Unlike every other morning that Zeke awoke to, this one specifically, was quite insufferable.

Zeke whimpered at the pain washing through his arms, back, legs, and oh god did his calfs hurt, like he was dunked in a vat of acid. The next sensation after pain was the stomach turning stench of dried blood and rotting flesh.

Zeke eyed the goblin corpse and unleashed an impressive slew of obscenities through gritted teeth. Stupid fucking thing should have died from the first hit, not the fifth. He personally promised to torture every goblin in this forest. let them taste the pain he was made to experience. This was a promise he had every intention to keep.

As the pain dulled slightly, he realised in horror that the corpse and blood sloshed in his little cave would definitely attract other, probably nastier predators in time. Unfortunately for Zeke, he wouldn't be moving anytime in the immediate future, rest and recuperation came first. Still, the thought nagged the back of his mind much like how a seagull nags a dock, always.

He cursed as he begun casting his regeneration, he should of done this as he awoke but the recent spell escaped his memory.

"Blood Regeneration"

"Blood Regeneration" he cried out again.

Focusing much of the spell on his legs and chest, he could feel blood trickling from his back wound, probably reopened when he woke up.

+1 Mana (Mana/3/19)

The increase in mana reminded him of the 2 levels he gained at the end of his life or death duel.

"Status" he spoke

[Zeke] level 3, Defier +6 points

Health: 26/142

Mana: 3/19

Skills: Blood Regeneration, Avarice

"Attributes" he added and a new mental image appeared.

Strength: 28

Endurance: 32

Agility: 23

Intellegence: 42

Affinity: 18

Each attribute was a numerical representation of capabilities when at peak performance. Currently Zeke had 6 points to delegate at his discretion which would give minor improvement when applied.

He decided that the points would be best spent towards affinity. That would increase his mana cap and to some extent his magic prowess, allowing him use to cast more blood regenerations.

+6 Affinity (24)

The small increase of just 6 points brought Zeke's cap to 33, enough mana to cast Blood Regeneration around 5 times when at full, Zeke guessed this improvement would probably save his life in the days to come.

Looking through his status reminded Zeke of one more thing he'd forgotten, Avarice. The ability to take power from things he'd slain, like the goblin just a few meters away. He worried that there was a time limit on skill's activation or if the corpse's freshness affected the success in any way. This thought spurred him into action against his body's protest.

He prone-crawled through a huge puddle of dried blood and goblin brain bits that seeped from the goblin, wincing in agony as his legs flopped around. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and return to sleep, but the prospect of stealing power outweighed the pain he felt.

He placed a hand against the Goblin's outstretched leg and chanted the spell.

After casting the spell, the world that was the goblin's mana had flooded his senses. He could feel the subtle differences between his own in the one he was currently taking. The mana was siphoned through his hand and merged with his own body, adapting and mutating. The feeling of power transferring was euphoria and he greedily devoured it.

But the spell had failed. Just as the power was about to become his, it fizzled violently and faded to nothing.

Zeke was a little disappointed, not too much, the skill mentioned that not every attempt would yield results, but enough to deeply regret moving around.

He wondered if he could attempt a second time and promptly tried again.

"Avarice"

Nothing occurred, not suprising. He assumed it was because what mana the goblin body contained was now fully stagnated, whereas before it still flowed, if only slowly.

With his skill experimentation complete, he sprawled beside the goblin corpse a let his magic recover his injuries. He figured in a couple of hours he'd have the strength to move the corpse some else, for now, rest. A well deserved nap.

The afternoon heralded a heavy overcast that greyed the world.

Zeke had woken from his nap and casted his regeneration a few times, happy with how short nap had miraculously healed him to the point where movement was again a possibility. Blood regeneration was probably getting a lot more efficient with how much he was abusing it. At the moment he was at pre-goblin fight to the death levels of pain, maybe even a little healthier, a huge improvement.

Once again Zeke poked his head from the cave's mouth, hoping to god no more unwanted little green uglies wanted to pay a visit. He dragged the dead body outside the cave, striving to put it as far away as safely possible before returning to the cave's sanctuary. He even had the chance to search for the club he abandoned before returning.

With a sigh Zeke parked his bum in a cosy corner of the cave, the new weather ushered a cold wind and even a slight drizzle. He was thankful that any rain would mask the scent of the blood in the cave but fire would be needed to stay warm during the coming night.

One issue followed the other in this god-forsaken forest.

Zeke took stock of his collected resources, starting with the most important.

A small stone knife and a fibre belt that had once fastened the loincloth around the dead goblin and acted as a sheath for the dagger. The belt didn't actually fit Zeke's frame but it could be used for other purposes as a crude rope or string of sorts. He also had a plethora of varying sticks and a bunch of bloodied stones.

Notably, Zeke lacked any firestarting methods, except maybe using sticks and a tonne of friction.

With nothing coming to mind Zeke reluctantly opted for the stick on stick method of flame.

With a groan he selected some appropriate looking sticks. With the stone knife he stripped away at a flat branch, exposing the dry timber beneath and collecting the shavings as kindling. Then, using the fibre belt and a short-bendy stick he made a small bow, using the bowstring to wrap around a straight thin stick, one that would gather heat quickly.

With all the necessary items gather he started the grueling task. He lacked the proper technique and experience, so just getting smoke to rise had taken an hour. By now the slight drizzle had picked up into a light sprinkle, it would rain tonight for sure. A further hour had the smoke turn to a weak flame, which quickly died because Zeke failed to tend it properly. An hour after that, just as dusk settled, a small fire a been created.

Title Gained: Survivor

Oh cool, a title.

Titles were a record of achievements or sometime experiences and came with their own benefits.

Survivor for instance, proved one had lived by crude methods whilst in a hostile enviroment. It gave the benefit of improving one's immune system and allowed one to sleep soundly when in good health. The second benefit probably wouldn't work at the moment, but the first would come in handy for sure, Zeke had noticed there were a few tempting berry bushes just outside the cave.

Zeke swapped the Defier title to Survivor. The titles still gave passive bonuses regardless of what was equiped, but the Defier title felt ominous to Zeke, it's requirements and benefits were unknown despite his attempts to conjure information.

After tending the fire and casting Blood Regeneration for the last few times, Zeke drifted off. Hopefully some embers remained for the next day, after all spending multiple hours on starting a fire, wasn't very fun.

Zeke went to sleep with a day of not much happening, but a keen eargerness for tomorrow.