Competition 2 (VII): Before The Carnage

[Nature; it is a cultivators greatest ally and also their greatest enemy. Its power, the Dao behind it, the secrets within its embrace, and the beasts it shelters. Every single one of those things would straighten and shape a cultivator into a fearsome warrior, giving them a chance at life and power that they would have been unable to find in the concrete and steel cities that now serve as monuments to our greatness.

But just as she could give strength, Nature is also the only one that kills us the most. Everything we are, everything we need, everything we could become, stems from her. And it could be anything, anything at all, like a lack of resources, poison from a plant, a wound from a weapon, or attacked by the beasts she harbors. They could kill us, and kill us painfully, slowly, swiftly, painlessly, peacefully, but dead!. We hurt her to survive, and so she does the same in her own little and imperceptible way. No matter where you find yourself, it is imperative that you learn to appreciate and respect nature, to embrace the essence of her power and take care of her as much as possible. Because if you do take care of her, then nature will take care of you.]

Commercial Against Deforestation

Alex stepped out right at the side or a small brook. It was shaded by quite a lot of trees, and had a cool breeze blowing as the heat of the morning sun was blocked by the canopy of tall banyan, mangoes, and iroko trees that surrounded him. Everything seemed so real that it was almost hard for Alex to accept that this was not a real world, this world could fade like anything superficial in the real world.

The essence of nature is strong here, and Alex could feel it, but there was a sense of disownment, and unacceptance within his soul. This place was not just fake, but it was also weird, and Alex felt as if the very world itself was trying to reject his presence. But that feeling only lasted for a moment before it fade and everything seemed...normal. But ex could not forget that feeling, it made him frantic and hurried. Alex shook his shoulder and took a closer look at his surroundings.

The tiny brook in front of him seemed to be flowing through a cluster of rocks about twenty feet to his right. A closer look let him understand that those cluster of rocks was actually a cliff, and it only looked like a cluster of rocks because it. Was being smothered by vines, and branches, covering much of it's surface and only letting a tiny part of it's body be shown.

The brook flowed downwards towards his left, snaking through a path of it's own making, as it disappeared through a bend that was created by a cluster of really thick mango trees. Alex could not tell which direction was east or west, as this place was like a hidden grove, and the trees grew so closely together that there was a natural canopy over his head.

So far he knew he was alone, but in a scenario as unpredictable as this, it was obvious that could change any minute. Alex however needed to completely get out of this grove if he was to find out where he was exactly, or at least secure a method of survival, and see if he could scout out for other contestants, and find a way back to Anya.

But these trees were growing too closely together that it would be quite difficult for Alex to move past them, and even then given how sheltered all this clusters of trees looked, Alex would have to hazard a guess that quite a few demonic beasts were living and roaming within the gaps of those trees.

Going through would be suicide for a significant amount of reasons, one of which would be because his mobility would be seriously affected, and should a fight break out, he would not be able to battle perfectly. Of course he also had to consider that he had no idea how strong the demonic beasts within the forest were, and the glaring fact that this was their natural habitat, and without a doubt, they had the home field advantage.

As a football captain, Alex has been in situations like this, he has been in matches where their opponents had the home field advantage, and the best way to counter them, was through a thorough analysis session.

During this session Alex would have to understand his opponents, mostly by reviewing their past matches if any of it was archived, and then analyzing their field.

And understanding of the field would let him deploy the most optimal formation required to win the match. But this was a very different scenario than a soccer match, one the loosing team players were to numerous to completely keep track of, and the field was not something he could up with a formation and play book for at his level of strength. So the only thing he could do was analyze the place as much as he could, and make plans for what he would see.

The only other option left was for Alex to follow the stream on it's snaking journey downward to wherever, however that could take too long and might expose him to unnecessary risks and dangers, which left him with a final and more optimal option. He could either scale the cliff until he got to the top and had a better vantage point, or he climbed on of the trees and did the same thing. But the cliff was a safer option, as there could also be a variety of demonic beasts on those trees. So it was safer to scale the cliff.

Alex made his way towards the cliff wall, it was covered by really thick vines and the out stretched and overhanging branches of two massive trees which were placed on opposite sides of the three feet wide brook. This two trees however looked a lot different from the green and brown color, that was synonymous with every other tree in the grove.

Their own leaves were a startling shade of light green, with red veins on it. The underside of the leaves were actually blood red, and seemed to glow eerily in the dim light of the overhanging canopies. Alex knew he had to be careful, anything in this particle world could just as easily end his life, and he might be dead before he even realized it. So it was wise to err on the side of caution.

Alex couldn't see the top of the cliff, but from his estimated height of the trees, he suspected that it should not be more than 50 to 60 feet tall. Now all he had to do was get to the top. The cliff wall was covered by a dense covering of vegetation, and the vines that's stretched across it's surface from end to another looked really sturdy and firm. Alex did not hesitate as he began to make his way up, climbing slowly and carefully as he use of the vines and out stretched branches in his path.

It made climbing the cliff a lot easier than he expected, and soon he came upon the bottom of the canopy where a cluster of branches gathered together to make a natural ceiling where tiny little pinpricks of light were streaming through. Alex had to grit his teeth and he pushed through the foliage and kept on moving forward. The sharp shards of sunlight that broke through was what heralded the end of his precarious climb.

Alex broke through the canopy of the trees, as he came up above it. The cliff still stretched for another ten meters, and seemed to be part of a small mountain range, with the way and position it seems to be placed, Alex imagined that this might actually be the center of the entire forest. Wanting to be sure of his discovery, Alex began to scale the remaining ten meter of the cliff wall.

At this point in time there were no more vines and branches to help his climb, so he had rely on his own strengths and skill to climb upwards. The surface of the cliff was incredibly ragged and filled with protruding jagged edges. It made climbing up the cliff a lot easier as it provided hand holds and foot holds to make his climbing easier.

However, this hand holds were quite spaced far from each other, so Alex had to jump up from of those edge to another. But that was not without it's risk, as one misplaced step or grip from Alex would see him plummeting down back and through the canopy of trees below him. The only problem was that he's going down, was guaranteed to be a whole lot more painful than he's going up.

Alex focused solely on the task in front of him, choosing to ignore anything unnecessary and place all of his attention on getting to the top of the cliff. It was the better choice as his life was quite literally hanging on the edge. Ten minutes later Alex successfully scaled the cliff and got to the top. Even though he had gone through what would have been a somewhat rigorous climb for any normal person, Alex was only breathing lightly and only felt a little exhausted.

Then he tool a look at his surroundings and almost had to hold his breath because how beautiful a sight laid before him. The sun was directly opposite him, and since it was still morning that had to be east. It casted it's yellow rays over a plethora plants and fauna, as massive trees glistened under its light and a silver river cut across the land and the path of the trees in front of him.

A little to the south easts, another glistening silver body of water showed up, it was a lake, and if you traced it's origin, it led directly from the brook that flowed out from the very cliff he was standing on. He could hear the roars, and cries of the beasts that does this forest, and within it, he could also hear screams. Without a doubt, it seems the slaughter had began.

Alex quickly continued on with his plan to understand where he was, a few moments later he discovered something, and with it a dilemma. The west was actually to his back, but the entire terrain of this forest was made in such a way that west and north were actually the top of the out stretched mountain range.

By dividing the entire forest into half, it sloped downwards from the north and west, to the south and east. And Alex had wanted to avoid any substantial form of a high ground, because it was a more favorable vantage point for both the contestants, and the beasts that lived here.

So which meant, everything that could and would kill him on sight, was probably rushing towards the west and the north right now, hoping to get on this mountain range, or were already on it, and waiting for Alex to come waltzing right into their jaws. And this was a path he couldn't turn away from as he had already asked Anya to make her way up here. It was bad, his was trying to avoid danger, but yet his ignorance about the terrain of this particle world, had thrown his previous play book into disarray.

The only choice he had left was to continue as plan, and find away to make up for his destroyed plan in the coming days. He did not need anyone to tell him that in the days to come, the north and west peaks of the mountain range would experience a blood bath, and he had to look for Anya within that river of corpses. What could go possibly go wrong.

"Dieeeeeeee!"