Defiance of the Fall

He swung the axe and embedded it slightly in the tree , and then started climbing it for a better vantage . Zac once again marveled at the improvement of his constitution from his increase in stats . He felt like a gibbon , almost effortlessly dragging himself upwards along the branches with his arms , something that would have been an impossible work-out in the past .

Soon he was almost at the crown of the tree , afraid to continue up any further as the branches seemed inadequate to support his weight . A quick glance around unfortunately realized his fears . It very much seemed that he was on an island without any civilization in sight . However he couldn’t be completely sure , as there was actually a mountain off in the distance . It wasn’t gargantuan , but still large enough to solidly block any visibility of what was beyond . It looked quite odd to have a steep mountain right next to the ocean , but Zac guessed that was what happened when the system pressed the randomizer for a world . The good news that there was land in sight in the distance , though it looked like a few scattered islands , rather than a solid land-mass .

The island (as Zac decided to call it until proven wrong) he was on was huge , and he couldn't properly assess the size . He and his trailer were on the far edge of it , while the ever-shining red beam of light was almost on the opposite side , in a vale halfway between the center of the island and the mountain . He guessed that the reason why he still only had encountered one of the demon dogs was that they mainly spawned scattered around the incursion itself .

Zac didn’t have time to analyze the situation any further , as a branch in the periphery of his sight suddenly exploded into movement and instantly was upon him . Before he had time to adapt to the situation , a brown snake had wrapped itself a few loops around his torso , leaving only the arm he used to hold onto the tree for leverage free . The snake seemed to be over 3 meters long and slightly thicker than his arm .

He immediately felt an intense pressure on his chest , the air leaving his lungs and wounds on his side screaming in protest . Zac strained until his face was red with exertion , but was unable to free his trapped arm at all . The snake had him in a vise , and even with his improved strength he could not get free . Its head slowly rose up towards his , a hiss escaping from its maws .

By now all air had been squeezed out of Zac’s lungs , his consciousness starting to get fuzzy and lights flickered in his sight . Zac knew he was running out of time , it was time for a Hail Mary action . He suddenly let go of the tree with his free hand , grabbed the head of the constrictor and bashed it with all the force he could muster into the tree trunk . The slam obviously had an effect on the snake , as it slightly released him from its grip . With newfound strength from a ragged breath , he slammed the snake’s head twice again into the tree with even more fervor .

However , just as Zac was feeling jubilant about escaping death's grasp he felt the branch he stood on give way , and both he and the still entwined snake came crashing down .

Chapter 11 - Upgrades

Zac woke up with a jerk , which caused a pained groan to escape from his mouth . There was not a single part of his body that didn’t feel battered and broken . A quick look around showed that he was halfway down the hill , his whole body full of scratches . The snake lay lifelessly a few meters away from him , seemingly having uncoupled from him somewhere during the tumble downhill .

Not daring to take any chances due to negligence again , he ignored the screaming protests of his body and dragged himself towards the snake . There was a rock roughly the size of a head on the way which he ripped out of the ground . Finally he arrived in front of the beast , and with a snarl grabbed the stone with both hands and slammed with all power he could gather right in the forehead of the snake . The long body convulsed slightly but seemed not to react further than that . Zac wasn’t done however , and with guttural grunts from deep within his throat he kept slamming the stone down again and again , each time eliciting a wet thud . After a few hits the body’s death throes stopped , but Zac kept going until the bloodied stone finally slipped out of his hands . By then the head and neck was only a mess of broken flesh and brain matter .