It must have been territorial.

The manrat was a jagged gray tornado ready to carve Don’s flesh. There was no time to dodge. There was barely even time to think about dodging.

Instead, Don flung open the door in his mind.

This, it turned out, was a mistake.

If he had experimented with [Splash] earlier, he may have had some idea of what to expect—but he hadn’t. The door drank the MP from his mind like a hungry garbage disposal. It was only for a moment. By then, Don had realized something was gruesomely wrong and slammed it shut once more.

MP: 3 / 10

[Splash] cooldown: 8 seconds...

The world slowed to a crawl. It was patiently waiting for him to decide where the water would appear. When baffled Don failed to respond, time caught up.

Eight gallons of water burst into existence like a thunderclap. The resultant wave knocked both predator and prey off-balance. The manrat, spinning on a dime, entirely collapsed onto its side; sputtering, wet and miserable. Don merely stumbled.

He regained his footing before the rat could. Then he landed a glancing kick to its neck. it gurgled and coughed up clean water. You look so pitiful. But I know what will happen to me if you regain your momentum.

Sorry.

A hideous crunching sound rang through the forest. Don removed his bare foot from the creature’s snapped throat.

[Splash] cooldown: 7 seconds...

The fight was fast and brutal. Don knew he’d only survived because he’d relied on his magic. He’d cheated.

Shit, I feel awful.

Adrenaline flowed out of his system and Don staggered again, suddenly weary. He plopped down right on the newly formed mud with not even a wince. He couldn’t focus on the discomfort. The cold mud didn’t make it through his fried nerves. All he could think about was those malicious animal eyes going dark. It was just territorial. Did it have a family?

The thought stirred him to his feet. If it did, they definitely heard the commotion. I have to get out of here.

Don turned to offer the manrat one last forlorn look.

His stomach growled.

Without a word, he picked up the body and slung it over his shoulder. The sun was already sinking below the horizon; he had to start a fire anyway. These and other excuses flitted through his mind and were summarily discarded. It was simple to Don.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

If I don’t eat you, I might starve. And I’ll really be out of MP if I have to defend myself a second time.

Don took steps with the rodent before setting it down on a clean patch of alien grass. He plucked fronds from his surroundings until they were only bare dirt.

The sky turned mauve, then darker.

Finally, constellations peeked their glowing eyes from behind the daylight. It was around now that Don finished preparing his fire pit. He stared up at the spilled pinpricks of light and realized he recognized none of them.

Yet what a tapestry they were! Fields of stars like golden wheat in verdant nebulas. There were no further words for the blooming lights.

Don could have stargazed forever, but his stomach grumbled more insistently. The moment was left behind and above him.

Tinder was the easy part. These woods were nothing if not lush with stringy plants. The friction was where Don really struggled.

For supposedly having a Physique of G-2, I sure don’t feel very capable. Maybe the stats are just multipliers to what’s already there? That or the stats alone are not what’s remarkable about me.

Eventually there was a spark of hot ash. It seized the tinder in its teeth and grew into a cascading blaze. Don wasn’t sure how to cook the manrat, and he also wasn’t sure how to butcher it. But he hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so he settled for cooking one of its hands over the fire. Aside from around the base of the claw, the fingers were bare of hair.

This is a disaster.

Eventually, Don bit into the too-bloody too-charred palm and tried to imagine it was chicken. The taste made him queasy, so he stopped after three mouthfuls. That was usually how much he subsisted on, anyway.

He couldn’t leave the fire unattended. But his eyes were drooping.

I have to... have to save the MP... but I also refuse to commit arson on the first day.

Don opened the door in his mind. Just a crack. The MP filtered out of him and he shut it as soon as he felt the tugging sensation begin. In front of him, the fire’s sparks and crackles wavered and then stood still.

MP: 1 / 10

Right there, he tried to tell the world.

A sharp, three-gallon blast of water doused the fire. It was nowhere near where he wanted it to be. Instead it centered over Don’s head and set him shivering.

I miss my mattress.

Don laid his head against the dirt, too tired to even hide the burnt corpse. He was out in seconds.

-—-

When his eyes opened, the sky was blue again. For a moment he thought it was all a dream— but he was still outside.

It must turn blue in the morning and olive in the midday.

Don pulled himself upright. The charred manrat was covered in small, red flies. He decided not to care. He hadn’t thrown up the morsels he tried. That was what mattered.

Don had nothing to take and nowhere to be. He simply exited his homemade clearing on the opposite side of the way he came in.

It was a blessing in disguise that I hadn’t tested [Splash] until that fight. If the monster caught me on an empty or half-empty MP meter, I don’t know if I’d have survived. However, with only one MP left, I’m sure to botch the next encounter.

When he saw chimney-smoke rising faintly over the horizon like five charred fingers, Don didn’t hesitate any longer. It was no longer a marathon. He needed civilization immediately, at the very least for a Goblet. He sprinted, cutting through the underbrush like a human machete. When he burst clear of the brush it was almost a shock to him.

The trees turned to fields. Tanned men and women toiled away over their crops, some tall, some short. Pale farmers’ wives traded gossip while they washed their laundry in a brook.

Something is horribly wrong with this picture.

The people fed him dark, confused looks as he stumbled through the area.

This isn’t Earth. Why are there so many other humans?