I woke up to a repugnant smell attacking my nostrils. It was an odour of death and decay. I had not expected to find myself in such a situation, all too soon. I had just been thinking about what to do with this shitty scale and yet I got launched onto the ground.
I do not even remember the impact, before losing my consciousness. Seems like whatever test they have done is now over. Although I would have preferred a better treatment, then this kind of farewell.
Waking up in such an environment is not that pleasant nor is it very accommodating. The message behind it is more than clear. This place meant trouble and I should take care of it. This was also part of the test they have devised for me.
Although I will have to get used to my lack of sight, I still should be able to survive in all of this mess. Where this level of confidence came from, I had no idea. It was not based on anything that would give me much hope in this place, especially if I meet the reason for all of the stench.
As I pushed myself upwards to stand up my entire body produced a cracking sound and everything just croaked. This did not sound very human at all.
I had finally managed to stand on my own 2 feet again, I could only lament my fate, as I felt like an old man. For the time being, I should stop complaining about my weary old bones and search my surroundings.
Any information about the terrain can save me in a moment of trouble, walking blindly will only lead to my demise. I see my ability to make bad word-play has not diminished in the slightest, though I will have to search for another weapon than my tongue.
Upon touching the ground I felt the soft sensation of dirt. In hindsight, it is kinda pointless to figure out what exactly I am standing on. The fact, that the ground is solid and can be tread upon should be enough to know.
I am more interested in the other objects which can be found upon the dirt. Especially if I find some rocks or remains, that could be utilized as a weapon. I can vouch for the tenacity for the bones of monsters. These things do not break that easily.
Though my search did not bring me the desired results as all I could find was even more dirt. Good things do take time, so I am not going to stop any time soon. It took a bit but I found something other than dirt.
It was something squishy and mushy. I had located the source of the smell that still attacked me. Rotten meat is certainly not something I had ever expected to find my hands in. Suppressing my urge to puke, I tried to find something worthwhile in the decaying carcass. I had no idea what was an organ and what was meat but quite frankly I did not want to know either.
Rummaging through the remains I did not find what I had been looking for but I could confirm something very important. This thing had been huge when it was alive. Which raises the question why did such a creature lose its life here?
A bad premonition overcame me but at last, I had found the reason I was transported to this area. Should I be glad, that they do seem to place too much confidence in my abilities now? Regardless I should not jump to conclusions here, but I should be wary of the possibility.
Always thinking of the worst would only cloud my judgement, a realistic approach is always the correct choice. Listening to your primal urges like panic or fear is not helpful when you need to use your head.
There is a time and place for everything but neither side should be relied on blindly. This is not just some profound bullshit I made up to feel better about myself. Simply said, be prepared for the worst but remember it always can get worse.
By losing my cool I would make matters worse and I could not adapt accordingly should the trouble arrive at my doorstep. I would be lying if I said I was enjoying the feeling of the fleshy substance in my hands, but it needed to be done.
I highly doubt that the obstacle I am supposed to take care of, will come forth and introduce itself to me. I waited for a few seconds to confirm, that I had not summoned yet another calamity due to my loose mouth and continued my quest to get a weapon.
After carefully navigating my way around in order to avoid touching more guts then necessary, it finally ended with my hands covered in even more intestines. Seems like it was not the only monster that came to an unfortunate ending here.
This specimen was even bigger as far as I could tell, although the smell they gave of was equally bad. Sadly yet again my effort was in vain as I only felt muscle tissue and meat but no bones. A detail which seemed pretty weird as bones decompose at a much slower rate than the rest of the body.
And these corpses are still rather fresh, so do tell me where did the bones go? What in the world would take the bones of such a creature while ignoring the meat? I had a hunch, but that would be a bit unreasonable. In a world which seemed so pure in their approach to magic, there was no way that they would go down such a route.
On the off chance they did, I can look forward to meeting them. I do hope they put these bones to good use. Otherwise, they are just wasting good material. I do wonder though, are they truly using their head?
I could not help from laughing at the joke I had made. It was not really that funny, but upon knowing the enemy I had to face, I just felt like it.
Is this in accordance with your understanding of balance? It is very much to my liking, but your idea is very flawed. This is not balance it is nothing short of a perversion. But I will gladly fix the issue for you and create a balance.
I am certain that they will enjoy my favour. For the time being, I should find a way to strengthen this body of mine, as my current strength will not be enough to make a dent in them.
But this is the reality I had yearned for, or at least I hope so. So if I have to send some people to the afterlife then so be it. It is not like I have any choice in that matter. I have my target and I will get rid of it. That's it.
No big speeches are needed, I will save those for another time. it is nothing more than a big waste of my time to pretend I stood a say in all of this. But I will do things my way until I have reached the point where I have the right to talk.
Enough proclamations about my future lets return to my previous search. There has to be a weapon to use here, something blunt would truly be the most suitable weapon. I had some fond memories of my very first weapon, that I came to use.
I could put those to good use against the enemies I will encounter. But before I could use them, I first need to locate them. Getting my hand out of the second corpse I had found, I tried to feel something that was not mushed flesh.
To my dismay, I had to find out that this was a graveyard, wherever I put my hands I felt a wet sensation. What the hell had happenend here? All of them were devoid of bones, not even the tiniest fragment of them could be felt. They did a really thorough job.
I can not even tell just how many have died here, nor is it obvious just how they died. All there is is just a sad pile of remains. This should serve as a warning just how much of a threat they pose. I should be very careful about them.
But I will still crush their skulls if given the chance. And for that, I will need to find a weapon. Could I find something different for once? I am growing a bit tired of finding the same thing over and over again. It does not help, that my hands reek like sewage.
I felt nauseous as my hands seemingly attracted, the very thing I wanted to avoid. I could not get used to the sensation all too fast, as it felt like I was walking through a slaughterhouse. There was no end to all of it.
What a sight this must be, to see so many corpses in such close vicinity. Though, its a shame that all of this good flesh has been doomed, it could have been eaten. This is not a morbid thought, just a realisation after seeing something so precious spoiling.
Sadly it was not fit for consumption anymore. But at least I have high hopes to find some food for me. I had to take care of this issue as soon as possible, a human being without water and food is doomed.
Water without electrolytes is also useless as my body would need to replenish the salts it had lost. I do not know that much about human survival but I know the basics needed for my survival. Well, at least those things applied to a normal human body.
Better safe than sorry, that is why I will still do my best to find a water source and food. I would also not say no to the oppurturnity to get all of the stuff of off my hands. A bit of hygiene can also save lives, especially If I have to treat my wounds.
Having an infection is a death sentence in this dangerous world and I do not have any access to modern medicine. Seems like I should not waste any more time scouring through the guts with such great care anymore.
I do not want to spend any more time on this than necessary, this is after all quite unsanitary. Who would like to have his hands covered in guts any more than necessary? Anyone would reply with yes to that question is not the type of person you would want to be around by at any time.
If you are not careful they will end up holding your hand in their hands and you do not want to give that kind of person a hand, otherwise you are really going to hand it to them. That is not something you can handle.
At times I truly hate myself and what did I find while keeping on making jokes? A hand. Yeah. how truly fortunate I am. What a nice handout I received. Brain, can you stop digging my grave any deeper than it has to be?
But why in the hell is there a hand here? It has the size and weight of a normal human hand but I am not going to put it in my mouth to taste it. I am not that hungry yet, Though I still took the hand with me for safekeeping.
Nothing wrong with having a snack when a feeling of hunger overcomes me. The hand was still very flesh and had yet to begin to spoil. I could have wondered why exactly a human hand was amidst this carnage, but I consider this as a gift of God.
Whether this was a crude prank of a God with an even worse sense of humour than me or just a random causality was something I was not interested in. I will not give them the satisfaction they try to achieve.
But I appreciate any kind of help I receive, I am not entitled to anything. Although I wish these people were not that stingy with it. Help a brother out. I mean this world is already unfair to me since the minute I opened my eyes, what is wrong with making it a little more equal, especially if I supposed to represent balance?
Knowing them I now could forget about receiving any kind of help ever again, as I have clearly shown a flaw in their judgement. My assumption could not be wrong, as the lack of favouritism was more than obvious.
My search for something valuable had not stopped as my hands still reached from one rotting carcass to another. There was no end to this formerly unique sensation. I wish I would have grown numb to this kind of feeling and the smell it gave off, but I was far from being desensitized to it.
Everywhere I go there was a decaying body waiting for me and the smell follows me as well. There was no escape from its sickening grasp. A departure to the afterlife began to look very appealing to me.
As my hands came into contact with the fleshy substance yet another time, I had given up on getting something good out of this, but to my surprise, I finally found something or should I rather say I was found by something.
In my right hand, I felt the soft bite of a creature I had sworn to never meet again in all of my life. I would recognize their weird yelping amongst thousands of different monsters. I felt its tail happily waggling as it had caught me with its teeth.
These shitty wolf cubs, why are they here? Do not tell me it is another instance of these small fries making my life a literal hell? They are truly trying to test my patience, but I should not complain when my dinner comes to me.
Especially if I can vent my frustrations on it before It enters my mouth. I know I have never been an advocate for mindless violence, okay I might have been, but they have earned it. Grabbing the wolf by its throat I ripped it out and smashed its body on the ground with full force.
As for the ground which was littered unhealthy substances, I ignored it, as I could just remove its skin.
I just could not deny how refreshing it felt, to smash it onto the ground with all of my might. If only for a brief second I had forgotten about the precarious situation I found myself in. As much as I wanted to enjoy this feeling of freedom, I was forced back to the cruel reality a few seconds later.
Behind me was a very deep growl, which sounded way more intimidating than the cub I had heard beforehand.
I guess that must be its mother.