Very much a creature of habit, Sebastian made the same breakfast most days, scrambled eggs and some breakfast sausages, paired with a nice glass of OJ.

  He turned off the stove, switched off the hood vent, and he gently moved his breakfast from the pan to his plate. He sat in the same chair as always by the dining table, the one with the view of one tree in the neighborhood through the window.

  There wasn’t much of a view this time, though. The pitter-patter of rain on the window, and the murky, overcast gloom obscured the tree for the most part.

  It didn’t bother him much; as stormy as it was outside, on the inside his apartment was bright as day.

  The breakfast in front of him reclaimed his attention. Somehow, his scrambled eggs and sausages were gone, and in their place were cakes and lemon tarts and muffins. Excited, he took a bite of a tart, only for it to turn into a savory, overly salty, stale piece of bread with some sort of fish paste spread as soon as it touched his mouth.

  He spat it right back out in shock, and distaste, and he shot to his feet. His hasty motion caused the chair to fall over. It nudged the kitchen counter, which in turn caused a small can of corn to fall from the top shelf. It landed on the edge of a spatula, which sent a sausage flying across the apartment and through the crack of the bedroom door left ajar.

  Curious, and compelled for some reason that felt like completely natural in the moment, Sebastian followed and opened the door fully.

  He expected to find his bedroom, instead there was a wall of natural stone with an opening going up to his chest. Inside, a small distance away, a few strange symbols floated in the air, illuminating the dark. Text in a language he had never seen before, and couldn’t quite make out.

  Shuffling inside, crouched over so as to not hit his head, Sebastian reached his hand for the text suspended in the air, and glowing a soft white. The closer he got, the farther away the text seemed. Somehow, as he tried to reach it, his arm stretched along with the passage.

  Finally, the tips of his fingers touched it.

  The scenery changed in an instant.

  He found himself atop a mountain, overlooking a wide open plains. The landscape dyed a warm red and orange; lit by fire and brimstone at odds with the dark of night. Hordes of people were spread out across the land, vast armies at war. Their clashes and screams echoed up the cliffs. In the distance, massive spires of stone, like inverted mountains balancing on sharp tips were strewn across the horizon. Each of them swayed softly, threatening to collapse at any moment. The heavens trembled and auroras flashed across the sky.

  Startled and overwhelmed by the chaos, by the unruliness of the scene in front of him, Sebastian raised a hand. As he did, the world took heed. The chaos erupted further, amplifying twice over.

  Instinctively, he knew what to do.

  He swiped his hand down, and a hand manifested in the heavens, massive enough to blot out the sun. It struck the earth, and the world collapsed.

  The armies fell.

  The spires in the distance crumbled to dust.

  The clouds parted.

  And once it settled, all was calm. A bright and warm sun shone on a peaceful and beautiful scenery.

  ***

  Sebastian’s eyes darted open as he woke up, and he pushed his head above the surface to take a deep breath.

  As he tread water, he felt the bottom of whatever pond or lake he was in. He quickly found his footing and climbed out, only to collapse on the cold, hard ground.

  His arm was killing him, he thought a rib might be cracked, and he was bleeding from various cuts, but he was alive! He survived, and he had every intention to stay that way.

  Carefully, and painfully, Sebastian made his way over to the cliff wall and sat down on the rocky ground, leaning his back against the wall. He sat there, and just breathed for a while.

  What just happened? Did they really just try to kill me? Oh fuck, they did. What am I gonna do? Where am I? And what was that dream? Calm down! Breathe. I’ll make it through this. First things first, how hurt am I?

  Slowly moving his body, bit by bit, Sebastian checked for injuries and any potential broken bone. The adrenaline made it harder to truly feel the state of his body, but he managed.

  Ok—whew—nothing seems to be broken; left arm’s hurt but the bone seems good, the ribs hurt like a son-of-a-bitch but don’t feel broken either, maybe cracked, though. Cuts and bruises all over but the bleeding’s not so bad. It shouldn’t be a problem.

  He looked around. There was nothing but darkness in every direction. Not only was it the middle of the night but he was lost and alone in the depth of a gorge. The dripping of water from his clothes and the frantic beating of his heart trying to escape his chest were the only sounds that reached him. His hands trembled. He forced himself to take deep breath after deep breath in a futile attempt to calm down.

  Having at least figured out the extent of his injuries, to some degree, he desperately moved his focus to what comes next, so as to keep his mind from collapsing.

  I really wish I paid more attention when watching those survival shows; how long can I last without food and water again? It should be fine to go a few days without food but water is more important. Wait, wasn’t there some sort of thing, like “The rule of 3’s” or something like that?

  3 something without something, 3 days—maybe—without water, and 3... weeks without food, could that be right? Maybe 3 minutes without air? Whatever, I’m gonna need to find water within a day or two and this pond or whatever it is isn’t gonna cut it.

  Right now it kind of hurts just to breathe but I think I should be good to look around in a bit. Although, last time I hurt my ribs, it hurt like hell for weeks. Not looking forward to that.

  Fortunately, it's summer; it’s hot enough that I don’t have to worry about hypothermia but not hot enough that I’ll dehydrate faster than normal.

  Taking a few moments just to breathe and to recover, as much as he could recover in such a short period of time anyway, helped somewhat. He rolled up his sleeves and took another deep breath. Placing his hand on the cold, damp, stone wall behind him, he forced his way onto his feet to try to get a grasp of what the environment in the gorge was like.

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  With the exception of the pond, or whatever such a body of water might be called, the entire gorge seemed to be rather barren with the exception of some bits of vegetation here and there. The darkness made it somewhat difficult to get a good look but the moonlight that occasionally peeked through the clouds helped. The gorge seemed to be about about 10 to 15 meters across, the ground was mostly flat with boulders scattered all over the place and the odd bush here and there.

  Looking back up toward the site from where he was pushed, Sebastian was overwhelmed by emotions; simultaneously terrified, happy to be alive, and also consumed by rage. All the while, he couldn’t help but recall—and relive—the fear, the helplessness, and the indignation he felt as he fell.

  Taking another deep and painful breath, he turned his eyes to the murky waters that saved his life.

  How many others have they thrown down here? Discarded like trash, killed simply because they didn’t live up to some expectation. Those fuckers! I’ll kill ‘em, I’ll fucking kill them for this! His fists clenched so hard that they almost drew blood. The same was true for his jaw. He had to manually force himself to slow his breathing as he found it quickening whenever his mind drifted.

  Deciding to deal with that particular issue—and the issue of his inevitable revenge—later, he once more looked up toward the edge of the cliff. Not to relive his trauma but to look around for any path that might lead him out of this gorge. Although, hard as he tried, his mind kept wandering.

  That cliff is easily a 20 meter drop, probably more. Even with that pond, how the hell did I survive that? At that height, that shallow bit of water isn’t gonna slow me down much, and I made it out with only some minor injuries. That’s some hero-level luck alright, maybe there’s more to the “Blessed” Title than the description implied. Although, I guess it could also have been that Talent. “…an inherent connection to the Akashic System”. Maybe the [System] saved me somehow?

  Whatever, I won’t be able to figure that out now.

  FOCUS!

  Taking yet another deep and painful breath to clear his mind, he returned his focus on finding something useful. He moved, as best he could, and searched the area.

  About half an hour of fruitless searching later, Sebastian heard a noise.

  Kee! Krek!

  He quickly tried to hide behind a rock in order to avoid whatever it was that was moving around down there, but with his injuries he simply couldn’t move fast enough. A small, green creature carrying a sturdy looking wooden stick appeared from behind another rock up ahead.

  Reaching only about waist-high, the creature was oddly proportioned with long slender limbs and a chubby torso. Its dark green skin was rough and patchy, as if covered by scars and boils. The eyes were large and bulbous with a nose far too large for its face. It had a mouth that stretched almost from ear to ear, half-filled with surprisingly sharp looking teeth.

  Sebastian’s face turned ashen as he froze in place, his body trembling at the sight of the creature. Holy fuck, what is that? Is that— Is that a goblin? Fuck, there really are monsters here. Damn it! Don’t see me, please don’t see me!

  His night just kept getting worse.

  The goblin looked up and they almost immediately locked eyes. For a moment, neither one of them moved a muscle. It didn’t take long, however, for the goblin’s eyes to glance down toward Sebastian’s injuries.

  A creepy smile formed on its already ugly face.

  It probably wasn’t confident in taking on an adult human at full strength alone but knowing its opponent was injured and thus weak did wonders for its confidence.

  The goblin held up its stick and sprinted toward Sebastian at full speed. Spittle flew from its mouth as it shouted random noises.

  Kee, kek! Skree!

  “Fuck!”

  Sebastian turned and ran in the opposite direction. His injuries kept him from properly sprinting and so the goblin, despite its small size, was quickly catching up. Soon, he found himself back at the pond, desperately trying to get away but realizing that he was going to have to fight.

  Turning around and quickly grabbing the first rock he could see, Sebastian only had a few seconds before the rabid goblin would pounce on him. Without even properly aiming, he chucked the rock with every ounce of strength he could muster. By sheer luck, or perhaps divine intervention, the rock managed to hit the goblin right in the eye.

  The hit didn’t do particularly much damage but served to distract the goblin enough that its foot caught a crevice causing it to tumble forward. Reacting in the nick of time, Sebastian jumped to the side as the goblin’s momentum carried it past him, straight into the water.

  Somehow, in the process of falling, the goblin still had the wherewithal to get a swing in with its stick. Sebastian took the hit right on his injured left arm. The collision caused both himself and the goblin’s stick to fall to the ground as it lost its grip on its only weapon.

  Splash!

  The moment it hit the water, Sebastian got back on his feet and ran. He heard it splashing and screaming behind him. The water served as a decent distraction but it was only a matter of time before the goblin got out and continued its hunt. His arm hurt more than ever but his ribs were worse. Every breath and every step felt like getting stabbed in the stomach, but he persevered.

  After a short while, Sebastian stopped and did a quick scan of his surroundings for anything that could help him—a place to hide, a weapon, a way to get away from the monster, anything.

  There was nothing.

  Sebastian closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, then another one, and a third one, and when he opened his eyes, he had resolved himself.

  He was going to have to fight that goblin to the death; either he kills the goblin or the goblin kills him. Reaching down, he picked up a rock that would have to serve as a weapon, something he could use to smash the goblin with other than his fists.

  Just as he stood up straight, he heard the goblin running at him once again so he turned to face the goblin. The moonlight wasn’t strong enough to illuminate much more than a half a dozen meters in front of him due to the shadows of the cliff so he simply stood there and stared into the dark abyss of the gorge as he waited for the goblin to appear.

  Each second was worse than the last.

  His muscles tensing with every moment.

  “Skree!”

  The goblin appeared from the dark backdrop, sprinting at him.

  A small, rabid monster that wanted nothing more than to kill—and probably eat him. The only good news was that it hadn’t found the stick. It was unarmed and much smaller than Sebastian who kept reminding himself that weight classes are a thing for a reason.

  “Come on you ugly son-of-a-bitch!” Sebastian screamed at the monster, doing his very best to convince himself that he was up for this fight.

  The goblin jumped up toward his face and Sebastian responded by jumping forward himself, tackling the goblin with his shoulder. It caught the goblin by surprise and knocked it to the ground.

  Not letting the opportunity go to waste, Sebastian pounced and bashed the goblin over the head with the rock. He got a few good hits in but the goblin was so small that he couldn’t get control over its legs. It got free and kicked him in the ribs. As he winced in pain, the goblin jumped up and went for a bite. Sebastian only just managed to shift to the side causing the goblin to bite into his shoulder rather than his neck.

  Pride gone, dignity nonexistent, honor nowhere to be found, Sebastian instinctively retaliated in kind. He bit down with everything he had right on the goblin’s neck.

  His teeth tore into its flesh, and he ripped out a good chunk. The goblin jumped back in shock. Sebastian spat out the missing piece of its neck and they locked eyes for what felt like an hour, but in reality were mere moments until its eyelids began to droop as blood continued to gush out from the wound. It dropped to its knees before finally falling down, face first, into the ground.

  All the muscles in Sebastian’s body relaxed at the same time in a wave of relief which made him fall straight down, like a puppet with its strings cut. As he sat there, mind blank and body numb from adrenaline, alerts popped up in his mind.

  Level 4 goblin killed

  Experience gained: 124

  Level gained

  Experience surplus: 13

  A wave of heat, or energy, or something, washed over him.

  I did it.

  I beat it.

  I SURVIVED!