6 Death (2/2)

Back in the cave.

Covered in leaves, Vin snored as he cuddled a rock with some scribbles on it.

There were more than 60 rocks as big as a watermelon scattered around. These were things filled with writings, formulas, explanations, and plans.

Out of the blue, Vin shook around, ruffling around and breaking the leaves that were sawn together. Then, the trembling intensified as if he was trying to run away.

Then, he began to kick, his toe hitting one of the rocks with his scribblings. This jerked him up with a scream.

"FUCK! DAMN! WHAT THE FUCK!"

After a few more cussing and rubbing, he regained his calmness. He looked around the cave and found that Nathan hasn't returned yet.

"Ah, well... Better resume my work then, I must get a workable procedure for making papers."

He then looked at the rock he was cuddling. There he saw an unfinished scribbling detailing how he could use the different leaves available in the vicinity.

The process he found most feasible was to break down the large yellow leaves of the tree that were never rested upon by the snakes.

Before working, he decided to drink first. He stood up and went to a clay pot containing water from the river. A few days ago, Nathan introduced him to the miraculous water, which prompted him to rush storage items such as the clay jar.

He took a cup made from clay and dipped it in the jar to get water. But before he could put his hands up, he saw a black mark on the back of his hand.

At first, he thought it was only a bruise, but when he touched it, he fell into a forced void state.

Within the darkness, he saw himself standing in the middle, looking around. Then, the surroundings became visible. He's standing within the forest looking for something.

Below him is a stone marked with an arrow. If Nathan were to saw it, he could tell that it was the trace he left so he wouldn't lose his way.

Then the world shifted, Vin kept staring at the holographic video. He was from the future, so he was already used to such scenes.

Then a large pit entered his eyes. In the center was a pile of ash slowly being carried by the wind.

On the south, a man laid on the ground. From the looks of it, the man seemed to pass out.

Vin's body in the projection moved closer towards the man. To his surprise, he knew who this was. It was Nathan.

This immediately broke the forced void state and woke him up. He then drank water and ran out of the cave.

While running, he began to ponder what could've happened. And why did the vision appear like how the wisdom orb shows him things.

Then he remembered he had a missing one. The one that disappeared right after he met Nathan.

"Oh, since he saved me from the snake, I guess it's my turn to save him, huh."

With a frown, he dashed through the forest and found the first mark. Due to him having an eidetic memory, the first wisdom orb he used didn't restore his memory. His vision became sharp that he didn't need his glasses anymore.

With the sharpness came with another benefit. His eyes could see every little disturbance, such as the small footsteps towards the east.

He began to follow the tracks and saw the second mark, then the third, then the fourth. When he reached the fifth mark, something else appeared.

Another footprint appeared.

Judging by its looks, it was a quadrupedal beast. The prints gave off a very feline vibe with sharp claws. These were at least an hour fresher than Nathan's tracks.

Then, he saw the problem. It seems like once it took a sniff the mark, it began to track Nathan. Right now, he was only 15 minutes late.

"Was the beast the one that knocked Nathan out? Fuck, I gotta rush."

It was only a 15-minute gap, there's still time.

He resumed his dash towards the forest. On the 7th mark, he found a new set of prints coming from a human. On the 10th mark, he found another set of footprints. This time it was at least 4 men.

Vin began to worry more about his friend. He didn't expect that there were even more people here. He wasn't sure if he could trust them now that he learned that anyone can come from any point in time.

His meeting Nathan was only due to luck. He never thought that he transmigrated into another universe. Thus he blindly trusted Nathan as he thought he was one of the scholars in the future.

At that time, people went mental, never physical.

With the possibility of the new people being cannibals. Vin shivered at the thought.

But the only person he could trust in this world is in danger.

He didn't want to be alone.

"I need to save him." he thought.

Before that, he needed to prepare himself. He was a scholar, he didn't know how to fight. How should he peacefully deal with this?

He didn't have time to think about it as he continued rushing forth.

After running for a short while, he began to hear people shouting and a growl.

Before Vin approached, he hid behind a tree to spectate the fight.

Vin trembled to the scene. A man and a woman were on the ground dead with parts of their neck bitten by the tiger.

Speaking of the tiger, it didn't look like those modern tigers being kept in the zoo. It was one of those prehistoric tigers with a pair of large and sharp teeth.

"S... Sabertooth Tigers..." Vin felt terrified.

Compared to the snake, at least it'll only turn him into stone as he passes away. This tiger will literally devour him alive.

Vin's heart began to a terrifying pace.

"I don't want to die." he murmured as he froze on the ground, helpless.

Then he began to pray. "Wisdom orb, help me. Please."

As if hearing his call, a wisdom orb went out from his right index finger towards his forehead. It was his 9th wisdom orb.

For the second time of the day, he fell into the forced void state.

Inside his mind, he could see his source revolving at a snail pace. When the light of the wisdom orb entered his source.

He can feel the ignition of a fire within his heart. Similar to Nathan's, the wisdom orb gave him willpower. His hammering heart began to calm down. The fear in his eyes vanished and replaced by a desire.

He wanted to save Nathan. But he didn't want to involve himself in the fight.

What to do?

At that moment, time around Vin seems to have frozen. His mind replaying moments of his past, such as how people disappear without notice. How some pieces of evidence disappeared and appeared on occasion. And how he died.

Within alleys of the city, Vin was walking around in his university uniform. The usual path he took to get home was safe, but it took 25 minutes to get there. But he knew a shortcut, he only has to pass several dark alleys, and he'll be home in 10.

As he walked along with the shadows, halfway home, he saw a murder.

The culprit was cloaked in black while his hands holding a kris. The man on his feet had 28 stabs all over his body, his face covered with snot and blood.

The moment he saw the scene, he felt terrified and lost his balance. Due to the brainwashing of the authority, the entertainment industry never showed violent films. There was only news about festivals and celebrations and the film revolve around romance or comedy.

Besides livestock, it was his first time seeing this much blood coming from a human. It was understandable how he lost balance and even freeze on the spot.

Then the cloaked man looked towards his direction and said, "you shouldn't be here."

In the next moment, he saw the man fade into the shadows, then the next thing he knew, his view rolled in the ground.

Vin didn't get the chance to speak as his consciousness faded away.

Then the projection paused, the environment changed and only showed the shadows and the cloaked man.

As if in slow motion, he saw how the man merged with the shadows.

Using the science of light, the light curved away from him as he used a boosted shoe to reach Vin in less than a second.

Like a large bell, a bang resounded in his head and woke up.

Things returned to normal. Behind him, he heard the tiger whimpering as another man fell without his neck.

This time, he didn't panic. He maintained his calm as he looked towards the shadow he was currently in.

Vin raised his hands above his hand, which began to glow black. A strand of black mana went out of his hand and turned into a circle above his head. Then he did the same below him.

When Vin closed his glowing fist. A cylindrical barrier formed around him. For the others, they'd only be able to see his shadow and not his body.

Filled with resolve, Vin crept up towards the pit where Nathan remained unmoving. He curved his path as to not get in the way of the fight.

There were no trees that could shade him and hide his shadow in the pit, once he was out of the forest. The tiger landed from its jump and looked towards the area where Vin is.

Vin felt the intense killing intent and froze on the spot.

"Shit, I'm fucked." he thought to himself.

But before the tiger could adequately see the random shadow, clouds shrouded the sky and hid Vin.

Vin breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't feel complacent, his left hand began to glow green as he used the wind to isolate his scent.

Then the last man standing stood up. Vin clearly saw a wisdom orb flying out of the man's hand towards his forehead.

The tiger saw it too and prepared to pounce.

It's my chance!

When the tiger assaulted the other man, Vin began to dash towards the pit.

Nothing obstructed him on his way as he extended his spells to accommodate Nathan. As soon as he did this, the tiger yelled, and the man battling the tiger shrieked. The tiger kept on devouring the still conscious man.

Vin looked up and saw the cloud drifting away, taking its shadow along with it. He stopped hesitating and carried Nathan like a sack.

He didn't seem to be carrying anything, though, so it was good.

Vin dashed along with the cloud moving towards the north. It wasn't the right direction back to their cave, but it was safer than gambling that the tiger won't notice them.

After killing the man, the tiger then began to sniff towards Nathan's prints. But when it reached the pit, Nathan was already gone. It couldn't smell anything anymore; thus, it went back to devour the remaining bodies.

When Vin finally entered the forest, he stopped both his spells. He was already dangerously low at 12% left.

He looked back once again and saw the tiger going back to its prey to devour. He sighed once again. But before he felt completely safe, a sound the almost broke him resounded.

*HISSSSSSSSSSSS*