"AHHHHHHH!"

Chuck awoke, screaming, hyperventilating, and waving his arms about like a mad man, to prevent an unseen attacker from getting at him. It was the trifecta of panic and it lasted a good twenty seconds. Eventually, he realized he was still in the stone grotto, the one he found himself in when he first awoke here in this strange place.

'It must have been a horrible nightmare,' he thought.

He double-checked himself just to make sure. His armor was intact and unblemished. His sleeves were still intact. No wounds on his arm, or even his leg. He could swear all of it was real. It sure felt real. 'Oh, his skills, he forgot to train them overnight.'

He closed his eyes and sunk into the meditation required to access his skills. That's when his face paled. On his training bar was the sneaking skill. His mind rejected this and his eyes flew open. He went through another round of hyperventilating before he calmed down enough to think the issue through.

All the skills he had trained the day before were still there. Minor heal was still in the active spot. How? Why? He started to panic again, managing to get it under control before it turned into another bout of hyperventilation. It didn't make sense. Logically he should be dead, or it should all have been a nightmare. What did that book say again? He tried to recall but wasn't in the right frame of mind to delve into his spotty memory.

Maybe he could find something in his interface. He took a calming breath and closed his eyes again, looking through his status. It took him more time than he would care to admit, to find what he was looking for. It was a small grey icon in the upper right corner, easy to miss. He concentrated on the icon.

Blessing of the Creator: Restores you to life at the last point you slept. This is a finite blessing, so use it sparingly.

Resets In: 31:55

As Chuck watched the minute timer ticket down to fifty-four.

He rolled over and started to cry and jibber like an idiot. It was a god that brought me here! Why though, certainly there were better, more capable people to lure out this evil entity. Would he have to fear this Creator smiting him because he failed his mission or took too long? Chuck froze. He was probably judging him already. His heart started to beat rapidly again as he moved towards another panic attack. With some deep breathing, he managed to calm himself enough to prevent that.

Chuck dried the tears from his face and stood up. He may not have chosen this as his destiny but someone much more powerful than he did. Crying and complaining about it wasn't doing him any good. The encounter in the woods, while horrific told him something important. Chuck now knew he was woefully unprepared for this world and its dangers. Especially if a rabbit was able to do him in. He needed to get stronger. First on his agenda was to kill that damn rabbit. Really, he wanted to see if the events of the clearing played out the same way. He would make sure to prepare better this time around.

He looked towards the forest. It was early morning again, the same time he had woken up the previous time. He quickly ate breakfast and packed up his gear. He also twisted his belt a little closer to the front. He wanted the sword to be easier to access with his off-hand if he needed it again. He wasn't about to make the same mistake with the rabbit as he did the first time. It was too fast for him to be on the ground. He needed height.

He remembered some tall trees near the clearing. They should be far enough back to keep him out of sight. Now he just needed to find that clearing before the rabbit and its prey arrived.

It took Chuck three hours to locate the clearing again. He hadn't realized how far he had meandered through the forest the previous time. He hid far outside the clearing as he scanned it for movement. He didn't hear or see anything. He wasn't sure the tree would be enough so he looked around for something else to help. He spotted some long vines.

Carefully he approached the tree, checking it for any wildlife. A few birds scattered at his approach but otherwise, it looked clear. He shimmied up the tree and chopped the vines down with his sword. He managed to find a few sticks lying about the ground and got to work building the item he pictured in his mind.

Chuck found a tree about thirty yards from the area of the clearing he remembered the rabbit to be at, or so he hoped. Now he just had to wait.

Two more hours went by as Chuck huddled in the tree. He tried to remain as still as possible but occasionally he had to stretch his limbs. His minor heal had finally finished. He closed his eyes to check his skills.

Light Armor2: 2 - 5

Bladed Weapons1: 2 - 5

Ice Arrow: 2 - 5: Currently Training 5/400SP to level 3

Multitasking: 1 - 5: Currently Training 520/4000SP to level 2

Minor heal: 1 - 1

Sneaking3: 1 - 5

He grimaced at the twenty and a half hours left to train multitasking to level two. Only leaving it in the main slot because it would be worth it. Chuck also didn't think ice arrow at level three would finish before the rabbit arrived, even if it was in the main slot. In the secondary slot, it would take almost five hours to complete. To prove his point he heard a squeal in the distance.

He opened his eyes to exit the interface, checking that he could easily reach his sword from either side. This wasn't the most comfortable position, straddling a tree branch. Chuck would move to stand on top of the branch when he was ready to engage the rabbit. Assuming what was coming, was the rabbit. So far events seemed to be on track to play out the same way as before. That was another reason he chose to hide in the tree.

Another scream was followed by a scared bleat as a small herbivore tore its way into the clearing. It was limping along, leaving a trail of blood in its wake from deep puncture wounds in its calf. It made it about a quarter of the way across the clearing when the rabbit appeared. The rabbit bolted towards the terrified creature just as fast as Chuck remembered it coming after him. The rabbit jumped, sinking its teeth into the animal's neck as it let out one last mournful cry. The rabbit shook its prize like a dog with a toy, eventually tearing out the chunk it had in its mouth.

The rabbit quickly chewed and swallowed the piece. Chuck was having second thoughts on eating rabbit. Perhaps it would be better to eat the animal the rabbit killed instead.

As quietly as he could he moved to stand on the branch. The trunk of the tree was wide enough around to give him a stable foundation. He checked the vine to see it was still ready to go and let out a breath. He concentrated on his spell, not bothering to aim it particularly well since he was well outside the range. It was only meant to draw the creature's attention. Yelling would work too, but he didn't want to alert any other possible monsters in the forest.

The spell form snapped into place in his mind and he released the frosty bolt of ice, watching it streak towards the target. Chuck didn't think he would ever get over how cool magic was.

The spell slammed into the ground roughly eight meters shy of the target if he guessed right. The rabbit still turned and howled in outrage at someone disturbing its meal. It didn't spot him at first so he cast another ice arrow at it. This time it did spot him and rushed towards his tree. Chuck reached out and got ready to pull the vine.

Chuck gave the vine a good tug when he thought the animal was close enough. The rabbit crashed into his makeshift spike trap as it rose from the ground. It let out a squeak of pain as it tripped and rolled. The trap had worked as intended, skewering the creature, but it wasn't enough to stop it. Already the beast was climbing to its feet. Chuck had prepared for this eventuality, loosing another ice arrow right at the creature.

The creature was busy trying to pull the spikes out of its fur and didn't react in time, as his spell speared straight through it. The rabbit let out a wail as it flung itself into the air, trying to tear at a non-existent threat. When it landed back on the ground it took one step before it fell over. Chuck could see red foam spilling from its mouth, along with blood pooling underneath it. He waited another ten minutes before he climbed out of the tree. Before getting closer he drew his sword, ready to stab the thing if it so much as twitched.

Chuck approached it from the back rear. He figured he would be less likely to be bitten this way if it was still alive. He kicked it and jumped back, pointing the sword at the animal. It didn't move. He stabbed it anyway for good measure, wiping the blade on the animal's fur. He put the blade away and wiped the nervous sweat from his hands. He checked his surroundings to make sure nothing was attracted by the sound.

As far as he could tell it was still clear. Then he realized a problem. Even if he skinned and cut the meat up he didn't have a way to store it. He would have to cook it here in the clearing if he wanted to preserve it. He didn't think that would go over well. The smell would probably attract every predator for miles.

Chuck decided to cut the good legs off the animal in the clearing. He would return to the hill where he woke up and smoke it there instead. It didn't take him long to cut the three good legs off and tie them to his backpack with some vine. He pretty much mutilated the ends of the meat with his repeated chops with the sword. This left the ends and hide a mangled mess, that was fine. He only wanted some of the meat anyway. After he finished he moved as fast as possible back towards the hill. He still had plenty of daylight left and it was much quicker, this being his third trip on this path. He entered the clearing and started up the small hill. He was halfway up before he stopped. Something was off, it took him a minute to figure out what it was. The noises of the forest were still present.

He slowly continued up the hill, he was nearly at the rise when the sounds finally ended. He didn't care for the implications that might mean. He quickly set up a campfire with the wood he scavenged at the forest edge. He worked at slicing the meat into thin strips, placing it on the side away from the wind so it would catch the smoke. Then he moved to the edge of the quiet zone to wait.

It took less than an hour for the sounds to start creeping towards him again. He also noted the occasional movement in the forest downwind of his fire. Now, he was getting nervous. He ran to check the meat and flip it, making sure to keep an eye on the edge of the woods.

Something big poked its head out twenty minutes later and started sniffing around. It gave out a low growl but wouldn't step into the clearing. At least it wouldn't yet. Chuck did not doubt that whatever it was would enter the clearing. Most likely as soon as whatever power protected the place faded away. It was time to go. He packed up the meat as quickly as he could and headed down the opposite side of the hill, towards the west. He needed to find a safe place to spend the night.

Once Chuck cleared the hill he bolted towards the forest. He noticed the magic had already faded past the crest of the hill. He suspected it wouldn't last the hour. He wanted to be long-gone before the creature or creatures, inspected the bits of meat he left. Unfortunately, he could only move so fast on this side of the forest. It seemed to be slightly thicker in vegetation than the opposite side. He also didn't have the path to follow. He would have preferred to loop around the area and join back on his original path. With the wind blowing that direction he decided it wouldn't be safe enough until morning. So he continued his path west.