“Harder! Quicker! Stronger! More Powerful! Come on! It’s like you’re not even trying!? Sprout! That was too damn slow! Make sure you move quicker or my fist is going straight through your side!” The sharp, loud, and assertive commands echoed through the air, belittling me, but also demanding my best.

  I bared my teeth and whipped around, unable to see anything through the blindfold tied around my eyes. I crouched low and slashed my claws out at where I could have sworn I heard him yelling, but they just slashed through thin air, too late. I roared and slashed out again carving a deep line in a nearby tree, cursing to myself. I had been too slow, and now I was going to pay for that.

  Almost as if he could read my mind, I grunted as a massive fist smashed into my side, knocking the breath out of me yet again. I groaned and stumbled to the side, whipping around and lashing out at where I felt like the massive fist had come from and slashed out.

  Unfortunately my claws failed to hit anything, and I growled as I felt that damn club smash into my side again. I guess the bastard had decided to switch from using his fists to batter me… Fuck this was gonna hurt!

  I roared again and reached into the void, pulling on it to activate claw. I felt the extra power surge through my arm, and I spun around, lashing out with my arm and allowing my claws to carve through the air almost like it was butter. I hadn’t managed to catch Wess all morning, but something inside me was certain that I had caught him this time.

  I laughed and screamed into the air, “Aha! I got you this ti-” But I cut myself short as my claws slashed through thin air, and not the old man like I had been so certain of, and I cursed out loud, “Damn it you old codger! Show yourself!”

  Another mass of dull pain slammed into my side, into the back of my knee, and then into my gut, knocking the air out of me once more and sending me face first to the ground. Four more crashed into my side, and I struggled to crawl forward, but then I felt a heavy boot slam onto my back, smashing me back into the ground. I fought and struggled for a moment, but the oppressive weight of the heavy boot did not relent, and after a long moment, I sighed and raised my hands up in the air, showing that I had given up, and after yet another long moment, the boot lifted from my back and hearty laughter filled the air.

  I rolled on my back, and growled, ripping the blindfold off of my eyes, “Oh you old cheat! How am I supposed to even find you with a goddamn blindfold over my eyes!?”

  A loud boisterous laugh echoed through the air as yet another boot slammed down on my chest, “Oh you really don’t have a clue don’t you? Ah… I guess that’ll just be yet another day of training for you! You know, back when I was training to be an adventurer, this was one of the first skills they trained into new little sprouts like you? Once you get past the first five floors of the dungeon, there is virtually no light, and after level ten? Even the boss rooms are often pitch black.”

  I let out a long sigh and went to shove off the old man’s leg, but he’d already moved it out of the way. I shot him a glare, but he had already walked away and begun setting up the next training spot, which seemed to consist of several massive rocks that were each bigger than the other. I hadn’t seen that particular set up yet… but I had a feeling that it was gonna be a pain in my ass.

  I grunted and sat up, shaking my head as I did, “Are you serious? I really doubt that every adventurer goes through all of this goddamn training, it's been weeks! And I still don’t have the damn skill! They have to use other methods, right?”

  Old man Wess eyed me from where he stood, casually tossing the club in the air and catching it without even looking, “Yes… There are always the mages that can make floating lights, or even just plain old torches. It's a rather simple and easy spell to learn, or so I’ve been told… That is, of course, what most adventurers end up using, and so mages are almost always a need if you ever want to form a party to go into the dungeons…” He growled and slammed the club into the rock, shattering it and reducing it to a pile of dust and gravel. “But using that shortcut will only hinder or cause problems for you! A mage light is good, but it slowly drains a mage's mana! Meaning that they are losing out on their own potential and have basically become a mobile torch! And what if you don’t have a mage, or they become unable to move for one reason or another? You’d be absolutely fucked! And a torch will make you lose the use of one arm to fight, and scare away any potential monsters and loot to boot! Hence why this training is so vital, Will! Now, put that blindfold on, and get back up! I know you have more in ya!”

  I stuck my tongue out at him, which just caused him to grin and spin the club around in his hands eagerly. Oh yeah… I was gonna pay for that, but damn was it worth it! I dropped the blindfold down over my eyes and cracked my knuckles, before dropping into my stance, carefully turning and listening for any sounds that would tell me his position. A slight creak to my left, a bird call to my right, and then I heard it. The squeak of a wet leaf rubbing against the bottom of a boot.

  I grinned and dove forward, slashing my claws out and around in a scissor motion to catch him, but I was too late again. I grunted as I felt a boot slam into my stomach, knocking me back and throwing me through the air like I was a sack of potatoes. I sailed through the air for a glorious moment before I slammed hard into a tree, wincing as I felt a couple of my ribs crack.

  I slammed face down on the ground and sighed, spitting out a clod of soil. I growled and dug my claws into the ground and then pushed back off, roaring as I sailed through the air towards where the boot had come from. I whipped around and slashed my claws in a crazy blur of attacks, activating claw over and over as I tried to make myself an untouchable bubble of violence.

  Heh… it wasn’t a bad plan. Hell, it even worked for a moment… but not forever. A rustle to my left was all I heard before I felt that damn club slam into me again, pulverizing my flesh and splitting my skin like it was nothing.

  I was prepared, in a way, for when that club would smack around and crash into me. To smash and bruise me like I was nothing but a piece of meat. But even as the club was smashing into my side, I had already begun lashing out to the left. I smiled, eagerly awaiting the feel of my claws finally catching on something besides bark, but my hopes were pretty quickly dashed as I felt nothing and instead heard a chuckle from behind me.

  That same, deep, amused, and absolutely irritating voice sounded through the air, “Oh that was good, Will! You’re starting to get it now! Not nearly fast enough though, AGAIN!”

  I hissed and lashed out at where his chuckle had come from, but I knew he would have already moved. I flashed out to the left as I heard another creak, but was only rewarded with another club smash into my side and a loud laugh, “GOOD! NOW FASTER MAGGOT!”

  I roared and went on the offensive, lashing out at any noise or sound that I could hear, receiving nothing but thin air and tree bark as a reward. Volley after volley of club smacks, kicks, and fists crashed into me, knocking the air out of my lungs, shattering ribs, and concussing me. I was knocked to the side, sent through the air, and slammed into the ground, but each time I kept on getting up. Of course, that always goaded the old man on, and he'd give a surly laugh before slamming his fist into me, slamming me right back into the ground and cracking my ribs once again, almost as if they weren’t made of drake bones.

  The old man had really taken a liking to beating me senseless under the guise of ‘training’, these last few days… but he hadn't started out that rough at first. In all honesty, the first few days of training had been pretty relaxing in comparison.

  It had been nothing but runs, workouts, and sword swings, which had felt eerily familiar. Then, after he had decided I was ready, that turned into sparring. He had been almost gentle, defeating me completely, but not without teaching me something each time. It was only after Wess had accidentally split me in half and I had returned alive within the day, had he realized that I had a pretty robust healing factor. He had seen my status before, but after seeing that… his training methods had become much more… sadistic.

  Another fist slammed into me, cracking my femur and sending me down to one knee. Then a fist flew around and into my gut, the force of it lifting me up and then shooting me out like a shooting star. I slammed through several trees, and then slammed into a dense, thick, hard branch, my body folding over it like a wet rag as it pierced through me.

  Wess roared with laughter, and clapped his hands together, “Oh I didn’t hit you that hard Will! Get down from that tree already you faker!”

  I ripped the blindfold off on my eyes and glared down at him, “Didn't hit me that hard!? Old man! I'm impaled on the top branch of this goddamn tree!”

  He waved disinterestedly, “Oh you're fine! Just drop down already, sunsets almost here! I’ll let you off the hook for the day, let us go eat! I've been stewing a particularly good lahmash all day, and I am hungry!”

  I groaned, but pulled myself off of the branch inch by inch. I winced and grumbled as the new gaping hole that was created started pouring blood, soaking the branch and making me rather light headed. I shot him a glare as I felt my Unending Vitality kick in and heal it over, pausing the bleeding for now.

  I'd have liked to hang there for a second so that it could heal before I dropped down, but if I took too long Wess had this habit of lifting rocks and chucking them at me. Probably why he had stacked up those rocks earlier… ha, that damn monster!

  I swung twice before letting go and sailing through the air, dropping towards the ground just as a boulder sailed through the air, narrowly missing my side. I glared down at a grinning Wess, and held both of my middle fingers up, which only resulted in him laughing at me as I sailed through the air. I slammed into the ground right by him, gasping as the half healed wound in my gut violently reopened, spilling out my guts.

  I spat a wad of blood to the side and scooped my guts up, shoving them inside me as I felt that hungering void swirl faster around me, threatening to take me to the sand island, “You ol’ bastard, now look at what you've done! My guts are all over the ground! Look! There’s grass all over my small intestine!”

  Wess just laughed and clapped his hands together, “Ah, don't sweat it kid! Besides, the lahmash will burn all that away. Those peppers we collected yesterday were a special blend from the west. I got 'em off of a Knahlack caravan last year.”

  I leaned down and scooped my innards up, grumbling and shooting Wess a glare. I pushed them back inside me after brushing off as much dirt as I could, my body could rearrange them on its own. Ugh, I hated having dirt heal inside me, it was always so painful until my body broke it down.

  Grinning ear to ear, Wess slapped me on the shoulder before heading over to where he'd left his various ‘training aids’. I winced as I saw him fling each of them over his shoulder, but sighed and followed behind nonetheless. I was pretty excited for the lahmash if nothing else.

  It was quite the interesting dish, full of peppers, these odd looking mushrooms, zhaarst meat, and seasoned with a wonderful blend of herbs and spices. Wess was actually quite the cook, though he always was trying to make better and more interesting dishes. He always would sit down to eat with me, but after taking a bite, he’d then grumble about it under his breath before writing things in a little notebook he carried around with him.

  It had been like that for the last year or so. The sound of the zhaarst crowing would wake me up at dawn, and I’d roll out of bed to the sound of the old man making breakfast. I’d help him clean up after, and then we would work the farmstead. There were crops to water and tend, animals to feed, zhaarst eggs to collect, and some of Wess’s more… exotic livestock required much more specific care.

  After the first few days I had been worried that I was doing more harm than aid to the old man. Especially whenever I accidentally over-watered the plants or pissed off the livestock. Wess assured me that it went by much faster with the two of us, but it was hard, back breaking work all the same.

  After helping with the farm, it was onto training. We would forge off into the forest and head to a new area every day, in order to ensure that I wouldn’t get used to fighting on only one kind of terrain.

  The old man would put me through the most grueling workout regimens he could think of. Some days he would have me hold my breath underwater (with his foot on my head of course). Other days he would have me lift and run with boulders until I fell flat, my muscles unable to move. Many of the recent days had been awareness training like earlier, but there were also days filled with other, more normal kinds of training.

  There were days of unarmed combat, where he would have me punch trees and boulders, use claw and pierce and bite in different combinations and various patterns. There were days of armed combat with a variety of odd weapons that he assured me he had collected during his old adventuring days.

  Then he would focus on my skills and how to improve them. He assured me that strengthening both my physical body and my skills were the best way to get stronger. He doused me in acid, and had me use any and all of my skills over and over, all in the hopes of increasing their proficiencies. The other day, after he had figured out that my bones had a solid resistance to fire, he had hung me over a roaring fire until I had been reduced to a charred corpse over and over again.

  It was pretty much just straight up torture for most people, and even Wess himself admitted that most would have given up at that point. He insisted that I was made of stronger stock. Which would have been rather nice to hear, if it didn’t mean that I would have to endure ever more… training… but it was worth it. At least, that’s what Wess told me whenever he had me place my hands on the olken orb. I actually ended up thanking Verdant at least twenty times a day for their gift at this point.

  However, it wasn't like Wess had been lying about my getting stronger, and my intensive training hadn’t been without any serious benefits. I reached into the void and pulled, seeing my status appear in front of me after a brief pause.

  Name: Will

  Race: Chimera

  Level: Sixteen

  Title: Dire Slayer

  Abilities:

  Enduring Heart

  Unending Vitality (Incomplete)

  Death's Favoured (Incomplete)

  Skills:

  Sprint (Veteran)

  Sword Slash (Trainee)

  Axe Smash (Initiate)

  Pierce (Initiate)

  Hammer Bash (Novice)

  Claw (Trainee)

  Blow (Initiate)

  Bite (Novice)

  Leap (Novice)

  Acid Resistance (Passive)(Initiate)

  Spatial Awareness (Passive)(Novice)(New!)

  Hardened Body (Passive)(Novice)

  I had gained a few new skills over the course of the year, like Hardened Body, which made my skin and muscles tougher and more durable, leap, which allowed me to jump about ten feet in the air, and a few new weapon skills. I’d even gained the skill blow, which made one of my punches, kicks, or even elbow strikes, knee strikes, and head butts do about double damage. Each of them weren’t all that strong to use once, but Wess had made sure to teach me how to use them in various different combinations. He made sure to teach me to make the most of my Enduring Heart ability, which allowed me to use skills seemingly endlessly.

  As my eyes continued to scan my status, I couldn’t help but grin as I saw the Spatial Awareness skill. I had felt like I had started to get better at catching him in the end, but it was incredibly satisfying to see that I had actually gotten the skill. I’d have to really make use of it whenever I could… based on what Wess had said earlier, it would be unbelievably useful whenever I ended up descending the dungeon.

  I closed my eyes and relaxed, doing my best to follow behind Wess and dodge anything in my way. I couldn’t see anything, but that didn’t matter. Everything stood out in such sharp detail, and even the flow of the wind was almost like a material object. Even without my eyes, I could see, and as my senses stretched out, I realized that this was somehow even better than sight. Wess had explained to me that passive skills were always activated, though they could be improved or evolved through hard work and training, but this was just ridiculous…

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

  No wonder the old man had been so certain of making me learn the skill… and also why he had chosen to end today's training when he had. Wess only had an olken orb at home, but that didn’t stop him from somehow always knowing my status. Almost as if he could always see my strength floating above myself… Making it so that he always seemed to know whenever I had gained a new skill. Each time I would, he would always adjust the workouts to accommodate and train them.

  Then there was my name, or rather my new name. For so long it had been just three question marks, but ever since the old man had called me that, it had changed to Will. I hadn't told him that I had never had a name before, or at least one that I could remember. I wasn't sure how he'd take the fact that he'd been the one to name me, an absolute stranger.

  Especially since I wasn't upset about the name. In fact, I enjoyed it! It was rather nice to have something I could truly call my one, and I found it quite fitting in a way. Considering I was only here because both Grim and Verdant had decided I had a suitable amount of willpower to continue surviving and fighting here, it just made the most sense at the end of the day.

  Wess’s voice sounded through the air, snapping me out of my reverie, “Oi Will, you good? Been walking around with your eyes closed for a while now. I didn't break ya, did I?”

  I paused from my musings and eyed Wess, “Figured I should let you know, all that tor- ahem, training, helped me learn a new passive skill. Spatial Awareness?”

  A smile flashed over his features before he settled back into a thoughtful glower, “Hmm… good. I knew as much of course, but it is rather nice to hear you confirm my thoughts. I guess I can give you some real training now.”

  I stuck my tongue out at him and blew a raspberry, “The hell you mean real training? The hell was this last year then? Just a tutorial?”

  He stared at me without blinking, confusion across his face, “Well obviously it's just been conditioning. If you had attempted any real training when I first met you, I'm pretty sure you'd be dead. Even with that fancy healing ability of yours. You aren’t even ready for floor five of the dungeon numbskull.”

  I raised an eyebrow at that, deciding that I shouldn't mention the little agreement I had with Grim. Wess didn’t ever ask about my past, which wasn't that odd considering how little he talked about his own. I'd considered asking him about Xian or his old adventuring days, but had decided against it.

  From what I gathered, the old man lived on his own, and had done so for a long, long time. He wouldn't even travel into town to sell some of his excess crops. Instead, he would sell them to any passing by travelers or caravans. Said that he preferred to meet new people, though I always got the feeling that there was another reason besides that. Some age old past that he shared with the town.

  The room he had lent to me was nice, and I had really made it into my own little home, but I could tell that it once had been the home for someone else. Though, based on how much dust had accumulated, I could tell they hadn’t lived there for a long time. The old man didn’t ever tell me who, but when I had kept on badgering him about the matter, he had told me to shut up, lest he send his fist through my head. I knew that I would survive the attack of course, but even back before he had put me through one of his very first workout regimens, I knew he was a force to be reckoned with. And so I had kept my mouth shut, knowing that if he ever did want to tell me, he would without the badgering.

  It was a rather odd change for me if I was being honest though. Going from living in the wilds, free but always at risk of being hunted by a larger enemy, to living in a house, with another living being. Instead of sleeping on the cold hard ground, I now slept in a room, inside of a building, on top of a rather soft bed. I didn’t have to hunt for food anymore, and instead all I had to do was merely help take care of the farm, collect water, and train with Wess in order to guarantee myself a nice, delicious, and home cooked meal. I still couldn’t remember much about my past, but something gave me the feeling that I used to sleep in a room before. Long, long before…

  I sighed and shook my head, dragging myself back to reality. I closed my eyes and refocused on scanning my surroundings using my new skill, noting everything that changed, moved, or flowed around me. Wess walked in silence, but he had noticed what I was doing by now, and was now flicking little rocks at me, suddenly stopping, and whistling distractingly.

  It was actually rather nice, though he still was trying his best to get on my nerves. As soon as the old man had caused me to crash out and go on a rampage once, he had made it his life mission to get me that angry every chance he got. I of course had noticed a long time ago, and refused to give him the satisfaction of breaking me. This had in turn just made him even more intent on getting me to crash out. I grunted as I sensed him toss a particularly large rock at me, but I still dodged it. He’d have to try harder than th-.

  I gasped as I felt his foot smash into my chest, sending me flying through the air until I crashed into another tree. I groaned and struggled onto my feet, shaking my head as I dodged two mire rocks that were thrown at me. Wess’s laughter echoed through the air, and I threw a nearby rock at him as hard as I could, though he was easily able to dodge it.

  I spat a wad of blood to the side and bared my bloody teeth at him, “Oi! You old codger! I'm gonna make you regret that one of these days!”

  The old man just laughed, tossing another large rock at me, this one much faster than before, “Hahahaha! I'll be dead by that time! How long have we been training and you still can't even defend against a proper hit from me?”

  I grumbled and stuck my tongue out at his retreating back, which he didn't deem to respond to. A grin spread across my face as I was suddenly hit with a waft of herbs, spices, and meat. My mouth watered and I activated sprint, dashing around the old man as I charged towards the door to his house.

  I yelled over my shoulder as I used leap to dash forward a few feet at a time, flying through the forest even faster than before, “Ha! That first bowl is mine old man!”

  I took off my shoes and tossed them outside, before I wrenched open the door and charged inside. I ducked under the low beam, spun around the bedroom wall, and looked upon my glorious reward of…

  “Ah there you are Will. I thought you had fallen asleep or something. Well, I already made myself a bowl, but yours is over there if you'd like it.”

  That damn old man! When did he manage to get in front of me!? I groaned as I came to a standstill. I couldn't deny it, because there he was, leaning back in his chair, a bowl of his stew in one hand, and a jug of his liquor in the other.

  I grumbled under my breath, but after a moment I just let out a sigh and picked up the bowl from where he'd pointed it out, “So, once again you beat me to the punch. You gonna tell me how this time?”

  He raised an eyebrow, but only offered me a smirk as an answer. I groaned and sat down across from him, eagerly digging into the lahmash. I wasn't sure where the hell he'd learned to cook, or if he just had a skill for it, but every dish I'd had since living with him was jaw droppingly good. I closed my eyes and savored it for a moment, feeling the spices, herbs, and flavors sing in harmony across my tastebuds.

  “You know, it is quite satisfying to see that you enjoy my cooking so much. I'm not sure if that's because I am an especially good cook, or you have just never had good food, but this last year has been amusing for me.” I opened my eyes as the old man began talking and eyed him, but he wasn't even looking at me. He was staring at the door across the hallway. My eyes dashed there before looking away. It was the one room in the house that the old man had never shown me. I wasn't sure why, but I knew enough to respect his privacy.

  We sat there in silence for a while, just eating and relaxing, until he suddenly spoke up again, “Ah, I hadn’t mentioned it earlier, but I think it's about time you headed on into town. Start work as an adventurer. Really get the chance to apply what I've taught you.”

  I frowned, and spoke up, confusion lacing my voice, “Already? I know it's only been a year that you've taught me, but do you think I'm ready? I only just learned spatial awareness after all.”

  He scoffed and gave me a stern look, “Ha! No, you're definitely not ready. In fact, if you were any other person, I would keep you training for at least another two years.” He paused and eyed my chest, “But I've seen those marks, and I’ve seen your status. You're not any normal person Will. You’ve received two strong abilities from two rather strong deities. Not only that, but you’ve even managed to evolve one of your abilities. You have potential, kid, and the fact that you've been able to learn and get as far as you have is a testament to your hard work.”

  I frowned and shook my head, “Thank you for the compliment, but-”

  He raised his hand to cut me off with a sigh, and stood up and dusted off his hands, “It’ll be fine Will. You think I’d let you go if I didn’t think you could handle it? Besides, this is only the first phase of your real training. You need real world experience before I can really start, and the only solid way for you to get that is in the dungeons. Tomorrow you leave for town, and once you've made it past the first dungeon boss, you come back and we'll begin.”

  I frowned and opened my mouth to ask him what he meant by that, but he had already turned and walked over to the kitchen and started scrubbing the dishes, which was a very clear sign that he didn't want to talk anymore about it. I hummed to myself and considered what he was saying for a moment, but shrugged and walked over, grabbing a rag and drying off the scrubbed dishes before putting them away.

  We worked in silence like that for the rest of the evening, and once the dishes were done, we moved onto cleaning the kitchen and the house. I scrubbed and cleaned in silence until finally, the old man’s singing broke the silence. He didn’t sing very often in the morning, but every night while we were cleaning the house, he did enjoy singing these odd old sea shanties of his.

  I crash and sway in this sea of mine…

  Beholden in the eyes of Khrive!

  I crash and sway in this sea of mine…

  For once I go I’ll be alive,

  Within this old sea of grime!

  And once again,

  I’ll crash and sway in this sea of mine…

  Beholden in the eyes of Khrive!

  There he goes, the old man sailor!

  Strong as stone and light as air,

  There he goes, the old man sailor!

  Fast, strong, smooth, and fair!

  He is the one we all must know,

  For that is where we all must go…

  There he goes, the old man sailor!

  Strong as stone and light as air,

  There he goes, the old man sailor!

  Fast, strong, smooth, and fair!

  I hummed along to the song, frowning slightly as I followed along. It didn’t exactly make sense, and honestly the song itself was pretty bad, but I didn’t dare say anything like that and risk another emergency training session… I didn’t exactly know who the hell Khrive was or where he had learned the shanties either, but it was interesting to listen to either way.

  I glanced back at the old man, looking him over again. He was a massive man, with white bushy hair, and a long thick beard. He was covered in scars, and even with his tree trunk arms, I got the feeling he was nowhere near as strong as he once was. Since he had taken Xian’s axe when we had first met, I hadn’t actually seen it again. My best bet was that he had it in that one room I wasn’t allowed into. I doubted he would have just gotten rid of it, and despite all the various weapons and methods of training he’d put me through, he hadn’t taken it out to practice on me either. It made me wonder even more what exactly could be in there… but those were thoughts for another time.

  I turned back to the wall I had been cleaning and sighed, getting back to work. I didn’t exactly need to sleep, but I did find that I did rather enjoy sleeping in the comfy bed. That, and I was starting to discover that if I did get enough sleep every night, I was able to do much more the next day. Which definitely came in handy while trying to survive the old man’s training. If I was going to start heading into town tomorrow, I had better get some actual rest tonight. I didn’t really have much to my name, so I would probably be fine just waking up and heading to town. Hmm, I’d have to ask the old man tomorrow which direction it was in, I’d rather not just aimlessly wander like I had last time.

  Suddenly Wess spoke up, pausing from his singing for the first time, “Make sure you see me in the morning before you leave. I did have something I wanted to give to you before you left.”

  I turned and looked at him where he was standing in the doorway to his room, “Of course, I was going to ask you for directions anyway.”

  Wess folded his arms and raised an eyebrow, “You really don’t remember much, eh? The town is about a day's walk northeast. You'll just need to follow the fork in the river.” He eyed me again before adding on, “I bet you’ll end up sprinting the whole way there and end up getting there by midday, so you should be okay… Though I might as well warn you. Make sure that you get into town after nightfall. If the guard is the same as the last time I was there, they don't take too kindly to night visitors.”

  I frowned, and opened my mouth to ask a question, but Wess just turned and walked into his room without another word. I let out a long sigh and eyed the door. Well, I mean, I should probably listen and get some real rest but… well…

  I closed the door gently behind me as I snuck out of the house, gently placing my feet so I didn’t make a noise. Of course with my luck, this would be the last night I was going to be here. Ugh, I was so sure of it too. This wouldn’t really be the best night to see it, but oh well. I needed this, a part of me deep down knew what it was, but it wasn’t just that. My soul was crying out for this as well.

  I cracked my knuckles and stretched out my legs, before settling back on my haunches and activating sprint. With a mad grin, I flew into the forest, kicking off of the trees hard and aiming for the branches just right out of easy reach. My palms smacked into the wood of the branch, the bark pushing into the calluses on my hands and fingers. My fingers gripped hard, crushing and pulverizing the wood and turning it into splinters, but before I could fall, I pulled myself forward and up, swinging off of the branch and catapulting myself through the air.

  I whooped with joy and my lips spread wide in an ecstatic grin. This… this was what I needed. My eyes flicked over to the moon, and my smile spread even further. It had changed from its normal shade lf white, and was now a dark blue, and absolutely massive, filling up the whole night sky.

  I swung through the trees quickly, aiming higher and higher in the branches, heading towards the tall tree that I had seen earlier today. My breathing became labored, and I could feel the rush of adrenaline and endorphins exploding through my body, and I focused on those, asking, no, demanding more. More energy, more power, and more strength. My body protested, but my will that was normally a winding river changed into a massive roaring wave, drowning out my body's complaints and pushing myself forward as I flew through the air.

  I flashed from tree to tree, using leap everytime I pushed off of a trunk or branch so that it was almost like I was flying. My eyes strained and tried to focus on everything, but because of the darkness I was forced to stretch out my senses instead. They were put to the limits in order to sense if any of the branches I was landing on were cracked or broken, but I frowned. My skill was helpful, but it wasn’t exactly good enough that it could keep up with me while I was flashing from tree to tree… The issue was my eyes. They needed to be able to pierce through that darkness… and in order to do that, they needed to be changed, forced to adapt, much like my claws and teeth had.

  For a brief moment, I paused on top of a tree and took a deep breath, steeling my nerves. I knew what I should do, but it still takes a strong bit of resolve in order to just claw my eyes out, but… there wasn’t a faster way, especially if gaining any real skill like spatial awareness took me another month… No, this was the last real night I could have in order to adjust and strengthen myself. I had to do it.

  I bared my teeth and reached up with my free hand, activating claw and tearing into my eyes, pain and blood exploding from them and coating my chest as I screamed. I was blind now, and it was almost like I didn’t exist anymore, the only thing telling me that I was here being the smells and sounds of the night creatures, and the feel of the bark pushing against me. I could feel my body already straining to fix the damage, and at least stop the bleeding. I let out a grunt as another pulse of pain arced through my entire being.

  I took a deep breath and leapt forward, dashing from tree to tree using only my spatial awareness. It could fill in the gap well, but I could still tell that I was struggling. I let out a long sigh, and relaxed, really allowing my spatial awareness and instincts to take over, guiding my path throughout the forest. My regeneration had started to kick in, doing its best to heal and fix my eyes like normal, but I didn’t need my eyes ‘just healed’. I needed them better than before.

  I paused on another branch, and focused intently on my ability, latching onto it like before and taking command. It bucked and fought back harder than before, but I wasn’t a pushover, especially now that the adrenaline and endorphins were pulsing ferociously through me. I roared at it with all of my will, crushing it into submission and grabbing onto it by the neck, demanding that it listen to my demands. Unending Vitality was a gift that Verdant had given me, but now it was my ability, and I needed to make sure it was aware who was in charge now.

  It growled, hissed, and snapped at me, but I didn’t release my grip. I pushed and pushed and pushed, and finally the unwilling ability bent, and then twisted into the shape I desired. I could feel my eyes shiver and move, roiling almost like it was boiling water. I stood there for a long moment as the irritating feeling itched in my eyes, but suddenly, I went from seeing nothing, to suddenly seeing a red blackness, almost as if I was looking at the back of my eyelids again.

  My eyes snapped open and I glanced around, a grin spreading across my face. The shadows… I could see through them now. Everything was finally clear, even in the blue darkness casted by the moon. I laughed again and dashed up the forest trees, my eyes locking onto the towering tree in the distance. I leaped from tree to tree, laughing like a mad man, and letting my spatial awareness make sure I was placing my feet in the correct spots as my eyes eagerly darted around. I hungrily drank in my surroundings, seeing the world like it was a new flavor. I rested on a branch for a moment and stared up at the moon with a wide grin, wiping off the streaks of blood on my cheeks.

  I had noticed the moon turning a slight bit more blue the last few nights, and had been curiously tracking it, excited for the first full moon that I had seen since coming here. I had been eagerly, but patiently waiting, coming out each night and training for a few hours at a time as I watched it fill, ever so slowly. It had taken almost a full year for that to happen, but a few nights ago I had also realized that it wasn’t just a full moon. When I had seen how absolutely massive it had been, I knew that this one was going to be special, even for a full moon. If I was right, and I could now tell that I was, that I was going to be able to see a blue supermoon. Then I had seen that tree when the old man had sent me flying through the air yesterday, and the idea had been born.

  I crashed into the trunk of the tall tree, and I dug my claws into it. I laughed and pulled myself upwards, scaling the tree as if I was climbing a ladder. I ducked around a little lizard who hissed at me from its home, a small plume of smoke erupting from its mouth. I apologized as a sleeping bird restlessly chirped at me and flew to another tree, its long tail feathers hissing at me like snakes as they lashed behind its two pairs of wings.

  Inch by inch, hand hold by hand hold, I dragged myself up the tree as fast as I could, all until I finally crested the top of the tree and gasped. The sky was awash in a deep, gorgeous blue. It flowed and shifted, moving around the moon almost as if the sky itself was alive. The dark light shined down on the tree tops, changing them from the dark green to something else. It made the solid canopy of leaves, even though they were different from each other, into various shades of blue. The expanse of leaves and forest turned into an… ocean. An ocean made of leaves.

  As my eyes scanned around, drinking in the gorgeous sights, I froze as I heard a deep roar echo through the air, vibrating the shifting blue waves. I whipped around, trying to find the source of the roar, and right as I turned around, I watched as a massive dark blue serpent flashed through the air.

  It was wingless, but that didn’t stop it from flying as if it was just a leaf caught in the wind. I watched in wonder as it spiraled and twisted, its scales glinting and shimmering in the dark blue moonlight. As it spiraled upwards towards the moon, it opened its mouth and roared again, expelling a huge wave of blue flame. It was almost as if it was trying to melt the moon itself, and even from where I was watching, I could feel the heat wash over me.

  I let out a long sigh and leaned back, dangling from the branch as I let my dug in claws keep me anchored to the tree. In the morning the next phase of my life would start, but for right now I allowed myself to remember.

  My mind slowly wandered, flashing back to Halfi and Baern's laughter, Cylkia’s retreating form, and the burning sensation from his flames and the arrows piercing me. It flashed to the bear, its powerful paws smashing into me and its gaping mouth crushing down on my body. I remembered the wolves that I had woken up to first and I frowned, cocking my head to the side. That couldn't be my first life, could it? No… there was no way. I ground my teeth together and glared into the distance. They must’ve been the ones to leave me there, at the mercy of the wolves, getting torn apart again after again. Verdant must've chosen to give me Unending Vitality because of that. So that one day, eventually, I could find a way to free myself. Grim must have a reason to keep me alive too, all he had to do was let me come back to the land of the living, but he gifted me an ability as well.

  There was also that whole conversation that we had when I had last died. If Verdant had expected me to get revenge, I bet she could have given me a different ability, or my memory back for when I awoke. Grim too… he never said anything about vengeance or the killing. They had only said that they wanted to watch. To see what I would do… I narrowed my eyes and looked up at the spiraling blue serpent. They weren’t going to dictate my life or demand anything from me. They only wanted to watch a show. To see what the little guy would do. How I would act and the path I would take with these gifts.

  “Ha… Haha…! Hahahahaha!!!” I leaned my head back and laughed, tightening my claws in the tree until I heard it crack. “I can’t believe this! Ha! I’m just a story to these timeless beings aren’t I!? Aren’t I!!!”

  The only response I got was the roar of the blue serpent, its spiraling form slowly vanishing into the distance. I grinned and took in the moon once more. If I was just a story, well, I guess I might as well make it a good one shouldn't I?