Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos

A hellish gift (Part 4 - An Orc Appears)

This repeated a number of times. However, sometimes it was not sleep that got him. Rather it was food poisoning. Knowing that he would likely only survive a day or two, Edvard made sure to sample a different type of berry, fruit, nut, mushroom, anything edible each day.

Slowly he learned what was poisonous, what was hallucinogenic, and what was just normal food.

With time, the deaths became more often than not caused by the food. When Edvard died on the third day, having managed to wake to the slightest sound, he started feeling that he should only eat what he knew was safe.

This single change allowed him to survive for an entire week. By which time he had died hundreds of times. His mind had changed, his perception of life becoming one of survival and constant fights. With his nights spent thinking of a life long passed.

He would constantly talk with himself like a madman. How else was he to vent his anger?

It was also at this time when the animals coming for him changed. While the beasts of prey were still there, snakes also appeared. The first time having really pissed him off.

"Fuck! That is so unfair!" Edvard cursed as he looked at the bite mark near his ankle. The snake had been silent, perfectly camouflaging with the grass.

'How long do I have?' He questioned, bending down and finding that the snake was a green mamba. 'Shit, not even a day.' He cursed, the bite burning like hell.

Not wishing to live through the torture of dying from the venom, Edvard set up one of his spears as a stake in the ground and fell onto it. He had long since learned that he should not make death harder than it need be.

A week later again, he was more cautious. Being able to plan better as he had learned that each day there would be exactly four animals coming for him. Each six hours apart from the other. As such, he knew more or less when to expect them. Though what would come was always random.

Having made a rough sundial on his second day and his body also starting to become accustomed to the timing helped even more with planning.

Slowly he was becoming used to this terrible life, starting to believe this was truly hell and his new normal. He no longer felt that it could have been Ilvisar who had sent him here, but rather that he had died.

He started believing that the meeting was but a dream and that this was what had actually happened after the accident. That this was his life now... If it could even be called a life.

He might even be slowly atomizing like the others he had seen and this was how his mind tried to make sense of it.

His only reason for fighting was to avoid the pain of being killed. Not to avoid death, to avoid being ripped apart.

At night he would think of his previous life, longing for his wife and hoping that his kids were doing well. Wishing for home and that this terrible nightmare would come to an end.

Once he managed to learn how to make fire, surviving became much easier. He would track the time after each attack, sleep in caves or high in trees. Even making simple traps to make surviving easier.

After probably another twenty deaths, he managed to survive an entire month. At this point, he had managed to make himself clothes from the hides of the animals he killed. Though terribly made and hideous, they kept him warm at night and offered some protection from their claws.

Slowly the animals were also growing larger, from teens to fully grown adults. Luckily this did not affect him much as his weapons became better and better. He also started making proper traps to kill even the largest of beasts.

Once he passed this hurdle, having many backup plans. He started to live longer and longer with each life. Even when suddenly not just one beast, but two or later even three came at him it did not change much.

So, it continued. Slowly a year of surviving was overcome. The world a dark terrible place, but one Edvard came to accept as his new world.

"Yawen... I hope that you are alright." Edvard mumbled, as he often did when waking for the next battle. For the next day.

He was wakened both by the snap of a twig and his body's alarm clock. Informing him when to expect a visitor or two.

Slowly sitting up in his hammock, Edvard jumped down with practiced ease. Landing like a feather, he readied his stone knife from his belt. Picking up his spear at the same time.

"Where are you?" He asked through a whisper, focusing on hearing another mistake from the enemy. A few seconds later the crunch of dried leaves being crushed could be heard.

Edvard turned in the direction and prepped his spear for a throw. After a few more seconds he saw an orc coming out from the brushes. Edvard paused for a slight moment in shock. It was the first time he had seen a humanoid creature in years.

Seeing the man hunched with a spear in hand, the orc roared in a declaration of war. Sprinting at Edvard with his massive wooden club. A club thicker than Edvard's thigh.

Edvard did not rush to action, instead, he observed this new enemy. Taking in as much information as he could.

The orc had a mix of dark green and mud brown skin making it almost invisible in the forest. Tusk-like teeth told him it could rip him apart like any other animal. Its club would easily fracture any bone in Edvard's body, its arms like that of a bodybuilder.

It stood over two meters tall (6'7"), and each of its steps was over a meter (3.3ft). There were no wasted movements as it ran towards Edvard, it was clearly also used to fighting.

Taking a deep breath, Edvard readied himself for a hard battle. The orc would certainly be the most difficult opponent he had had to face since coming to this hell.

As the orc came within five meters (16ft), Edvard suddenly sprang into action. He threw his spear with all his might. The orc smashing it to bits with its club, arriving before Edvard in the blink of an eye.

Its explosive speed was far faster than a wolf's, and its strength even more than a tiger's. Without delay, it swung its massive club at Edvard, who jumped to the side and rebounded up. The air seemingly vibrating from the strength of the blow.

As Edvard landed the orc was already on him, so he dodged again. Quickly being forced against a tree by the orc. On the next dodge a massive explosion occurred, Edvard's ears ringing from it. Disorientation him for a slight moment.

The orc's attack had ripped through the tree, the club shattering after taking nearly half of the trunk with it. The rebound shock from the hit caused the orc to slow down just enough to give Edvard enough time to recover.