Iron Rank

I spasmed awake mere moments after I had fallen unconscious, as my hands twitched and my heartbeat sped up.

Turning over painstakingly, I raised one vial of the potion after the other and drained them, all the way until I had a sparse few potions left.

Which was when my heart pains began to recede and it started to beat more powerfully than I'd ever heard it beat before.

The impact site seemed to be filled with the rhythm of my heartbeat as it went Thump, Bathump, Bathump.

Rising shakily, I raised a bloodstained hand to wipe across my lips, leaving a trail behind.

Then, I looked down at my naked body and, more specifically, my heart, where the black warforce had changed to a blackish bronze colored warforce.

Frozen in shock, I stared at it for a long moment before I jumped up and whooped as loudly as I could.

Then, glancing around and remembering where I was, I quickly busied myself in wearing clothes and my second set of armor.

All the while, I kept looking at my heart in awe.

Taking out my supplies, I ate ravenously and only stopped once I was completely full. Burping out in satisfaction, I rubbed my belly and checked the levels of my supplies.

Only to pause, dumbstruck.

I had packed enough for one week according to my appetite!

Today was the first day, and yet I had eaten most of the week's supplies already!

Gulping, I looked at the barbequed Direwolf next to me which suddenly seemed incredibly tantalizing before I resisted the impulse, and thought of all the gold coins that it would bring me.

Wait, gold!

Treasure!

Scrambling to my feet, I sucked in the Direwolf corpse into my finite ring, and then turned to examine the rock which was still sputtering out embers into the air.

Looking at it and looking at the forest that seethed around me. I removed my gauntlets and carefully touched the rock, and flinching, drew my hand back.

Only to realize that it was not burnt in the slightest.

Placing it again, palm first on the rock, I kept it there as the heat sent soothing sensations through me.

Moaning from the pleasurable feeling, I patted the rock all around, trying to find the gleam of gold that I had seen before.

Finally, I found it, but whatever it was… it was wedged inside the rock.

Looking at it in frustration, I looked down at my hands before I thoughtfully looked back at the rock.

Summoning the warforce within me, I tried guiding it to my hands… and like a raging river; it flew and my hands felt hot… very, very hot - the heat almost scalding me internally.

Filled with the urge to let the heat out, I roared and I punched and my fists left a blur in the air as they crashed against the rock, leaving a big crater within the already cratered rock.

Punching it again, the rock trembled even more, until with an explosive shout; I punched with all the force that I could muster and the rock shattered apart into fragments that rained all over in my nearby vicinity.

Cursing as embers fell on my armor, I quickly patted them off… my flame resistance apparently not extending to my clothes and armor.

Then excitedly, I began clawing through the rubble while searching for the golden gleam.

Finding it, I paused as I looked at the bright golden… lump. It was just a lump that was gleaming bright gold.

Puzzled, I looked at it from all angles, but it stayed exactly what it was. A lump.

Cautiously poking it with a stick that I broke from a tree that was smouldering, I watched with bated breath as… nothing happened.

I began poking it even more vigorously, only for the lump to roll over and fall on its other side.

Scratching my head, I threw caution to the winds, and reached forward with my warforce again circulating to my hands - the feeling flowing naturally and a little nostalgically and, with a grunt; I lifted the lump up.

Only to fall on my rump as the lump almost shot up and hit my face.

I say almost, because I dodged, and the lump went sailing on to the ground a few feet away from me.

Scrambling to my feet and running over to it… I lifted it up more gently this time, and with much less strength. Because the lump was practically weightless.

It was as big as my skull, and yet it weighed less than even my pinky finger.

Looking at it again and again from every possible angle, I finally put it into my finite ring with a sigh… resolving to find someone in Yamal who could tell me what it was.

Pulling on my gauntlets, I took one last long look at the place where I had reached iron rank, and then smiling with blood stained lips; I walked off with a zing in my steps.

Straight back to the spider ambush clearing where the remainder of the ants stood huddled around a solitary spider corpse that I had missed in my sweep before.

Grinning ferally and knowing this was a terrible thing to do, I nonetheless abandoned myself to curiosity, and channeling warforce to my legs; I flashed forward like a ghost and straight into the group of monstrous ants.

As my arms bulged, my fists made contact with hard chitinous armor, but my fists were the ones unscathed while the ants were blown away - screeching in pain.

Then my sword was out, and it was swinging like a butcher's cleaver, sending ant limbs flying into the air with ease as I met force with force.

A dozen minutes later, the slaughter was over.

Covered in gore, my leather armor corroded slightly from the ant venom, I stood; sucking in deep breaths with a big smile on my face.

Iron rank.

Truly incredible.

I had slaughtered those ants as though I was taking a walk in the park.

Tactics?

What tactics?

Just plain brutal power and speed.

A combination that could not be beat.

Unsummoning my sword, I stood still for a long moment, before unbidden; tears began flowing down my face.

I was free.

I might never reach silver rank… but I could live.

I no longer had to always smile in front of everybody while wondering if the next moment would have me kneeling in pain.

I no longer had to feel like a burden on everybody as they struggled to smile in my presence while they fought back their pity.

I cried, and I cried as I stood there.

But they were tears of frustration released, of worries unbound, of emotions unbottled.

And of happiness.

Looking around at the corpses of the ants, I sniffled as I grinned through my tears.

I needed this. It might have been stupid to charge in the way I did. But I needed this.

Wiping away my tears and leaving more bloody streaks across my face, I raised my head and howled as loud as I could.

A little monster in a forest of monsters.