Luc woke up with his side hurting. With a grunt, he sat up. It was dark for his eyes, and with a shudder, the memories from before he lost consciousness came back. Where am I? He thought. The last memory he had was of him crawling around in search of a safer place inside the cave.

From his aching body, he had found it, and it was not the best place to have a rest. The burning of his eyes was reduced to a dull thumping and a little itching, but it was worlds better than the hellish pain he had felt after dumping his head in the stream. He tried to remove his self-made blindfold. Some sunlight filled the cave; he blinked his eyes. He was lying on one side of the cave; next to him, he saw the green of the forest, and on his left side, the even darker depths of the cave. After a second, he felt the burn coming back, he immediately closed his eyes again and put the blindfold back on his head.

So, no seeing for the time, he thought. It didn't make the situation any easier, but he could do this; he had to. "So, concentrate, Luc; you can't waste any more time."

He clapped his cheeks and concentrated on the last system message.

*Basic Awakening*

Welcome to the awakening. A new quest is available.

Quest: Survive and learn. Quest Information: You find yourself in an unknown location with lots of dangers and opportunities. Close to the forest, there is a village. The residents of this village could be your mentors; they have the space and ways to teach you. Find them and learn their skills. But be careful; the surrounding area is full of creatures and monsters that see little more in you than prey. Where danger is, there is a reward; get the boons of your enemies and be smart in your choices, because the space and the rewards are not unlimited. May you be successful in your journey and find even more rewards outside of this space.

Quest duration: 90 days

Participants: 300

Luc swallowed; that could be worse, he thought. Of course, it indicated limited space for learning and resources, but in the end, it was like a tutorial or. So it shouldn't be too cruel, right? But first, he had to find the village and this blind, with a forest full of not-so-friendly and possibly hungry animals or monsters inside.

"And I thought the finals would be hard," he mumbled.

With this, he started to make his way outside again. It was not as hard as he thought, but he felt refreshed and kind of focused, so the way to the outside didn't take as long as he feared.

He left the darkness of the cave and felt the sun on his face, damped by the full canopy but better than the inside of the cave. His eyes stopped burning on the way outside. He was confused about that. Maybe my body protects me? In the beginning, he was afraid it could be the air or the sun of this place, but no pain found him after leaving the cave. More like the opposite, his whole body was feeling alive, and the air itself seems to vibrate from energy. He listened to the sounds of his surroundings: the wind flowing through the plants, the leaves, the trees, some birds singing, and the small stream making bubbling noises.

His throat hurts; should I try some? Of course, his eyes had burned even worse after he put his face inside the stream, but he couldn't find any lasting damage, at least as long as they were covered by the strip. The rest of his body didn't show any signs of damage or pain, so the problem should be with his eyes and not the surroundings, right?

In the end, his thirst won over his doubts, and he filled some of the water in his hands and took a careful sip. He nearly tore his eyes open when the water hit his tongue. Did it taste good? No good wasn't the word; it tasted brilliant as he had never tasted water as delicious as this before. Heck, most of his life, he didn't even think about the taste of water. Isn't it supposed to be tasteless? It was not the right time or the right place to have an enlightenment about the taste of water, but it flashed him, and a feeling of warmth spread through his chest. He drank as fast as he could and more than he probably should, but better full than sorry.

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Refreshed and full of positive energy, he went further into the forest. His good mood becomes a bit muffled when he enters the forest; being blind in a forest still wasn't the greatest idea. At least, I need something to orient and use as a weapon, even to just throw something if I have the bad luck to encounter one of these creatures. After some groping around on the edge of the forest, he found a solid stick. A hit against the ground showed the stability of this thing. That should do it for now.

Careful, and with an audible gulp, he started to feel his way deeper into the forest. After the first meters, he held his breath, waited, and... nothing happened. So with soft steps and the stick in front of him, he made his way forward. Time went by, Luc stumbled over roots and small rocks, he hit his head on some branches, and after running full face in some spider webs, he started to swing the stick vertically.

That must look silly. He shook his head. A blind guy of short stature, with his face full of spider webs, waves a stick through an unknown forest. If that guy weren't me, I would probably laugh, he thought with a grim smile. But a small speck of an adventuring flame had made its place inside his chest, and Luc's smile became more genuine.

He paused in his movements, and his smile faltered again. Wasn't there a rustle to his left? Slowly, he put his food a step back and pointed his stick in that direction. The rustling gets louder, and a hiss cuts through the forest. Luc started to sweat; that sound was one he knew well. No way he was mistaken.

In the past, when he was younger, he had discovered the dangers of his hiding spots really fast. Exactly one of the main reasons his parents had told him not to go into the forest was the existence of some venomous snakes back there. One time a snake had made itself comfortable directly under his treehouse, he needed to wait until sundown before the snake was gone and he ran his way home, just to get an angry lecture from his parents. And this hiss was too close to a snake to be mistaken. Blind and stuck in an unknown place, it wasn't the time to find out if this one was venomous too.

He slowly backed away.

The stick rubbed over the floor, trying to keep track of it and keep it away. The hissing comes stronger and more aggressive, and something hits the stick hard.

No time to waste, Luc thought.

He turns around and starts running. The stick was in front of him as he tried to find the trees and the bumps in the floor as well as he could without seeing.

But then, his left leg hit something soft, and he heard an aggressive hiss coming from his foot. Before he could react, something bit him, and a sharp pain spiked through his whole body.

No, that's not possible. Panic was flooding his mind.

I didn't run in a circle, or did I? No, there has to be more than one. His body full of adrenaline, he ignored the pain and the angry sounds filling the forest and ran as he had never run before in his entire life.

His breath was heavy, and his left calf was hurting. His whole body was covered in small cuts from the branches that hit him on the way. He hadn't heard the hissing for some time now; it should be fine to take a break, right?

Stop it! One further step, and I'm out, and that would be fatal in my situation, he thought.

Tired, he sat down, his back leaning on a tree.

"What do I need to do after a snake bite?" He asked in the silent forest. Was he supposed to suck it out or something?

With shaking hands, he decided to take a look. Two small punctures were grazing his left leg. The skin around the wound was a bit red, but no other signs of poison were seen. Relief flushed his mind, and he let out a tired sigh. Maybe he had some luck at least.

In this second, a high scream breaks the silence of the forest.

Could this day get any worse?