(3rd-Person Narrator: Rufus)

Doki Doki Village was located with the Dry Desert to its East and the Badlands to its West. Because of this, the usual bandits and rogue cultivators would not attack them. They were basically in the middle of nowhere, but still had fertile land to settle on. Thus, they peacefully prospered. It was the very definition of "sheltered".

But on one sunny, spring day 10 years ago, an Asian boy poofed into existence. His 8-year-old body fell on top of a Village girl. He goofed by landing straight into her chest. Fortunately, they were too young to understand the meaning behind such an action. However, his chubby body hurt dear Sammy. But Sammy liked having such a funny person and wanted to be friends with him. And that's how these two met and became family.

Rufus lived with Sammy, her father who was the Village Chief, and her mother who was the Village Healer. Each day, the two would play as they dreamed of great adventures and possessing enormous power. They clung to rumors and legends, such as the 3 Clans of the Kaizen, the Cutthroat Trio in Luthan, and the various myths in the Yalta Confederation. The most fun ones were from the Phoenix Kingdom, where mighty warriors and mages conquered Dungeons and Labyrinths for fantastic treasures. And there were also tall tales of the Aurea, who supposedly created Ancient Ruins scattered across the Great Continent.

Life was swell, and nothing could go wrong. But Rufus still was missing something. His real family was somewhere out there, as they were kidnapped by the Cult of the End Times. On his 9th birthday, he measured his potential on the Ancient Altar of Ability. Sadly, it detected nothing from him and showed Rufus was powerless.

Rather, in his place, Sammy was the one with monstrous potential, which even cracked the Altar by her high levels. This motivated Rufus to catch up to her and become powerful enough to find his family. He became a full-on training maniac.

Since then, every day was spent on trying to gather energies and control it. However, day after day, he found that they only were absorbed into a bottomless pit inside of himself. So Rufus focused on strengthening his body by exercising.

Sammy followed him and brought happiness during these tiring sessions. Although Rufus would collapse after hours of harsh training, Sammy would be perfectly fine. And each time he needed motivation, or water, or help, Sammy was there for him.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Once Rufus became 12, he felt it was long overdue that some combat experience was needed. To be honest, his progress was terrible, as he was still chubby from eating so much. So one dark night, he left Doki Doki Village in secret and entered the fringes of the Badlands. It was when the moon Circa disappeared from the sky during the dark stages of its cycle.

Soon, Rufus found himself lost in the expansive bog and swamplands. The Badlands truly was an accurate name. Luckily, our trooper came during less dangerous times. When Circa glistened in the light of the night's skies, hordes of various monsters would appear to bath in its rays. Monsters usually brawled over the best spot, with the most light to stay on. Many died, and this, of course, developed a hierarchy of strength.

So, with few competitors in the night, Rufus was free to explore through the muck of the Badlands. After an hour of searching, he found a sleeping Shade Hare. It was a small animal that was extremely good at hiding. Rufus only discovered it because he stumbled over the Hare as he walked.

Saddened by the lack of action, Rufus decided that after killing this Shade Hare, he would go back to the Doki Doki Village. But as he snapped its neck, blood spewed out of its mouth as it spat on him. Apparently, it was a self-defense mechanism. Rufus spat own the nasty gunk in his mouth and wiped off his face. Its use was dangerous, as the blood attracted any good predator of weakened prey. Especially that of a Shade Hare's, which was a tasty delicacy.

Rufus also shouted profanities at the smelly fluid now all over his clothes. He was definitely boned but did not know. So, Rufus started to go look for his way back home. There was no difference between one way or the other as the extreme darkness did not let him see anything. He began regretting his journey, as it was much worse than what was described in stories he heard. And behind him, a pack of Dire Wolves followed closely.

Hours went by and Rufus began to panic. The Shade Hare was becoming quite heavy and he was extremely tired. It would take a few more hours before Solaris came up, but Rufus did not want to be in the Badlands anymore. He made the mistake of not conserving his energy and wasted it going around in circles. The Dire Wolves approached him and sensed that he really was a weak creature. They prepared to ambush him once he collapsed in exhaustion.

But when he did fall into the soppy soil, they did not attack. Something interfered and poisoned them, which caused them to run away. Then, the creature turned over to Rufus. The boy himself was unknowing of this course of events, but suddenly felt the incredible danger he was in.

He shot up and began to run away too. Yet his strength could not compete with the creature's and so, he failed to flee. Rufus was caught and the chase ended. All that was left was to accept his failure and incompetence.