Once in the cave Nathan casts Candle Light and has it float above his head. He takes the tunnel to the right again, wanting to check up on the corpse of the lizard. Making his way down the tunnel he keeps on high alert now that he knows what to look out for, or in this case hear as the light from Candle Light fades close to ten feet in front of him.

Nathan slows down and keeps an eye out as he approaches where he thinks he had the battle with the lizard. Walking along he spots something reflecting the light on the ground not far ahead. Going over he bends down and picks it up, it’s his pocket knife.

‘The lizard should be right around here but I don’t see it. Did something haul it off or did it despawn? The torch is also gone. I need to figure out how this place works but I need to keep moving to find water or something else to drink,’ he thinks to himself.

As he walks he thinks over all the information he knows so far but can’t come to any good conclusions on what is going on with so little information, so puts it out of his mind for now. The cave starts to bend to the left before long. The change puts Nathan on edge expecting another lizard to come barreling in from the darkness. As he walks nothing shows it’s ugly head and before he knows it he has reached an intersection.

‘I got three options, which one should I take?’ he thinks it over for a bit and decides ‘I don’t want to get lost so using the always take the left path sounds good then if I want to get back I can always take the right path but for how long will that work? Maybe I can mark the walls somehow?’ Nathan tries to mark the way with his pocket knife with little success and with a huff takes the left path.

It does not take him long to run into another intersection this time one leading right and one forward. He sticks to the only left rule for now. The cave is dark and eerie made worse by how it is dead silent except for Nathan's footsteps. With possible dangers down every tunnel and in every dark shadow, Nathan is on edge with every step he takes, the wait for something to pop out at any time nerve-wracking.

With his nerves getting to him he is about to call it quits and head back when he hears it, a rumbling noise echoes down the cave tunnel. ‘Hear it comes’ Nathan thinks to himself as he preps a Fireball construct but doesn't channel mana through it. He holds his right hand towards the direction the sound is coming from and waits, the sound gets steadily louder and louder tell he can barely think straight and is having trouble keeping the spell construct stable.

The lizard burst from the darkness mouth open with its pointed teeth at the ready and saliva dripping from its mouth. Rolling out of the way Nathan points his hand at the lizard and unleashes the fist-sized fireball at the broadside of the Lizard as it barrels past him. Not even waiting to check on his handy work he starts on the next fireball but he can hear the lizard scream out in pain from the attack nearly causing Nathan to lose hold of the spell construct.

Swinging around Nathan gets a good look at the lizard. The side where it got hit is smoking and the Lizard looks pissed, it growls at Nathan before again charging at him. Sweat dripping down his forehead, breathing heavy, and with adrenaline pumping through his veins, Nathan launches the Fireball at the oncoming irate lizard and rolls to the side not checking to see if it hit and starts working on the next Fireball.

‘I only got four more shots left, I hope that is enough to take it down.’ he thinks to himself as he stands back up and aims at the lizard that has its front paws over its eyes and is writhing in pain. The lizard had prematurely stopped just short of where Nathan had rolled from, the Fireball having caught the lizard by surprise. Not waiting for the lizard Nathan unleashes the Fireball at the same spot he shot the first Fireball at the start of the fight, on the side of the lizard hoping to inflict even more damage. The wound on the side was still smoking from when the last Fireball hit and the skin was charred and cracked with blood oozing out. The next Fireball came it and evaporated the blood then roasted the lizards hide leaving a large charred hole in the side of the lizard. The smell of burnt lizard hangs in the air as Nathan takes deep breaths.

As the lizard screams out in pain Nathan preps the next Fireball but this time he waits to see what it does. Nathan flinches and is about to fire when the lizard gets up and runs away or tries to but it curves and runs headlong into the cave wall. The lizard cries out in pain as it backs off from the wall and wobbles around in a daze before collapsing onto the ground. Nathan not having gotten a message about its death slowly approaches its slumped form. Coming around to the front of the lizard he can see that its eyes have been burnt to a crisp and there is a combination of ooze, blood, and black flakes of burnt eyeball.

“Well that is not a pretty sight,” Nathan says as he grimaces with some sadness. ‘I don’t want to leave this thing suffering but how should I go about killing it the fastest?’ he thinks to himself.

Not sure how to go about it Nathan paces back and forth for a bit thinking. ‘I know the underside of the lizard is softer and its heart is close as that is how I killed the last one but how do I get to it? I am going to have to roll it over aren't I,’ he thinks with an even worse grimace.

Not really wanting to touch the lizard Nathan walks over to the side not burnt by his spells and touches the underside of the lizard. A cold chill goes up his spine as his body recoils in disgust. Bracing himself he goes to lift the lizard. Nathan’s hands sink into the pliable flesh of the lizard and he can feel the warmth radiating from its body into his hands as he lifts it up with his arms and legs he pushes it over with all his might.

Panting with his hands on his knees he looks at the lizard. ‘That was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Damn thing has to weigh almost three hundred pounds’ he thinks as he takes long deep breaths to calm himself down. Between the fight and flipping the lizard, he is worn out but has one last thing to do before he can rest, killing the lizard. Pulling out his pocket knife Nathan walks over to the lizard not knowing how much force he will need to puncture the skin he holds the knife high in the air ready to plunge it into the lizard's underside and hesitates.

‘This will be the first time I will kill something. Well, I guess I have killed bugs and the such but not something this big before! Not something that can bleed all over me!’ caught up in his moral dilemma he lowers the knife to his side and silently states at the lizard, he can smell the smoke wafting up from the burn on its side. Nathan coughs as he breathes in the smoke, it burns as it enters his lungs. Eyes watering from the smoke he backs off from the lizard not sure what to do.

‘I know it was trying to kill me! I should kill it for that alone but I just can’t bring myself to do it.’ he thinks to himself as emotions of sadness and guilt well up inside him. Lost inside his thoughts he barely notices the lizard stirring awake. ‘I have to decide fast before the thing wakes back up and eats me!’ he screams inside his head a war raging on between his old world morals and his instinct for survival.

The lizard lets out a cry of pain as it wakes, frightened by the sound and with no time to think Nathan brings his pocket knife high into the air and swiftly brings it down onto the underbelly of the lizard piercing the skin as the knife comes to a stop at the hilt. The lizard lets out another painful cry as Nathan pulls the knife out. Blood comes gushing out of the wound like a fountain, Nathan quickly backs off afraid of getting blood on him and hoping that did the job.

Nathan watches as the blood starts to pool around the lizard as it cries out in pain but does not have enough energy to move. When it starts to go into its death throes Nathan backs further off and slumps against the cave wall crying in guilt, shame, and self-pity. Not sure what to do he waits, the lizard cries out one last time and dies.

[Horned Desert Lizard Killed]

Nathan stares with a blank look at the message, then wills it away. He looks at the dead lizard, his heart clenches as he looks at it, his stomach is swift to follow with a twisting pain. Between the fading adrenaline and high emotions Nathan dry heaves onto the cave floor, having nothing but stomach acid to expel. Getting up after wiping his mouth on his shirt he starts to walk down the cave tunnel. He pauses for a second, eyes watering, acid taste in his mouth, and a heavy heart. He thinks to look back but he knows if he does he may not ever leave this place.

Nathan continues to walk no feeling of victory or glory just shame, shame that he will have to do this again to keep living, that he will have to get used to this is he wants to then keep on living. The thought scares him that he may one day get used to this or maybe even like it fills his mind with dread and fury at this world and this place that is forcing him to do this.

Nathan walks in silence with nothing to light the dark twisting paths other than the dull orange glow from his spell. Ready but not willing to face the next challenge.

_________

[Name: Nathan Vellenger]

[Age: 21]

[Class:Fire Mage Lvl:1]

[Health:86]

[Stamina:78]

[Mana:120]

[Strength:11]

[Endurance:10]

[Vitality:12]

[Agility:9]

[Dexterity:13]

[Wisdom:12]

[Intelligence:14]

[Skills:Inspect, Fire Affinity, Mana Sense, Mana Channeling, Spell Creation, Concentration, Meditation]

[Spells:Candle Light, Fireball]

[Titles:Otherworlder]