Finally free of his pursuers, covered in sweat and grime, Fritz marched through the forest. Using his compass, he was able to lead a southerly direction. Thorns and vines caught on his clothes as he navigated between trees. Light from a hidden sun barely pierced the thick canopy of the tall trees.

Strange speckled mushrooms and dark moss grew all along the forest floor. Vibrant azure flowers grew from twisting vines attached to the iron-gray trees. They twisted and turned latching onto trunk, branch, brush, and root. Weathered stone, and hard clay crunched underneath Fritz's black boots, as he stepped down into a dried out creek. Song birds warbled in the upper canopies. Huge black carapaced spiders hung like silent guardians, watching Fritz's lumbering form pass between the iron-gray trees. Large grasshoppers, the size of Fritz's fist, jumped through the undergrowth as Fritz traveled past.

Time seemed to fly away, as Fritz hiked deeper into the woods. His quick mind was alert documenting the unknown environment. His eyes scanned and his head swiveled around as he looked for predators lurking in the shadows.

Stopping for a moment, Fritz closed his eyes and concentrated on the pulsing mana near the center of his chest. Pulling on the sensation, he closed his eyes and pictured a mundane object in his mind. Guiding the mana through his body and out of his body, he conjured a mundane bottle of water. After uncapping the bottle, Fritz brought the plastic bottle to his nose. Sniffing it, and sensing nothing out of the ordinary, he placed the water to his lips and took a tentative sip. The water tasted cool and refreshing. It tasted exactly like he had imagined it.

Placing his back against a tree, Fritz sat down on the forest floor. A large exposed root acted as his uncomfortable seat.

The setting sun threatened fast approaching darkness. Fritz began roving through a mental list of survival tools he would need. Sipping the water, he let his head fall back against the tree. His thick dark hair nestled against the rough bark.

"Water seems to be taken care of. Food and shelter will take the next priority, until I can find some kind of civilization. Creating a proper tent might take some time but seems doable. Eating any of the mushrooms is completely out of the question. Knife, matchsticks, rope, bear mace, all of it is on the table. But before all that, I need to check out this strange magic. I need to figure out what my limits are."

Placing the plastic water bottle on the ground. Fritz conjured a series of objects.

Closing his eyes, Fritz pictured the last fiction book he read. A knight dueling a red scaled dragon was on the cover. Flipping through the pages, Fritz was disappointed to see the inner pages completely blank. Setting it aside, he moved onto the next object. Holding the image of a survival knife in his mind, Fritz opened his eyes to see the modern steel folding knife in his hand. He turned it over as he inspected the blade. It felt strong and durable. Extending the blade out, he ran his thumb over the edge.

"Nice and sharp." he muttered.

Afterwards, he grinned cunningly to himself as he focused on the next object. His mind held the image of a standard police service pistol. The black polymer grip was familiar in his hands. The lead bullets, with a fifteen round magazine came next in his mind as he assembled all of the pieces. A rush of mana left his hand, with a strong wave of fatigue attacking his mind. Leaning back into the tree he waited for the feeling to pass.

Fritz could feel the grip of the gun. He opened his eyes, and inspected the all black design. Checking the handle, he pressed the magazine eject. The magazine was stuck in place. Pulling back on the slide, he tried to rack the gun. Nothing moved. Pointing the gun into the forest, Fritz checked the safety and pulled on the trigger. The trigger would not budge. Pulling with all his might, Fritz could feel the pressure building. With a dejected sigh, he gave up. Setting the useless pistol down, Fritz moved onto the next object.

Picturing a matchstick, Fritz focused on the essence of his mana. The familiar wave of energy left his body. A throbbing pulse of a headache appeared momentarily before quickly disappearing. Between his fingers was a single matchstick. Moving the match down to the exposed root below, Fritz dragged it across the root. The match ignited, and the familiar scent of sulfur wafted to his nose. He watched the flame for a moment, before blowing it out.

"This proves a couple things. Objects with more intricate internal workings appear to be harder to make. The simpler the object the better. The matchstick proves that chemical objects are doable. That leaves a wide variety of options, depending on my creativity." Fritz grinned to himself, as he thought of his worst failure. "The gun might have been cheating. But who wouldn't want to show up armed and dangerous?"

Looking at his conjured objects, Fritz placed the survival knife into his pocket. Waning light barely pierced through the canopy of the forest. Dusk was fast approaching in the forest. Sitting perfectly still, Fritz let the sounds of the forest consume him. He breathed in slowly and deeply. The strange chatter and cries of unfamiliar animals echoed between the trees. The buzz of insects and rustle of nearby leaves swarmed around him. In the approaching dusk, the forest was coming alive. Soon, Fritz would settle into a long night in a new unfamiliar land.

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After a moment, Fritz stood up to gather twigs and branches to fuel a small fire.

The cries of wolves resounded through the dark night. Fritz sat alert before his campfire. His back nestled into the trunk of a tree. The long mournful howls sent shivers down his spine as his ears tried to place their location. He clutched his long survival knife close to his chest. Bright silver moonlight pierced through the leaves of the forest's upper canopy.

A howl resounded long and sonorous through the trees. His ears perked up to the ever encroaching pack. When silence came again, Fritz closed his eyes for a moment. The warm campfire crackled as the tinder burned steadily. For a moment, he reveled in the quiet of the forest, hoping and waiting for the approaching danger to pass him by.

Faint screams and shouts alerted Fritz. An angry, feminine voice was yelling out nearby, and coming closer. His eyes opened instantly, as he shot to his feet. He looked behind him, towards the sound. The shouting was followed by a howl of wolves. A chorus of predators drowned out the high pitched shouting. A sinking feeling hit his stomach, as he found the distressed woman's direction.

"Shit. Found civilization." Fritz cursed. Grabbing a thick branch, he conjured a bundle of cloth and oil. Combining them, he created a torch. Lighting it in the campfire, he set out towards the disturbance.

The orange glow of his torch cast long dark specters as he jogged through the underbrush. He was quick, yet careful as he moved through bramble and over root. The shouting was becoming more distinct. The howls of wolves were getting louder. The shouting was just ahead.

"Go away you bastards!" The same feminine voice yelled. Quickening his pace, Fritz barreled through the underbrush of the forest. His blood pumped with adrenaline, as his muscles twitched with excitement. Fear, and excitement mixed together as Fritz charged forward.

Moving into a small clearing, Fritz saw a pack of yellow eyes and gray fur surrounding a large boulder. Atop the boulder a woman spun her short sword around to keep the leaping beasts at bay. She wore a pair of black pants with matching boots. A large backpack, displayed teeth marks and tears from her pursuers.

Fritz paused for a moment, as he struggled to take in the situation. A flash of gray fur over to his left, alerted his primal sense of danger. The pouncing blur of the massive wolf's fur entered into Fritz's peripheral vision. The beast was barreling directly towards him. A shiver of fear gripped his body, as he moved to defend himself. Dropping the torch, he focused on the magical energy inside of him. Fritz envisioned something to drive away the beast. A can of bear spray appeared in his hand nearly instantly right as the torch dropped from his fingers. Moving the nozzle towards the beast, he pressed down on the trigger. The trigger refused to budge. A single word flashed through his mind like lightning. Fuck.

The wolf pounced. Its large muscular frame with slobbering yellow teeth sailed towards him. Its maw snapped at his exposed neck. Yellow fangs dripped with a feral hunger threatening to rip his throat to shreds. Fritz held onto the mace as he jumped out of the way. The beast's jaw locked onto the bottle, ripping it from his hand. Fritz's body fell onto the forest floor, as the beast sailed past him. The hissing sound of condensed liquid reached Fritz's ear. An acrid smell of capsicum hit him, just as he heard the canister explode open. The wolf whimpered in pain as the mace slathered over its muzzle reaching into the wolf's nose and eyes. Fritz looked back to see it blindly escape bumping into trees and more blind wolves alike.

The other wolves seemed stunned as the pepper scent filled the clearing. Their sensitive noses filled with the horrid stench. The woman on the boulder paused for a moment, as she looked over towards Fritz.

"Something simpler." Fritz said to himself as he stood up. He felt cool glass fill his palm as he surveyed his enemies.

Fur, claw, and tooth descended upon him again. Three wolves were running towards Fritz. He threw the glass vials towards the sprinting wolves. The vials shattered, releasing the concentrated hydrochloric acid onto two of them. The biting irritating odor mixed with the capsicum, yet it did not stop them. One of the wolves pounced towards Fritz. He readied his knife as the wolf snapped at his neck.

The knife struck its nose, as the wolf's charging body sent Fritz sprawling to the ground. The air left his lungs as his back slammed against the hard ground of the forest. The wolf's body landed beside Fritz. Fritz was momentarily stunned. He kicked at the wolf, and scrambled away to his feet.

"Bastards!" The woman on the rock shouted down. Her battered blade, nicked and slashed the oncoming beasts. The wolves crowded around her. Snapping jaws of long teeth threatened her ankles and legs. The mass of fur and teeth swarmed around her. On his feet, Fritz stood up as he conjured a long dagger in his hand. A throbbing headache soon came upon him. He felt his vision blur, as he reached for his head.

"Watch out! Behind you!" The woman shouted down at him. Fritz looked back to see a wolf fast approaching. Seizing upon the momentary lapse of concentration, another wolf leapt upwards towards the woman's leg. Its long fangs sunk into the flesh above her knee. She grunted in pain as she fell back over boulder wrestling with the wolf. The swarm of wolves followed her around the boulder.

Fritz readied himself, as he prepared for the attacker.

A long pained howl erupted into the night. The wolf preparing to attack Fritz stopped. It looked towards the source of the far away cry. As if Fritz never existed, the wolf stalked away. Injured and pained wolves whimpered as they evacuated the clearing. Fritz, with his knife held high, waited as the wolves slunk back into the dark forest. Grabbing his burning torch, he extinguished some ignited brush with his boot. He jogged around the boulder towards the injured woman.