Fate woke up in a cold sweat, as a crisp, slapping sound penetrated his ears and a stinging began radiating across his cheek. He shot up from where he lay, frantically darting his head side to side, his trembling eyes scanning for the boar.

Fate suddenly felt a pain that had exceeded the fatigue he had felt before, which prevented him from attempting to move further. He wearily slumped back onto the wooden surface below him, barely noticing the uncomfortable knots that his neck now rested on…

-Did...I…?

Fate turned his head to the side, finding a set of familiar blood stains next to him. Questions swarmed through his mind, as he began to check his body for any signs of injury, and, if it weren’t for the pain he was feeling, he would’ve thought that he was dreaming. 

His slow hands finally had checked all that they could reach on his body, concluding that he hadn’t a single injury. 

-Was...was that all a dream…? But...I’m sure...I felt my skin...I felt pain and...fatigue...I felt fear...the cold...could all of that...been a dream?!

It was hard to believe, but he was still in the bloodstained tree that he had previously woken up in and left from. All the sensations he had felt while the monstrous boar was charging him...were they actually real?

『N….n...ooo…!!!』

Fate nearly jumped up from where he was sitting, as an almost ghostly wail leaked from the ring in his pocket, whose light had dulled noticeably. 

[Craaaaccckkk…]

Suddenly, a loud series of cracking noises came from Fate’s opposite side, forcing him to turn his head and begin dragging himself to a gap between the bloodstained branches of the mighty oak to see what was going on…

[Snarl…]

And to his horror, he saw the monstrous form of the boar, slowly plowing through the trunk of a tree that was a few feet away from the one he was currently in! Frightened, he immediately pulled his head back through the branches, ignoring the strain on his body as he desperately hid from the boar’s view. 

He fell back into the firm embrace of the bloodstained branches, heaving his breaths and with his eyes trembling as he stared at the canopy above. The figure of the boar had been made clear to him in a strange, miniscule red light, as if to sadly inform him that the fear he had felt wasn’t simply the byproduct of a nightmare…

-I-It’s...r-rea...real…!

Before he could, once again, descend into a trembling stupor, the ghostly voice of the ring chimed in…

『Ob...vi...s-ly...ja...ass…!!!』

The distorted wail rang throughout his mind, causing him to grip his head in pain. However, this change in the entity’s manner of speech didn’t seem to be purposeful, it was almost as if it had become a radio that was slowly losing its signal.

His mind buzzed with questions and theories as to how his doppelganger had ended up in such a state, assuming it wasn’t faking, but a certain set made their way to the surface before the others.

-W-wait...h-how...I was-s...d-down the p-path...I k-know that...it-t was quite...some d-distance aw-way from...t-this tree!

He ran his hand across the bloodstained bark, the reddened skin of the oak tree he lay on…

-But…t-this is that tree! I k-know, though, that...I...m-myself didn’t...g-get here…! So…

He slowly removed the ring from his pocket, looking into the dull, red gem, or rather, to the barely visible dark-blue glow that was housed within it. 

『S..h..t!』

-W...what? Are...y-you seriously c-cursing because...I w-want to question you?!

He was growing ever more frustrated and confused with his counterpart, and its seemingly incomprehensible behaviors. However, Fate’s lowly-held eyebrow went up at its next, distorted statement…

『Sta...she...t!』

This time, Fate, despite his mind being overrun by fear, was able to discern something from it’s speech, in that it didn’t actually seem to be cursing him, rather, it seemed to be struggling to convey a message. 

 『S...t...a...t...u...s…!!!』

Finally, Fate was able to figure out what it wanted from him, with it literally being spelled out for him in his mind… 

Fate: “S-sta...status!”

Above him, a deep, blue glow flickered in the darkness, as a sheet of spectral paper, a single page slowly drifted through the air, and landed in his hand. He felt his muscles scream at him as he dragged the page to his face…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Fate

HP: 183.355/187.32092

MP: 1.5/69.0

Level: 0

Race: Human

Age: 4 year-old(4 year(s), 2 month(s) (22+ years old)))

Job: None

Previous Jobs: None

Titles: 【Familiar of Fate】

Afflictions: 『Mental Corruption - (Lv.6)』, Fear, Fatigue, Mana Exhaustion 

--------------------------------

Stats: 

Strength: 19.156/24.599 

Endurance: 42.0/46.0 (↑(+3))

Wisdom: 8.765

Intelligence: 9.0

Stamina: 23.743/25.333 (↑(+2.443))

Agility: 15.91/17.969 (↑(+1.5774))

Fortune: 10.0

Magic: 34.0 (↑(+1.014))

---------------------------------

Passive Skills:『Balance - (Lv.4(↑1))』, 『Natural MP Restoration』

Active Skills: 『Mana Manipulation(Minor) - (Lv.6)』, 『Fire Magic(Minor) - (Lv.6(↑1))』, 『Meditation - (Lv.3)』, 『??? - (Foundation Established(34.2%)』

Unique Skills: None

Equipment: Fate’s Status Slip(Soul-bound)

-----------------------------------------------------------

-H-holy...f***ing payday! Wait...fear?! T-that’s an actual condition...I honestly t-thought that...ughhh, never m-mind! S-still, though...mana exhaustion...h-how have I not had-d that...before? Als-so, shouldn’t...my stats h-have actually gone...up...but I...damn, this is s-so confusing!!!

[Crash!!!]

Fate was snapped out of his inner monologue by the sound of a nearby tree crashing to the ground, having finally been rendered unable to resist against the boar’s impressive strength that tunneled through its base!

He felt himself shiver at the thought of the boar discovering his location, but let the ‘status slip’ hover out of his hand as he dragged himself to observe the dangerous creature.  He knew it was dangerous to stick his head out, but he was more afraid of not knowing when the boar might come tunneling through his tree. However, before he could make it to the gap between the branches…

『D...ooooooo...nnn…t!!!』

Fate fell back in shock. The doppelganger obviously didn’t want him to leave the protection of the tree, but Fate couldn’t think of a reason to stick around and wait for the beast to find him.

-W-what...what the f*** do...you want from m-me?!!”

『D...r...ink....』

This time, it couldn’t seem to raise its voice to shout at him. It almost sounded like an extremely weary parent, who had expended most of their energy attempting to reign in their child’s obnoxious behaviors. However, Fate understood, considering there was literally nothing else to drink, that his copy wanted him to drink one of the potions, and he already had one in mind...

-Of-f...course! Why d-didn’t I t-think...of that?!

He shakily drew the green potion from his pocket, despite the painful protest from his arm, but was horrified at what he saw. 

Rather than the pristine, half-full bottle of emerald-colored potion that he remembered seeing so clearly in his memory, he now saw a crack between the lid of the bottle and its neck, which was stained with the vivid, green color…

Inside of the cracked bottle, only a fourth of the potion remained…

...

Sorry for the delay on posting, the next chapter will be out in about two hours! Also, I might throw in an easter joke if you guys want it!~