding them to the big guy.” Jedd explained, “I’ve has already skinned a few of them, got some of the longer and sturdier bones out for Farvo. We’re still trying to figure out a way to hack off the male’s horns without ruining them too…Right now? Just slice off as much meat as you can so we can dry cook it and make some jerky for the journey ahead.”

Taking out her sword, Jedd then kneeled next to one of the bodies, stabbing the sword through the tough hide and beginning to cut its side open.

“Alright…” Kaine said as he, briefly, watched Jedd calmly and expertly carve off some of the beast’s flesh. Then moving over to another Goldebeest corpse, he too kneeled down and made himself comfortable with sword in hand. “Any…advice for this?” He asked, still shaken and confused from earlier.

“If it’s any colour other than red or white, throw it aside. Red is meat, white is fat. Try not to get your sword stuck in bone, and as advice from experience, leave the gut for last…” Jedd said with a weak chuckle.

Kaine nodded, and after glancing the large beast’s body over for a few seconds, plunged his sword twohanded into the side. Feeling the tough hide resisting the blade before it pierced through, going just barely a few centimeters in before stopping. Kaine struggled with the hide as he tore the beast open, grunting as he sliced.

Pulling and pushing against the hide and flesh, Kaine broke a mild sweat over just a few minutes of cutting. Finding it fairly difficult to do so with a sword, although not the longest he’s ever wielded, it was still all too long for this kind of work.

Then suddenly remembering something as he glanced at his UI.

[2] Jor Mungandr - [M]Level:2 - [A]Level:0 - [C]Level:0

{ [Life]: 5/12 }

{ [Breath]: 93/110 }

{ [Arcana]: 0/0 }

I levelled up…

Kaine remembered, opening his character page to see what he had gained.

{Jor Mungandr} {Character}

Race: Elf

Total Level: 2

Martial Level: 2

Arcana Level: 0

Crafting Level: 0

Main Faction: None

Reputation: 0

Guild: None

Title: None

{Equipment}

[Lesser Copper Sword]

[Elven Civilian Shirt]

[Bandage Gloves]

[Vine Belt]

[Elven Civilian Pants]

[Bandage Socks]

{Arts} [Martial Arts]; 2 [Arcane Arts]; 0 [Crafting Arts]; 0

{3} Neutral Points

-Strength / 2+

-Agility / 2+

-Dexterity / 2+

-Vitality / 2+

-Perception / 2+

-Intelligence / 0-

-Spirit / 0-

-Expertise / 0-

-Sense / 0-

-Aura / 0-

-Brightsmithing / 0-

-Enchanting / 0-

-Handicraft / 0-

-Leatherworking / 0-

-Blacksmithing / 0-

-Tinkering / 0-

-Alchemy / 0-

-Ritualcraft / 0-

-Herbalism / 0-

-Gathering / 0-

-Mining / 0-

-Woodchopping / 0-

-Hunting / 0-

-Cooking / 0-

-Minstrelcraft / 0-

-Sigilcraft / 0-

My stats all gained 1 point as suspected, and I have 3 points to allocate…What to do…

He pondered as he worked, carving off a long slice of flesh before carrying it over to the basket.

Right now? At this low level? Health points are going to be indispensable, and I can change that later on…Damage and mobility will also be fairly important…So I guess that will be my build for now.

Kaine set a single point each into Strength, Agility and Vitality. Visibly increasing his [Life] points from 12 to 14, but having nothing more detailed visible to see what the other two actually did. Kaine knew that previously the game had nothing to show such detail, but then after thinking over it for a few moments, a thought came to him.

Kaine used [Inspect] on his sword.

[Lesser Copper Sword]

Make: Lesser

Material: Copper, Wood, Leather, Glue

Durability: 97%

Sharpness: 84%

He sighed.

No visible stats that tell me anything…I guess it would give most people a headache to see the damage calculations behind differing attacks on differing surfaces and targets…

“Tired already?” Jedd asked as she looked up from her bloody handiwork after hearing his sigh.

“Huh? Oh, no not really, just looking at my character page since I levelled up.” Kaine explained, closing his windows and going back to work.

“Ah, yeah you did single-handedly kill that last one. Me and Rey are still at seventy percent of our exp bar.” Jedd said, sighing herself. “This game really isn’t newbie friendly is it? Ten experience per kill? Like really?”

Kaine chuckled, “The tutorial kill maybe, but as a party we gain decreased experience per kill per player. Killing that male alone gave me about 30 experience points, which levelled me up.”

Jedd paused as he said that, “Wait so…the experience is…”

“Distributed evenly among the in-combat party members, yes.” Kaine explained, “So out of 30, we three each gained 10. Also, I’m guessing Slayn isn’t an adult of his kind.”

“Wh-Why’s that?” Jedd asked as she sliced through a large portion of the Goldebeest’s back.

“10 experience from a level 2 while lower level than it? Doesn’t add up since it was a solo kill.” Kaine mused, currently fighting with his sword to cut around muscle and bone. “Even though they are of that level, in this game the younger the creature is beneath Adult the less experience it gives. My guess is that our [Inspect] is too low level to give us that much information.”

“Huh, makes sense…but…why? What’s the point of even adding that?” Jedd asked seemingly in confusion at the extra detail.

“Wouldn’t want to give the same experience from killing a baby wyvern compared to an adult, no?” Kaine reasoned, “People would also question why killing an adult Grizzly would give the same experience as killing a baby Wyvern. Although a fully adult wyvern would be higher level anyway, there is a difference between strength and experience. That is how the devs reason it, counting for the monster’s raw strength and also actual combat experience it would have.”

“You sure know a lot about the game,” Jedd mused, “And, you know how to fight pretty damn well.” She said, Kaine anticipating the question before it even exited her lips. As both of them paused their work, neither meeting each other’s eyes.

As Jedd asked, “Back there…Why’d you freeze?”, turning to now stare straight at him.

Kaine, considered lying, for the briefest moment he considered avoiding this conversation entirely.

But, he knew it had to come out at some point, he knew he couldn’t hide it forever.

Not in this situation.

He thought with a long sigh. Glancing about as the rest, who weren’t all that far, also paused to listen.

Again, Kaine sighed as he leaned away from the corpse and sat down. Eyes narrowed, he stared at the blood wet flesh. “Its screams…Its struggling…Its eyes, the eyes of a cornered animal. Too real, they seemed just so damn real…I-I saw those kinds of eyes before.” He recounted with a heavy heart and a soft tone.

His words lingering as silence followed.

Kaine continuing to talk moments after, “You can say that I’ve seen some shit in the past.” Chuckling weakly then glancing about at each of them.

Each laying silent, as several quiet awkward moments passed by. Something akin to a cricket, along with the wind whispering through the grass, the only sounds reaching their ears.

Ugh, I’m an asshole aren’t I?

Rey thought through the silence, her shoulders slumping down in resignation as she stared longingly at the ground.

“Sorry for asking, and thank you for sharing.” Jedd then said, breaking the ice, “We’re in a tense situation, so it’s good to know these things.” She glanced about the still-forming camp as Farvo had only started on setting the tent’s wooden support. “We’ve…been together for a very long time, I’m sure you’ve noticed how close we all are. So it’s a bit difficult for us to…fully trust, someone that just appeared out of nowhere.”

Kaine shook his head, “No it’s fine, you’ve all been very…welcoming.” He said with a mild smile, “Honestly, I’m not very good with people, not since…a long time ago. I’ve been playing solo for just as long too, so I apologise if I seem…distant.”

“Distant? Boy you barely say shit unless spoken to! I’d say distant is just the tip of that dense ass iceberg that is you!” Farvo exclaimed, each of them bursting into a laugh because of him.

Then each of them freezing, as a distant howling broke through their amusement and returning the tension anew.

It was distant enough that none of them thought too much of it, but the fear and chill it brought with remained ever-present in the back of their minds for the rest of the night.

As they continued to work, making small talk with one another while they did.

And slowly, over several arduous hours.

Made of wide leaves and plant fibre whilst held up by shaped branches, two tents rose on either side of a small dug-in fire pit. The flames slowly cooking away at thin straps of meat wrapped in strange bundles of tiny leaves, each held a few centimetres over the flame with a construct of thin but sturdy branches.

The camp now ready, the food cooking and drying over a slowly dying flame, the party dividing into the two tents. Males and females to their own, with Slayn sleeping in front of the girl’s tent entrance. A large Goldebeest skull inbetween the grizzly’s jaws, devoid of flesh, Slayn chewed at the fresh bone.

Although falling asleep, still it slowly crushed the skull beneath its powerful bite.

Kaine took a weary breath as he lay over a mass of leaves, staring up at the tent’s grassy ceiling. Whilst to his left Roy shuffled about trying to make himself comfortable, and to his right Farvo already lay snoring the night away.

Today’s been a long…very long day…

Kaine mused, as his eyes quickly lost the strength to remain awake. Two hours of blacked-out rest seemingly not enough after the tiresome day behind him.

I’m stuck in a game…A game, that we once loved. A world that once was…ours. I wonder, can you see me now? Wherever you are…Is this my punishment? Is this…retribution? For what I…couldn’t…do?

His thoughts even, slowing, as the weariness festered.

Kaine allowed his eyes some rest, and fell asleep…

His dreams, as usual, full of that one face.

That one smile he could not forget.

That voice, he forced himself to remember.

Her words having carved themselves into his memory.

Live, little serpent. Live, for me.

They echoed out from the depths of his mind.

Live for us, and devour this hateful world.

And suddenly, as usual, Kaine’s eyes opened wide.

But not as usual…he did not find a ceiling above him.

While, the tent was still there.

Something stood over him...

Growling…

Hunter Gnoll [Level 3]

Salivating...