Once again, I settled down for a sleepless night surrounded by monsters.

August was exhausted from his fight with the creatures of the ocean and he snored lightly as he slept in a soft bed of grass near the smouldering coals of our fire.

Kyle had drifted off into a restless sleep. He tossed and turned quietly while muttering something I couldn't understand under his breath.

The air was growing colder and my breath had begun to mist up. The faint fog hung gently around my head like a cloud.

On the other side of the fire, Kashyap rubbed his hands together, desperately trying to warm up his stiff fingers. The tips of his ears and nose had turned a rosy red.

He looked up at me, shivering violently and saw that I seemed fine. "Aren't you cold?" He asked in confusion.

I shrugged helplessly. "Unlike most people, I don't dislike feeling cold. Besides, I have gotten used to it... the cold I mean," I said.

Kashyap looked crestfallen, "Oh... I thought you might have some sort of secret technique that helps fight off the cold. What with the way you look completely fine and all," he said.

"Nah, I'm afraid not. The only real way to defend yourself against it is through layers of clothing and warm food in your belly." I said.

Kashyap heeded my advice and went to put on a couple more t-shirts and jumpers. By the time he was done, he was wearing about 4 of each and looked like he might suffocate. I wondered how he was able to move in all of that.

"It's not that cold, is it?" I asked him. "You look like you're about to go into the arctic, not France"

Despite the many layers, Kashyap still looked cold, "Where I'm from, it never goes much below 20 degrees celsius but here in England it never goes much above 20 degrees celsius. If I'm honest, the hardest part about coming here was getting used to the weather. Even on a warm day, England still seems cold to me, never mind when it's as cold as tonight." Kashyap explained.

Since he was still shivering slightly, I racked my brain for a way to warm him up. If we lit a fire, we would be attracting every predator for miles around with the light. It would be like jumping into a lion enclosure, breaking both your legs from the fall and landing right beside the biggest hungriest looking lion. Suffice to say, you would be asking to be eaten.

I thought back to how I had coped with the cold, stiff limbs I got from training every morning before the sun rose. How had I warmed up after?

Finally, it came to me. "Ok, I think I have a way to get warm," I told Kashyap.

He looked up from where he was rubbing his hands together desperately and his gaze was full of hope. He didn't even have to say anything for me to know he was all ears.

"I'm not going to cuddle with you for warmth if that's what you want. You'd have to buy me dinner first," Kashyap said while laughing and sneezing intermittently.

I grinned and shook my head. "No, it's nothing like that. Have you ever tried meditation?" I asked.

Kashyap looked at me scornfully, "I don't believe in all of that spiritual mumbo jumbo. What are you going to say next? Should buy some crystals to keep me warm?"

"Nah, this type of meditation isn't about shaving your head and sitting in a temple or whatever. it's something I picked up myself while training." I said defensively.

Kashyap didn't look convinced but he stayed quiet, letting me speak.

"So basically... have you ever got in a really cold shower or jumped into a river in the winter? You will start to hyperventilate and your heart will race wildly, pumping blood around your body at twice or even three times its usual speed, desperately trying to warm up your extremities."

Kashyap nodded but he still looked confused, "What does that have to do with meditation?" He asked.

"Well, I found that, if you can get your breathing into a certain measured rhythm, you can control your heartbeat and the temperature of your body. It allows you to warm up quickly and eases the stress on sore muscles."

Kashyap frowned, clearly trying to find a hole in what I was saying. When he found none, he shrugged, "Very well sensei, teach me your ways," He said with mock sincerity and the weakest bow I have ever seen.

So, as we sat back to back in the cold night, I focused on breathing. Sinking deep into a meditative state once again.

Behind me, Kashyap focused on my breathing and tried to match it. he failed quite a few times but eventually figured it out.

For a long, long time, we both sat back to back in the quiet night and just breathed. Distracted from the cold and dangers of where we were by our own breathing.

I only came out of the meditative state when the sun crested up over the distant ocean. Sending flickering red sparkles glittering off of the tops of giant waves.

[Skill learned - Meditation LVL 1]

...

[Skill Level increased - Meditation LVL 1 - 2]

...

[Skill Level increased - Meditation LVL 2- 3]

...

[Skill Level increased - Meditation LVL 9 - 10]

...

[Skill Level increased - Meditation LVL 32 - 33]

...

Kashyap shook my shoulder, "Did you learn the skill too?" He asked excitedly.

I nodded stiffly and checked my status. When the game screen appeared in front of me, everything nearby was painted by the bright pink glow of the screen. Hurriedly I turned down the brightness and focused on what my status actually said.

[Name: Robert Melior

Race: Human

Class: - Martial arts Student

Level: 25

Experience: 1900/2500

Strength: 37

Agility: 38

Intelligence: 33

Mana: 33

Skills-

Passive: (Martial Arts LVL 46) (Basic Survival LVL 17) (Gaming LVL 1) (Stamina LVL 5) (Balance LVL 6) (Reactions LVL 7) (Meditation LVL 33)

Active:(After Burner LVL 4) (Light as a Feather LVL 4)

Distance from the Edge of the world: 29650 miles

(Menu)

Messages: (12)]

I was shocked to find that my mana had once again increased drastically (From 29->33)without me doing anything. Or perhaps I just didn't know what I was doing.

I checked the description of the meditation skill and soon found my answer.

[Meditation - LVL 33

The user gains the ability to replenish stamina and mana when fully submerged in meditation. Additionally, for every hour spent entirely in meditation, there is a chance that 1 mana stat will be permanently gained. This chance directly correlates to the level - LVL 33 = 33% chance per hour.]

Now it all made sense. It was quite gratifying that a skill I had created myself was so useful. So far I hadn't seen any other skills that could be used to gain stats permanently.

I unfurled my crossed legs that had become incredibly stiff and began stretching painfully, accompanied by the deafening sounds of my joints cracking.

Kashyap followed suit and I was glad to see that he looked much better than yesterday. He didn't look good. He didn't look like he could make the journey to France on foot anytime soon. But he looked a hell of a lot better than he ought to. Someone who had exploded 2 days ago shouldn't even be able to get out of bed.

We each picked a target and shook them awake.

As usual, August tried to go back to sleep, but I was having none of it. I found the container of dirty water we had used to clean the pot we cooked in last night and poured a few drops onto his head.

Like he was struck by lighting, August bolted upright and looked around in anger. "What the fuck was that for?!" He yelled.

I didn't entertain him and went about my business for the morning. Brushing my teeth without any water; Cold soup from a can; peeing in a bush and being unable to spare enough water to clean my hands. All in all, it was fucking shit.

Not that I wasn't used to this sort of thing. I had lived in the forest for days at a time back home and knew how to rough it. That didn't make it any less miserable though.

When we had all finished our morning rituals and August was done playing with his dolls or whatever... I try to pretend he isn't there. We all met up back at the fire pit.

There was a moment of solemn quiet as everyone thought about what they should do today.

Since no one was talking, I spoke up, "Kashyap isn't fit to make the walk to the channel tunnel. It has to be at least 50 miles away from here. And that's if we don't come across any giant footprints and have to turn around a go back.

Kashyap frowned, "I can..." But I didn't let him finish.

"Look, that is just how it is. You. Can. Not. Travel long distances. Doctor's orders," I said sternly.

Kashyap looked glumly at his scarred hands and bandaged legs. Clearly, he was trying to find an excuse but I would hear none of it.

"Same as yesterday then?" August asked.

I thought about it but couldn't see any other way, "Yeah, Same as yesterday. We don't know what we might find in the channel tunnel or what types of monsters might be over in France. That's not even taking into consideration the only monsters we haven't seen yet," I said grimly.

"What monsters?" Kyle asked.

"People," I said quietly.

Everyone went quiet. We had all seen zombie movies and we knew well enough that it was other humans that were most dangerous in the apocalypse.

"So you're saying we should be well prepared before we get there," August said, finishing my point.

"Exactly," I said, licking my lips at the thought of today's hunt.