Vessalius tasted his very first fight outside the walls of Rosenheim. Though he almost wet his pants, his burning spirit rose when he was protected by a girl. Circumstances led to him and her knowing each other due to that ordeal. It turns out his would-be protector was a user named Rox. Full name was Roxanne and turns out she was in the same country as him. Wakoku or in other words, Japan.

She told him that she was a gamer at heart and that when Royal Road came out in Japan, she immediately procured it with her parents money. She was the complete opposite of Vessalius aka Shigetsu in real life. But due to a condition imposed by her parents, she was unable to play the game after it was officially released.

She was also a grind freak according to her. Her first day was immediately towards the training hall and unlike Vessalius, she bought in-game money with her savings. She also went to be a foot soldier in the kingdom. She did odd jobs as a soldier while training her avatar. She trained while doing odd jobs so it was killing 2 birds with 1 stone according to her. The job this time was supposed to be her last day for the month. This was due to an exception because she was also one of the green and newly recruited soldiers hence why she can come out of the kingdom.

"So you'll be doing the kings quest tomorrow then Ves?" Rox said.

"Please call me by my full name Ms. Roxanne and yes I'm gonna do it tomorrow." Vessalius sighed as he answered her question.

"Don't wanna. Your name is very long and it's hard to pronounce."

'Was she really the one who saved me or was it just some kind of hoax or something.'

The topic was all about the subjugation quest given by the king as a punishment plus an off-topic conversation about his name being shortened.

They arrived at the entrance of the Forest of Carnage a day and a half. The estimated arrival was supposed to be only a days journey but they were ambushed on their very first journey. The fresh recruits under the leadership of Knight Gale and his lieutenants  ordered them to set-up camp. To escape Roxanne's talkative grip?, he immediately went towards the soldiers to help but he was barred from helping by Gale and was told to rest so that he can do the quest tomorrow with full vigor. With his escape blocked by the knights words. He was left with no choice but to go back to her since Roxanne was ordered to protect him from all harm and the day closed after a hearty dinner with the recruits.

Vessalius woke up early morning to prepare for the journey ahead. He was helped by Gale on his things. He got food and water that would last for 5 days and items that would help him inside the forest. If he runs out of food, he was told to come back to them since they will be waiting for him due to the kings orders. He thanked the knight and said he would be returning triumphant. With that he entered the forest.

"This place is even bigger than I imagined." Vessalius said with an awe.

According to the book he read about the forest, it was very big inside. Do not let the things that you can see outside fool you. It was written that the forest was very expansive and that if you aren't careful, you could get lost. He would be facing monsters again. Unlike the last time where he was with a group when he fought the wolves, he would be fighting them alone.

"For now, I might as well look for a good source of water."

With his knowledge of reality. The first thing he should look for was a source of water. Even without food, water can also help you fill your satiety a bit. He roamed around looking for sources that could indicate a stream or river.

His exploration came to a halt when he suddenly got attacked by 4 wolves in the bushes. Since he got attacked by the wolves last time, he got accustomed to their pounces when he did battle with them. When he was gonna try and blocked the pounces, his passive skill Foresight kicked in. His surroundings went in slow motion for a few seconds. His mind kicked in immediately. Instead of trying to block, he counter-attacked. With a fast swing of his sword, he severed the wolves paws with a quick movement swing by moving his body in a circular motion.

"Art of Drawing, Full Moon Swing." Vessalius said as he returned his sword to its sheathe.

The passive skill ended after returning his sword, the motion went back to normal with the wolves severely injured after landing on the ground. 8 paws were severed on the wolves body. Blood was shed on the wolves body. He turned around and made a ghastly grin on the 4 wolves.

"This is payback for what you did to me you freaking furry cats. You almost made me pee my pants in front of a girl."

With a grudge, he disposed on the wolves as if his life was at stake. The wolves losing their limbs was left with no choice but to howl in despair.

After disposing the wolves, his mood was finally lifted. His pride as a man was almost broken before and was rewarded with a level up. After fighting off the ambush last time, he still hasn't used the stat points he got from leveling. According to a forum user, stats are everything on a players avatar. If you just put stats everywhere then you will regret it for the rest of your life. As such, he just left it alone for now.

He returned exploring the forest but to no avail. Still he continued exploring the forest while fending off attacks from wolves. It was 2 days later that he finally found a stream after he judged that the water source would be in the deeper parts of the forest and he was right. With all that fighting and leveling, he finally procured a water source.

Now that procurement of water source is completed. It is now time to hunt for food. Though Gale said that he could return to camp, it would be a hassle if he will return from here back. Plus it eats time when he can find the behemoth rather than going back.

'Father always said that if you can't find food, find ways to get food.'

It was when he was 8 yrs. old that he was told of that by his father, Nobunaga.

'The forest has a lot of things that could offer. I could get meat from the wolves but I doubt they would give me their meat.'

While he was pondering about the food source, 3 wolves came out of the nearby bushes. With a scary grin, he turned around and looked at the wolves faces. Their growling faces that could scare of prey became yelping sounds of despair.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"YOUR MEAT IS MINE!!!" yelled Vessalius as soon as he as unsheathes his sword.

"Yelp yelp yelp." howled the wolves then turned around to escape but they were cut off from their escape route.

"YOU HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO GO EXCEPT MY STOMACH!!" Vessalius said with menacing words to the wolves.

What comes next was a slaughter...to the wolves that is.

"Ok. Food is now secured. I just need to start a fire."

After the massacre of the wolves, Vessalius explored the nearby vicinity to acquire some firewood and dried leaves.

While acquiring some firewood and dried leaves. Monsters appeared. A group of kobolds appeared this time. They were wearing armor for defense and clubs as weapons while the others are using bows as weapons. They were 6 of them in their group.

"4 kobold warriors and 2 kobold archers huh."

He murmured to himself. In truth, he already know what kinds of monsters live in the forest because of the monster guide he read in the library. Other than wolves, they were kobolds, gnolls and a type of lizardmen which lives in the deeper part of the forest.

The kobold archers fired their arrows at him. Left with no choice, he threw the firewood and dried leaves and then dodged the incoming arrows by going to the left. The warriors with support from their 2 archers charged at him with their clubs held high. Using his quick reflexes and movement, Vessalius blocked their blows while trying to diminish some of the hits. The fact that their hitting him despite his high agility is due to their coordination. Though his avatar is high with stats, he was just but one player.

"Ugh, the hits just keep coming. Their like a well oiled machine."

While trying to parry some of the attacks, he tripped on a small but elevated tree branch. The kobold warriors charged at the defenseless Vessalius. He tried standing up but he was put down once again when one of the kobolds hit his legs.

"MEAT!!! WE CAN FINALLY EAT HUMAN MEAT!!!"

"YES. HUMAN MEAT IS DELICIOUS!!!"

"HUMAN BRAIN IS THE MOST DELICIOUS OTHER THAN THE MEAT!!!"

"WE SHALL DRINK ITS BLOOD AS A SACRIFICE TO OUR GOD!!!"

The kobolds were saying pretty grotesque words as they beat Vessalius up.

"The heck I'll get killed by the likes of you!!"

Vessalius swung his sword in a circular motion along with his legs like a hip hop to scatter them away from him.

The kobolds were getting hurt on his counterattack. They finally scattered away from him to avoid being damaged any further. He immediately stood up but as soon as he did, one of the arrows hit his left shoulder.

"Ugh!!" Vessalius cried out due to pain.

He's now in a pinch. His health is dropping out very fast. Though his damaging the kobolds. He's not damaging them enough because the kobolds are supported by their fellow kin which are the archers. His skills are leaving him out to defend himself. Foresight was one of his passive skills. Though it was a great skill for him, it is not an active skill but it is what you call a passive chance activation skill. His skill being intermediate level 1 now level 2 because of the ambush a few days ago now has a 11 percent chance to activate.

Now another arrow was fired and was hit on Vessalius legs. He was hit with a status which was a slow and a crippling status for a few seconds. His health now drops to a margin of 10% left. Despite his overall large stats and skills. He is but one person. There was a saying that one person that is very powerful is unbeatable in a 1 on 1 situation but gang up on him and your chance to beat that person rises significantly.

Despite the feeling that he knows he will be killed in the next few seconds, his fire in his eyes are still flaring.

"If I'm gonna die, then I'll take one of you with me!!!"

With reckless abandon, he charged to the kobold warriors. Even though he is getting hit by arrows, he continued his charged and fought valiantly till the end. With his last dying breath, he finally takes out 1 of the kobold warriors. After he died, he was engulfed in darkness and with a familiar sound hearing in his ears he was alerted on his condition.

*Ding*

---o---o---o---o---o---

Due to your first time being killed in action, you will be unable to log inside Royal Road for the next 24 hours. Also, your skills will be decreased by 10-20%. You can restore the decreased skills by performing the same skills again. Please avoid being killed in the near future to avoid these problems.

---o---o---o---o---o---

With that final message, he logged out of the game, took out the gaming gear and opened his eyes. He sat on his bed and look at his surroundings. When he looked at the clock beside his desk, it was 7:30 in the morning. The sun just risen a couple of minutes earlier and as if it was right on cue, he heard a knock on his room.

"Young master, are you awake? It is I, Mathilda. It is now time for breakfast. Your mother and father are already downstairs waiting for you." said by the maid on the other side.

"I'm awake and thank you for calling me Ms. Mathilda. I'll be coming down shortly. Please go right ahead." replied Shige

"As you wish young master."

Mathilda left. He could hear her footsteps in the stairs going down. He went to his rooms bathroom to wash his face. When he looked himself  in the mirror, as if it's a different person he said...

"So this is the feeling of being dead in the game..."

Was the words he said in the mirror.