"Son of a bitch!" It was becoming a daily ritual for him to wake up flailing his arms. "It's gonna take me a while to get used to that." He got up off the soft grass, the back of his blue t-shirt wet with dew, and stretched a bit. "God, that's the best night's sleep I've had in months. Who knew starry skies and grassy fields were so good for napping?" Once again, a loud, rumbling stomach convinced him to put aside his plans for the day until he'd had breakfast. He looked over at the (now significantly smaller) dead crab and wondered how long it would last. "I could make this work for breakfast and lunch (assuming it doesn't go bad), but what about dinner? Maybe I could find another one of these things. How would I kill it though?" His eyes wandered over his new tools. He briefly contemplated using the Bloodpickaxe or the Bloodcrowbaxe, but settled on the bucket and the Blooddagger.

"Creative problem solving ahoy!" He grimaced as he used the same cut to drip a decent amount of his blood into the crystalline bucket. "Still really freaky how this thing is made of my own blood. I'm never getting over that."

It took a little over half of his Health to do it, but once the bucket was filled he picked it up and looked out at the horizon, watching out for any suspicious red mounds. He wasn't sure if he was lucky or cursed when he saw two of them sprinting towards hin,loudly grabbing at the air with their pincers. It was at that moment that the realization really hit him. "I'm about to throw a bucket of my own blood at two gigantic monster crabs to make it explode, and if my plan fails I'll die. This is quite the Sunday."

He knew he couldn't afford to miss, but he'd seen just how powerful the explosion could be. He felt his senses sharpen, his heart beat faster and faster, slamming against his ribcage. He observed every little detail of the world around him. For a moment, everything was obvious to him. Time seemed to slow down more and more the closer they got until they were so close he could jump up and kiss them. His hands seemed to move on their own as he swung the bucket around him, throwing the thin red liquid into the air and scattering it over the pair of confused crustaceans.

He felt like he was spamming a button in a video game, trying to pull off the boss-killing combo before he lost that last sliver of health. He focused on triggering Exploding Blood, but he'd thrown out enough to be able to trigger it twice.

Skill Learned: Sanguine Inferno (1/10)

The blood detonated in two awe-inspiring fireballs. Both separated, and as he raised his hands to shield from their heat, they followed. He swung his arms down and the two blazes came down in perfect synchronization. Even over the sound of the brilliant crimson flames, he could hear the shells cracking from the immense heat that had suddenly surrounded them. The crabs let out shrieks of agony as they were baked inside their own bodies. The flames dissipated a moment later while the cracking shells were still red hot and the flesh was still melting away.

Killed Giant Crab [Level 4] x1

Killed Giant Crab [Level 5] x1

"Holy shit, that was amazing! It was like my hands were made of fire! I literally smashed them to death with my fire fists!" The adrenaline rush started wearing off, and his vision blurred as he came slightly off-balance. He let himself fall onto the dry grass, barely avoiding some shrapnel from the exploding crab shells, and laughed. "Ha. Hahaha. That was amazing! I can't say that enough. I never want to go back to my world." After a few more minutes of laughing like a madman, he was interrupted by something smacking him in the head. He looked around and spotted a small envelope with the words, "A gift from your benefactor" written on top of it. Inside was a small bronze amulet with a glowing sapphire in the middle. "My judgement is probably severely impaired right now, but I'm still gonna put this thing on."

If instant regret was a sensation, it would be the headache he felt right after putting on the amulet. His brain felt like it was about to explode like a crab shell that's just been smashed by a pair of gigantic flaming hands. He couldn't focus on anything else. For those few moments after he donned the amulet, his existence was just pain. His head felt like an overinflated tire that was this close to bursting.

As soon as the pain wore off, he took the amulet and angrily tossed it on the ground. The sapphire was no longer glowing, but its lustre was far from lost. He picked it up and placed it in the pockets of his denim jeans. "I am so glad I came here in strong jeans with pockets instead of something like pocketless PJs. This little headache-inducer might get me some money later, who knows? Wait, shit! What if I wasn't supposed to put it on? What if it was supposed to be put on someone else to give them a headache instead? Ah, screw it. No use crying over spilled headache."

"I am parched. I should really make some kind of watering hole here. I have a shovel, and a bucket. Maybe it's like Minecraft, where if I put in four buckets I can violate Conservation of Mass!" He looked around. The wind blew straight into his face, scattering his hair and disguising the real reason for his tears. "I'm parched. I'll go down to the creek again."

He practically sprinted down to the forest. It was easier to avoid thinking about how lonely he felt when he was too busy trying not to trip over a random tuft of grass. And yet, in spite of his best efforts, he couldn't stop. "I haven't seen a single human being other than myself since I came here. It was nice at first, but what if I'm really, truly alone? What if there really isn't anyone else? What do I do? So far, I've just thought about staying fed and hydrated. What do I want to do past that? Is there even a reason to do it if there's no one els-"

He almost dropped face-first when he spotted an old man sitting by the creek and filling up an old copper bucket. As excited as he was to see another living, breathing human being, he still had manners. Instead, he approached the man calmly and called out. "Excu-" The words stopped in his mouth when he realized they weren't in any language he'd ever known. The old man replied, "Hey there! You an Adventurer? What's your name?"

The man spoke in the same language, although with a totally different accent. "Okay, calm down. It's just a harmless old man. Did he just ask my name? I can't give him my real name. Can I? I'd still rather not."

The man looked at him like he was stupid. "Crap, I need to make up a name. Let's see...I derive my powers from blood. Not to mention, I killed something by bashing it with a rock. What's a better name than

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"Caine. And no, I don't think I am. What's your name?"

The man seemed taken aback by Caine's extremely pronounced accent for a second, but promptly replied, "Honning. I'm a fisherman, from Stapsea. Good to meet you, Caine!" The old man gave an absolutely beaming smile and approached Caine to shake his hand. Caine returned the gesture, still rather stunned by his sudden Gift of Tongues.

"If you're not from here, and not an Adventurer then I'm guessing you're lost. How do you even get lost this far out though?" He couldn't do more than shrug. "Well, why don't you come down to my house for a bit? It's nothing much, but you can stay there while you get your bearings around here."

"Thank you so much, but I'd rather not impose."

"Oh, it's nothing! My daughter would love to meet a foreigner. She plies a ranger's trade, but I know it's only because she wants to take care of her mother in her last days. She's Awakened, she could easily go to Brury and become an Adventurer. She's definitely got the skill for it."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not really from here. Could you explain all this Awakening and Adventuring to me? It's fine if it's too difficult."

The man laughed. "Oh no! Not at all! Truth be told, it's nice to see a new face around here, and I'm always happy to share knowledge. Awakening is what happens when you kill a monster for the first time. Monsters are small bits of the essence of the universe, and killing one of them can imbue you with the same. It supposedly gives you the knowledge of your entire existence. Once you have that, you can learn things much faster, and even learn things that you would have no way of knowing."

Caine fidgeted excitedly. "Oh! I think that might have happened to me, a few days back! I bashed in the head of a giant crab with a rock, and now I can make things explode!" He didn't realize just how ridiculous that sounded until the words had left his mouth, but Honning merely laughed.

"You and Maven would get along very well. There she is now!" He waved down the road to a young woman, seemingly no older than 15, with long, frizzy black hair that she let hang open. She had tan skin and brown eyes, along with a small amount of acne. She was wearing thin linen clothing and a warm fur cloak with many pockets stitched into it.

"Good afternoon, father! Have you brought a guest?" She looked at Caine, seemingly sizing him up.

For his part, he reached out his hand. "My name is Caine. Pleasure to meet you. Maven, I presume?"

Maven shook it with far more force than her height and build would suggest. "The pleasure is all mine! Father, we should get back to the cottage. Mother's all alone right now."

"Right, of course. Caine, I hope you don't mind if I hurry a bit."

"Please, by all means, go as fast or slow as you'd like."

Maven shot him a sly grin. "As fast as I'd like? Alright then." Before Honning could object, she'd taken the bucket from him and was gone with no trace.

"I taught her better manners than that! When I get home..."

Caine placed a hand on the old man's shoulder. "Please, I really don't mind. You said she was Awakened, correct? Well, what's the point if she doesn't use the powers she's been given?"

Honning looked at him bemused, but made no further comment on the matter as they made their way through the forest road. In the distance, he could see buildings and people. A little closer, and he could see said people cussing out Maven as she sped past them faster than their minds could register it.

Honning's home was a small cottage on the edge of town. It wasn't very unique, but it was functional. It had stone walls, a thatch roof, and even a brick chimney. Caine wondered if that was considered frivolous spending by their standards.

Inside, the house wasn't much different. A small firepit at the center, surrounded by the soft fur of unknown animals, presumably for sitting. A few windows, and more stuffed animal hides sewn shut to be used as mattresses.

It was on one of these mattresses that Caine noticed a sickly old woman lying. Her face was pale and she looked weak. Her breathing was laboured and it looked like she'd barely eaten in weeks. Maven was sitting by her with a small saucer filled with water from the bucket.

"My wife's been very sick these past few months. We doubt she'll make it. Unfortunately, that's just the reality of life out here. All the Awakened healers are in the big cities like Kirligford and Thethover. We were hoping an Adventurer with some healing ability might pass through, but we've had no luck so far."

Caine looked at the poor woman. She seemed to have resigned herself to her death. He looked down at the cut on his hand, still fresh. "If there's even a tiny chance it'll work, I might as well try it, right?"

Honning and Maven both looked at him. "Try what?"

Caine only smirked back. "You'll see."

"I've seen what Bloodmagic can do. If the Skill Description says it cures mundane disease, it cure mundane disease. 56 Health. More than enough. If I can save a life at practically no cost to myself, why not?"

He squeezed till the scab burst. The blood had barely left his veins when it began glowing and transformed into the pulses of red light which washed over the entire building, bouncing against the walls and then disappearing along with all the filth it had cleaned up. Honning looked at him paralyzed. "You. You're a Bloodmage! What the hell kind of curse are you putting on my wife?! Get out of here!" He drew a knife from a sheathe at his waist and began approaching Caine.

He didn't dally. As soon as he saw the knife, he ran right out the door and into the forest, not looking back. He knew when people could be reasoned with and when they couldn't, and that man was beyond convincing. And so, after his first taste of human interaction in days, Caine ran. He ran and he ran and he ran until his heart felt like bursting and his legs threatened to give way. And then he walked. Silently, sadly, he walked back to his little campsite. And he lay there, in the grass. He lay next to his chest and his pile of crab chitin and he looked up at the noon sky.

Then he cried.

He cried because he'd just remembered why he'd wanted so badly to come here to this land of fantasy in the first place. He cried because he remembered now that people were the worst kind of animals. He cried because he knew that, no matter how much he might hate them, he couldn't live without people. He cried because he knew that people wanted to kill him, even when he'd just tried to help. He cried because he knew there was nothing wrong with what he'd done, but people would still hate him for it. And he cried because he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

Experience Gain Summary

Stamina Expenditure: 100

Health Expenditure: 50

Monster Kills: Giant Crab [Level 4] x1 [250]

Giant Crab [Level 5] x1 [312]

Current Experience: 802