How many players have I killed now? Daeva's cursed me to this fate just like the corporates have cursed me to my cell in the real world. At least here the scenery isn't concrete walls but it doesn't feel any better. i need to change. I need to create a way to get out of this situation... or i can take charge of this situation. I've been wandering endlessly deeper into this forest hoping to rid myself of those bounty hunters after me, just death after death. Forced to sleep in the dirt.

This is my life now, but I'm in charge. I'll turn this forest into my home. I'll level my resource skills and build something, anything. A hut to start and then a fort big enough to hold off the hunters. The only skill I have at the moment is fishing and trapping, but I know I can unlock skills by discovering them, by trying. I can learn to construct a home and walls and I can learn to craft my own tools to achieve that... or i could start collecting tools off the hunters i kill... I'll figure that step out when I get to it. First things first though, lets set some traps and see how quickly I can level up! I don't need to wander around aimlessly moping, I can become something out here! Fuck Daeva and his curse, I'm better than this!

Ok! That's the last of the six snares set up the maximum I can do at level 5! I'll head back to the first and see what i've caught, I hope its at least a rabbit, or maybe a badger!

Reaching the first snare he noticed it tattered and spread out across the clearing.

Damn, something must have got snared but escaped, i'll reset it and move onto the next.

The same fate had occurred to all of the traps Cain had set

This is some serious bullshit, what kind of critters live in this forest? All six traps? Is someone messing with me? Is it one of those damn hunters just playing games? I'm going to watch these damn traps like a hawk and kill the nasty little culprit with my daggers. No one gets to play games with me!

With all six traps set up Cain slip behind the bushes trying to hide, quietly cursing Daeva for his glowing eyes and pulsing red veins ruining his camouflage.

The first trap scatters across the clearing. He didn't see anything. The second trap collapses on itself. Again he couldn't see what had happened.

As the third and fourth traps get wiped out he notices the flash of white and orange fur but it's gone in an instant.

What kind of magic is this?

Finally, the last two traps are again dismantled in the same way, and again he is only able to capture a glance at what he assumes must be a magic spell. One second the traps are there, the next sticks and rope are flying across the clearing and all is to blame is an orange and white flash moving through the traps.

How can I kill the magic? I have to find the player who's casting this spell. If I set the traps up again and search around the woods instead of focusing on them I must be able to find them, magic has to be cast with a line of sight right?

Patiently resetting the traps he hears the sounds of leaves rusting behind him, the culprit! He quickly spinning on the heels of his feet whilst reaching for his weapons to face the attacker only to be facing the still empty clearing besides a fox no larger than a house cat staring back at him slightly tilting its head curiously at Cain as if it were trying to figure out what he was doing.

"It was you! You did this to my traps! But... how?" Cain exclaimed aloud.

The little fox sat down on its back legs and continued to watch Cain from distance just out of reach from his sharp blades.

Curious to figure out if the fox was really the orange flashes of hell that were ruining his training he continued to set up the next trap.

SNAP

The sticks of the first trap flew past him, but as he looked around the fox was sitting in the same spot watching Cain with the same curious expression.

What the hell? Can it be him? He hasn't even moved...

Finishing up on the trap he was working on, he moved to the next and stabbed his daggers into the ground beside where the trap would go, the blades giving him a perfect mirror to see the fox sitting behind him. As he pretended to set up the trap, he kept his eyes fully focused on the reflection of the fox on the glistening blades.

The Fox stood up and watched him, then hopped forward disappearing, the sound of the trap scattering then it looked as though it hopped out of thin air back into the spot it was sitting in originally all within seconds.

"You can teleport!? You little shit!"

Cain furious, grabbed his daggers from the ground and launched them at the fox, a movement he had perfected against any hunter, an unmissable throw guaranteeing him a critical hit, he had maxed out the attack for his player level. The fox simply did its little hop disappearing just before the blades sliced through its fur and appeared in the exact. same. spot. as it had been a second ago, the blades darting into a tree at the other end of the clearing, point in, three inches deep. The fox continued to give him the same curious look with its little head tilted to the side.

"Are you playing with me?! Is this just some silly game to you?!"

The fox gave him a little squeal and eyed toward the next trap and back at Cain.

"I am going to end you!" Cain screamed as he struggled to yank his daggers from the tree trunk.

Using the same trick as before, setting up the next trap while using one blade to watch the fox sitting but holding the second dagger with a light but strong grip to ensure a quick release he waited until the fox made its move.

As soon as he saw the brief shake of the fox's hind legs as it prepared to decimate his trap he pitched the dagger over his shoulder straight at the trap! He heard the snap of metal on wood. Damn! I missed! The half-constructed trap at his feet exploded across his legs.

"How! I gave away nothing! It was a perfect throw! How the hell did you know you little shit!"

Cain chased after the fox lunging for its furry neck but with each attack, the fox would slip into thin air escaping his grip, the closest he got was a light brush of its bushy tail. He finally gave up after eating at least 10 mouthfuls of dirt and he face-planted into the ground time after time. The fox watched him, just out of reach, mouth open. tongue out. Panting. It was having fun.

"Are you a spirit? Is this your section of the woods? You don't want me killing your little critter friends? Fine then! I'll move on! I can build my camp wherever I damn well want! And I don't want to do it here around you and your shitty little games! You win!"

Territorial little shit!

In a huff Cain stomped off out of the clearing heading in no direction in particular, cursing the fox under his breath.

As he walked on, he would check over his shoulder every couple of miles and the fox would always be there 10 feet behind him wandering around without a care in the world and always making eye contact with Cain each time he looked adding to the fuel of his rage. As his rage and heart rate increased he noticed the glowing red veins became more vibrant and the black mist leaking from them thickened, adding Deava to his list of curses along with the fox.

He walked in a straight line for hours, as he did so the fox grew in confidence, it would disappear and reappear 100's of feet away to scent a tree or chomp a butterfly out of the air. Sometimes appearing right next to Cain's feet to steel a sniff or try to attack his boot laces.

With increasing frustration and realising the fox won't leave on its own accord, he started taking shots at the fox, at the start with his daggers but got angrier having to go collect them, so he started to throw rocks and sticks. The fox dodged all of them without even fuss, he even caught the sticks out of the air and would appear ahead of Cain dropped them before him.

The fox slowed and started to drop behind. Finally! I got away! It began to squeal at him. Haha, it's saying its goodbyes! I won!

Now on a victory walk, Cain could start to plan where his trapping adventure, but the damned fox kept appearing beneath his legs tripping him followed by squeaking at him from a distance behind him.

"Just leave me alone!"

Wait, can I smell smoke? Is someone else here or am I walking into a forest fire? Was the fox trying to stop me from going ahead? I have to check this out, if they're bounty hunters they have to die. This is where I'm going to set up my camp!

Following the smell of smoke and avoiding the now increasing, then decreasing tripping attempts and squeaks by the fox Cain could begin to hear the sounds of laughter and smell cooked meat. A hunting camp.

Wrapping himself tightly in his cloak in an attempt to hide the pulsing red and black emitting from his veins he stealthily made his way toward the camp until they were just on the other side of thick bushes.

"HahAHHAHA, Jerry you MUPPIT! You're dirtier than a dog in a mud pit! Get your arse cleaned up before I put a boot in it!"

I know that voice!

Before he knew it he pushed himself through the bushes into full view of the camp

"Marowit!? Is that you?!"