13 Forest(1)

"Eh?" Cale's skull twitched a little from the unfamiliar sensation. His vision returned, only to be greeted by the yellow sun peering right onto his bones.

"Was I just asleep?" Cale's gaze wandered in confusion. After leaning against the tree for a few hours yesterday, Cale felt a sort of tiredness. Surprisingly, as soon as he closed his eyes, he had fallen asleep.

"So I can even sleep? My new body really seems to function in the same way as before. The only difference is that I can't breathe or eat," Cale said. Suddenly, he felt something touching him from below as he almost jumped away unintentionally.

"Bark!" Fenrir, who was still fully covered in green leaves, barked as he wagged his tail against Cale's armor.

"Are you feeling better?" Cale slid his hand through Fenrir, glancing at the injuries beneath. Surprisingly, all wounds no longer seemed life-threatening, once again showing this wolf's powerful regeneration.

"Bark! Bark!" Fenrir let out his tongue from his mouth and barked excitedly. Unexpectedly, his tongue was also covered with thin cuts, spreading blood all over his mouth.

"You've been through a lot, haven't you? Don't worry, you're safe with me" Cale gently took Fenrir in his hand and jumped off the branch, landing on the ground with a soft plop.

"Now let's hunt you a treat, shall we?" said Cale, trying to force a smile onto his face.

"Nnn!"

"Still, we must be careful, many different beasts are roaming in this forest," Cale warned before heading south. He didn't know the current location, nor did he have a map of this place, so for now he could only walk around the forest and look for an exit.

Rustle! Rustle!

Fortunately, after only a few minutes of searching, Cale found his first prey. A small rabbit could be seen eating leaves on one of the bushes, enjoying it to the fullest.

Fenrir almost slipped out of Cale's hand at the sight of the rabbit, but Cale was able to stop him in time.

"I know you haven't eaten in a while, but you need to control yourself," Cale whispered to Fenrir before unsheathing the blade from the scabbard.

Slowly, Cale moved forward, trying not to make any sudden movements, as not to startle the beast. Unbeknownst to the rabbit, who was smiling and enjoying his meal, a formidable threat was coming from behind.

Shing!

The silver blade appeared right in front of the rabbit's eyes and moved towards its neck. Unexpectedly, the animal was fast enough to react: It jumped backward and immediately ran away.

However, just as it was about to leap into another bush, Fenrir suddenly appeared right next to it. Fenrir bit into the beast's neck, blood splattering all around.

"Hey, Fenrir, your condition is better than expected. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Nnnnn" Fenrir nodded and continued to bite the rabbit's neck.

"Calm down, Fenrir," Cale promptly took the wolf back into his hand and after some struggling, managed to take it out of his mouth, "I understand you're hungry, but you shouldn't eat anything raw. Maybe the meat is infected?"

"Nnn" Fenrir let out a soft cry as his constantly moving tail calmed down.

"Don't worry, I'll cook it for you quickly," Cale ran his hand through Fenrir's fur before setting him on the ground, "Wait for me here."

"Bark!" The moment Cale moved, Fenrir ran up to him and bumped his head on his toe.

'Is he still afraid to be alone?' Cale thought as he signaled Fenrir to follow him.

Together they gathered many different branches, leaves, basically anything that could be burned. Cale wasn't afraid to create a campfire since it was still early in the morning and the beasts wouldn't be attracted to the flame that much.

After settling on the ground and placing the entire stock of wood in one place, Cale muttered, "Fenrir, see this?"

"Nnn" Fenrir tilted his head to the side, looking towards a strange red flower in Cale's hand.

"It's a special flower that can ignite fire after being squeezed, and it's often found in the woods. People call it a fire flower, but I prefer to call it a flame rush," Cale explained quickly as he smiled inwardly, remembering how he had described it to his son.

"Anyway, look at this" Cale promptly pressed the edge of the flower and a slight sparkle appeared on one of its leaves. With Fenrir's gaze glued to the beautiful fire, Cale tossed it onto the pile of the grove.

"Are you ready for the snack?" After wrapping the rabbit around the stick, Cale moved it over the fire. The scent of fresh meat immediately filled both of their noses, as Fenrir nearly jumped into the fire in excitement.

Though he was aware of the tantalizing aroma of food, Cale did not want to eat, or rather, he was unable to. Of course, Cale wouldn't refuse to try something so delicious, but it was no longer possible.

After a few minutes, Fenrir was already biting into the meat with relish while Cale watched him from above. For some reason, Fenrir reminded him of Del, a weak child just trying to survive in this cruel world.

"Nnn!" Fenrir let out a satisfying howl as he looked towards the white skull. He was so hungry that he didn't even discern how quickly he devoured the rabbit.

Bleh!

Suddenly, a piece of meat escaped from Fenrir's mouth, landing onto the grass. Wagging his tail, Fenrir looked at Cale and pointed at the piece of meat, which unfortunately didn't look so appetizing anymore.

"Don't worry about me, Fenrir. I can't eat anyway"

"Nnn!" Fenrir didn't back away, pushing the meat forward with the tip of his nose.

'He wants me to eat it that bad?' Cale thought before picking up the meat. He was already quite surprised that Fenrir bothered to share something with him since wild beasts were usually ravenous, but this simply showed an increase in their connection.

Plop!

The piece of meat fell through his bones, landing somewhere in the lower part of the armor. Cale felt nothing but the musty smell of the meat, while Fenrir, on the other hand, seemed extremely pleased.

"You ready to go now?" Cale chuckled, looking at the happily rolling Fenrir who nodded after hearing the skeleton's words.

'I should focus on getting stronger first,' Cale thought before picking Fenrir up and moving further into the forest, leaving no trace of even being in this area.