My new companion ghost and I walk through the narrow path, I keep an ear out, cautious to find the large black Bear that's taking indirect participation in starving me. Albeit, it's a bit hard with all the yammering coming from the damn ghost following me. I thought they're meant to be freaking silent!

Needless to say, I'm out of patience but all I can do on an empty stomach is lie and take it. Suffice to say I need the ghost more than it needs me lying to its face.

I've laid out a rather simple plan for us. Actually, it's a two-step plan, one reliant on Anselm the chattering ghost. Step one; Find the Bear and possess it. Step two; stabby stab stab.

My original plan was a lot more strenuous. According to Anselm, it wasn't the wisest thing to possess a Bear more than once, regardless of whether it was unintelligent or not, unless he had some kind of psychic ability that damaged the mind even further, the Bear would resist all other possessions to come.

I'm not down for that.

So we go with his plan, which is debatably as strenuous as mine given the fact that I'd have to kill a Bear instead of picking berries or mushrooms. And after killing the Bear, I'd have to drag it all the way back to the top, and in pieces because that's what I'll be eating for a while.

Yeah, I had a bit of experience with scavenging the wilderness, not the killing animal's part but the overall grilling and preservation of food part.

Finally, we come upon the sectioned part of the cave. Slapping a hand over Anselm's mouth I tiptoe as best as I can closer to the edge where with a single glance, I sight my prey and predator.

It's curled up on the green moss, saliva-soaked remains of its last meal and snoring without a care in the world. I breathe out, easing some of the tension and signal Anselm to come closer. The coward squire steps forward, peeking at the Bear from behind me.

"It's showtime, Anselm. Go possess it, go." I whisper, yet the damned ghost feared for a life it did not have and stuck unto my robes.

"Can't we just stab it in the eye? Blinding it would give us the upper hand and we'd take it down easily." He begs, still struggling against my push.

"Goddamnit, have you ever seen an injured animal fight before? We'd be clawed and mauled within the minute, well not you, you're dead already so stop being a wuss and possess the damn Bear!" With all the upper body strength this body granted me, I push Anselm over the edge and into the Bear's pit.

…Only for him to float.

Shit!

"Ha!" he gasps, looking at himself in the air. "I'm flying!" I wince as he yells, my eyes trained on the Bear stirring in its slumber.

"Keep it down, will you?" I hush, bewildered by his behaviour. "You've been a spirit for a very long time, aren't you used to flying?"

"Well yeah, that's how I know how to do this," he proceeds to complete three loops in the air, adding a rather athletic spin at the end. "But I've never flown in a physical body before." He grins, crossing his legs and floating over my head.

Plucking him out of the air I take him by his collar, "That's nice and all but could you get to the part where you possess the damn Bear!"

Another action I come to regret taking in this cave. An angry roar voices through the air, bouncing off the walls and smiting me with the now familiar fear for my life.

This time I resist the urge to run, against the flood of adrenaline through my veins and my heart pounding against my ribcage, begging to be let out. I ignore all that and stand my ground, sticking to the plan, "Anselm! For god sake! Possess the damn Bear or I swear I'll resurrect you as a zombie specifically for hard labour and lecherous activities!"

I don't have time to see him hesitate some more, the Bear is bounding up the slope into its pit and after me. With that in mind I heed my instincts and run for the narrow path back to the entrance, all with the Bear growling and pouncing toward me.

Taking several steps in the pursuit of a longer life span, I come up on the entrance and relief begins to bubble up from within until I'm smacked away from my only chance of escape. Sword flung aside, my body bounces across the floor like a ragdoll and a torturous pain strikes throughout my body.

[You have been struck.]

[HP -70]

Status Effect: Trauma.

[Status Effect: Bleeding.]

Groaning and drowsy, my back leaves the ground, confused, my eye peer open and I'm greeted with the full set of Bear dentures.

A scream finds itself trapped in my throat, even as I tremble in the Bears' sights. I wait for it to bite into me, rip off my head and for my life to end yet again. Hopefully the next world won't be so terrible.

The crunch doesn't come. Instead the Bear’s mouth hangs open as it stands on its hind limbs, looking about itself like it'd gotten lost.

I let out a relieved gasp and pick myself up, "Anselm?" I ask, tasting blood in my mouth and for a moment I'm scared my organs are crushed. Thankfully, it's only blood from a deep gash at the side of my head, which is also worrying.

The Bear or Anselm, growls in an odd manner, sounding like a dog trying to speak. But I get the idea and I'm filled with relief.

Until Anselm is cast out of the Bear in a snap. The spell has ended. I'm all alone with the Bear once again. It shakes its head free of cobwebs or in this case, Anselm.

Without stopping to think, I start off running, "Aaah!!" A sharp pain streaks through my right side and I fall. Over my shoulder, the Bear shakes its head fiercely, snorting and sniffing about, for a split second I've got time to crawl my way to safety, but it stops and trains its eyes on me.

As the Bear bounds over to me, I find that I've got nothing to protect myself. Looming over me it roars in my face, rancid breath and slobber spilling over me.

Lying beneath it, death creeping, I give one last attempt at survival and try out the only other thing I can; another spell.

"Soul Drain!"

Not wasting any time, I cast the spell out of both my hands and my mana, a foul green shoots out in the shape of my palm and grips the Bears snout. Within seconds the giant Bear begins to lose colour, its fur, a jet black turns a wispy grey. Its muscles, healthy and strong, shrivel up like moisture is sucked out of it. Its thick hide falls off, following the mass hair loss as its black, predatory eyes glaze over and pop, spraying some sort of fluid all over me.

Everything is sucked dry until all that's left atop of me is a large skeleton of a Bear with some scaly skin and wispy white hair stuck to it.

[Soul Drain Complete!]

HP +150

You Are No Longer Bleeding.

You Are No Longer Traumatized.

Necromancy Proficiency +2%

[Soul Drain Proficiency +1%]

"Fuck!"

I pull myself out from under the corpse, if you could even call it a corpse. My clothes tattered but my wounds healed. Soul Drain is a very powerful and useful spell it turns out.

The Bear is dead. More than dead even. I had drained it of everything, its health, its soul, everything. I am alive because of that. But I am still a man of grand strategy and this was not part of the strategy.

Survive? Check! Food? Nope!

Chances were I'd have to battle yet another dangerous creature if I am to truly survive.

"Fuck!"

***

My stomach no longer growls at me with hunger, instead it churns with the very beginnings of starvation. Berries? Mushrooms? I can't remember what sort of delusions I was under but there are no such things in this cave.

The only plant life here is the wet, slippery moss that covers nearly every bit of the walls and floors. I tasted it and threw out what little I had left in my stomach. Not trying that again.

The only source of light are the broken bits of crystals that littered the area. I'd gathered a few and hammered it into the pommel of my sword, having it act as a lamp in the dark corners.

I don't know how long it's been, a day or two without the sun to tell but all I've eaten are the few rats I managed to catch. Not sure why I say few, it's only been the one. And ever since I haven't caught another, nor do I exactly want to; It's impossible to make a fire in this damp cave. Needless to say, I'm missing Pyromancy.

I'll be the first to admit eating an animal raw wasn't my finest moment, but desperate times…

With the Bear dead I wandered around the cave, I'd seen it munching on something the first time we met. I have some hope to find more of whatever that was but for all my searching, the cave is still dead. It's like the Bear and I were the only things that lived in it. Well, aside from the many rodents and critters that scurried around at my slightest move.

Aside from the ever-present hunger, something else bothered me. I am haunted. I haven't summoned Anselm since he almost had me killed and yet I can feel his presence around me, floating about my head and hanging over my shoulders as I trudged on in the cave looking for the slightest opportunity to sate my hunger.

I hate the man. He is the reason I starve now, if only he'd possessed the Bear as I begged and pleaded, I wouldn't have had to drain it of its soul…and meat. In many moments I considered, albeit briefly, draining his soul like I did the Bear, if only to be free of his hauntings.

But I resist the temptation; he is my last resort. If I get desperate enough, I'll summon him and have him scout through the many walls and crevasse's I can't get through for food.

I come upon yet another large opening, like the one with the Bear's pit except it didn't have that. All it has are mild elevations of rock and most noticeably, a large, high roof.

The rooms in the cave weren't as spacious as this, some even requiring me to hunch over the deeper I went. This discovery however, makes me rethink all my hoping for an exit in the back. If there was a space like this in the cave then chances were this cave was within a mountain or some other immovable natural structure; the only way out is the way in.

[Status Effect: Starvation.]

[MP -200]

[MP Regen Suspended.]

[HP Regen Suspended.]

[STR -2]

[DEX -2]

[AGI -2]

Letting out a frustrated cry, I weep. Not only of hunger but of desperation as well. What use is magic if I'm too bloody starved to use it?

The only response to my cries are the scattering of the rodents and critters that surround me. I wipe the tears from my eyes and get off my butt, thinking of what to do next.

I summoned my spell list for the thousandth time and resist the urge to cry again.

There are only three spells I knew I could perform. [Sense Death], [Summon Spirit] and [Soul Drain]. [Create Undead] The solution to my problems is the one I can't use.

[Death Grip] a spell I'm cautious to use, its description reads similar to that of [Soul Drain] and I am not eager to try it on any of the rodents for fear of losing a meal. And I know I can't use Undead Servant, at least not yet. It worked like Create Undead, except not as useful in breaking through rocks.

All that leaves is [Animate Animal] a spell that shows prospects, which is why I'm hunting for a dead animal to perform the spell on. The Bear…isn't an option unfortunately, [Soul Drain] has done something strange to it to say the least. Nothing to animate according to the System.

"Ah!" I yell as something scurries across my feet. I brandish my sword and turn around, looking for it, with any luck it will be my next meal.

I skulk about looking around and beyond my feet. And like a blessing from above I spy the little guy, sniffing and scratching at its little nose. A grin splits my face as we lock eyes. It stops, freezing and staring at me like a particularly curious object.

I've been here before, face to face, eye to eye with my prey. I'd botched it those times, but this time? Well, I'm not going to ruin my chance.

Mana wells up in my hands, the rodent, shrieks and begins its escape. Too late.

"Death Grip!" a tethered green mana hand shoots out from my outstretched arm, latching onto the brown furry fella.

[HP +1]

[HP +1]

[HP +1]

I pull back and on my command the green mana hand brings my prey, still alive to me.

Excitement fills me and with the widest grin on my face, I make a slight gesture and snap the thing’s neck.

***

My inevitable internal conflict of whether to devour the rat now or animate its body with corrupt, necromantic mana isn't much of a conflict once I peel a patch of its skin with my blade and teeth only to meet black blood and rotting flesh.

"Ugh!" I spat. The decision is made then. Since Death Grip turned the rodent's flesh rotten, the body has only one use now.

I take a look at my MP and true enough, it has stopped regenerating along with that huge minus from starvation status effect. After performing Death Grip, I only have a bit more left before running dry. I have to be careful.

I pick up the stiffening rat by the tail and sneak off to the Bear's pit. I'd noticed that ever since it died, the rodents had taken up residence, the pit is where I cornered my first raw rat meal in fact. For what I have planned I'll need more rodents.

It's beginning to seem like I stand a chance at survival after all.

Slowly but surely and uninterrupted by any spiritual negativity too, I make it to my target, coming in from the back end of the pit, the narrow path to the blocked entrance at my right.

I flatten myself on the floor and pull out my dead rat and peer down the pit. As I thought, the rodents are present, foraging around the remains of the Bear and the many bones of its victims.

I gather mana, the very last bits of it at the tip of my fingers and place them on the body of the rat. The mana seeps in and within seconds I sense a strange connection, like I'd grown an extra limb but with more limbs and a mouth.

[Animate Animal Successful]

I wave it away and return to getting my bearings with my new limb, it will be the answer to all my most pressing problems after all.

I play around a bit with the rat, focusing on my ability to open and close the mouth. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to get it all right, I can feel my MP and HP draining and I don't have a second chance at this.

I send out my agent, having it crawl down into the Bear's pit as I watch from above with bated breath, beads of sweat pouring down my back.

Orchestrating for it to meet with another rat, this one excluded from the rest as it bit around the moss floor. The rodent sniffs my puppet, recoiling a bit and I worry. Puppeteering so my rodent emulates the others sniffing, it relaxes and goes on biting at the moss. With its back turned at last I smile and without hesitation I order my puppet to attack.

It launches itself, albeit clumsily at my target, puppeteered into gripping the skin around my prey's neck. I give another order. Bite!

Blood spills and the prey squeals in pain as it begins its struggle. The other rodents do nothing but watch as I press on, digging teeth into the neck of my prey even as it claws, quite efficiently at my puppet. Too bad neither my puppet nor I feel a bit of pain at its attacks.

Within seconds of griping and clawing and bleeding, my prey dies and my puppet sets its dead, white eyes on the others.