I must’ve finally drifted off, because Lira woke me when she rose.

The sun was up, bright light spilling through our solitary window. It was more than enough to see her as she padded by, perfectly naked.

I lay still as she pulled on her trousers and shirt, no undergarments, then grabbed a pot and went outside.

By the time she returned, I was dressed, my rapier, bow and dagger leaning against my pack. I was going back to the mine. There were more goblins to kill, more levels to gain. Work to do. Drakos wasn’t going to kill himself … more’s the pity.

“Good morning, my God.” She flashed me a smile as she came back in. “I was going to make some tea. Would you like some?”

“No, thank you. I need to get going. It’s a bit of a walk to a mine near here, and I’ve been hunting goblins there.”

Her eyebrows raised. “That sounds dangerous.” Then she blushed. “Not for you, obviously.”

“Well, it’s good to know that you’ll be here, should I get injured again.”

“Don’t you want me to come with you?”

Hell, no. “It’s dangerous, just like you said. I wouldn’t be able to protect you, and I can’t risk your safety.”

“But I don’t mind—”

“Lira. I want you to stay here and stay safe.”

She looked down. “Yes, Kaelan. Of course.”

I stepped outside, looping my rapier and dagger into my belt as I did. Then I checked my quiver was secure on my back, with its seventeen remaining arrows, looped my bow over my shoulders, nodded to Lira’s horse, and headed off west.

I didn’t go directly to the mine, but wandered broadly in that direction. I’d learned from my mistakes, and I wanted to be properly prepared this time.

It didn’t take long to find a dry, sturdy branch, and I took out my dagger and split and frayed the tip as I walked. A copse of trees provided resin, which I used to coat the top third of the branch, soaking it deeply into the cuts I’d made. A dead log provided bark, which I cut thin and wrapped tightly around my branch, holding it altogether with plant fibers that I tied around it.

I held out my new torch, examining it critically. It wasn’t a Maglite, but it would serve.

You have gained a new skill: Crafting. Crafting is now level 1.

Damn right.

I wedged my torch into my pack, then went to gather healing herbs. Lira might be back in the hut, ready to use her Restoration magic, but if I was cut and started bleeding again, I’d need to heal myself to get back there. It would do no good to die now, only to wake up in the temple a week’s travel away.

Some berries provided breakfast (point in Foraging), but I wanted to try hunting again. I had the whole day, and my Archery was a lot higher. But after creeping up on the hut the night before with my God power activated, so was my stealth. The deer didn’t stand a chance.

It took an hour to find a small herd of deer, and I crouched low in the grass, my bow in hand. I crept forward slowly, inch by painstaking inch, determined not to miss my chance this time.

But they kept moving. They would graze awhile, then amble on a bit before stopping again, then trotting a short distance as another patch of juicy grass appealed. Each time they moved, I had to creep that much further. After an hour of this, I wanted to run at them screaming, and machine gun down the whole damn herd. But I grit my teeth, checked the wind direction for the thousandth time, and inched forward once more.

At last, I got close enough to a young buck to draw my bow. The range was about forty paces, longer than I was used to, but I aimed carefully and let fly. My arrow hit him in the shoulder, and the whole herd took off as one.

Stealth went up two, Archery gained a point.

I hadn’t really expected to kill him with one shot, but now I had to track him down – not least to put him out of his misery.

It took me another hour to follow the trail of his blood through the grass, and when at last I found him, he was lying on his side, breathing bubbles of blood. Grimly, I took my dagger to his throat.

It was a far cry from ordering pizza.

Hunting has gained a rank. Hunting is now level 9.

Hunting has gained a rank. Hunting is now level 10.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I figured I was still a few hours’ walk from the mine, so I built a fire with moss and dried grass for tinder, twigs for kindling, and logs for fuel. Then I crafted a spit (crafting gained a point), and cut strips of venison from my kill.

The smell of roasted meat filled the air as I sat on a rock, idly turning the spit. I’d successfully hunted a deer, and it marked a significant point for me. I’d raised both my Archery and Hunting skills up, used my Stealth to get close enough, tracked it after the first shot, and built a fire on which to roast it.

It might not seem much to some hardened survivalist living in the south of the USA, but for a marketing executive from Boston with a D&D hobby, it was a pretty major accomplishment.

I gazed out over the rolling hills of the grasslands as I ate my lunch. The scenery was beautiful, the air as fresh as I’d ever breathed. I had Lira waiting back at the hut for me, and I couldn’t die.

I was a God. A fucking real-life God.

Did it get much better than this?

*

The entrance to the mine lay ahead, and I’d screwed up again.

It was late afternoon. I was against the clock, for the simple reason that if I kicked the gobbo hornet nest, they could come after me as soon as it got dark. And it would be getting dark in only an hour or two.

I wouldn’t be able to run to the safety of bright sunshine if the sun had gone down.

I’d left it too late. The crafting, the hunting, the foraging – it had all taken too much time. Especially those damn deer, ambling on a half-dozen paces every time I was about to take my shot.

Either I called it a day and went back to the warm smiles and pleasing curves of Lira, or I got off my ass and went to kill some more goblins. I had a date to keep with Drakos, and only one choice if I wanted to pay him back for daring to lay his hands on my High Priestess.

I still hadn’t spent the skill points I’d been sitting on from when I leveled up after the last run, and now I dumped two into Archery and four into Sword, keeping a balance between ranged and close combat. It seemed sensible to focus on weapon skills while I still had goblins to kill. That brought both Archery and Sword to thirteen.

The tunnel was as empty as before, but the reeking stench of goblins seemed stronger than before. Fuck, it smelled like a tannery and a sewage plant had an illicit love child.

That darkness closed in, but I held off on my torch. First, I wanted to use my bow if I could, and second, as soon as I lit it, I’d be seen. What I really wanted was to pop whoever was on guard duty, then run for it again. I was in no rush, one gobbo at a time worked for me.

I crept on down the passage, feeling my way with each step. I’d had practice at this now, and hunting the deer had helped. It wasn’t fast progress, but it was steady and quiet, and that was good enough.

They had their torch burning again, brighter than before. But as I drew closer, I saw they’d learned too. There wasn’t just one guard on duty; there were two of them.

Fine. I could manage two, especially if I could take the first one down with a single shot. Kill one with an arrow, take the other with my rapier if I had to, grab their torch again as it was faster than lighting mine, and hightail it out of town before reinforcements arrived.

It was the kind of tactics any Dungeon Master would be proud to see from his players.

But they weren’t asleep this time. How far could they see in the dark?

I’d soon find out. I crept closer, an arrow nocked on my string, my bow half-drawn. Sixty paces. Fifty. They hadn’t seen me yet, but they were silhouetted against the torchlight behind them. Forty. I’d hit deer at this range, but he hadn’t had the advantage of armor.

Thirty-eight … and a loose stone skittered along the passage.

Both goblins swung around, their eyes widening as they spotted me. I cursed under my breath, my stealth not as stealthy as I’d hoped.

Activate God Power.

God Power Activated. 5 minutes remaining.

I let fly my arrow, and it took one of them in the chest. He staggered back but didn’t fall.

“Hu-man!” screamed the other goblin, then ran at me.

This wasn’t going to plan. This far from the torchlight, it was too dark to fight him effectively, and it would take too long to light my torch. I quickly nocked another arrow, shooting it off at the dark figure running toward me. The goblin jerked; a hit, but I had no idea where or how bad. I looped my bow and pulled my rapier, my dagger in my other hand.

Then the goblin was on me.

Another problem. He could see in the dark, and I couldn’t. I quickly realized that fighting him in the gloomy passage was a fast way to get killed, so I swiped my rapier toward him, then dodged around him and ran for the torchlight.

New plan: kill the injured goblin, turn and deal with the one behind me.

It all sounded so good in my head. Right until my boot snagged a rope the goblin must’ve known was there, the trap went off, and the net fell from fuck knows where. I was entangled in thick rope, heavy with weights tied to its edges.

“Hu-man now ours!” the goblin behind me hissed.

I turned as best I could, stabbing my rapier through the net toward him. The little shit parried my blow, and the other goblin stuck his sword into my thigh.

Puncture wound, left leg. Agility -2. Armor Class -1. Speed -4. Dodge -4. Health -8.

Grimacing at the pain, I tried to turn my rapier to defend myself, but the net made it impossible. The first goblin leaped on me, and I screamed as his teeth tore into my wrist. The rapier dropped from fingers I could no longer control, but I still had my dagger, and the fucker was right there. I sunk it into the side of his neck, pulled it out, and stabbed him again. The goblin went limp, his weight dragging me down.

Before I could think of a way out, a spear point appeared just an inch from my throat.

“Stop moving, hu-man, or die.”

I froze. If he killed me, I’d have a long walk back and a lot of explaining to do to Lira. I was probably fucked anyway, but while I was still alive, I might as well learn what I could.

Bite injury, right wrist. Agility -3. Right hand disabled. -7 Health.

God Power Deactivated.

Attack has gained 3 ranks.

Defense has gained 2 ranks.

You have gained a new skill: Weapon (Dagger). Weapon (Dagger) is now level 1.

Dagger has gained 5 ranks.

Archery has gained 2 ranks.

Congratulations! You have gained a new level. You are now level 6. You have 6 skill points to spend. You may purchase new skills. You have gained a Perk.

Cool, a perk. Whatever that was. And that was a lot of ranks for a short flurry of activity. My God Power was awesome.

The goblin snarled at me, pushing the spearpoint forward until it pricked the skin of my throat.

I let my dagger drop to the floor and lay still, entangled in the net, the goblin I’d killed leaking green blood all over my leathers.

Fuck, my wrist hurt like hell.