Kaden awoke with a terrified scream, thrashing about on the floor as he frantically patted his body, trying to extinguish the flames that had engulfed him.

"Please please please!" He called out, manically rolling from side to side in sheer panic.

What happened? His...his head!

His fingers flew to his skull and found it still firmly attached. Confusion took him, and then he realized there was no pain, no fire; his surroundings were dark.

What just happened?

Was he going crazy again? His hands were still bones, but everything else was back to normal. No fire, no pain, no medieval-looking adventurers.

Had it been a dream?

No way.

It had all felt so real, so vivid. He could still feel the sensation of the fire engulfing him, consuming him, burning him to cinders. He shuddered at the recollection.

Those sadistic fucking bastards.

He sat up and tried to ground himself, slowly calming down.

Looking around, he noticed that he had been transported to a new place in the cavern, but the same sense of dread and terror still hung thick in the air. He knew this was no dream, no illusion. Everything was real.

He looked down at himself, his bones rattling as he moved about, searching for anything familiar or comforting. Nothing felt right.

Standing up, he walked away from his previous position, not knowing where else to go. There was nothing here; no sign of life whatsoever. The walls were nothing but damp and cold stone, with only small pockets of moss growing along the edges.

Kaden listened carefully to the sounds of the cave. A constant drip-drip-drip echoed rhythmically from somewhere in the distance. His bones shuddered from the ominous darkness that surrounded him.

What was he supposed to do?

He needed light, warmth, something...anything!

"Hello?" Kaden called out into the void, his voice giving away his fear. "Is someone there? Please..."

As always, nobody replied. It was just him, all alone with nothing but the sound of endless dripping water. Once again he knew that he couldn't just stay here. The previous experience still haunted him, but sitting around and waiting for someone to find him was useless. He had to get out of here.

He shoved aside strange thoughts of reincarnation, his monstrous body, and everything else that had become so utterly messed up. A rattle marked his first step as he continued walking, moving slowly through the dark caverns, searching for any signs of life or escape.

As he moved he barely felt the rocks beneath his feet. His toe bones pressed against them gently, yet the sharp rocks still felt grating. There was no way back now, he could only move forward.

He followed the direction of the dripping water, the increasing volume his only marker of progress. Did he need to drink now? Did he need to eat? Honestly he had no damn clue. He had felt an odd sense of hunger ever since he got here, but it was not like anything he ever felt before, and despite not drinking for hours he didn't feel the slightest bit of thirst.

What was going to happen when he reached the source of the noise? Yet another question he couldn’t answer.

His toe struck a large stone, sending vibrations through his entire body and somehow his mind. Wincing in pain, he bent over to clutch his foot. It didn’t help one bit.

Alone in the darkness, he began to feel uneasy. Something felt off. His head swiveled from side to side. It was quiet, eerily quiet.

"Hello?" Kaden called out again, "Is someone there?" Was he getting paranoid?

He stood still for what seemed like minutes, not sure if he was hearing something or not. Small movements of the air sounded like a roaring drone in his mind, drowning out his senses and filling him with fear. His mind began to wander once more, thinking about everything that happened to him...how long had he been here? The darkness was starting to get to him and he felt lonely. So lonely.

Kaden shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to keep moving forward. If he stopped now he would never leave this place, the fear was undoubtedly getting to him.

He took a few steps and then froze suddenly when he heard a noise coming from far away. It was faint and distant, but it didn’t sound like a monster. No, it sounded like…a woman!

"He—! Pl—! Help m—!" Kaden could barely make out any of the words.

A person? Someone else is here?!

Without thinking he burst into action, moving swiftly in the direction of the voice. A part of him wasn’t sure if it was actually a good idea, but it was drowned out by his instincts. As he got closer and the screams grew louder, the doubt began to creep back in.

What could he possibly do to help someone? What if it was a trap? What if it was those adventurers here to kill him again? Or someone else like them?

He pushed his concerns down as he continued running, his bare feet pounding against the jagged rocky floor in an attempt to reach his new found friend.

As he ran, he saw a small light up ahead; lighting up the walls. It looked like it was coming from around a corner. Sprinting towards it, Kaden turned the corner and came into a clearing, immediately blinded by the sharp light that shone from a massive amount of luminescent rocks dotting the ceiling.

The woman's voice was still there, her terror-filled scream partly drowned out by a nasty gurgling.

Barely able to see, Kaden struggled to make out the shapes in front of him. He first saw the pool of water he had been chasing earlier, and next to it... a viscous blob of blue swallowing up a half-naked woman, her eyes filled with panic as she trashed around inside the slime-like creature.

Kaden threw himself at the pair, ignoring the danger as his bones clacked loudly across the rocks.

"Hey! You bastard!" He screamed, "Let her go! Let her go! You fuck!"

The monster barely acknowledged him, continuing to make squelching noises as it devoured its prey whole. The poor girl screamed once more, and then her whole body was pulled deeper into the giant slimy thing's body, choking her cries.

She let loose a desperate gurgling wail as her head disappeared entirely from view, panic frozen on her face.

Kaden roared and punched into the blue ooze. The slime gave way without hesitation, swallowing his arm all the way up to his elbow.

"Fuck!" he cursed and thrashed about madly, desperately trying to pull his arm free of the thick blue sludge.

Finally, he felt some give as his arm began to slip out bit by bit. He strained, screaming as he pulled with all his might, yanking so hard it felt like his shoulder was threatening to detach.

His arm popped free with a loud squelch, and he flew tumbling back over the rocks, the jagged rocks cutting into his bony body.

"You asshole!" he spat, delirious as he stumbled back onto his feet. Looking down at his arm, he saw it still covered in a thin sheen of blue film.

Picking up a rock, he threw it hard towards the slime. It struck the slime but lost all momentum as it was devoured by the beast, assimilated into its body. The slime ignored him completely and kept digesting the woman that lay helpless inside of it.

"Shit." He had to hurry, but what could he do? Was the girl already dead?

Off to the side of the pair, he noticed a bundle of clothes laying on the shore next to the pool. A glimmer of steel caught his attention.

A weapon?

He didn't have time to consider it. With a growl, he rushed over and grabbed whatever it was, his fingers curling around the hilt of something. He pulled it free of the clothes and it was revealed to be a short sword. Clenching it tight, he pointed it towards the blob-thing and started running towards it. His mind screamed at him to stay away, but as if possessed, Kaden ran right at it. No, right into it.

The sword slid into the blue goop as if it were merely jello, instantly freezing the monster.

"Hah!" He shouted triumphantly, "You're fucking done!"

But the slime wasn't dead yet, it oozed out over the sword, crawling over the guard and onto his arm, wanting to pull him inside just like the woman.

Kaden knew better now and pulled the sword out before the slime could devour him, the thick sludge unable to hold onto the sharp and even surfaced steel.

With a roar he lifted the sword high and swung it down at the slime over and over, madness glowing in his eye sockets as he cleaved off bits of goop one by one.

The slime barely reacted, only jiggling slightly. Undeterred, Kaden kept going and finally the slime’s whole body convulsed and swelled before bursting and splattering everywhere. The poor woman fell onto the floor limp, her entire body still.

Shockingly, a chime rang inside of his head as a dark screen with white letters appeared before his face.

Level 4 Water Slime slain!
Reward: 130 Experience Points

Kaden stood still in confusion as another message popped up:

Experience Criteria Met!
Level increased from 0 to 1.
Species Reward: 2 Stat Points

What...the...fuck!

His eye sockets almost seemed to pulse. If he still had eyes, they would've likely fallen out of his head. Level…what?

He remembered the girl lying on the cave floor and hurried over to check on her. Was she still alive? Kneeling down, he pressed a finger to her neck, searching for a pulse. He couldn’t feel it. The lack of sensation in his bones left him uncertain—was it his skeletal form, or was she dead?

Desperate, he shook her, pulled on her eyelids, and checked her breathing. There was nothing. His stomach sank. She was dead.

Tears wanted to spill, but his eye sockets remained dry. It was just as well that he couldn't cry, because it wouldn't do him any good. He couldn’t afford to get distracted; he had to remain vigilant. The girl before him was likely just a few years older than him, yet here she was, dead and alone in a cave. Her hair was wet, likely from bathing in the pool before being attacked by the slime. Had it caught her off guard? But what was she doing down here alone? A shudder ran through him as he wondered if she had any companions.

His gaze shifted to the screens hovering before him. It was like something out of an RPG, but to Kaden, this world felt nothing like a game. It was a nightmare, and a twisted one at that. Every single thing that had happened to him made that clear.

From the back of his mind, a strange presence seemed to make itself known. He couldn’t quite tell what it was. An idea, a thought, or something else entire? Whatever it was, it almost felt like it was whispering to him. Beckoning him. Urging him.

What did it want? As if to answer, his gaze was pulled towards the girl until he was looking right at her. An impression wormed itself into his mind almost like intuition. It showed him power, hunger, a ravenous hunger. He saw himself kneeling next to the girl, his hand clasped around her wrist, her body… disappearing. Feeling disturbed, he shook his head violently.

With trembling hands, he pulled himself away. He had to leave; he couldn’t stay here with the corpse any longer. It made him uneasy. As he rose, that presence reared its head again. Sharp pangs of hunger gnawed at his soul, screaming its need to feed, to devour. It pulled at him, controlled him.

He looked down at the girl’s body, her lifeless face, her dark eyes staring into nothingness, her limbs still curled from when she had died.

A fervor overtook him. His mind screamed not to, but his body ignored it, drawing him closer to the limp woman, step by step. He stopped inches from her, unable to do anything but gaze into those blank eyes. His mind burned with an unbearable need, an insatiable hunger. A deep ache filled every part of him as he reached out for her.

The instant he touched her, a strange sensation welled over him, foreign energy streaming into him. It felt dark, unnatural, sickening even. Entering through his palm, it rose up his arm and into his consciousness, filling him.

He couldn’t move, rooted in place as the girl’s body began to shrivel up, her entire form drying and sinking into itself. A strange and paradoxically bright black light glowed around them, snaking around his form like hazy serpentine coils.

His consciousness was trembling underneath the mass of energy. His body kept absorbing it without pause. The woman’s face had already grown unrecognizable, resembling a sack of skin with no structure. He felt sick to his core, but as the essence coursed through his body, strengthening and thickening his frame, there was also something else.

Power.

The sensation of power elated that deep dark presence, emboldening it, driving him deeper into madness. Even as he felt nauseous, he didn’t want it to stop. No, more! More!

He needed more! The hunger didn’t dull at all, only growing stronger.

"Alana?" Voices echoed in the cavern, terrified yells and screams rising.

Kaden neither heard or noticed them, consumed by the primal need that so filled him. He kept absorbing the Bone Essence from the dead girl’s body, even as her companions watched in horror.

There was a loud twang as a bowstring was pulled back and released. A whistle filled the air before an arrow struck him right in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Groaning as he was pulled out of the trance, Kaden felt utterly strange. Almost hungover. He lifted his head and snarled at the newcomers, blood-lust filling him.

Who dared interrupt him?! His gaze met theirs, and the madness instantly dissipated as the presence shrank back, fright filling the chasm it left behind.

The man with the bow kept shooting, each arrow hitting its mark and piercing his body, sending him clattering helplessly across the floor. He screamed, more due to reflex than pain, desperately trying to evade them.

Kaden raised his hands in surrender, pleading for the assault to stop. But the man did not relent. Pulling back the bowstring one last time, a final arrow struck Kaden square in the skull. Bones splintered in pieces as he flew backwards into the pool with a splash.

His consciousness slipped away just before the water submerged him.