I ignored the prompt, opting to sprint through the streets instead. My fear forgotten, a strange and foreign bloodlust took hold within my body, pumping adrenaline through my veins like a broken dam.

A large wolf made the mistake of getting in my way. A red tint overcame reality, and I acted entirely on instinct.

It looked at me, then bared its haunches and fell into a crouch. I paid no heed to its threat and continued the charge.

As I closed in on the wolf, I hefted the spear onto my shoulder, slowed down a little to take aim, then threw it like a javelin. The monster sprang out of the weapon’s path. I took it in stride, unhooking my axe and shield and continuing to charge.

Noticing that its scare tactic wasn’t working, the wolf turned around and began to sprint in the other direction, but it was too late. I lunged forward, swinging my axe deep into its leg. It tried to bite me but missed, then continued to run with a slight limp.

I chased after it for a few seconds but it proved to be futile. There was no way I was going to be able to catch up with it.

It escaped, vanishing into the night. I growled in frustration, picked up the spear, and put away the axe and shield. Once more I ran through the streets, eyes trained on any movement. A small darting motion in one of the alleys caught my attention. I turned into it and jabbed with my spear. An ugly, green mouth opened, but no sound came out. My fury only grew as a mottled green body slumped to the ground.

Behind him, I heard another scream as another monster ran at me, waving a wooden sword. I chuckled, then braced my spear against the ground. The goblin, lost in his own bloodlust, ran straight into the spear, impaling himself. This one kept on fighting, even while stuck on my weapon.

He ran out of steam quickly. Slowly, his punches grew weaker and weaker. Eventually, he remained still. I shook him off my spear, then ran ahead to where I presumed to be more goblins.

Through the alley, it opened up into a city center. Various monsters were inhabiting the area, the majority of which were goblins. I charged in headfirst, screaming wildly. They initially flinched back in surprise, but quickly lunged forward, intent on tasting my flesh.

I wove between their strikes, closing the distance between my weapon and their vulnerable bodies. Time seemed to slow as they struck at me, giving me time to anticipate their strikes and to adjust accordingly. Every step I took, every jab I thrust, all wove together to form a series of movements that didn’t allow for any of their short weapons to strike me but allowed me ample opportunity to extinguish their lives.

My form wasn’t perfect. Sometimes, I didn’t land a killing blow. Often, I got a scratch here and there. One goblin even managed to score a deep gash in my stomach.

Slowly, their numbers began to dwindle. I couldn’t remember when, but the attacks gradually lessened. At the same time, I was getting weaker and my bloodlust was sated. The last band of goblins threw themselves at me, and one of them scored a solid cut into my abdomen, right over the previous one.

I stumbled for a second, and that was all they needed. Another tear in my arm. Blood seeped from the thousand lacerations on my body, mixing with the black ichor of their corpses, marring the earth a deep burgundy.

I feebly raised my spear to their manic grins, trying to at least ward them off. Suddenly, one of their heads was replaced with the cold steel of a sword.

“Back! Filthy monsters, get away! Shoo!” A voice shouted.

The goblins ignored her and continued to tear into me. I could feel myself faint, the blood loss too much for my body to bear. The world started to swim, dark spots dancing around my periphery. Then, complete blackness.

When I came to, I was lying in a soft bed. I could still smell a trace of that metallic scent, but it was more muted than when I had passed out. Looking around, I noticed I was in an unfamiliar room. I moved to stand up, but my body decided that was not the correct move. A sharp groan forced itself out of my lips, reverberating around the empty room. I lay back into the bed, resolving to wait for my benefactor before trying to do anything.

The lights were out and only a candle remained to stop the darkness from being complete. A small wisp of smoke curled from the wick, evaporating into the darkness above.

The door opened swiftly and an old woman walked in. My bleary eyes couldn’t make out a face, but as soon as I heard her speak I knew exactly who she was.

“So much for a long-term customer,” the voice jabbed.

The blacksmith I had seen for the fourth time now stood above me clutching a damp towel. She dabbed my forehead with it, wiping away the sweat from my brow.

“How’re you holding up?” she asked.

I tried to get words out, but all I produced was incoherent noise. I gave up and instead shook my head.

“Alright then, get some sleep.”

I nodded and lay back down on the comfortable sheets. Once I heard the door close, I began thinking. ‘Why… would she help me? I know she was acting a little bit strange this loop, but this is too much.’

I faded out of consciousness once more. This time when I woke up, I couldn’t feel the sting of the cuts anymore. Lifting my hands out of the covers, I marveled at the unbroken skin that greeted my eyes.

I picked myself up and out of bed, amazed that I was even alive, much less not feeling any pain. I was still wearing the same clothes I wore during the fight, meaning they were nearly entirely shredded. Luckily, it still covered the more important bits.

I waited a couple of minutes, checking over myself to make sure I was truly not injured anymore. I wasn’t dressed even passably, but I didn’t really have another option for clothes at the moment.

I knocked on the door. A couple of seconds passed with no response, so I turned the doorknob and walked out of the bedroom.

The lights were still out completely, but candles were in roughly every room to compensate. I quickly went back into the room I just left and grabbed the candle holder to provide a closer source of light. When I came back out, candle in hand, I found myself in a conservatively decorated modern house. The majority of what I saw on the walls were pictures, a mixture of small children holding various weapons, looking excited, and various family photos. The blacksmith lady was in some of them, typically appearing behind the kids or sitting on a chair with one of them in her lap. There were a couple of much older pictures as well, showing a family of four; Mother, Father, and a sister along with a brother. ‘They all look so happy…’

I began to feel as if I was intruding into something personal when I saw the picture. It was another family picture, but it had five people in it. The same family as before, albeit a little younger, but there was also a second boy that wasn’t in the previous photo. I couldn't quite make out his features from the poor lighting, but he appeared to be the eldest

I made it down the stairs into the foyer, and then I heard the banging. It came from where I would assume the garage or basement would be, so I followed the noise. It led down a flight of steps into a sweltering room, instantly covering me in sweat. The loud ringing came from metal striking metal as the woman, now masked in a welder’s helmet, was striking a piece of metal with a hammer.

Even though I wished to speak with her, the heat drove me from the room so I left her to her work and went over to the staircase. As I went back up the stairs, I stumbled a little, reminding myself that I probably still needed to rest after that previous excursion.

Once I sat down, there was one last thing I had to do.

‘Status’

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