The man stood unmoving in the center of the clearing, his only sign of life being a sinister laughter echoing through the dead woods, his arms raised as if to embrace the mad heavens spinning above, and his gaze fixed on the eye of the vortex.

He was consumed by it, entranced by the noxious influence of the daemon skies, causing his laughter to grow louder and more frenzied by the minute.

He was... distracted.

Alas, had he been vigilant he wouldn't have sensed it. Had he sensed it he wouldn't have dodged it. Had he dodged it... he couldn't have avoided fate forever, its hungry maw destined to end his existence.

And so, the creature approached. With light, almost soundless steps that belied its size and movements quicker than an arrow, it made the forest silent once again.

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The man didn't pay attention at first. The only thing that interrupted his fits of laughter was a moment of darkness. Over time, however, curiosity grew within him. One of the most basic human instincts slowly but surely took hold. It made him look away from the spectacle in the sky. It made him aware of his surroundings. And most of all, it made him frustrated when, every time, a blur jumped towards him and he found himself back in his original position.

This didn't make sense. What was the blurry figure and why did he return to the same position? He even felt as though he should be afraid, but why? Something here wasn't quite right.

One thing was for sure. He had enough. He would avoid it next time, and maybe then he would have his answers.

There was only one problem with that plan. The blur was too fast. He couldn't react. Maybe if he tried to sneak away, maybe if he was quieter, he thought as he brought his hand to his face - Ah... he was still laughing. Why? He grimaced. That felt like a question he didn't want answered.

No matter. He couldn't stop laughing, so he couldn't sneak away. Confrontation was the only answer to this problem. He would have to dodge. If he couldn't react, he could predict. The end was always the same - he would be looking at the sky, then one... two... three... now!

The man rolled to the side, a strong gust of wind blew past him. He had done it. Now for his answers. He turned around to identify the culprit, but all he could see was a maw closing around him. A pang of fear, then he was back.

Frustrating. He was so close. But he was one step closer. Next time he would turn with the dodge. That should allow him at least a glimpse. So he got to work. Replicating the dodge wasn't easy. There was a slight difference in the timing of the blur's attack. It was rarely more than a few milliseconds, but that was enough. The dodge needed to be perfect.

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Thankfully, the man had time and perseverance. The thought of giving up never popped up during his countless attempts.

He managed to do it once, and now he did it again. But this time, for a moment, his eyes met with the attacker. It was a beast. It looked familiar, but the man was sure this creature shouldn't have been taller than him. He froze, his legs gripped by a primordial fear. The word "wolf" flashed in his mind, and he was back at the beginning.

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He had his answer, at least in part, but a part of him wished he didn't know. Before, not knowing the meaning of his resets was just an inconvenience, but now? Now it was just unsettling. The thought of being ended over and over again by an oversized wolf was not a comforting one. Although its appearance no longer made him freeze in fear, he still wasn't content.

So, he decided to change the situation. He couldn't sneak away or avoid it, as the few times he tried only bought him a few moments of respite. Just as in the beginning, he would have to confront it. The difference was, now he would have to fight and defeat it, despite the fact that he could barely dodge it even with perfect timing.

Undeterred by the seemingly impossible task, the man remained steadfast. After all, he had a seemingly unlimited number of attempts to get it right.

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The man panted as he locked eyes with the creature. He felt a jolt of pain in his left foot, yet he did not dare asses the damage. To have made it this far was quite rare, and he knew that the moment he took his eyes off the beast would be the moment he would be reset.

The beast kept circling him, undoubtedly wondering if the man was worth the energy expenditure. The couple of times the man managed to hit the beast with a branch or pelt it with rocks had proven that he was no threat to it. This likely wouldn't be the cycle where he would slay the beast, but he had one more good attempt to give.

The man took his eyes off the creature and grabbed a pointy-looking rock from the ground. The man took just one second to memorize the rock's characteristics and location before swinging it in the direction of the attacker as it lunged at him. The world went blank as it had many times before, but just before he was reset, a new scent filled the air.

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He had done it. The monster wolf lay still, a dark rock jammed in its neck . The rock looked like charcoal but felt like the finest metal he had ever felt. It was the only item he could find that could hurt the wolf. And even if it was only valuable because it had saved his life, it was precious.

He went to retrieve it, but his legs wouldn't listen to his commands. His vision blurred, then he felt liquid drip down his body. He had been grazed by the monster's last attack. The man dropped to the ground, laughing, not caring that it would take a bit longer to reset this time.

But that statement proved to be incorrect soon enough. A roar echoed in the distance, followed by thudding footsteps that approached quickly and loudly, a stark contrast to the silent movements of the wolf. Whatever this new creature was, it wasn't afraid to make its presence known. No, it seemed to want to declare its arrival.

It didn't take long for the creature to reach the man. He had thought the wolf was big, but now he thought this lizard was freaking huge.