The Beginning! (3)

By midday, Tristan was seen digging a few more holes around his cave.

"Fiuhh.. I've dug three holes so far, I have placing each one in a different direction in front of the cave's entrance. Are you wondering why I'm digging these holes? It's obvious—this is preparation. If monsters attack, or if I need to hunt, I won't know which direction prey or enemies will come from, and this traps I build will help me a lot. Since I'm alone, I have to prepare everything myself for my survival." Tristan continued working on his traps.

"And plant the spear here... and, done. Finally finished," Tristan muttered to himself, wiping his brow. "I'm finish upgrading the defenses around my cave and since it's still daytime, I'm planning to check the place where I first woke up and search for traces of this body's parents. Even though I'm certain they didn't survive, since that black-dressed man knew the location of this body and killed it." 

Tristan prepared his supplies and gear. For the meat he had roasted, he placed it on leaves and wrapped it up with twine made from tree fibers.

"Spear? Check. Knifes? Check. Food? Check. Since everything's ready, it's time to go on an adventure."

With two knives and his food supplies secured at his waist with a belt made from tree fibers, and a spear in his right hand, Tristan prepared to leave his cave for the first time, venturing far beyond its safety.

With his face full of curiosity, restlessness, and excitement, Tristan stepped away, heading into the depths of the forest.

After venturing deeper into the forest, Tristan walked slowly, exclaiming, "Woah, I didn't expect this forest to be so beautiful, with its array of lovely colors in every plant. The faint light tries to filter through the trees, and I feel relaxed just gazing at this place. But I can't let my guard down, not even for a moment; even the plants could be dangerous. I've seen plenty of comics where the main character gets hurt by plant monsters."

After walking for a while, Tristan said, "I'm familiar with this place; I think I'm close." He hurried along, making his way to the location where he first awoke in this body.

As he walked toward a tree slightly larger than the others, Tristan said, "This is the spot; the bloodstains are still here." Glancing around, he added, "From the memories of this body, the parents ran into the forest toward the dark aura I saw before from the river. I don't dare to go there, but I need to check that direction. If I get too close and don't find any traces, I'll head back to my cave."

Tristan ventured through the forest toward the ominous dark aura, carefully observing his surroundings in hopes of finding even the slightest trace.

As he reached halfway toward the dark aura, Tristan discovered numerous monster corpses to his left. Gripping his spear with both hands and taking a fighting stance, he cautiously approached the pile of monster remains.

Walking slowly, Tristan muttered to himself, pondering, "What happened here? There are no signs of a fight; it's as if these monsters just died suddenly." 

Tristan suddenly stopped, shocked by the sight before him, and exclaimed, "This place looks like a battlefield, with many cracks from powerful attacks. Even the monster corpses are different; some are crushed as if they were hit by a truck." He walked slowly through the area, following the remnants of the battle.

"The further I follow the trail, the less impact the attacks seem, as if the creature fighting this horde of monsters began to tire." Tristan reached the end of the battle traces and saw two bodies propped against a cliff, several spears lodged in them.

As Tristan approached, he suddenly broke down in tears. "W-why? Why do I feel this sadness and pain?" Tears streamed down his face as he gazed at the lifeless bodies. "I understand now; they are the parents of this body. That's why I feel the sadness this body had because now, I am the owner of this body."

As he pulled the spears from the two bodies, Tristan said, "When I look at their faces, I can see that they were parents who truly loved their son, willing to sacrifice themselves for him." Memories of his own parents, who had always made him the scapegoat for their own wicked deeds, flooded back to him.

With frustration, he muttered,

"Not like my previous parents, who only cared about their own interests." *Shaking his head to dispel those dark thoughts*, he continued to remove the spears.

"Now you three are together in the afterlife. I hope you find peace there and enjoy your days together. The only thing I can do now is bury you as a thank you for allowing me to take over this body. I can't promise anything, but if I grow strong enough and encounter that black-dressed man again, I will make sure that he pays for what he has done."

Before Tristan took the bodies to the cave to bury them, he searched the area for useful items among the scattered monster corpses that could help him survived in this forest.

Tristan felt something strange about the monster corpses.

"They aren't carrying anything, and most of their bodies are already decomposing. They're like zombies. Wait... zombies? From this body's memories, the man in black controls these monsters. Could it be as I thought? A power that can resurrect the dead, a Necromancer? No, the necromancers I know turn the dead into skeletons. Perhaps this is just ordinary dark magic." Tristan continued his search.

*He sighed*. "There's nothing useful in this pile of corpses; the only useful thing is the sword used by this body's father and its equipment. Alright, time to head back to the cave."

Tristan placed the two bodies on a large leaf and dragged them along the cliff. "I'm sure this cliff is the same one by my cave. I'll try to follow it; it would take too much time and energy to go back the way I came."

Tristan walked along the cliff, and as the sun began to set, he reached the river that lay close to his cave. "My feeling were right; this cliff stretches all the way to the heart of the forest. Alright, hang in there, Tristan; we're almost there."

Tristan carried the bodies one by one across the river and continued his journey. However, after a few steps, he heard the sounds of a wild boar coming from the direction of his cave *hrff, hrff.* Quickly, he placed the bodies between some rocks and the cliff, covering them with leaves before rushing to assess the situation at his cave.

As he approached the cave, relying solely on the moonlight, Tristan focused his gaze on his cave and was shocked to see not just a wild boar but also an orc. "D*mn, why are orcs suddenly here? I haven't seen any trace of them before. Are they searching for me? No, it looks like they're gathered around my campfire... So that's it! The smoke from my fire attracted them. Damn, I didn't consider that possibility."

He scanned the area.

"They seem to be scouts, there's only four of them, two orcs and two boars. But these boars are different; they're twice as large as the one I fought before. Previously, they were only about one and a half my size. Were those just young boars? I need to come up with a plan to get rid of them."

***