The small fire was well and truly blazing, with the large pieces of deadwood beginning to catch alight.

Cole was standing over the river, searching for his prey. Every now and then, a fish would leap up into the air, creating a spray of water across the surface. The sun reflected through the scattered droplets, turning them into small golden orbs.

Cole pulled his pants up to his knees, wading into the edge of the river. He shivered, the water was cold, but also refreshing. Peering in, Cole could see hundreds of fish, shimmering and darting around beneath the surface. The Runic Speed rune was still just barely glowing, the time it lasted for was much longer while it wasn’t in active use. He readied his hands, tracking a fish that was about the size of his forearm, and pounced.

The poor fish was no match for Cole’s speed, in an instant, his hands were wrapped around its body, bringing it out of the water as he cheered. Then his Speed rune ran out, and everything went wrong.

The fish was surprisingly strong, it wriggled and flexed, struggling to get out of Cole’s grasp. He felt as if he was arm wrestling a scaly, wet, bodybuilder. A bodybuilder’s arm anyway.

The fish’s struggle was not in vain, a few wriggles later, and it had broken free, leaping back into the water, taking Cole’s hope for an easy meal with it down the river.

“Damn it!” Cole cursed, slamming his hands into the water. He tried a couple more times to grab another fish, but limited to just his base speed, it was virtually impossible.

Cole began to fume, he was hungry, he was tired, and he was so damn far from his warm bed, and fully stocked kitchen.

In his frustration, he traced out the symbol for his Runic Blast, firing it directly into the river in the hope that he’d be able to kill at least one fish, even a small one. All it accomplished however, was blasting himself in the face with water, and sending every fish scattering at least 10 metres away from him.

Cole slumped in the water, utterly dejected. How was he going to eat? How did people ever catch fish without a rod?

Then he thought back, replaying the survival videos in his mind, until he had an idea.

Cole lumbered out of the water, given new strength by his fresh idea. If this didn’t work, he was just going to cut his losses and eat some bark. He made his way back into the forest, looking for the perfect stick. He found a thin, willowy tree, and snapped off a few branches, taking them back to the fire.

Cole picked up the sharp rock he had used to light the fire and began to get to work on the 3 long branches he’d found. He scraped off the bark at the tip, whittling them down into sharp points. He tested the edge, wincing as it pressed into the soft skin of his fingertip. Next, Cole let them bake in the fire, turning them over to ensure that each end was blackened evenly.

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By doing so, the spears would be lighter and harder, able to pierce more easily through the scales of the fish. Once he was finished, he rose, eager to get his food. From the looks of the sun, he didn’t have much daylight left, and once night fell, it would be far harder to see any of the slippery animals.

Once back in the water, Cole grasped one of his spears in his right hand, the left hand ready to trace out a rune. Once more, Runic Speed filled his arms, but he wasn’t done yet. He then traced out the rune for Strength, and the purple glow on his arms intensified. Cole felt stronger than he ever had. He also noticed a small pressure in the back of his head, strain from keeping two runes active at once. Glancing at his shoulder, he could see the runes draining far faster than if he’d just had one active. He had to move quickly.

Cole found another large fish, tracking it once more with his eyes. He let the tip of the spear poke just below the surface, following along with the movements of the large fish. Seconds seemed to stretch out, and everything was still.

Then he struck.

Cole thrust the spear down into the water, empowered with far more Strength and Speed than he should have had. The fish was impaled by the spear, which travelled straight through and embedded itself in the ground. The fish stayed in place, flopping around as if to escape, but to no avail.

Cole cheered, happy that his plan had finally gone right. He retrieved the other two spears from next to the fire, repeating the process twice more, netting him two more large fish to cook. After making sure all the fish were well and truly dead, Cole brought the three spears, fish still attached, back up to the fire. His stomach was now constantly growling, not helped by the sight of the food, which was now so close to being in his belly.

Cole propped two of the spears up on a stone, keeping their respective fish off of the ground. With the other one, he squatted down next to the fire. Cole held the spear out of the coals, letting the heat work its magic. While much different, and far more low-tech than his beloved cooking set at home, he supposed beggars couldn’t be choosers.

The aroma of cooking fish soon made its way to nostrils, and Cole almost began to salivate as a result. He held out for a few minutes more, but as its flesh began to turn brown, he could wait no longer. Cole snatched the spear back from the fire and tore into the fish using his teeth without a second thought.

It was awful.

The outside was cooked, sure, but his hunger driven haste had meant that the inside flesh had really only been slightly warmed up. But Cole couldn’t care less. Even though it was severely undercooked, and he’d also forgotten to properly gut it, this was the most grateful he’d ever been for a meal in his life. Soon, all he was left with was a little bit of meat, as well as a fish skeleton. Cole snapped some bones off, using one to pick his teeth, and lined the others up next to his sharp stone and quartz rock. He was developing a rudimentary camping kit.

Now that his hunger was satiated, Cole cooked his next fish, doing his best to clean the fish properly, and taking his time to make sure it would be evenly cooked through. Once he’d eaten it, enjoying it far more than the first, he burped, content and full. It really was satisfying to cook a meal knowing that you’d caught it.

He was too full, and also far too tired, to eat the third fish, so he found some wide flat leaves and wrapped the fish inside, leaving it on the stones of the fire to cook overnight.

The sun had well and truly set, and the immense moon, which Cole had almost forgotten about, was beginning to dominate the sky once more.

He supposed it was time to get ready for bed.

Cole cleared out a small space next to his fire, which would be his resting place for the night. He also made sure to stock up the blaze with some large pieces of wood, which would ideally keep him warm till morning. Hopefully, it would also have the twofold effect of keeping any ill-meaning beasts well away throughout the night. The fatigue of the day had really caught up with him now, and so knew he’d sleep like a rock.

Once his sleeping arrangements were in order, Cole lay on his back, staring up at the enormous moon and vibrant stars that surrounded it.

It was strange, he thought, here he was sleeping in the wilderness, in a world full of danger, but he felt the most fulfilled he had in a long time.

Soon after, Cole drifted off to sleep.