Chapter 4 (Edited)

It was a giant green snake about a meter and a half in length. It hissed after failing to attack me and started preparing for another one. It tensed the muscles around its body before jumping out to me, just like spring after release. I was quickly out of my stupor seeing this approaching danger.

Thanks to my quick reflexes, I managed to dodge again. This time, I won't give it another chance to launch an attack on me as I dashed to its location and slashed the head with enough force to split it from the body.

Hiss!!

The snake hissed painfully before dying. I poke the head a few times to make sure it is dead before finally burying it. I read somewhere that a dead snake might fake its death to lower the guard before biting you. And, I'm not taking any chances. I quickly put the snake's carcass inside my inventory and left the area. I know wild beasts have an amazing sense of smell, and carrying a bloody corpse would be plain stupid.

After walking deeper into the forest, I found some animal footprints. It looked like a deer footprint. I carefully trailed the footprint as it could bring me closer to the animals. And maybe I'll also find a water source.

After a few minutes of following the track, I heard the sound of a stream. Some deers were drinking the water joyfully.

I carefully inspected the surrounding for any threats and found there to be nothing at present. So, I headed to the stream, spooking the deers. They ran away immediately after seeing me.

I saw crystal clear water flowing out of the stream. The water looked safe enough for drinking. I found no source of pollution in the surrounding. I followed the stream backwards and quickly found the stream source, and drank water from there.

After satisfying my thirst, I looked around to find something to carry water with. I found a tree that looked like bamboo but too wide for it to be one in my recognition. Anyway, I cut the tree into pieces with my steel sword and used it to carry fresh water in my inventory.

Afterwards, I decided to look for a shelter. I need a safe place to sleep out in the wild.

I started searching for high grounds looking to find a suitable place for a temporary shelter.

Luckily, I found a small cave after walking a bit over 5 minutes from the stream. The shelter had no obvious footprints near the entrance, and it was not big enough to fit any large animals. I could see the beach and the ocean from here. It's about 10 minutes away from the sea.

I went inside the cave and looked around. It was filled with nothing but rocks and dirt. It had about 10-15 cubic meters of space, just enough for my need. All that was needed was to tidy up a bit and find something to cover the ground. I don't want to sleep in a dirty place after all.

I went out and brought some dry grasses put them on the ground. I also got a big enough rock to block the entrance of the cave. I also made sure to leave enough space open for sufficient airflow.

I also brought some dry woods and branches from nearby trees to light a fire. I need to make a fire to keep me warm at night and cook the snake meat.

Now for the hard part, I bought two rocks that fit into my hands and started smashing their surface near a cushion of dry grass. I was not a professional, but thanks to my enhanced stats, I managed to land a spark in the grass cushion after a few tries. I carefully blew the spark inside the cushion and successfully ignited the grass. Afterwards, I made a fire pit and put the burning cushion on it with some dry leaves and branches on top of it.

When the fire was big enough, I put enough woods over it to act as fuel.

After having a fire, I brought out the snake carcass and removed the guts and skins. Then, I put a branch inside it to cook it on the fire like a barbeque. After some time, the snake was fully cooked, and I started devouring it. It wasn't a tasty meal due to the lack of salt and spices, but it was nonetheless good enough to fill my stomach.

After the meal, It was starting to get dark outside. So, I decided to end the day by getting some rest.

Today was a hectic day, and I feel tired mentally. I really need some rest before planning out my future.

I carefully surrounded the firepit with stones to prevent the flames from spreading further. I closed the cave entrance with the rock I brought earlier with enough space for smooth airflow. I don't want to choke myself to death while asleep. I put enough wood to light the fire throughout the night.

With that done, I soon laid down on the mattress made of dry grasses and fell asleep shortly after.

-----

Timeskip: 8 Months

Unknown Island, East Blue

It's been more than 8 months since I arrived on this island. I managed to keep track of time by crossing a line for each day then repeating it after a month. I visited the entire island during my stay. It is small, with an area of about 100 square kilometres. There's no human inhibition on this island. And, there are only two streams for fresh waters on the island, including the one I found.

The other stream was bigger and occupied by larger animals. I found a big black gorilla, a big white sabertooth tiger, and a big blue bird inhabiting the stream. They had a three-way competition going amongst them.

I spent the day training in the morning with 100 push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and 10 km running. After the warmup, I quickly ate the breakfast consisting of fruits and meat that I pre-stored the day before. Then, I hunted animals and sometimes fish for dinner. After the hunt, I start practising my sword skills by continuously slashing the air. After the sword training, I head back into the forest to fight some beasts for training.

Usually, my training partner is the three top beasts on the island, i.e., gorilla, sabertooth, and the bluebird. It was a brutal battle in the beginning, with me getting various injuries. Still, I gradually adapted to fighting and started overpowering them. And that's how I ended up going from one beast to two, then three of them at once during my battle.

Three beasts are now afraid of seeing me. Maybe I shouldn't have beat them into a half-death state every single day. Thankfully, they have an excellent physique to recover.

Anyway, the thing I noticed was I was getting stronger too fast. I didn't think I would be this strong so quickly.

'System, show me my status.'

[Name: Victor

Strength: 9

Stamina: 5

Vitality: 99

Energy: 6

Talent:

Void's blessing: You've been blessed by the Void. You can create and use any and all forms of energy.

???: Unidentified talent within your soul. More information is needed to categorize it.]

I'm now more than 5 times stronger than before. I think my talent has something to do with it. I still feel I haven't reached the limit of my body.

Now for the bad news, I noticed hindsight in my planning after some months. I wanted to exit this island after 6 months of training, but then I noticed I didn't have a ship or boat to leave. Every day, I would look at the ocean to see any signs of ships or boats on the horizon, but I found nothing after waiting for so long.

(A/N: Re-edited on 10/30/2021)