《Core》 Chapter 1: Beginning I separate from my parents bear hug, say my goodbyes and turn to one of my best friends, who already inserted himself into the long line of impatient people waiting to get through security. Feeling slightly embarrassed in having to skip the line I call out to my friend to make myself and my line skipping seem legit. "hey, Paul wait up" Annoyed he just turns his head slightly in my direction. "You know that we only have like 15 minutes left until boarding?" I just look at him dumbly, while scratching the back of my head and start to empty my pockets. After getting through security he starts to jog to our Gate and only eases up his expression of stressfulness after we sit in our economy class seats. "Cane man I appreciate you choosing me to take with you, but damn..next time please carry your own weight. That was way to stressful." "Stop winging will you" I smile at him and add." Never mind that episode what is your plan after arrival?" A quick look at the tickets and he answers." it will be just past one inEnglandso lets just check into the Motel and walk around a bit until our evening hike?". I agreed to his planning and so we did just that. After arriving at the Motel called Burbandy''s we just casually stroll through the city and bought adapters for our chargers in the local electronic shop as we both seem to have forgotten to take one with us. At our temporary abode we put on some sturdier clothes and take the next bus driving to one of the many bodies of water in the lake district and start hiking to get rid of our energy for a good nights sleep. We were bickering and joking throughout the whole climb. I was just saying that this was a good idea as sleeping on the flight made my sleep cycle go haywire. Expecting an answer, i turn around just to see my best friend, since I was three years old, slide off of a horn impaling him through his torso. A light thump resounded after he hit the ground and I just stare in horror at the horned monkey being revealed after my now dead friend stops obscuring my view of the abomination, which without sparing me a glance bends down and starts rummaging in the insides of the corps separating me and my nightmare. "I.." I drop onto my knees and just stare at the spectacle until the monkey rips out a small brown marble out of my friends body, which it stares at until his scrutinizing gaze lands on me. It looks between the marble and me a few times and than starts leisurely walking in my direction with a smile on its face if those now visible black and yellow teeth are any indication. Blood drains from my face as I stand up and try to step backwards, just so that my world starts to spin as I fall on my back and just in time as the creature leaped head or horn first through the spot my torso was at just a second ago. Not wanting to imagine what would have happened had I not movedI heave my self up while slowly and carefully take out my carving knife that was fastened to the underside of my backpack while simultaneously taking said backpack off and holding it in front of my midsection. Again good call I suppose as the air gets pushed out of my lungs. The inertia of its dash throws me into a tree. Not pausing for a breather whilst ignoring the pain I just spare a quick glance at the furry head imbedded into the front of my improvised shield and stab with my knife into the side of its neck severing an artery as I feel something warm starting to envelop mymidsection and legs. After a minute in this position and a rising feeling of safety as its mourning and movement had ceased I grit my teeth and heave the heavy body off of myself. Wiping away the tears and mucus that has accumulated over the last 3 minutesI bend over and vomit as the sight of my mutilated friend is to much for my feeble mind to bear." what the fuck man" I sniffle barely audibly and burry my face in my hands reminiscing in the past not wanting the present to be a reality. after what feels like a very long time I pick myself up and walk over to my first kill. I just wonder how this could happen and state confused at the horn resembling a hunting knife 3/4 into my bag. I never was very attached or sentimental, but this was too much. I count to ten and try to get my bearings. I mean aside from my life just taking a turn to the worst there isn''t even an animal supposed to be bigger than a dog in these woods and than I find a monkey this close to human settlements and a horned monkey at that. Those are definitely not supposed to exist. ''Fantasy'' flashes through my mind, which would normally make me happy if not for the current situation. I mean who doesn¡¯t want to be part of something so magnificent. Just why this sacrifice? I''m not so soft as to think that everything would go as I imagined it at some point in my life or even at all. I mean I am seventeen and healed of chuuni. "Paul.." A tear runs down my cheek not even reaching my chin before being wiped away by a sleeve covered in coagulated blood. Not wanting to stay like this I grab my water bottle and clean my mouth of my vomit and try to take back my carving knife, which brakes at the handle. I don¡¯t even care as just then the image of the brown marble surfaces in my mind and I search the place I last saw. Prying open its inhuman hand I find it. A ball pulsing with light or maybe energy if I give any credit to my imagination concerning fantasy. It fits snugly in my hand and feels slightly warm. But just as I was inspecting it I remember where it came from and immediately drop it grimacing.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A loud howl. I flinch. Ok time to pack my bags is all that goes through my mind. After taking the implication of that ferocious howl into consideration I grab my friends backpack,thatsurvived the conflict as he carried it over only one shoulderunlikemine which is clearly unusable now and transfer my still intact items to add to my inventory. Some food, two bottle of water, rope, a canteen and other miscellaneous stuff. Just before standing up to move down the mountain I was on I remember the horn, which seems too sturdy and perfect for this situation to pass on and tried breaking it off of its ugly head to no veil but after pulling and using my intact knife as leverage I was able to rip it out of its skull only to to see that it may be good for pearcing but doesnt really have an edge. I contemplated taking my friends trousers as mine have stiffened and feel quite uncomfortable through all the dried blood, but dont bother feeling repulsed of further desecrating my friend. After slicing open the monkeys body with Pauls still intact knife I took a quick peak into its insides as the brown marble got me thinking and just as I thought another marble roughly the same size happens to be trapped between its lungs. Without any remorse I rip the seemingly yellow marble out of the corps, wipe any blood on my hands and the marble on its fur and start backtracking the way We.. I came from. As silently as possible I arrived at the lake and with such at the bus station where I got off. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, my hands start to shake belying the fact that theytook a life with force and without hesitation. Before i drown in self pity I take out my phone and check it for damage. Even so Iphones are not the most sturdy phones out there i couldn''t even find a scratch on it that wasn¡¯t there before. With trembling hands the first thing I do is call my parents. Hopeful I held my breath but release it in relief as the familiar voice of my mother picks up the phone. "...Darling?!" "Yeah its me mom" "oh god thank you" I hear her happily raising her voice only for it to drop again in worry as she says." Cane I was just thinking of calling you! Did you see the news? We were just watching it when they talked about absurd monster Stampedes all around the world?!" "No mom....Paul..we" pulling myself together I complete the sentence with. " were hiking ma. There was this horned monkey and he..." "..."After a short pause in our conversation I hear her telling me that she was sorry and immediately asked me if I was ok and what happened to the monster. Retelling what happened she advises me to immediately return to society, which seems hard as it is at least 5 kilometers south from here if i can trust my map application. She assures me that my father is alright as well and that they barricaded themselves in our house before making me promise to call the authorities and call her again when I''m back in safety. I tried calling the police but the line was occupied so I went to Maps and downloaded all relevant maps as i was sure that the net won''t be up for long ifthe world is becoming what i think it is. After that I use my remaining 2gigs of internet to search the web for survival stuff like when and what can I eat, what is the best cause of action after which I tuned into the local radio and continued listening to it while my steps echoed on the concrete. My uptake on what was broadcasted on the net was that we should not panic and so on as well as stay together and in no circumstances enter any woods or even waters as people have seen a myriad of different dangerous monsters lurking in them. I was continuing to listen to the Radio but ripped out my one earplug and turned around after thinking I heard something scratching on the Asphalt. Not seeing anything I turn back around just to come face to face with two new additions on the formallyempty road. Gulping I feel the perspiration starting to appear on my forehead before grabbing the now padded shaft of my newest weapon, which I luckily placed in grabbing distance as I was sure that that one monkey was not the end of it. I see the left one sniffing the air before looking angrily at my at my blood stained clothes. Without hesitation I lift up my former bag which again saved my life as the stone thrown by the right one would have surly punctured my lung as I can feel my forearm crack and grone under the impact. Cursing under my breath I steady my stance as I see the same monkey breaking into a run in my direction. Without another projectile it seems its only option is melee, but as it is just about to reach me I shift out of the way to see it sliding a few meters on the road. Seems like their clawsare making it hard to get a grip on this smooth surface. Wanting to use this to my advantage I ready myself as now the left horned creature dashes at me. After it reaches a good velocity I swing my bag at its head, which it tries to dodge but as its not accustomed to its claws failing in digging into the ground it slips falls and slides belly up right past me. I know that if I want any chance in winning this confrontation I''ll have to kill them, because killing has become the bread and butter of this world and my life. These thoughts came and went in an instant and made me jump at and slam my 3" bladeinto its soft flesh where its heart should be. As I see death in its eyes I thank my presight in dissecting the previous specimen and turn to the now enraged 3 kill of the day as it just jumps at me. Predicting its path I swing my knife for the third time todayas hard as I can at its flying corps nickingits shoulderand plunging right into its neck instantly killing it. I remove their marbles, which I think I will call cores for now? and hurriedly leave the scene of carnage. Chapter 2: Bliss As I stare into the distance my head feels muddled with thoughts only my footsteps can be heard gently taping on the asphalt. Before reaching any significant distance i have to stop for the night as the sun has set and the last rays of light get swallowed by the darkness. I don¡¯t want to confront anything I cant see, well on that point I don¡¯t want to confront anything at all but yeah. Without really noticing it, morning came as exhaustion hit me yesterday evening. I think I fell asleep the instant I lay my head on my backpack. It was quite cold but I was too tired to really care. I was already starting to work up some sweat trekking the distance between my sleeping place and the village I left my luggage when one of these monkeys stepped out of the woods blocking my path. Annoyed at having to fight this creature again I grab my spare backpack again and my trusty knife wielding it in my right hand I get into a crouched position expecting a charge. Strangely thou it just started walking in my direction prodding me without underestimating me like the ones before. Without stopping it shortens the distance between us step for step. I was unmoving not wanting to leave myself open. Just as it got into reach I try to obscure its sight by fainting a hit with the bag while going for its neck again but it dodges before I even got close. Seeing that I lost the first bout I tried to wait for an attack from its side so I could block it with my bag to counter it just like I did it with my other two confrontations. My heart pounding in my chest as I still wasn¡¯t used to fighting I see it swing its right arm trying to grab me which I parry with my bag. My knife again on the path to its neck when I just see a blur. The next thing I knew I was on my back greedily sucking the air back in which it pounded out of me. I wheeze as my lungs try to resist the air intake for some reason when I see it walking over here again. I push my arms against the ground to lift my body back up when this time I hear the air whistle only to have a second to try to contract by belly muscles as I see its foot coming up beneath me the force lifting me up into the air. ¡°puah-gh¡± I spit out some blood as I got flung against a branch above me ultimately letting gravity take me in its embrace again I fall back down just to get backhanded in the face. I get a glimpse at it expression depicting it feeling apathetic as it lost its cortion to the wind seeing as I cant even fight back. I slide over the rough road stopping only after the cold tar had enough of scraping my skin off. This time I have a harder time getting up as my spit dribbles onto the ground. With closed eyes I listened to its claws clacking. The shiver inspiring noise getting louder and louder the closer it came, but I was only barely able to hear it as the thumping of my heart was overpowering any other sound in my vicinity. ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­.¡± I get out in between breaths as I lift myself onto my behind leaning against a tree I slowly open my eyes. The red hazy figure only a few steps away know. I bite my lip as every time my heart pushes blood through my body my shallow scrape wounds flare up in pain. I feel helpless and another feeling, which I normally try to supress when I¡¯m in society. I¡¯m cornered¡­¡­ ¡°st-t..o.p¡° why did the world change? why did my friend have to die? why am i not with my parents? I don¡¯t want to die "stop.." "stop..I don¡®t want to die" "I said stop you piece of shit!" why won¡®t it stop?The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I said stop didn¡®t I? why isn¡¯t it listening.. ¡°No I said to fucking stop damn it!!!¡± As it stabs its hand in the direction of my heart I feel my rage. The rage I normally supress the rage of my life, the one directed at the world for what happened and at myself for letting it happen surging with renewed vigour, when I notice that I intercepted his lethal blow with my knife. we both look at each other dumbly, when I just couldn¡®t help but suddenly grin a tooth filled smile. "so it¡®s this easy is it?" I stab two of my fingers from my left hand into its right eye socket letting it register the pain and shivering from its painfilled screech before yanking its skull to the ground subsequently digging my thumb into its left eye before trying to find a way into its brain. feeling a resistance, I subconsciously direct my inner energy into my fingers feeling them harden before hearing a crack. A death screech and then.. sudden silence. I just stare at its face stained with bloody tears as I reminisce in its final moments I staid like this for a minute before taking my fingers out if its scull with a squishing sound. looking at my hand and back at its disfigured face i concentrate some of my energy into my fist before hitting its head. breaking its nose I continue crushing its skull with each subsequent hit getting better and more efficient at manipulating my energy until only a small crater filled with juices and mush is in the place of its head I lift my hand only to see my skin only slightly blistered. "seems as it also hardens my skin and bones.." I speak out loud before putting my hand into a prayer wishing my friend in the afterlife some fun with my little present I just sent him before ripping out its core noticing its purer form when compared with my other cores. After retrieving my knife from the tree it was stuck in I inspect the core for real this time. ¡°that was quite exhausting wasn¡¯t it Mr. Core?¡± I say softly seeing has I felt drained. Not mentally in no way no more like something was missing but slowly being filled by each breath I took. Thinking this must be the cause of me using my inner energy as would be said in xianxia novels I feel my heart flutter as I may just have discovered a way to cultivate without even trying! But it wasn¡¯t enough I felt. The ambient energy I was breathing in would be good enough too fill me up and maybe strengthen me but it felt so inefficient. That when my gaze landed back onto the bright yellow core in my hands. Just this one had enough energy to fill my reserves thrice and I suspect it used some of the energy in it meaning this is just the leftovers. I licked my lips while I already started to see how I can tap into this well of energy but it didn¡¯t move even when I tried to cast my will upon it. ¡°Ok..what to do what to do~¡± I melodically hum. It seems like this energy is resisting any attempts as if it still knows who its owner is and where it belongs too¡­. Trying something different I try to will the ambient energy to rush into me which does seem to speed up my intake but only slightly as this feels like very thin smoke which I¡¯m try to grasp with my hands to breath it in faster, but the difference between just normally breathing in the smoke and with the help of my hands doesn¡¯t seem to be that strong of an effect. Turning back to the Core I sit down cross legged and tried many different ¡°passive¡± approaches when I had enough. Not wanting this puny thing to spoil by good mood which I was finally able to build up I just push some of my regenerated energy into my hands and crush it¡­.. Whooosh~ My eyes open wide as the formally stubborn energy was dispersing into the surroundings. Without further ado I started greedily moping it up feeling my energy tank fill to the brim before expanding bit by bit as If I was pushing against the ¡°walls¡± of my Core to expand it just a bit at a time feeling like a rushed job would just tear my core apart subsequently leading to an implosion or something like that heh. After a refreshing session of cultivation as I will term it after my most beloved eastern novels I stand up. Before stopping in my tracks as another problem showed up.. I am hungry!!! *** Not sure which fruits are edible and which are not even more so now that many new ones that most likely never existed on earth before as some are square pink blocks of something hanging from trees I just cut some meat of little¡¯o monkey over there of course not before kicking it in the balls two or maybe five times. Crudely pelting it as it really wasn¡¯t my profession before¡­I am or was a student¡­.meaning I was good with iphones and nothing else other than that cough anyways.. I make a small fire with some twigs and with the help of my lighter and start roasting the meat. It was a hard time just waiting for it to finish seeing the fat drip deliciously into the fire only to make a slight sizzling noise. ¡°sho gjood¡± I stammer in bliss I didn¡¯t think of anything in that moment. Content of discovering cultivations, happy to be alive and filled by a new discovered delicacy. The only thing missing would be music but I don¡¯t want to rid myself of my hearing when I¡¯m potentially in danger every second I¡¯m in this jungle¡­ I just laugh that this already has become normality after only one night and day¡­ ¡°Welp¡± I cheer as I stand up to continue my path to the village. This time with a spring in my step ¡­. Chapter 3: Exploration ¡°Yeah I shouldn¡¯t worry about something I can¡¯t do anything about, right?¡± ¡°yeah¡­¡± I mean just because I can¡¯t get reception anymore doesn¡¯t mean they aren¡¯t safe. Stay optimistic¡­optimistic yeah¡± Leaving that aside these sure are interesting... ¡°What to do¡ªwhat to do indeed~¡± I hum as I try to understand this blue plant growing from a tree in front of me. Its breathing, isn¡¯t it? Was what was going through my head as I see it contract and expand slightly in a gentle rhythm. The air coming back out after each intake is warmed and the plant itself has a relaxing aroma permeating around it I notice after observing it a bit. I never really was interested in plants and stuff before but I can¡¯t help but think how very peculiar and interesting these new kinds of plants are. After taking a quick snap of it I slowly reach out before gently plucking it from the bark. I¡¯m having a hard time not eating it as I am somehow drawn to do just that. I¡¯m able to hold myself back but I really want to know if this thing is edible so I set out to find my first victim. After just a short while I find it in the form of a wolf cub, if I go by its size that is half the size of its kind that I¡¯ve seen roaming in small packs around this area. Having probably given in to its curiosity it separated itself from the horde and thus sealed its own fate. I quickly jump down from the tree I was sitting on ¨C I like high places- and grab its neck and mouth. After swiftly subduing it I make some distance from the place I found this thing so that I don¡¯t need to fret getting pounced on by a few dozen wolfs. This is not the first animal I found after the apocalypse. Apart from the monkey I saw some mutated birds and wild cats as well as some kind of armoured horse which creeped me out as I saw it rip a 2 meter tall wolf apart. How? Well with its raptorial legs of course! It was kind of breath taking watching them plunged into the wolfs hide like that. It looked like its natural protection would hold for a second there before those sturdy insect legs pierced right through in a shower of blood and gore. Now that I look at the pub it¡¯s not as normal as it looked when I picked it up. It already shows large similarities to the grown adults of its species. The canines, unusually big like sabretooths, and an exposed spine growing out of its back is a dead giveaway, which adds some protection to it and to be frank..it kinda looks cool. I suspect It would be a whole lot harder capturing this in adult form. Heck even killing it would probably be as hard as the monkey if not harder. ¡°good that we didn¡¯t stay in that place right puppy?¡± I say to it while ducking under some red and blue vines, with a glint in my eye. After finding a good place to sit and checking the time -14:28- I take the rope from my bag and tie a leash around its neck and a nearby tree and lie the still pulsing plant on the ground next to it. After some hesitation and eyeing of the Cycleplant, as I call it now, it bites into it. Blue juice starts to flow out of the plant and dribble out of the hound¡¯s mouth as it chews the delicacy as I see it close its eyes in delight. The instant it eats it¡­nothing happened as far as I can see. It just sat down and looked at me apprehensively again. Well it does seem edible as it probably wouldn¡¯t have eaten it if it was poisonous at all. I search the vicinity for any other plants as I wait an hour to see any form of poisoning symptoms surfacing, but it didn¡¯t seem like it felt unwell at all as it was just playing in the grass after I came back. I found three other interesting plant thingies¡¯ while sneaking around as well as some kind of humongous centipede which I just smacked to death. It tried to attack me while I was picking the first plant I found, but when I tried to retaliate with my knife it just bounced of its chitin carapace. Anyways the green plant, with a pattern of a night sky decorating its leaves, I found smelled really good. Actually, I only found it because I could smell it from a few meters away and picked a few stalks of it up to take with me. The other one was red and just looked like a fat squishy tube with some discoloration at the top, peculiar I thought. The cub ate the red one which invigorated it as it started playing again even so it just lied down as it seemed tired. It stayed away from the green one so that one is a no no. After a few more tests I squash some of the green ones and dribble it over a shallow wound I inflicted on one of the bubs legs. With interest I note anything of interest and kill the now contaminated wolfling with a stab to the heart. I notice the low battery status of my phone and quickly write a small definition under every photo I¡¯ve taken and mark the places where I found them on my phones map before noting my position relative to the village and switch it off. I leave the corps on the forest floor for any lucky monster that comes across it as a short snack and go over the information I¡¯ve garnered from my first four ingredients since the start of the apocalypse, while foraging for more on the way to the village.Stolen story; please report. The red plant seemed invigorating and sped the body¡¯s natural healing process up by a bit. I named it Healingtube, the Cycleplant seemed to get rid of bacteria and can be used on wound and for brushing one¡¯s teeth as the young hounds teeth turned from a slight yellow to a brighter shade after just ingesting one of them. The lightly transparent brown one seems to just be a good food ingredient as it had a nice salty/earthly taste to it. Not like mud mind you if you thought that. I had difficulty¡¯s naming it, but just termed it Earthsalt. The last one was the green plant, which I termed Numbingstar not just because it sounds really nerdy but because of its property¡¯s and appearance. The juices had dot and paralyzing effects. In simpler terms. It numbed the muscle around the contact area and hindered blood clogging. Perfect for use on my weapons as this would heighten my threat level against any creature for now. I suspect I can increase each plants effect by some via concentration and maybe discover other effects by mixing them together but that will have to wait for later. Concentrating on the flow of energy in my legs, I jog at a speed that would normally be quite hard to keep up, but I¡¯m slowly getting the hang of controlling the effects of ¡®hardening¡¯ and ¡¯strengthening¡¯ my appendages. I continued trying different approaches since the first time I used this aspect of cultivation and it seems to have short and longsighted effects as I don¡¯t just fortify my body but also increase my control of this formally foreign flow. It¡¯s so magical. This whole situation. It¡¯s like I imagined it in my dream. Fighting monsters, manipulating energy and even potion making. That my life changed so much is just so hard to believe, but undeniably reality; as I can still feel pain cursing through my body. Not just from the wounds I received, that are, I note, healing surprisingly fast, but also from mental pain. The good thing is that this just makes me even more excited in finding prays that I can thrash and mutilate in cold blood~ Thinking about these things, while training my flow and control of energy I spend another night in this place before arriving at the small village of Timber Veil. I can¡¯t await to sleep in a real bed again. Thinking about the prime food and equipment I break the treeline just too step back and position myself behind a tree for cover. Orcs. Many. A head count tells me that at least 20 have occupied the town, not counting patrol/scouting party¡¯s and orcs hidden in buildings. ¡°What to do-what to do indeed¡± I just hum at the sight. This sure is quite scary I think to myself while probably showing the creepiest grin there is. I¡¯m so dead if they can even smell a slither of my stink right now. Every orc seems to be taller than me by at least 20 cm, meaning they are at leas 2 to 2.5 meter tall. Nothing to scoff at for sure. Just looking at their build with hands big enough to circle my neck with one hand and dumb looking enough to not be up for talking this out. Well as long as they don¡¯t know I¡¯m here they can¡¯t do anything about me.. After inspecting these new kind of threats I look at all the human corpses strewn about before my gaze lands on the fire place in the middle of the street where a fat guy was being cooked to well done looking how blackened his skin already is. Strangely I don¡¯t feel to much about these. Not because I¡¯ve become inhuman I think..hope, but because I can¡¯t do anything about their deaths as I¡¯m unable to bring them back to life. I weigh my option. Either I just avoid this town and just try to reach another one, maybe even go to the next city or I try to kill every one of them. Yep this decision appears to be clear as day. I just have to kill them all, rip out their spines and strangle them with¡¯em. Ok, that¡¯s overboard but yeah. I feel running away is the wrong thing to do at the moment and I have all the time in the world to construct a plan or maybe harass them to death as long as they don¡¯t notice me. The still has a quarter of its way left until its going to get dark so I suppose its time to check what these green humanoids are made of. After looking at the building my luggage should be sitting in I circle the village to see how to best approach this. I first check how good their senses are and confirm how they are all muscle without any brawn. First their eyesight. After finding a good test subject, a lone orc sitting on a tree stump doing some leather work on some pelts, I throw a stone next to him in an angle that should be easy for it too see. It saw it fly by its head and just followed it with its eyes before looking back down and continuing with whatever it was doing. I thinking that I had to run away and hide the instant it saw the stone but it really does seem as dumb as it looks, but this just makes it easier to test its other sense without having to look for other test subject for every single test. Anyways next is hearing. I throw another stone, but this time at a tree without letting him see the trajectory of the stone thrown¡­¡­.. Nothing. ¡°Good¡± much easier to sneak up on them now as long as I move in the night considering its eyesight. ¡°just hope they don¡¯t have night sight..¡± This just leaves smell, which could be a real problem seeing that I didn¡¯t take a bath since what three days? Was it 4? My god am I already starting to forget things? I¡¯m 17 damn it. I take one of my socks and put another stone inside before throwing it behind the creature. First nothing happened before it turned around. It picked up the sock, looked around before quickly hiding it in its loin cloth¡­ I just ignore that ever happened and note that I have to move with moderate vigilance of wind direction to stay undetected. After checking this on another victim just to be sure that the first one wasn¡¯t a fluke and because I have to stinky socks and not just one I turn around and head back into the forest to spend my time efficiently waiting to see if their head count goes up of if the total number really amounts to 20. I forage some more plants, but sadly don¡¯t find any others that don¡¯t just turn into dust and scatter like that purple one earlier, and train my energy some more. The time flew by really fast as I¡¯ve not just stocked up on my four baby¡¯s but also got to crack three to two nother cores as some stupid cat-reptile creature and its buddy¡¯s thought I was easy prey. Well think twice next time kittens~. A few well placed kicks and two knife stabs seemed to do the trick. Night came fast so after eating a quick snack I turn back to the village to see if this group is going to be a tender meal or a chewy one. Chapter 4: Carnage The sky is beautiful. Stars decorating every inch of it as no lights from the ground can obstruct this distracting display of wonder, but that¡¯s what it is Distracting. I turn my gaze back to the fire still burning in the middle of the town. 5 orcs are sitting around it, making their long shadows dance with every flick of the flame. I had enough time till sunset to rest up. My plan? None existent¡­ Well if silent infiltration and assassination can be called a plan.. 13 orcs are awake so killing the other 30 something that should be sleeping will be a piece of cake ¡®hopefully¡¯. Then I¡¯ll just have to wing it ¡®somehow¡¯. It¡¯s going to work out somehow right? I try to steel myself for what¡¯s to come, when I can¡¯t help but think of myself for a moment of retrospection. I was against violence in all its forms and appearances. I never hit somebody in my life, that¡¯s just the kind of human I was. That¡¯s how my parents raised me to be and that¡¯s how people around me saw me as. I wasn¡¯t perfect, not at all. I had anger issues sure and a beautiful imagination in which the antagonist reached a cruel end every time, but I kept them bottled up and played nice.. I was a pacifist by heart for every intents and purposes. Right know? I think that¡¯s exactly what happened..I lost it, my heart I mean. When I fought that creature two days ago, yeah it was weak. But I was weaker both physically and mentally. I¡¯m still one of the weakest existences out there. No denying that. The all important difference however, is that that I changed or more like had to change my mentality. I start to reminisce about the sensation of my hand getting a feel for the squishy fruit called brain , how easy my fist was able to rip it into pieces after the protective layer called skull broke. It fulfilled me. I¡¯m more now. I¡¯m whole.. *** The door creaks as I try to open it as slowly as possible before I stop abruptly as I flinch and try to listen for any sounds that could tell me the status of the fat green and smelly creature on the other side of this door. How do I know when the door isn¡¯t even opened? Fat and green, cause I saw it through the key hole and smelly well because I¡¯m not afflicted by anosmia.. Not wanting to make anymore problematic and awkward I just rip the door open and am relieved that that produced the least sound. I slowly creep next to the unsuspecting prey after surveying the room and acknowledging that nothing can interfere with our little fun time I casually whip out a huge kitchen knife as my old carving one has become dull after the abuse in the last days and just stab into its soft throat without blinking an eye. ¡®hmmm nice~¡¯ I slowly open my eyes that couldn¡¯t help but close because of the sensation only to have piercing yellow eyes startle me. Out of reflex I roll to the side, which spared me the possible death grip of its arms that are now used to try slowly hefting itself up. I just stare in wonder as I am sure that the neck wound is critical. It falls back down again with a thud coughing up some blood as I can hear it wheezing through it¡¯s blood clogged gullet choking with every breath it takes. It tries to stop the blood flow by putting pressure on its wound which is visibly receding¡­ ¡¯oh shit¡­..¡¯ ¡®Why didn¡¯t I think of this¡¯ Reprimanding myself for forgetting one crucial aspect of orcs..The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡¯Their regeneration!¡¯ Quickly finding my hold on the kitchen utensil I jump to find my place next to the creature. I try to rip its hands away from the wounds, but ultimately fail as I additionally did not take its inhuman strength into consideration, which also should not have slipped my mind considering its humongous arms are as big if not bigger than my thigh. Not even adding it¡¯s fantasy boosted strength to the equation. I do the only thing I found myself good at since this all started and start to ruthlessly stab the 12inches of steel at its hands. At first It¡¯s hard, blood flies everywhere as I repeatedly get stopped by its steel like bones, but I push through until after the 8th stab or so its fingers get severed and I reach the rapidly healing neck wound only to reset the severity. I see its eyes dim and eye lids slowly close just to have them rip open again in the next second. ¡®what should I do I¡­ I¡­.!¡¯ Panic encroaching me I change my previous reverse grip on the handle and start to saw away. Blood, sinew and flesh covering my hands I work my way down. Its thrashing and wheezing falling on death ears, I don¡¯t even notice it stopping as I cut through what looks like its windpipe when I finally reach its spine. I even wanted to call it case closed when I just see its flesh starting to knit together anew. ¡®you gotta be shitting me¡¯ After trying to saw through a vertebra with even more vigor only to have its flesh build around the foreign object. I mess its hard work up again as I thrash around in frustration, making an even bigger mess around myself. Calming myself down I direct my energy to my hands and just lifted the butt of the knife to trash its spine into pieces when I notice its limbs stop twitching and its blood stop spraying through its severed veins. Falling back onto my behind, my breathing slows to a normal level, when I try to assess the situation. ¡®is it dead?...¡¯ .. ¡­ ¡®no movement¡¯ ¡®good¡¯ First things first, no noise indicates that the orcs upstairs have woken up. Concentrating on my eyesight instead of my hearing I just sweep my gaze through the room noticing the state of it. I flinch when a blood drop falls onto my cheek. Looking up I just sigh and rethink how I¡¯m supposed to win this if this first kill is any indication of what¡¯s to come. I slowly carve its core out, happy that at least this thing seems to want to liven up my mood. Not only is it the shiniest of all cores to this point, but it also comes with strange structures aka runes carved into it, which I¡¯ve only seen buds of till now. Stashing it away, I reach a sudden epiphany when I find the Numbingstar / paralyzing plant in my bag¡­ ¡®this is supposed to paralyze cells in a localized effect right¡­¡¯ After searching for another lone victim in one of the many rooms in this house I stumble upon one in what looks like the office and try to kill it swiftly with a poison coated stab to the heart. It seems to be working, but isn¡¯t perfect which is why I give it a few more stabs to widen the wound before stepping back. I notice that its piercing eyes that opened the second it felt its life dwindling slowly close again. I wait for five more minutes just to be absolutely sure and as I do not notice any signs of life or brain activity I carve its core out, stash it away and start the silent calamity. About 90 minutes later I come down from my high and try to catch my breath after sitting my ass down and loosening my vice like grip on the red stained knife. ¡®so I¡¯ve killed exactly 34 orcs, the majority where sleeping while I had to swiftly dispatch of 5 annoyances lurking about or fucking around¡­whatever¡­¡¯ They where awake which made it a little harder but not impossible. The tricky part was not waking the others up by first slicing the vocal cords before restraining the monstrosity by paralyzing important muscles in each appendage, before finally going for the heart. The good thing was that this suburban village only has simple wooden doors as backdoors helping me with swift and silent infiltration. It would be way harder if I had to force my way in through other means. But the truth is the ugliest part isn¡¯t even over yet, as I have 13 fuckers stationed around the village.. If I¡¯m lucky the most I have to fight at the same time is 4 as the guards stationed at the corner points of the village amount to two per corner and the 5 orcs at the fire will hopefully let me surprise attack at least one before engaging¡­.. ¡®This seemed so easy¡­¡¯ ¡®Maybe I should just hide in the woods? And make the tire each other out as they have to remain vigilant?...¡¯ ¡®Actually that sounds like a sound idea! Why didn¡¯t I think of that earlier¡¯ After a quick facepalm and a short rest I grab some preserved food out of the kitchen before tracing my steps back into the houses where I¡¯ve found an axt as well as my and others power banks. Taking stock of my loot I count 3 power banks (Pauls, mine and somebody else¡¯s), 3 containers to hold plants in, some clothes, some preserved food, some other not noteworthy stuff and 2 additional kitchen knives as well as another premium carving knife stashed away in my new backpacker bag. Not to forget my 34 true rewards in their own personal pocket, but when I tried to refill my water bottle I don¡¯t even get to have a drop as the pumping system isn¡¯t working.. Not letting my mood take a hit I sneak out of the backdoor through which I entered before rushing past a few houses following my former rout before jumping into the tall grass and concealing my retreat by going prone. After reaching tree line I breath out releasing the tension I held for the past 1 to 2 hours smiling at the feeling of a successful endeavour I roll my shoulders trying to alleviate the stress of carrying 34 cores and miscellaneous stuff on my back. Not stopping I continue onward following the map on my charging phone to the next water body to get some water both for drinking and washing as I do not only smell of death but look like it if my figure can be used as any indication, seeing as blood is dripping from me every time I move. Turning my attention back to my phone and the power banks I happily note that I probably have enough battery to last me 7 days if used sparingly and maybe even longer if I only use it when really necessary. Now that I think about it maybe I can find a solar powered charger in a city or something. ¡®I¡¯ll add that to my to do list as I wanted to set the closest city as my next destination anyway¡¯ ¡°Now then..¡± Treading through the soft damp forest I¡¯m thinking of maybe listening to some good oll music after all these tense days as a reward before going to sleep. As excited as I am I do not think it¡¯s wise to cultivate or try myself at some poison refining if I¡¯m this tired.. After my business, I ley against the somewhat soft bark of this 6 meter tall fantasy tree Checking the time, its 10 o¡¯clock so after some relaxing Sheeran or Lo-Fang I¡¯ll just get some well deserved shuteye.