First Countdown Part 2

** 6 hours until the destruction of Littlehaven Village **

'Beastguard, a nation as far north as you can go without entering untamed, desolate lands filled with powerful beasts. And apparently there has been tension between the Emperor and his vassals... Honestly, I couldn't care less.'

Raven sighed. 'Shouldn't that be just a little interesting? What is wrong with me?'

No matter what he did, Raven was always doomed to feel the same. He could constantly run away, escaping into video games, movies, comics, but it could only buy time. Eventually, the novelty wore off, and everything went dull.

His life was empty.

Raven stood up and stretched, yawning. 'Yeah, I was up way too late. I gotta get some sleep! Well, I wasn't able to find something to do myself in this game, but I am glad I went off on my own. Rainheart will probably get along with Ella.'

After stretching, Raven began walking towards a building in the center of the village. It was where villagers would meet up, and also had a room for travelers. That room was where the game had placed a 'restpoint', which was where players could go to leave the game.

'First, though, I should find Rainheart. I wanna make plans to-' and then, a rock struck the back of his head.

Grimacing, Raven quickly turned around, and identified the source of the throw.

Grinning from ear to ear was the old fucking bastard from earlier.

Raven scowled. "The fuck do you want, you shriveled up wart of a man?"

Before the man could speak, possibly releasing another torrent of inane dribble, Raven quickly cut him off. "Nevermind, I do not care. Do you know where Rainheart is?"

The gross old man cackled, tossing the rock between his hands. "Rainheart? You mean that fat, bubbly bastard? Yeah, apparently some travelers ran in here, bitching and whining about some more goblin attacks. So, Rainheart went with them to go hunt 'em down. Anyways, I was watching you throw rocks, and you are almost half decent! However..."

The man turned towards the lake, winding up a throw. Then, he launched the rock with immense speed. The rock spun insanely fast, and skipped across the lake over 40 times!

The old, greasy man turned towards Raven, grinning even wider. "So, you like to throw things, yes? You got daggers on your leg, so the answer is obvious. Come with me, I can teach!"

The man began waddling away.

Raven stared as the old man walked away, annoyed with himself. He scowled. 'God damn it, am I seriously considering it? That old fuck is the most irritating being I have ever encountered! Still, I am curious. Can he actually teach me how to throw better?'

Cursing his stupidity, Raven followed the man off into the woods.

** 4 hours until the destruction of Littlehaven Village **

The setting sun illuminated the forest in an orange light, painting the world in an ethereal, mystical glow.

Raven was in a clearing in the middle of the woods, with a throwing dagger in his hand. He was concentrating intensely, staring down several moving targets.

In front of him, several split logs were tied to ropes, swinging around wildly in the wind.

Taking a deep breath, Raven readied himself... and then threw! In four seconds, he had thrown all six of his daggers with immense accuracy, speed, and power. All six of his daggers struck the logs as they swayed in the wind, striking near the center of each.

And yet, he was thumped on the head with a stick from behind.

The old man cursed, scowling. "What bullshit excuse do you have this time, huh?! Your technique was soft, and the throw was weak, and you missed the bullseye each time. Why? I don't get it, kid, why can't you hit the goddamned target the right way?" The old man waved his hands. "Bah! Go grab your daggers, try again. I expect you to be able to throw them with enough force to split the logs in half before the night ends. If you can't do that, you really have no talent..."

Raven numbly responded, walking over to grab the daggers. "... of course."

He was exhausted, having not slept in a whole 24 hours. On top of that, he had been constantly exerting his body and his mind. At this point, he was barely conscious of what he was doing.

So, he continued training.

Raven's body moved of its' own volition, following the instructions given by the old man. His mind was not aware, it was drifting, floating, and thinking of other things. With each throw, he was getting even better with his throwing technique, and as the sun finally drifted below the horizon...

Raven threw the dagger in his hand, whipping his arm and body so fast it was a blur. The dagger shot through the air, striking a log straight on the center. The power behind it was so immense, it tore through the center and cleaved it in two.

At this point, Raven was acting purely on instinct. He was in the middle of grabbing another dagger, when his mind finally processed what he had achieved.

Raven blinked. 'Huh. Did I just split a log in half with a throwing dagger? Huh...'

The old man yawned. "For fucks sake, finally! Took you long enough, but you finally did it. I guess you have a little talent, that is good. Still, nothing compared to me! Back in my day..."

"Oh, shut up."

Raven threw the dagger in his hand at the man. It whipped through the air, tearing through the man's throat.

Suddenly, the fog cleared in Raven's mind, and he watched with wide eyes as the old man collapsed to the ground.

The man was grasping at his throat, gurgling as the blood gushed out. The dagger had torn out a huge chunk of his neck, and the man's sickly hands couldn't even slow down the torrent of blood flowing out. The man writhed on the ground, and his eyes darted around. Quickly, however, his movements slowed. Eventually, all the pain, confusion, and fear drained away from his eyes, as his body stilled.

He was dead.

Raven stared at the corpse, frozen. 'Huh. So, you can kill the NPCs. Honestly, it is so obvious now, but the thought never even crossed my mind.'

Raven got down close to look at the body. 'The NPCs of this world act extremely realistically, as well. Then, I wonder...'

Suddenly, Raven's eyes shone with a dark glimmer. Smiling, as a plan began to take root in his mind, he muttered a simple phrase.

"A world of endless possibilities..."