CAacek found himself at the smaller leafless, dark portal tree in the grassland beyond the walls of Horic Town. The Alzama Spawn were nowhere in sight. He walked north as instructed. The wind blew cold and there was no moon this night. The stars, however, were perfectly visible.

  Why is it always night in the Realm?

  Just as he was wondering why it was so, he saw a small mound in the grassy land. He approached it cautiously and saw that it was overlying an entrance to a hole in the ground. The stench emanating from the entrance was overwhelming. It felt like a mix of rotting food and iron, like when you smelled blood.

  Aacek walked around the mound and saw the entrance front on. Blood streaked into the entrance in parallel lines, as if something or someone had pulled a bleeding creature into it. The fresh streaks of blood overlayed rusty streaks, probably older blood. The streaks were more black than red in the starlight, but he was sure they were blood because of the smell.

  As he approached closer, he saw the entrance was lined with rocks, and it led into a cave-like structure inside. Aacek was hesitant to enter a blood-streaked hole in the ground which probably led to a network of caves.

  Yet, he was asked to look into the cause of livestock disappearing. And here he was, at the entrance of where they likely disappeared to.

  He assessed his situation. He was equipped with a club and a newly repaired shield. He had a skill that sped up objects - Chronotachy.

  What exactly can I use it for?

  He picked up a stone and threw it and willed Chronotachy on it. To his surprise, the stone sped quite a bit, before landing on the ground. He smiled.

  I still can’t see myself killing any monsters with this skill. They probably would kill me by the time I pick an object, throw and speed it up on them.

  He brought up his stats - Health had stayed the same at 100. Mana had dropped to 55 and Stamina to 70.

  30 Mana per skill use? I am not going to get anywhere with this!

  Did I choose the wrong skill? Did I choose the wrong class itself? I probably would have had a far easier time being a summoner.

  He wondered if that short excursion from the portal tree to the cave entrance had caused the drop in stamina or the use of the skill contributed as well. Even as he thought about this, his stamina increased to 71 and Mana to 57.

  Aacek, still wondering how Chronotachy would help him in any way, slid into the den of evil it surely must be. He landed on a rocky floor where he couldn’t see much but the stench grew stronger.

  As his eyes adjusted to his new surroundings, he was able to make out a gap in the rocky walls. He followed the blood streaks and came upon a large chamber which was lit by oil torches placed on the walls. He couldn’t be sure in the yellow-orange light but he thought the walls glowed a little; they were slate-grey in colour but there seemed to be an eerie glow. The chamber had two narrow exits both lit by similar torches. The blood streaks became lighter here but he could still see which exit they went into.

  Aacek equipped his club and shield and proceeded to the blood-streaked exit. It led into another large chamber lit by torches. The yellow light here was not nearly enough to illuminate the entire chamber. He crept forward, listening for any movements.

  He tried covering his nose with the front of his elbow, unable to bear the overbearing smell of rotting flesh. As he crept on, he saw a dark figure bent over a heap of what could only be the corpses of the sheep and cows that had disappeared.

  Aacek straightened his arm, holding his heavy club outward and shield ready. He stopped in his tracks as the dark figure seemed to notice Aacek. The figure straightened; Aacek observed that the figure was of a small man. He could not see very clearly but he thought the man had a hair bun in the center of his head.

  The dark figure stood still for a few seconds and then charged at Aacek. Time seemed to slow down. Aacek stuck his shield out and tried hitting him with his club. That’s when he saw the man’s eyes. It had to be Markena. The same eyes had stared at them in the Western Forest a few months ago. The man was bare-chested, save for a chain of dark red beads. He wore a dirty red dhoti. Aacek also noted the man’s missing left little finger.

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  In the melee, Aacek had used his Chronotachy skill on the shield and the club he held. The resultant increase in speeds of the two objects had bruised Markena in his chest where the shield had landed and the back where Aacek had hit him as Markena fled the cave. And then, time resumed its normal flow.

  Aacek stood panting. Both his wrists hurt. He suspected his club and shield had moved faster than he had anticipated and his hands were not in the right position for those movements and had twisted at odd angles when the objects he had sped up rebounded. He had to be prepared the next time.

  Lucky there might be a next time.

  Still, that Chronotachy sure gave me some tachycardia! Maybe being a Chronoschist is not all that bad after all.

  Aacek had witnessed and heard of Markena’s prowess from Surkena, back in the Western Forest. He also had singlehandedly dragged these animals down into the cave. He now realised that Markena was just going out of the cave and not exactly attacking him. Had he decided to attack him, it would have been GAME OVER.

  Aacek checked his stats now as he still felt tired.

  Health 100

  Mana 3

  Stamina 40

  I had almost run out of Mana!

  He also wondered how exactly he had activated the skill. It had been so natural, he hadn’t even thought about it. Maybe being a Chronoschist meant you knew how and when to use your skills.

  I could have used the night powder skill! Why didn’t I think of it?

  And how did Markena not have a display of his name and level above his head?

  He saw another line below his stats as he was ruminating. It said:

  Free attribute points available: 5

  How had I not seen this before? Maybe I gain 5 points when I level up every time.

  I need to increase my mana and stamina, as I seem to run low on them after trivial tasks and using my skills. But I also need to stay alive.

  He assigned one point to strength, and two each to vitality and intelligence.

  His attributes and stats now read:

  Strength: 16

  Dexterity: 10

  Vitality: 22

  Intelligence: 17 (+2)

  Health: 110

  Mana: 95

  Stamina: 80

  Oh, nice. The stats refill when I assign points to my attributes. I wonder why I need dexterity though.

  Aacek looked around the cave to see if there was anyone else or any other dangerous animals. Not noticing any such thing, he walked towards the heaped-up bodies of sheep and cows. He saw they had all been slashed across the neck. None of them were alive but it still churned his stomach to see them lying on top of each other like that.

  All the animals had their eyes open, staring blankly back at him. Their expressions, thankfully, did not convey any terror. It looked like they had passed on peacefully.

  He saw that none of the animals had been mutilated or dismembered. No other animals had come to eat them.

  Why kill them then?

  The answer stared him in his face. The slashes across their necks and the blood streaks across the floor were evidence enough.

  Maybe he has started his experiments again, like he did two thousand years ago.

  Aacek walked around the heap to see if he could find anything more. He was about to turn around when he saw a single corpse close to the wall. It was a little distance away from the other bodies and a lot less illuminated. As he approached it, he saw that it was a spotted deer with a slash across its neck. And, its eyes were closed. He distinctly recalled closing the eyes of the deer whose life he had ended earlier in his physical world. He looked for the wound through the ear he had made to end its life but could not be sure in the dim light if it was there.

  Could it be the same one?

  His mind was jumping to conclusions and he had to stop himself before the flights of fancy went too far.

  1:00 Realm Time left.

  And it had already started counting down to the 50s range. Aacek quickly looked around to see if he could find anything more relevant in the last minute before he got out of the Realm. He did not find any containers or instruments used to store blood. His mind racing and jumping to even more conclusions, his eyes saw black.

  “Aacek! What happened?”

  It was still dark and there was no moon tonight. Amuna had been trying to shake him awake for the last few minutes. He had been sweating profusely and had flailed his arms around a couple of times, even hitting Amuna once. When he suddenly opened his eyes and sat bolt upright, she almost fell off the bed.

  “Amuna! Was I present here this entire time or did I appear just now?”

  “Aacek, are you alright?” But she understood what he meant after she had spoken. “I mean, it looked like you were here physically. I was trying to wake you up for the last five minutes, but you did not respond at all. It almost felt like you were not here mentally and it did seem like you could not actually feel my touch or hear me.”

  Aacek looked at her, mouth hanging open. He narrated what he had just gone through. “Amuna, the deer, I mean, it’s the same deer, I am quite sure.”

  Amuna nodded. “It may have been all a dream, still.”

  Aacek shook his head. “I don’t think so. Even I used to think all this might be just a dream but now I am convinced, Amuna.”

  Amuna did not say anything for a few moments. “Alright, let’s discuss this with the others in the weekly meeting coming up in a few hours, I presume.”

  “I don’t know if I am ready to tell this to others yet but I think I have no other choice. Let me at least discuss it with Brum first before telling the others.

  “I am either hallucinating or there is an entire new world out there, Amuna.”