Even in this world filled with magic, I could survive on my own in the wilderness. My first days in this world already proved that. I was experienced at it. Even before everyone except me was gone, technology and resources became limited as we kept losing to the bugs. After I became alone, there were no sugar, salt, spices, or processed goods left.


    All of the animals and plants were either eaten by the Horde or died out due to nuclear winter. The only nutrition I could get was either bugs I killed which were hard to eat due to how their biology was aggressive or the nutritional paste we created out of cockroaches as a last resort before everyone died. Its taste wasn’t all bad once you got used to it but the texture? Disgusting.


    That’s why the moment I came across a human civilization and had money, I bought every cooking-related thing I could get my hands on. Naturally, salt and most spices were nowhere to be found in a small town like that but I managed to buy some good cooking utensils and stored them in my bag of holding.


    I never imagined I would use them to smack the shit out of some furry while I bargained for them. I bashed the first one''s head in. Since I gouged its eyes before it was relatively easy. Now, I should put an emphasis on relatively easy. The short nap I had was not enough to fully refresh my body. Sweat was already dripping down my face when the first one stopped moving.


    I raised my head and noticed more closing on me. They almost sensed my vulnerability, circling me cautiously, their growls echoing in the air. My dual grip on my pans tightened.


    “I can’t believe I got relegated to frying pans after using railguns.”


    My mind raced as I tried to find a weakness in their monstrous physiology. With a burst of adrenaline-fueled courage or maybe desperation, I lunged forward, swinging the frying pans with all my might. Metal clanged when it got slammed against the creature’s tough head. Though the frying pan''s impact is far from lethal, it managed to momentarily deter the weretigers, buying me precious seconds. I dodged their razor-sharp claws and teeth, relying on my nimbleness and exhaustion-driven survival instincts to evade their attacks.


    I kept swinging my pans. My breaths grew heavy and labored, my muscles burning with fatigue.


    “Growl!”


    “Fuck off.”


    One of them growled at me. I answered it by cursing it and breaking its fangs with a heavy strike. As it stumbled back, I noticed how weirdly their legs moved. I ducked under a wild swing and swiped its leg. It fell down rather easily.


    “Ahah!”


    There was a reason very little amounts of creatures were fully bipedal! They stood on their two legs but their balance was pretty bad! Armed with this knowledge, I targeted their legs and smacked them while they tried to get up. My pans became misshapen but they still did their jobs. I kept giving them brain damage until my sweat caused my grip to falter and one of my pans went flying away from me. This is why wearing gloves were essential for a weapon user.


    I locked eyes with the weretiger I was about to send to God before it grabbed my leg, its claws digging into my calf. I fell down ass first to the ground. It tried to pull me and got on top of me but I kicked it on the nose with my free leg. I used my remaining pan as a shield and freed my leg. I bashed its head in.


    I collected my other pan and moved forward. It was hard to focus. People screamed for help or to find each other. While I had a faint idea about G?kb?rü’s direction due to our connection, being in the midst of this much chaos made me feel like my head was about to burst.


    I noticed a child being attacked. Creature’s back was turned to me. I threw one of my pans and ran despite my leg screaming for me to stop. My pan bounced off the creature after hitting it. I jumped and grabbed it mid-air and slammed it to the creature’s head with my full body weight behind it. The creature was stunned. I kept hitting it, causing its brain to bounce around in its skull. Its body fell to the ground and I grabbed the wounded child.


    (Passive skill Indomitable Marksmanship ranked up to C rank. Correction related to marksmanship increases drastically.)


    “Nice going, Rapunzel!”


    Lily’s voice rang in my ear. He effortlessly danced around weretigers. They tried to catch him but it was futile as he cut them down.


    “Eat shit and die.”


    “Wow, rude. Ama and Batty are trying to form a barrier. Can you go there by yourself?”


    Batty? Who the fuck is that? Wait. It doesn’t matter. What matter is…


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    “Is Larve there?”


    “I haven’t seen her.”


    Fuck.


    “I have to find her.”


    I tried to hand him the child I saved.


    “You are in no shape to fight! I can look for her. You go and rest!”


    “No, I have to-“


    Something deep inside me screamed danger to me. Every fiber of my being tingled with heightened awareness, as if an invisible switch had been flicked, instantly sharpening my senses. As my senses sharpened, their survival instincts roared to life. I threw the child as far as I could and blocked incoming strike with my pans. Despite their quality, they weren’t made to be used as weapons or shields. They were already damaged so they couldn’t stand the impact.


    Cold steel tore through them and pierced my stomach. The sensation of the blade entering my stomach caused me to let out a short scream. My vision temporarily blackened due to pain. “Poyraz!”


    The wind blew in front of me as Lily shouted my name. Blade exited my body and I fell on my knees. I noticed that the ground had been marked as if something hit it. I tried to put pressure on my wound but my weakened hands couldn’t stop the large gash from bleeding. Lily got between me and my assailant. I raised my head to look at it.


    It was huge. Previous ones were already one head taller than me and this one towered over even them. It held a weapon too. It was a weird combination of a dagger and a spiked knuckle duster. Its tip was bloody. Its body was covered with scars and skulls of various creatures. It wore primitive armor made out of bones. On his right shoulder was the upper jaw of what I thought was a dinosaur. Unlike all other weretigers I encountered before its fur was black with white strikes. It let out a roar before pointing toward me.


    “Prey.”


    It spoke. Intelligence, weapons. This attack was planned. Something is up.


    “You have to get through me first.”


    The wind blew more furiously with Lily’s declaration. I pulled a healing potion I got from Blanche and drank it. Shit, I wanted to save it as long as I could. I felt I also pulled an article of spare clothing from my bag of holding and pressed down on my wound. My hands were shaking. I wanted to stand up but my vision was getting blurry. Despite the warm feeling spreading in my stomach telling me I was healing, the wound was too big. The creature’s weapon looked


    like a dagger in its hands but to me, it was like a long sword.


    “Just focus on stopping the bleeding Poyraz! I will kill this furry quickly and get you to safety!”


    The clashing of metal rang in my head as Lily and the creature fought. It felt too loud. I felt someone grab me from behind. My first instinct was to fight back but I heard Morrigan’s voice. “Poyraz, it is me! Come on.”


    She dragged me away from the fight.


    “Kid, there was a kid.”


    I let out a whisper.


    “Arslan got him. Worry about yourself.”


    Morrigan’s voice felt like it was booming in my air.


    “Larve is missing.”


    I gritted my teeth.


    “You are leaving a blood trail. Worry about yourself!”


    I looked down and realized what she said was true. I pressed down harder on my wound. Morrigan dragged me to some other place. People were also moving there. They must be trying to create a safe place.


    “Ama! Poyraz is bleeding!”


    Ama entered my vision.


    “I can’t! If I lose focus barrier will collapse!”


    I could hear the desperation in both of their voices. Fucking healing potion wasn’t doing its job quickly enough. Or maybe it was just helping me replenish the lost blood without closing to wound. I pulled a kit from my bag.


    “Fire. Is there a fire close by?”


    “No? What do you need fire for?”


    Well, shit. Guess I had to hope and pray I don’t get an infection and die. I pulled the needle and strings I prepared before. I stitched beastkins wounds before when Ama’s healing magic wasn’t enough so I did prepare for it.


    The fact that I couldn’t heat it to sterilize the needle sucked balls. Another thing that sucked was how much my hands were shaking.


    “Morrigan. You need to stitch me.”


    “What? I can’t! I never did it before.”


    "You did. Remember first time we met?


    "I know how to treat small cuts! This wound is too big!"


    “There is a first for everything.”


    I let out a small chuckle despite my suffering.


    “I will bleed out before the healing potion could do its job otherwise. I will guide you.”


    Morrigan knelt beside me.


    “What do I need to do?”


    With her help, I tore the remains of my clothing and cleaned the area of the wound with water to get a clearer look.


    “It is worse than I thought.”


    The wound was big. Morrigan’s hands got closer to it and I noticed how tense she was.


    “You fought against a wurm and survived. This is nothing.”


    I whispered to her. As the needle pierced my skin, there was a brief, poignant pause. I gritted my teeth and stayed still. The pain was already intense and it only increased more with Morrigan’s touch. With each stitch, Morrigan wove together the torn fabric of flesh, bringing the edges closer. Morrigan’s eyes were glued to the wound with an immense focus.


    She let out a sigh of relief as she secured the last stitch.


    “Not bad for the first time.”


    I lied as I looked at the horrible job Morrigan did. And here I thought I was bad at it. But considering the chaos and people surrounding us I should be happy it did its job and stopped me from bleeding out at least. Ama came to our side. I saw a hue form around the area.


    “We established a barrier. I don’t know how long it will last.”


    She put her hand around my wound and casted healing magic. I felt the warm feeling in my stomach increase in temperature and area.


    “Where is Larve?”


    I asked.


    “She is not here?”


    I closed my eyes and focused on where G?kb?rü was. He was closer than before.


    “Nearly everyone is here! Is there someone missing?”


    I couldn’t see Arslan through the crowd but I could hear his shouting. I tried to get up but both Morrigan and Ama pressed down on me to stop me from getting up. “


    You stay!”


    “We’ll look for her.”


    I lay down while Ama got up and started to give orders.


    “Lily was fighting against a boss monster.”


    I said the thing I should have said way earlier.


    “He is strong. Arslan also must be helping him.”


    Morrigan’s words didn’t help me relax at all. She got up.


    “I will go and find Larve. You rest.”


    Screams, which died out after the barrier was established started again. Both of our heads turned and I saw a huge masked man with bull horns throw Lily towards to crowd with one hand. My heart sank when I noticed Larve sitting on his shoulders. That feeling only increased when the man started to speak.