“Hey, get up,” a voice spoke through the darkness, “it would be nightfall soon.”

I took me great effort to open my eyes that weighed like a boulder. My whole body ached with pain, my lungs almost collapsing with every breath I took. But I was alive. I don't know how, but I did not die of blood loss as I had thought I would. My leg! I mastered my strength to take a look at my leg and to my delight it was fine. The injury I had sustained from the lizard monster was gone. The only evidence that remained of the injury were the jaw-shaped scars that surrounded the newly healed skin. My eyes started getting heavy and I started falling back to sleep.

“Hey, don’t go back to sleep, we got to move,” the voice spoke again.

I turned my head to find a girl with bright crimson eyes staring back at me. She was dressed in tattered leather armor. There were claw marks throughout her clothing and large spots of dried blood ruining her green clothes. Some of her long black hair rested on her shoulders. A clock was strapped to her neck, but it was cut half way and only reached up to the waist.

She far better state than when I last saw her trying to open her bag. But a look at her fatigue out and dust covered face made me reevaluate that. Though, from her facial features, ignoring the sweat and dust, she must be quite pretty.

“You would have plenty of time to sleep once we get back to town, for now, we must get out of this forest before nightfall,” she spoke looking at me, her voice betraying her fatigue.

Not wanting to trouble the girl any more than I had already done, I tried to get on my feet but stumbled back to the ground. It seemed like my body was not fully healed. After a few more tries and using a nearby tree for support, I was able to stand up with difficulty, but I was still far from being able to walk on my own.

Meanwhile, the girl just stood there and just watched as I desperately got on my feet. This irritated me. I risked my life saved you and now you can’t even help me get on my feet.

“Do you mind helping me out,” I said to the girl gritting my teeth, “can’t leave this bloody forest if I cannot walk, can I?”

The girl hesitated for a while before coming close and putting one of my hand over her shoulders and helping him stand up. Seeing her willingness to help, I felt bad for losing my temper.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. It is getting dark we need to go back before night falls.”

I looked up at the sky and saw that it had completely turned red. The sun was setting and the sky was filled with beautiful golden and red rays. It was marvelously seen to viewed under the green branches of the nearby trees.

“How did you heal my leg?”

“Healing Potion. Can we at least talk as we walk? This way we can cover some distance.”

Using the girl shoulder for support I started walking again.

“How far is your camp anyways?”

“Is not that far. The monster attacked while we were breaking camp this morning. We ran away from, but it chased us down and...”

Shit! Was that insensitive of me, reminding her of her dead teammates? I guess I am better off being quiet.

“Anyway, you are right. We should properly go there before we have any conversation.”

The next hour of walking was the most agonizing walk I ever had. We walked in complete silence with only the sound of insects for company. The silence was unbearable and thanks to my encounter with the lizard monster every noise I heard was that of a monster. There was more than one occasion where I almost jumped out of my boots because I stepped on a twig. That was not even the agonizing part of the journey. My body ached with every step I took. I almost vomited a few times because of the pain coming from my leg. I was expecting to enjoy myself with a cute girl pressing so close to me, but instead, I get to experience pain worse than death.

We finally arrived at the camp and it was a mess. Cooking utensils were laying around the ground. I could even see the cooking pot stuck on a nearby tree. The one tent in the camp had fallen onto itself. The monster had really done some damage here. Not that there was anything to destroy in the first place. Other than the tent and the fireplace there was nothing else in the camp. We walked up to the fireplace and allowed our tired bodies to drop right next to it.

“Do you have a water sack in your camp?” I asked the girl who was heaving next to me.

“In the tent.”

I dragged my body across the grassy ground to the tent. I pushed it open and reached inside to grab the water sack. Luckily it was placed at the front of the tent and I did not have to move the whole tent to find it. I drank my fill from it and threw the sack towards the girl who moved her hand awkwardly before catching it. She gave me a thankful look and started drinking it.

I went back into the rabble of a tent and found a bag filled with dried meat. I took the bag and walked back to the fireplace and started eating it with the girl. After replenishing my strength, my body started feeling better and the excruciating pain from my leg finally stopped. I turned around to face the girl, who was still mashing down on the dried meat and decided to finally interrogate her.

“Now that we have eaten can you tell me your name?”

The girl gobbled down more meat before cleaning her mouth with the sleeve of her green shirt.

“Maya.”

“Okay Maya, my name is Felix. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Mr.Felix,” she answered before starting to stare at my face.

“Is there a problem?”

“Are you going to drink my blood, Mr.Felix?”

“What?!”

“I know you are injured and need to replenish your energy so I don’t mind you drinking my blood. Just...Just please make it painless.”

What in the world is the girl thinking? Why would I want to drink her blood?

“No, it is fine, I don’t want to drink your blood? Why would think that?”

“So you don’t have to be so courteous Sir. Felix. The only reason you got hurt in the first place was because you were trying to save me. I have no problem with you drinking my blood as a way of  showing my gratitude.”

Maya’s hands went to her neck and moved the collar of her shirt revealing her long beautiful neck. She then went on to close her eyes tightly as if she was expecting to experience pain.

That posture! Does she believe I am a vampire? Why would she think that?

“Maya, I am not a vampire. I don’t even have fangs so how can I drink your blood?”

“Really?” Maya slowly opened her eyes and asked with hesitation.

“Yes! Look,” I said opening my mouth wide so that Maya can see my teeth. What I did not expect was Maya actually putting her hand into my mouth and feeling my teeth with her fingers. She did it for a while before removing her hand and coming to an obvious conclusion.

“I see. So you really are not a vampire.”

“That is what I just told you,” I spoke over gargling my mouth with water. I am sorry Maya, no matter how cute you are, your hands are still dirty after the fight we just had.

“What made you think I was one anyways?”

“Well, when I was giving you the healing potion I saw the monsters heart within your hands. That was how you killed it, right? You ripped its heart right from its chest. And from the legends, I know only high-level vampires are able to rip a creature heart straight from its body. So I thought you were a vampire who saved me to get my blood.”

I see know, so vampires can do such a thing, I must be wary of this in any future encounters with vampires. Ah, I was too rash with my integration before. If I have not admitted to not being a vampire, I could have used it as a cover for being in this world and my summoning skill. But wait aren’t vampires dark creatures shouldn’t they be hated by humans and what not? Why did she not run away?

“Maya, if you thought I was a vampire, why did you not run away? Especially if you thought I saved you for your blood?”

Maya turned her head away from me, her white neck turning slightly red. Was she embarrassed?

“...”

“Maya?”

“...”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. And stop calling Mr, it makes me feel like an old man.”

“Thank you,...Felix.”

“Much better. Can you at least tell me why you and your teammates were in the forest.”

Maya’s faced calmed down after discovering I was not going to push her for answers.

“There has been a large increase in monster activities near the town and our team accepted a scout mission to discover why. We left the town yesterday and we were going to start our search today, but...”

I see, there were on a scouting mission, but the part about an increase in monsters is not good news for us. This will make get town a lot harder than I had wished for. I can always use my skill if we get attacked, but I can only kill three monsters at most. If we get attacked by a pack of monsters then we are really screwed.

“Felix? Can I ask you what you are doing here? And how did you kill that monster if you are not a vampire?...and why did you risk your life to save me?”

“You know for someone who is very bad at answering questions, you sure ask a lot.”

“I am sorry,” Maya responded dejectedly, she must be feeling bad for not answering my previous questions.

“I was just messing with you,” I told her while cooking up the most elaborate lie I could think of, making sure to explain everything while leaving no loose endings. Luckily the Admin was kind enough to change my clothes to that of this world: a linen white shirt tucked into my woollen trousers and a pair of laced up leather shoes. The letter from the Admin did say that Outerdwellers were common that does not mean that it is a good thing to be recognized as one. Besides, my lack of knowledge of this world will make me an easy target for merchants and conmen. Time to see if all my knowledge from those Isekai books applies to this world as well.

“I am willing to tell you my story, but make sure not to tell anyone else. Okay.”

Maya nodded her head, her eyes filled with anticipation.

“The way I killed the monster was thanks to a special skill of mine. At first sight, it does look like a vampire’s racial skill, but there are a lot of limitations and conditions to mine that set it apart from that of a vampire. It was because of this skill that a magician took interest in me and wanted to take me as an apprentice. But that stupid old fool said that my level was too low for her to teach and blasted me with a teleportation spell and dropped me into this forest. I had just woken up and was exploring the forest when I heard your screams and rushed over to help you. And you know what happens after that.”

Okay, now it's time to see how well I did. As far I can tell my backstory makes sense and has no apparent flaws in it. I think?

Maya was looking down at the ground, processing my story. Why does this seem out of place? Wasn’t I the one who saved her? Why am I the one under trial? I need to break this up, not give her a chance to think things through.

“Okay, Maya. That is enough story time, it is already dark we need to light the fireplace and fix the tent.”

It was not a complete lie. The sun had fully set and the sky above was getting darker and darker. There were not many stars in the night sky yet and it was not completely dark yet, but that could change any moment.

“NO!”Maya jumped up with a shout before calming down,“ what I mean is that a fire will attract all the nearby monsters. I told my teammates the same thing last night, but they did not listen and today...”

I see monsters are attracted to fire. That was not the case back on Earth, but I guess these monsters evolved to hunt humans, the monsters before did act smarter than an average animal. My body shivered at the thought of the monsters. Its sharp bloody teeth. I shook my head to get rid of the image that had started to form in my head. I guess killing it was not enough for me to stop fearing it.

“You might be right, but we still need light to fix the tent.”

“I can take care of that. I know a spell that can produce light. Well technically it is a healing spell but it produces a glowing orb as a by-product. Will that do?”

“That is even better, we can heal our injuries while we work on the tent, but why did you not use it earlier?”

“I did not have enough Mana to cast the spell earlier and we have already drunk healing potions so using a healing spell on top of that would have been a waste.”

“Does that mean you were the healer within your party?’

“Kinda, I know a few healing spells, but they are not my specialty. I have not specialties, to be honest. Maybe if I was a better healer my teammates would not have died.”

Oh god, why do all our conversations end up on this topic? Makes me feel like an ass to keep reminding of her dead teammates.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. Adventures are always dying. It is a dangerous job and their death does not fall upon you just because you survived. Tell me should I also blame myself because I had I arrived earlier I would have saved you all? Or should we blame whoever assigned the quest in the first place? Or your party leader for accepting the quest despite how dangerous it was?”

“No, those are all different!”

“Are they really? You blame yourself because you did not have a spell that can instantly heal your party or a spell that could have one shot that monster. How is that any different from blaming myself for not having a spell that could have teleported me right next to you when the monster attacked. Or the quest giver being to blame for not foreseeing this. My point is that it is easy to play the blame game and hate yourself for something you had no control over. Instead, be glad that you have survived and live to not repeat the same mistake again. Or else I would have risked my life to save you for nothing.”

Maya became quiet after and did not retort back. I was not sure if my argument had gotten to her or if she was thinking of other things. I hope I did get to her, I was serious about what I said before. I did not save her so that she could complain about how she survived for the rest of her life. Pull yourself together Maya. I saved your life, but only you can save your mind.

“Maya, can you cast the spell now?”

My voice woke Maya up from her thoughts. She gave me a deep look before she aimed her hand right outside the broken tent and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, a small bright vortex appeared in front of the tent. At the center of the vortex was a small glowing ball, the blades of the vortex were made of white streams of light that span towards the glowing ball. Soon all of the streams disappeared into the ball and only the glowing ball of light remained. The light from the ball was not so bright, it was rather dim compared to electric bulbs back on Earth, but something about it made it soughing to the soul. I felt my body warming up and all my worries slowly disappear as I stared into the light ball.

“Don’t stare at it too much, it is not good for your Sanity,” Maya’s voice drifted towards my ear.

I turned my head to find her crimson eyes staring back at me. Beads of sweat could be seen on her forehead thanks to the light-ball. She looked so pretty. I don’t know what came over me, but I instinctively went towards her and wiped the sweat off her face. As soon as I finish, I realized how inappropriate my action was.

“Sorry and thank you for your hard work,” I spoke trying to keep my voice as level as possible, “let us get started on fixing the tent.”

Maya did not say anything and walked towards the tent with me. Her silence did not help with reducing the awkwardness of what just happened or with my terrifying heart. Luckily, the poles of the tent were not broken and all we had to do was move them back into their place before the tent was back up. There was another bag of rations inside the tent with two more water sacks. There were three leather sleeping bags laid down in the form of a triangle right at the middle of the tent.

“Alright, now we are done with this we can finally rest now. I will take the first watch and keep a lookout while you rest. I have slept for half a day already.”

“But...”

“No buts. Look how tired you are, you can barely stand. The last thing we want is for you to fall asleep while you’re on guard. Just get a good rest and I will wake you up when it is time to change guard duty.”

“Okay, what you say makes sense. I will go to sleep,” Maya stood up and walked out of the tent.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“To sleep.”

“I meant why are you leaving the tent?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I have always slept outside,” Maya answered bluntly.

I felt a massive headache coming over me. I really could not deal with Maya right now. I want to ask why, but I don’t want to open this can of worms right now. This was already too much for one day, if not for Calm Mind I would have already gone crazy. I will deal with Maya tomorrow, there are just so many things on my mind right now.

“Maya, just sleep in the tent. I am going to go outside to be on guard duty.”

“...are you sure?”

“Certainly, get a good night sleep and cancel that healing spell.”

I left the flabbergasted Maya behind in the tent and walked out into the forest. The cold night wind on my checks brightened up the mood by a bit. The night sky was filled with brightly lit stars. It was a beautiful sight, one that had become quite rare back in Earth. The starlight lit the forest quite nicely and despite Maya’s healing spell no longer being active, visibility was not so bad. I made my way to the leather sleeping bag lying next to a nearby tree. I noticed it before when I first came into the camp, but did not want to think too much about. Maya’s situation must be really depressing, for her to sleep outside the whole night. And looking at how kind she is, she must have kept guard for the team the whole night. I don’t think she slept last night. What a great start we are off to. Almost died this morning and now I have a troubling teammate. 

Speaking of today, I really fucked up with my class build earlier this morning. Create a mage build without knowing a single spell. I am an idiot. Skills don’t require Mana to activate so that makes those 60 points in Mana a waste since I not going to be using them until I learn spells, which could take god knows how long. I should have instead but those points into Stamina and Agility. I would not have been in such a sorry state when fighting that beast if I had more strength. At the very least I would not have my leg almost cut off if I had more Agility.

Oh god, I was so stupid. I really want to put those 10 points in Agility right now, but I would not have learned from my lesson if I started distributing my points on my first impulse. Man, this is way harder than I thought it was going to be. Why couldn’t I have been taken into an ecchi world? Why must it be this cock fest of a world where I almost died on my first day?

I still can get over that fact: I almost died. I have lived for 23 years and I never had such a life or death situation before. There might have been a few close encounters with a car, but never something like this. Never a moment where I was so sure of my own death; A moment I was so certain of my own demise. I can still recall that feeling, like a lingering memory I can never get rid off, I can feel it all over again as if it's happening to me now. I try not to think about, but I still fear for myself. If this is my state when I have over 10 000 in Sanity how would I be tomorrow morning when I lose access to Calm Mind.

I need to make peace with the fact that I can die in this world. 

No, I have already died in this world. I did the moment I fell onto my knees when I was facing that monster. The naive me who only thought of getting a harem was torn to pieces under that monster claws. He was torn limb from limb and I was all that remained. I am not him, I was reborn from his bones and flesh so that I may not make the same mistakes as him. This lingering sense of defeat, of hopelessness, is not my feelings. They are what is left of the old Felix, scars that ache only when I think of them. I can and will survive this world. And believe me when I tell you, world, I am going to make that harem. So send all the god damn, stupid, shit-faced, dumb-ass lizard monsters you can, see if I don’t rip their hearts right out their smug faces.

[

Sanity +10

*you have made peace with death: your vision grows clearer.

]