Sitting up, gasping for breath, Darian clutched his chest in panic, looking around for the cowled creature who had just attacked him. Slowly his panic ebbed away as recognition of his surroundings filtered into his brain. “Shit,” Darian muttered irritably, “killed again. No matter how many times this happens to me, I will never get used to it.” With a sour expression, he scanned the familiar ruins of the village he had arrived in.

Darian blew out a breath, wondering how long he had been gone, because the sun had fully set, leaving him sitting in darkness. It’s really dark, he realized, frowning. The amulet he was wearing should have made that darkness much less, but it hasn’t. He reached up to his chest where the amulet would normally lay, only to find it missing. Concerned that he may have dropped it, Darian patted himself trying to locate the amulet, then searched the ground around himself fruitlessly.

It was only after he had frantically searched all around that he noticed his bag was also missing, in fact, all he had were the clothes he was wearing when he arrived in Eternia. “Ahh, crap.” he cursed “they must have been left at that graveyard. No bloody way am I going back there and letting that freak kill me again.”

Dejected, Darian rose to his feet and looked about hopelessly. Without his gear he knew his chances of survival had just plummeted. Now he had no food or water, he was stuck in this village until thirst or hunger overtook him. Sighing, he decided just standing here wasn’t going to accomplish anything, and decided to take a walk to that expanse of water he had seen outside of town. Maybe if he was lucky something useful would have washed ashore, and if he was even more lucky, the water would be fresh and not seawater.

From what he recalled, the body of water was a good hours walk outside of the village, and he didn’t fancy travelling that distance during the night, god knew how many skeletons were roaming about out there. Without his amulet his chance of spotting them before it was too late, was miniscule. Without knowing how long it was until the sun rose, Darian chose to sit it out, here, and wait for daylight. Lowering himself to the ground, he propped his back against a boulder and closed his eyes.

Darian woke up, the sun shining on his face, causing him to sweat profusely. He could feel his skin tingling with a prickly sensation that just knew meant he was becoming sunburnt, something he wouldn’t have expected in this digital world. He hadn’t intended to nod off, but the heat must have had a soporific effect on him, something that concerned him, for it left him completely vulnerable to an attack. The mere thought of this making a shiver run down his spine, and Darian vowed never again to leave himself in such a precarious position.

Darian stood up and started to brush off the dirt, but suddenly stopped. His hand had touched something he had not expected to. Praying fervently, he slowly looked down at his side, and gasped in delight at seeing the very same bag he had believed to be lost forever, once again hanging at his side. Clutching it like a drowning man, he quickly opened it and checked to make sure everything was inside. All his possessions were there, not one item lost or missing, other than….

With a quick movement, Darian clasped one hand to his chest, and relief filled him as he felt a familiar lump beneath his shirt, the amulet once again back around his neck. Then Darian furrowed his brow, a little confused. He was positive that the bag and amulet were not with him earlier. Had someone returned them to him while he slept ?

He decided to put aside this conundrum for when he had more time to think on it, and pulled up his map. Why didn’t I think of seeing if I still had that after I died. Now he had all his possessions back, he could concentrate on the travel in front of him. Looking at the map, he decided to stick with his plan to travel to that body of water, but from there he would follow the coastline south, in an attempt to reach the castle that was marked on it.

He closed his map, double checked his possessions, just to make sure they hadn’t disappeared on him again, then started off in the direction the map told him the water lay.

…..

Darian stood on the sandy beach, staring out across the seemingly endless expanse of blue water in front of him. He didn’t know exactly how long it had taken him to traverse from the village to here, as he no longer possessed a watch, but he estimated it took him about an hour. The heat this day was greater than the previous day, and he had been forced to drink one of his bottles of water during the trip, more than he had expected, or calculated for.

This also led to another problem, as the empty bottle disappeared as soon as he had finished it. He suspected the same would apply to his remaining stock, and this would leave nothing that he could refill with purified water. He was now forced to stick to the coastline if he wanted to keep his thirst in check, and wouldn’t have the opportunity to travel inland for long distances.

As he stood there, the sea breeze that blew into his face felt refreshing, and he remembered that he had been here for three days now without washing. In a rush, he dropped his bag onto the sand and plunged into the clear, rolling waves, falling forward to completely submerge himself.

The water cooled his skin, and on opening his eyes he beheld a watery wonderland, one filled with colorful coral and long wavering strands of seaweed moving gently with the waters movement. Small shiny fish darted in and out between the strands, seemingly chasing each other in complex patterns. Darian floated there, face down, watching this peaceful scene, his back heating back up from the suns touch above him. It seemed that even though the lands about him were dead, the seas teemed with all forms of life, holding out promise he would someday find other who were alive, or even providing him with a food source, if he found a way to catch the fish.

Relaxed, his mind wandered to thoughts of a trivial nature. I have been here for three days now and I have not once had the need to go to the toilet. Is this normal ? If I don’t need to piss or shit, where the hell does all the food and water go ? Will this be permanent, will I never need to go again ? He hoped it was a permanent thing. It would be a definite advantage if he never had to go to the toilet again, he had always had problems with this before he was digitized, it was something the doctors couldn’t fix, claiming it was just one of those things that happened when you got old. Well, he wasn’t old now, thank god, and incontinence was something he could forget about.

Beneath him, the fish all suddenly stopped their intricate dance, frozen in place for one brief moment before they all darted off, hiding themselves among holes and cracks in the coral, leaving only the seaweed, twisting in now empty water, to occupy his sight. Darian wasn’t stupid, he knew what this meant. Fish only hid like this when they detected a danger, most probably a predator, entering their part of the ocean. He’s seen thin on an old TV show many years ago.

While the water was clear, it still didn’t allow him to see much further than about fifty feet into it, and Darian couldn’t see anything that would have alarmed them, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before he did. Displaying a good sense of prudence, he decided it would be best if he made his way back to the shore, or into shallower water. At the limit of his sight, he could just make out the appearance of something big, something that darkened the water around it, casting a shaky shadow onto the sandy floor beneath it.

In panic Darian wind milled his arms, trying desperately to increase his speed towards the safety of the shore. He hadn’t come out that far, but it seemed to be an eternity before he travelled far enough to get a purchase on the sand with his feet. Desperately he dug his feet in and shoved forward with all his might,, all the while scooping the water with his hands and pushing backwards. The beach grew closer and closer, until finally he managed to leave the water behind him.

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Staggering forward two steps, Darian collapsed down onto the sand, his panicked return exhausting him, his chest heaved as he sucked in breaths of air. He threw his head back and laughed, a slightly high pitched, hysterical laugh of nervous relief, he had made it, he was safe. He could see the shadow in the water of whatever creature had arrived, and it was large, much too large to be from a shark, or some similar sized denizen of the deep.

He sat there, watching the shadow move about, following a path, that mirrored the beach, but about twenty feet away from it, The movement looking like it was seeking something, probably him, Darian thought. With his panic now passed, he looked about to locate the bag he had left on the beach, and saw it, sitting on the sand about thirty foot away.

Looking back at the sea, Darian saw the shadow of the beast approximately equal with his position, so in an act of bravado, he waved at it and called out “See ya, sorry I couln’t stick around for dinner.” and started to rise. Suddenly a long, green tentacle exploded out of the water, flying towards him, its tip armed with a very long, and very sharp looking barb. All Darian had time for was one look of astonishment before it slammed down onto the sand, just two foot short of him, its barb sinking deep into the ground and showering him with a spray of dry sand.

Falling back on his backside, he scrabbled at the sand with his hands and feet, scuttling backwards in panic. The tentacle drew taut, drawing itself, and its barb, back out into the ocean, leaving a deep furrow in its path. Darian didn’t stop his backwards momentum until he was well above the high tide mark, collapsing again onto his backside, and even then he kept a constant eye on the surface of the water, fearing it could reach him, even here. The tentacle didn’t make another appearance, but the shadow remained in place, unmoving, obviously waiting for him to come closer so it could try again.

After five minutes, in which Darian didn’t have the courage to move at all, the shadow drifted off, moving quickly towards deeper water, Seeing this he relaxed, and shook his head. “Darian, old boy, you are a fool. You should have kept your mouth shut. ” He knew it hadn’t been what he said that attracted the monsters attention, and most probably it had detected his movement, but even so, he promised himself to keep silent in the future, a promise he also knew he wouldn’t keep.

Getting up, he brushed himself off, all the while eyeing his bag and the ocean, The bag was a lot closer to the waters edge than he was now, and even though the creature had seemingly departed, he was still wary about moving closer to the water. Knowing he couldn’t do without it, he slowly and carefully walked towards the bag, watching the water all the while. When he reached it, he grabbed at it without looking and dashed up the beach to a safer location.

“Well, that was a learning experience. The sea is full of hungry critters, so swimming is definitely off the table from now on.” Darian muttered to himself, then slung his bag across his shoulder, turned southwards and started walking.

…..

Three days later, Darian was still following the coastline southwards. He had yet to find anything other than the endless beach and baked earth. His travel undisturbed by any creature or being. He had been forced to overcome his terror of the sea as the constant heat drained him, and with the total absence of anything that could cast shade to rest in, or even cool him for a brief period, he had been forced to make the occasional dip into the sea to cool down.

He had not encountered a reoccurrence of the meeting with the creature he now was sure was a form of squid, but he also guaranteed this by only jumping into the water and getting out almost immediately. His supply of dried meat was running out, with only about one days supply left, and he had drank the last of his water supply this morning, and his thirst was growing. He knew he had the flask still, but he was going to save that until tonight, just in case of an accident or fight. He would drink it just before he went so sleep.

Darian stopped and looked about., realizing that any spot was as good as another around here, and removed his bag. Reaching into it Darian removed one of the small cauldrons he had and made his way down to the water. As he stepped over the flotsam and jetsam that marked the high tide mark, he noticed that most of it was comprised of washed ashore seaweed and shells, and something he remembered from early life popped into his mind.

Nearly all seaweed was edible on Earth, with most countries finding some use for it. Darian couldn’t think of any reason why it should be any different here, so he decided he would see if he could stretch his dried meat supply a bit further by replacing it with seaweed. Kicking the debris apart, he was disappointed to see all of it had already dried in the sun, resembling dried leather. Bending down, he picked up a selection of the seaweed types, including thin stringy ones, along with some that looked like lettuce leaves, taking care as he found they crumbled in his grip if it was too firm.

Finding his free hand now full, he decided he had enough to experiment with and continued on to fill the cauldron with seawater before returning to where his bag lay. He placed the dried seaweed into the bag for later, and picking up the firestone before he withdrew his hand out. He looked at the filled cauldron and thought about what he was going to do, then re-read the portion of the description on the stone that he was going to work with.

Bonuses: The blessed nature of this stone allows it to be placed into any container of liquid and heat it to boiling when command is given. Will also purify tainted or polluted liquids. Maximum size of container one foot square.

Darian pursed his lips. This sounded like it would leave the water very hot, and he would have to leave it to cool down before he could drink it. He returned to his bag and took out the second cauldron. Might as well use the time while it cooled productively, he thought to himself, and placed it next to the filled cauldron.

Dropping the firestone into the filled cauldron with a splash, Darian spoke the activation word for it. “Ignite.” Instantly the water in the cauldron started to steam, something he found remarkable in the heat that already surrounded him, and small bubbles popped on its surface. Carefully, he lifted it by the thin handle and carefully tipped it into the empty cauldron, retrieving the firestone from the bottom of it. He had expected the stone to be red hot, but it was cool to the touch, allowing him to pick it up without bother.

Leaving the water filled cauldron to cool, he returned to the ocean to refill the cauldron he had emptied and started to return, only stopping when he saw something he had not noticed before, a few strands of a purple colored seaweed, died like all the rest. In interest, he picked them up and looked at them.

Item: Athrancian Seaweed (Purple Strain).

Athrancian seaweed can be found in all shallow waters of Eternia, but the purple strain of this seaweed is extremely rare, only growing in the waters off the shore of Capelia. Unlike other forms of seaweed, Athrancian Seaweed is sweet to the taste.

Athrancian Seaweed can be found in shades of Green, Blue, Yellow, Red and Purple. Each variety has shown itself to provide different benefits when ingested.

Green – Used in the brewing process of certain wines

Blue –Used in the creation of some Manna Potions

Yellow – Used in the production of certain food products

Red –Used in the creation of some Healing Potions

Purple – As yet unknown properties

His eyebrows perked at this, because with all the other strains being of benefit, this one should at least hold some positive benefit. He reframed to where his cooling cauldron of water lay and placed the newly filled one down next to it. He once again dropped the stone into it, and activated it. Like the first time, it instantly became boiling.

Holding out the purple seaweed over the top, he crumbles it into the hot water, watching the minute flakes dissolve when they landed on the surface, the water turning to a deep royal purple around them. If this didn’t work, then he would add the rest of the other seaweeds he had collected.

Leaning forward, Darian took a sniff at the steam rising from the surface, and froze. This smell was very familiar to him, one he had not smelled since his transfer. Closing his eyes, he took a deeper breath, sucking in as much as he could, and a smile cracked his face, one of absolute pleasure.

The five minutes it took to cool down enough to pick up was pure torture to him, but he sat there, fidgeting about with desire. Finally, he could grasp the outside without burning himself, and he lifted it to his lips and drank, long and deep, then he carefully placed it back down, with a contented sigh. It tasted just like coffee, but one with a strong overtone of rich chocolate.

It was thick, like hot chocolate, with just a slight touch of sweetness, almost like a coffee would be on Earth with sugar added, and it also quenched his thirst. He looked at the cauldron with a touch of sadness, knowing he couldn’t drink it all, and he had no way of saving it for later. Sniffing to himself, Darian picked up the cauldron once again, and started to drink, wondering if they had milk in Eternia.