1.12

Coughing awake Eric moaned internally. His mind struggled against the overriding pain coming from his body. There was heavy weight on his chest. And there was the pain. Oh, god the pain. It seared him. It ached. He couldn’t have imagine such pain was possible. He wanted to die, wanted the pain to stop. But it didn’t. He lay there for what felt like forever. Agony coursing over his body. Somehow, the pain became bearable after a while. His mind struggled to suppress it, knowing there was no choice. He had to act. It was necessary. Or he would die. There was a primal desire to live that he didn’t know he had. One moment he desired the peace of death, the next he was spitting in its face. Willing himself on.

As he became more conscious, more aware of his surroundings. He could feel liquid surrounding his hands. As his eyes opened he took in the dull dead eye of the snake monster. It pierced his soul. It was dead. Pushing himself up ever so slightly, Eric perceived the horror which was his torso. 2 teeth had stabbed straight into him. A tooth had pierced just below his right shoulder, another had sunk into just above his hip. Several more teeth had cut into him but not to the same extent. Terrible, deep cuts but none of those risked internal injuries. Thankfully he could feel pain in his legs. The overriding weight of the monster was on them. The pain came

back sharper than before as he strained to push the snake off him. He heaved in desperation and the snake’s teeth were pushed out, the head lifted off his chest. Then he wiggled his body out of the way before releasing it. Gasping from pain and exhaustion. Eric pulled himself to his feet. Barely conscious he limped towards one of the bedrooms stopping in intervals. Bleeding dangerously Eric entered and once more began creating bandages out of clothing. He was desperate. He barely had any awareness of what he was doing. He mummified himself in hope. Ripping shirts apart mechanically. Then he lay down on the bed. And hoped that the universe, crazy as it is would allow him to heal. Drifting out of consciousness. Never again.

Waking up was alive. He called out into the (hopefully) empty apartment, “Status”

 Name: Eric Scot

 Age: 27

 Race: Human

 Class:

 Level: 7

 Faction: Unaffiliated

 Distributable Status Points: 0

 Hitpoints: 57/110

 Stamina: 50/137.5

 Health Regeneration: 1.1/s

 Stamina Regeneration: 6.5/s

 Vitality: 11

 Mana: 100/100

 Strength: 15

 Mana Regeneration: 0.5/s

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

 Agility: 15

 Intelligence:10

 Dexterity: 15

 Wisdom: 10

 Luck: 5

 Charm: 5

Curious Eric stared at his status screen hoping that it would make sense. Obviously, it hadn’t been updated since the battle. He wondered about that. It seemed to only update in his apartment. Was it something to do with safety. Or something else… Never mind what drew his attention was the lack of a complete heal. His Hitpoints were only slightly above half and his stamina was below half. This was the first time he hadn’t completely healed. Though this was probably the worst he had been injured. Perhaps it would heal in time. Trying to ignore the frustration he felt and look at the Brightside. He was alive. Still. Now time to check if he still had all his faculties. He really needed to pee.

Finished with… business. He could feel a dull ache throughout his body. A sense of tiredness which he hadn’t felt since cramming for a test in high school. Both indicated that he wasn’t healed, not by a long shot. But hey. He was alive. The snake wasn’t. The goblin leader wasn’t. Pausing that train of thought Eric lifted a spear from a dead goblin and approached the still form of the goblin leader. It was an ugly creature. Like a mix between an ape, a bear and a goblin. It was furry but not the nice, soft kind of fur. The goblin’s fur was greasy and coarse and generally kind of gross. Usually Eric made the point of ignoring the features of his dead foes. It helped him escape the realization that he had just murdered a living creature. This goblin had a better crafter leather armor than its compatriots. Not something Eric would be caught dead in. Ugly and the wrong shape to boot. Also, if Eric wanted to wear it he would have to take it off the things body. That was just plain gross, the grossness did not equal the possible utility of the armor. And hey. The goblin was still dead. The armor didn’t save him.

Eric refocused. It didn’t seem alive but… If he managed to survive. The goblin may have survived all those bones breaking. Its neck was still straight. Its survival didn’t seem possible but somehow, he had survived his injuries. Anything seemed possible at the moment. With a swift step forward he drove his spear into the goblins chest. Its eyes opened. Swifter than he could blink the goblin reached towards the spear embedded in its chest. Then it pulled. Its other arm reached for his throat. Caught by surprise Eric almost leaned straight into its claws. Pulling back at the last moment he stared in horror as the spear sunk ever deeper in goblin. Claws missed his face by centimeters. Its deadly passage sent air gusting towards his face. Then as suddenly as it began. The goblin straining stopped. It died. The grasping arm fell limply to floor. The other held the spear in a death grip. Eric stared wide-eyed.  He gulped, overcoming the momentary shock. He had almost died once again. From a supposedly dead enemy. He had to be more careful. Shaking his head he decided to shrug it off. It being alive meant more experience. He looked the goblin over. His eyes fastened on the pouch tied to its belt. Then the looting began.

Before returning to his apartment. Although, tired, hungry and hurt Eric was determined to end this current farce. Searching through apartments he found no enemies. There was supplies which he would have to collect but no snakes, no still alive goblins. Satisfied the third floor was cleared he then headed up to the fourth. Smashing down the fire exit door after around 30 minutes of kicking he began the clearance of the 4th floor. There were 2 goblins remaining, of course they were in the last apartment he searched.

They weren’t much of a challenge, Eric wasn’t in the mood for a fair fight. As they rushed him he threw 2 knives one after the other, both struck their targets. Slowed the goblins continued to chase him, he backpedaled pulling free a knife which he then released downing one of the goblins. Spear in hand he finished off the weakened enemies. He had killing bjørn goblins down to an art form. Finished searching the apartments Eric felt relieved. He had feared that he would find baby goblins or pregnant goblin females. No matter how cruel the world gets. How much he struggled to adjust to the changing environment he doubted that he would ever be able to kill children in cold blood. Or in hot blood for that matter.

After hours of carrying loot and supplies back and forth. He noticed something. He hadn’t seen it before but there was a snake tank in one of the apartments. Smashed into near unrecognizability. This was the source of his pain and exhaustion. He cursed the snake’s previous owner. “What kind of weirdo buys a snake for a pet?!”, he yelled aloud. Completely ignoring the fact it would have thought it pretty cool before the apocalypse. The tank had been tiny however. Kind of ridiculous how something so small could get so damn big. Trying hard not to fume. At how frustratingly annoying the universe had begun he continued his current job.  Then finally. At long last, Eric got the chance to lay down on the sofa. Groaning from the dull throb of his muscles and bones complaining while simultaneously releasing a pent-up breath. Eric sat comfortably on his sofa. And began to eat a delicious pasta dish. Then the long-awaited sound came. It brought a wicked grin to Eric’s face.

.

Ding!