The Scent of Pure Gold 2

He wondered why the gun hadn't also made it here. In any case, if the knife could come to this world, could the wolf meat travel as well? He thought to test that out, but before that, he needed to stash the meat and hide it from whatever creatures lived in the forest. If the creature that fatally injured the wolf or a pack of wolves found the carcass, there was no way he could keep the meat. 

Ace began looking around for a spot to hide the meat and spotted a hollowed tree in the distance. 

He ran towards the hollowed tree and noticed lots of dry wood in the vicinity. When he looked up, he saw a clear picture of the blue sky above. The canopy around the hollow trunk was gone, and he believed the tree to have died, with the collapsing canopy leaving a four hundred-foot wide gap in the otherwise continuous canopy. 

He felt like he was in a foreign land, having grown accustomed to the canopy covering the entire sky. When he looked up, he felt like a frog in a massive well, gazing up at the unreachable heavens. 

He shook his head and began scouting the area. There seemed to be no creatures around the massive dead tree, and curiously, even the undergrowth had almost disappeared, with only some bushes here and there. 

He approached the dead tree and saw a massive cave leading deep inside. He cautiously waited outside the entrance for a few minutes, ears perked for any sounds from within. Hearing none, he carefully stepped inside. 

The pungent smell of rotting wood assaulted his nostrils, and he grinned happily. This was the perfect place to stash the meat. Since he could smell the meat from a mile away, other creatures probably could too. The rotting smell of wood appeared to be the perfect cover. 

He reached the end of the small cavern and, finding it empty, smacked his thighs with a satisfied laugh. He felt like his luck was turning around and looked forward to seeing how much meat he could store before his luck changed. 

He swiftly returned to the wolf carcass and began thinking of how to partition the meat. Even with the knife, there was no way he could cut through the thick hide of the monster. Even the meat itself seemed unbreakable. He tried ripping a few pieces from within the body but couldn't tear even a small piece. 

He analyzed the edges of the large gash and realized the only reason he could eat to begin with was because some palm-sized pieces of meat were already loose. Ace's respect for the creature that killed the wolf grew, bordering on reverence. He wondered how powerful the predator was to take down such a beast. 

Ace patted his belly, hoping it could manage to digest the meat. He could feel the outlines of the pieces of meat, realizing he'd swallowed them whole. Despite this, indigestion didn't worry him; the warm feeling spreading from his stomach felt beneficial, filling his muscles with unprecedented strength. 

Letting go of his admiration for the meat and its killer, Ace continued trying to figure out a way to cut the meat. The loose pieces were too small to fill his stomach again, and he needed a way to cut new strips or risk going hungry back on Earth. 

Just as he was about to give up, an idea struck him. He went to the wolf's snout and pried its mouth open with great difficulty, using a branch to prevent it from snapping shut on his arm. 

Two rows of extremely sharp teeth greeted him. He licked his lips and carefully thrust one arm deep into the wolf's mouth, testing each tooth for looseness. 

When he reached the middle of the mouth, right at the biggest fang, he pulled and felt a small wobble. Smiling, he pulled ferociously on the fang, eventually prying it from its socket, slamming into the ground with a loud thud. 

He held up the eight-inch-long fang, as thick as a beer bottle, and inspected it. The inside, normally facing the back of the throat, had a sharp edge. A light touch split his skin, sending a cold energy through his body. 

Shivering, Ace felt a warm sensation from his belly neutralize the cold, returning him to normal. He wondered what that cold energy was, but sighed in relief when it appeared to not be anything too dangerous. Ace was thankful he hadn't cut himself while pulling on the fan, having luckily pulled on anything except the sharp side of the fang to pry it out. 

Testing the fang on the wolf's thick leather, it miraculously split the hide in half at the slightest touch. Ace laughed heartily and began cutting pieces of flesh from within the wolf. 

He worked like a machine, cutting long strips of juicy muscle and piling them next to the carcass. He was so engrossed that he lost track of time, feeling like a miner who'd struck gold. 

When he finally came to his senses, he was shocked to see a large pile of meat standing at his back. The sun was swiftly approaching the horizon, and he realized how long it had taken to carve so little of the carcass. His arms were sore from the effort, even with the sharp fang. 

Seeing the hour getting late, Ace began carrying the meat to the tree hollow. Despite carving nearly a ton of meat, it only took him five trips over a single hour to transport it all. 

By the time he finished, the light was dimming. Despite wanting more meat, he chose not to risk the night, fearing the ants would be drawn by the scent. 

He found a small opening inside the cave's wooden wall and stashed the meat there. For some reason, seeing the pile of meat flooded his brain with happy chemicals. 

Looking at the red pile, he felt that if someone were to ask to convert the pile into gold, he would kill them on the spot. Elated, he patted his belly, still feeling the meat he'd eaten earlier, providing a stable stream of energy to his body. It felt like less than ten percent had been digested, yet he'd carried a ton of meat for over a mile. 

Remembering his endurance feat from last night, Ace realized it wasn't just his stamina that had increased, but his strength as well. 

He went outside and, seeing the massive dead branches strewn about, decided to test himself. With over eleven hours remaining and no canopy above to attract ants he felt like he was safer here than inside the forest. He selected a massive thirty-foot-long piece of wood and strolled towards it. 

The unbalanced log had a thicker end. Hugging the large side, he estimated it to be the equivalent of around two thousand pounds to lift it off the ground. Though normally impossible for a normal human, Ace mysteriously felt that he could lift it. 

Taking a deep breath, he spread his legs wide and squatted next to the log. Hugging it tightly, he bulged his arm muscles and pushed with his legs, pressing the ground hard. 

Creaking noises resounded from his back, and he heard popping noises from his spine, but feeling no pain, he kept going. Slowly, the wood inched off the ground. By the tenth breath, he stood straight, the log still in his grasp. 

In complete shock, he let go, feeling a powerful tremor through the earth, confirming the log's immense weight. 

He looked incredulously at his hands, the shock lingering for a long time. The sensation of holding two thousand pounds of weight in his hands was a feeling that intoxicated his mind, and for the first time in his life, a wondrous feeling overwhelmed Ace. He didn't know it at this time, but this was the pivotal moment when he fell in love for the first time in his life. Only when the horizon lit up with a blue light did Ace snap out of the state that had taken hold of him. Night had fallen, and he decided he needed a proper assessment of his body once back home, possibly even a doctor's checkup. 

Despite apprehension about what a medical exam might reveal, Ace knew one thing: he loved his new body.