Kaius squatted for what felt like the thousandth time in front of the low heat of the hearth. Tightly held to his chest was a stray flagstone from the crumbling wall outside, large enough that its weight dug uncomfortably into his arms.

    Reaching the bottom of his descent, he felt his quads stretch with a deep burn that brought a grimace to his face. Another drop of sweat from his face baptised the stone, its surface turning ever more slick. Forcing him to hold the rock tighter, and aggravating his already exhausted arms.

    Pushing himself upwards he felt himself hit a wall, shaking as what felt like the weight of a giant pushed down on his trembling legs. Individual muscle fibres began to ping, his lower body consumed by a bone deep agony.

    A low roar left his throat. Kaius pushed, driving his heels into the ground. Scraping the bottom of the barrel.

    Finger-length by finger-length, his quaking figure rose.

    He had been at this for hours now, his Stamina long since drained. Without fail, he would hit the wall, and without fail, he would push a little further. Quickly he would reach his limit and collapse. A few moments spent bonelessly on the floor, giving liquid muscles a moment''s respite, and he would rise again to switch to a new grouping.

    Kaius squatted again, thick veins bulging in his neck.

    Again. Here he got stuck, straining upwards. A loud crack emanating from the back of his jaw. The pain of his broken tooth cutting through his exhausted fugue. Quickly taken over by the burning itch of regeneration. Still he strained upwards.

    Again.

    Again.

    Again. His legs refused, one shaking knee buckling inwards as his legs totally gave out. His mind blanked, his narrow cone of vision and the ringing in his ears subsuming all of senses for just a moment. The stone slipped from his limp hands.

    The jarring impact of hitting the cold stone floor brought him back. As did the crunching sensation and blaring pain as the rock landed squarely on his right foot.

    "Fuck!" Kaius swore. Pushing himself upright as fast as possible to roll the stone off.

    **Ding! Strength has reached level 20!*

    **Ding! Physical Conditioning has reached level 15!**

    Physical Conditioning:

    Level 15

    Uncommon

    The thumping of a heart that outruns a predator. Blood fueling muscles that burn with the savage delight of the hunt. Lungs that bellow, gaseous transfusion bringing necessary vitality. Life. It lives and dies on the basis of exertion.

    Each level slightly increases peak physical fitness. Each level slightly decreases the deleterious effects of exertion

    Even clutching his stinging foot Kaius couldn''t help but let out a loud laugh

    He had done it. The unthinkable. Two levels in the same skill and a stat point in the same day.

    His breath still heaving, Kaius grabbed his water skin and drained it to the last with great, greedy gulps. The cool water, faintly tasting of must and leather, soothing his parched throat. Once it was done, he shook the neck of the skin over his face, encouraging the last few stray drips free.

    With an unsatisfied sigh he threw the skin to the side. It landed with a dull thwack.

    "Well, now that that''s done I guess it''s time to find a water source."

    He winced as he shifted his leg, wounded foot and thrashed muscles complaining loudly.

    "Maybe once I''ve recovered." Kaius then eyed the slowly smoking hearth, and the nearly complete batch of jerky hanging above it. "And maybe once I''ve tended to the fire and put on some more meat. Wouldn''t want to risk it going bad after all."

    He flopped onto his back, the cold support of the stone ground feeling like a prized feathered mattress to his overworked body.

    **Ding! Physical Conditioning has reached level 20!**

    Kaius lay on the floor, his naked chest heaving. Each ragged gasp he made scraped uncomfortably against his bone dry throat.

    Two days.

    Two bloody minded, gruelling days.

    He''d worked himself until he puked, and then he''d picked himself up to do it all over again. Every type of exercise he could manage with his body and a few torturously heavy stones, switching things up to avoid monotony.

    A supernatural effort. The human body simply wasn''t designed to push itself to true exhaustion even once, let alone consistently and repetitively. Sure, with the regenerative properties of Health and Stamina it was possible, but the mental strain alone to push through the pain and fatigue was a demon in its own right.

    Kaius was sure that without Rapid Adaptation and the resistance to pain that it brought, he would have had no chance. Certainly, the pain had been enough to push that skill up a level as well.

    Even then, even with his herculean effort, it should have been impossible.

    Kaius frowned.

    The leading two looked to be carrying heavy boar spears, while of the ones trailing further behind two were carrying hunting knives closer in size to daggers. The final undead that was lingering at the centre of their rough formation held what looked to be a timber axe.

    All, barring minor differences, were garbed in what amounted to simple clothing with a heavy leather vest. Kaius smiled at the sight of that, ratty leather would do little to stop his honed blade from cleaving through them.

    Still, flimsy armour and poor quality hunting instruments or no, the undead were still a threat. They were ungainly, but he knew from his previous fight that they were front loaded with Strength. A good blow could easily shatter an arm, leaving him at a severe disadvantage at best.

    He would have to leverage speed and flexibility to outmanoeuvre them, especially since this time there wouldn''t be a convenient natural choke point. Though, he should be able to use some of the dense underbrush to hamper them, but it would affect him too with the length of his sword.

    Taking out the knife-wielders as fast as possible should minimise their advantage on that front though.

    Kaius set his eyes on the rearmost undead, one of his first targets, still brainlessly wandering forwards. Taking a sharp breath to steady any lingering nerves, he ignored the way his tongue stuck to the roof of his bone dry mouth. Choosing instead to lean into the Bloodsong that bubbled away beneath the surface.

    With silent steps Kaius moved past the bush he had been hiding behind, his pace accelerating as fast as he could still remain silent. He brought his sword up into an inside guard, pommel pulled into his armpit as he pointed it directly towards the walking corpse he had set his eyes on.

    The ground flew beneath him, Kaius quickly closing the gap. Soon he could make out the thin, limp, hair that dotted the undead''s withered scalp. With each step it let out a dry rasping gasp. Forced to make a mockery of even the most basic of life''s functions.

    Somehow, some way, it sensed him, tensing once he was within a few scant long-strides of its back. It stopped. Beginning to turn as it let out a rattling gasp. A facsimile of a mind knowing that it should call out to its compatriots, but its expired flesh was unable to act on the half remembered instincts.

    The other undead continued on, unnoticing.

    It made an about face, Kaius locking gaze with its glassy and soulless eyes. It was too slow to do anything other than that. From his inside guard Kaius''s sword spun over his head, pivoting his lower body with the motion as he brought his sword down into an overhead swing.

    Magically honed steel cleaved through its brittle skull with a subtle crunch. Black blood and stinking grey matter coated his blade.

    **Ding! level 13 Undead Huntsman slain**

    He pulled his sword free, lurching into another run as he advanced on the next undead that held a knife. It was less than ten long-strides away, the gap closing fast.

    Behind him the slain body of the first undead hit the ground with the sharp crack of a splintering twig. Kaius winced at the sound. Almost as one the remaining group stopped dead, slowly turning to investigate the sound.

    The remaining knife-wielder saw him, a soft rattle of a war cry leaving its shrunken lips. It stepped towards him with its hunting knife held high. Kaius didn''t stop.

    It swung. He planted one foot solidly into the loamy soil, bringing himself up short. A sharp jolt of force shot up his leg, but the slight pain was quickly forgotten as the undead''s blade sailed past his chest in a narrow miss.

    The failed swing left it wide open. Kaius didn''t hesitate. He speared it through the nose, a cold spray of jellified fluid catching him in the face.

    **Ding! level 13 Undead Huntsman slain**

    The heat of battle washed over him, a manic grin growing on his face as blood boiled in his veins. Spinning on his lead foot, Kaius pivoted to face the rest of the undead.

    Slack jawed and expressionless, they had wasted no time thinking on the death of their allies. No moments of panic or shock slowed their responses. They simply advanced on him, led by the one wielding an axe.

    Kaius flicked his sword, rotten brain matter splattering on to a stray pile of leaf litter.

    The two undead holding boar spears had their points levelled at his chest, slowly advancing. The axe-wielder had no such compunctions, working itself up into a stiff legged run. Kaius settled into his stance, happy to let the undead build some distance from its allies.

    It reached him with the fury of a runaway bull, swinging its axe in a savage horizontal swipe.

    Kaius simply stepped back, letting the axe sail past him harmlessly.

    The momentum of the blow briefly pulled the undead off balance, before it righted itself and quickly lashed out with an overhead. Kaius parried the blow, a flick of his sword pulling the axe of centre. A swift riposte cut a furrow through its chest.

    They were so clumsy.

    Kaius struck for the head, eager to finish the fight quickly. The undead just barely managed to bring its axe up to block, its infernal might stopping his blow cold. Shoving back against his guard it broke the bind, shifting its hands to bring its axe down in a short chop.

    Openings screamed to him. Strength and a certain awkward speed it might have, but without control, without technique, it was useless.

    With a flick of his wrists Kaius brought his blade back around, binding the axe once more. A slight turn of the blade and a forward push, and he slipped through the undead''s guard.

    Impaling its head on his blade.

    **Ding! level 14 Undead Logger slain**

    **Ding! Sense Weakness has reached level 18!**

    The corpse dropped like a puppet with its string cut. Kaius''s chest rose with each deep inhale, the exertion of battle impossible to avoid. Still, the burn in his muscles felt good. Seeing the undead lie inanimate once more, shattered and broken, felt good. Knowing that each one he put down was another step closer to his goals made his blood sing.

    He understood it now. The Bloodsong. How it could drive people to such maddening heights.

    He levelled his gaze on the final two undead, still slowly approaching with their boar spears levelled.

    Only two left.