Day Five: Night At The Forest
Pant... Pant... Pant...
"I should have paid more attention to the time...!" John exclaimed as he controlled his breathing.
Hoo... Haa...
He took deep breaths and stealthily hid behind a large tree.
After stabilizing his heartbeat, he sat down and lean his back on the tree and tried to remember what happened after the sunsets.
Two hours ago.
"Looks like I got plenty of materials and herbs," John said as he browses through the Storage window.
[Storage]
~ x16 Mugu Herb
~ x21 Lom Grass
~ x4 Night Wolf Fang
~ x3 Night Wolf Bone
~ x23 Red Hapin Flower
~ x22 Yellow Hapin Flower
~ x19 Orange Hapin Flower
~ x19 Blue Hapin Flower
~ x18 Sagra Twig
~ x12 Dried Potus Leaves
~ x6 (Small) Broken Haki Reindeer Antler
~ x1 (Large) Broken Haki Reindeer Antler
~ x2 (Medium) Broken Haki Reindeer Antler
~ x45 Night Berry
~ x13 Potus Fruit
~ x1 Giant Leaves pumpkin.
~ x5 Sagra Branches
~ x31 Hallow Top Acorn
John was able to get 250+ mixtures of herbs and materials in just 4 hours since he arrived at the forest.
"Hmm... It's already this dark?!, the sun just set right?" John was confused as he looked around the forest.
"I need to create a light... It's so dark I can't even see my own hands..."
after taking out one of the Sagra twigs that are as long as his arm from shoulder to the tip of his fingers, he cast Everyday Fire magic LVL 1, to the tip of the twig.
Thanks to the 'Magic Mastery' skill his everyday magic has increased in power by 3%. And now the everyday fire magic emits the same level of flame just like a match.
'This should be enough, the sagra twig is highly combustible so it's perfect for creating torch and being a firewood' John thought as he checked the information of the sagra twig.
[Notification]
-Sagra Twig- <Caution is Required>
A twig from a highly combustible tree, this twig can explode when exposed to high temperatures. This is a material used by intermediate blacksmiths. The best wood for winter, the flames of this twig don't emit smoke as much as other woods.
"'Caution is Required', so it means to be cautious... It's different from the mogu herb's 'Attention is Needed', Anyways I should be careful moving this burning twig to a Sagra tree...!' as John was walking while holding the twig he heard a howl.
"Night Wolves!?" he questioned.
From the perspective of a person born from planet earth, it was right to assume that the howling came from a Wolf. But the common sense of Earth does not apply to Ashura, John didn't know, that wolves are not the only ones who howl at night.
John vigilantly looked around, he was pointing the burning Sagra twig to whichever direction he looked.
John was afraid and in his mind, he wants to run away. Yet, the fear and anxiety he feels did not show on his face it was due to his passive skills 'Cold Eyes', 'Poker Face' and 'Grim Demeanor'.
From the perspective of a person who didn't know he has the said passive skills, they would think John is a Brave person. But what was the truth?.
As John looked around he heard a hustle on the nearest bush, he pointed
the sagra twig torch towards it.
*rustle* *rustle*
John became more vigilant as the rustle of the bush became stronger.
He took a few steps back from the bush. As he took his 5th step back, he felt thick furs from his back. He didn't turn, rather he couldn't, cold sweat was running down his spine and John knows it, the moment he turned around he would die. It's his survival instinct screaming at him.
'Move...!, move...!, move....!, Move!!'
As John probes his shaking feet and body to move, he eerie voice of the being behind was heard.
"Hikikikikikikikikik"
It was laughing at him. John conquered his shaking body and slowly he looks back, he pointed the Sagra Twig Torch he has towards it.
He saw furs as he pointed it forward. Then he slowly moves it upwards. As he moves the sagra twig, he felt fear, that is because it was much bigger than him, almost 4 meters in height.
And the moment he saw a distorted face of an adult male in front of him, a chill went down his spine. It was eyeing him like prey caught in a web as it smirked at him.
'A Monster...!?'
John's mind went blank from fear the moment he saw the smirk on its face.
His body moved unconsciously and threw the sagra twig torch towards it, then he used the Everyday fire magic with more mana as he tried to explode the twig.
The moment the sagra twig exploded John run with all his might.
The monster was left along with the explosion, as the smoke subsided an angry expression can be seen on the face of the monster, it didn't like that its prey escaped. The monster howled with anger and began to search for its prey.
Pant... Pant... Pant...
John kept running without any destination, he stood up when he stumbled and ran again, he rolls to the ground whenever he tripped and continued to run.
He didn't know how many minutes passed as he ran through the forest.
He's losing oxygen as he kept running without stopping, John just like Alex does not have strong stamina that's why both of them sucks at sports. And the continuous running he is doing for the first time exhausted his stamina faster. But he didn't stop, the only thing in his mind is survival, his passive skills didn't help because the level of his passive skills are much lower than the level of fear he felt.
And as if it was a signal, John's body dropped to the ground without him knowing. His exhaustion far exceeds what his body can hold.
Pant... Pant... Pant... Pant... Pant...
John keeps gasping for breath as he lied on the ground. He tried to move his body, but it wouldn't budge. His feet were numb and all he could hear was the fast thumping of his heart and brain.
A few minutes of gasping passed, his breathing was still rigid, but he tried to get up, his body is still numb but he forced it to move, he was barely able to stand up.
Pant... Pant... Pant...
"I should have paid more attention to the time...!" John exclaimed as he controlled his breathing.
Huu... Haa...
He took deep breaths and stealthily hid behind a large tree.
After stabilizing his heartbeat, he sat down and lean his back on the tree, and tried to remember what happened after the sunsets.
'That was the first time I felt true fear...!' John thought as he placed his hands to his face, tears flowed from his eyes, he's crying.
*sob* *sniffle* *sob*
A few minutes passed and only his cry resounded in the area, the other animals and monsters were hiding, they're also afraid of the ruler of the forest they were in.
After John calms down he leaned his head backward and closed his eyes.
'haa... Regarde... Why did you send me here?' he questioned.
He didn't know that the portal Regarde created was hijacked by someone and his destination was changed to the place where he is currently in.
*Chirping* *Chirping*
Morning came and John woke up, he was still in the same position he was the moment he fell asleep. He didn't know when he fell asleep but he was glad nothing happened to him.
John fixed his sitting position and took out a Potus Fruit from his Storage. He looked at it using 'Enhanced Discerning Eyes' while describing it.
[Notification]
-Potus Fruit- <Attention is Needed>
A fruit from a Potus tree, a fruit that recovers stamina over time. This fruit is used to create Potions for Stamina Recovery. It can be directly consumed but the effect is lower than the potion.
'The same as the mogu herb...'Attention is Needed'...'
John nodded as he read through the information about the Potus Fruit. He took a bite on it before standing.
He looked at himself and saw his blue school uniform all dirty, it was due to the running and falling he did last night.
John looks around wanting to find a source of water. But all he could see are either trees, dried leaves, rocks, or fallen branches around him.
As he finished eating the Potus Fruit, his stamina gradually recovers. A good night's sleep was not enough to recover all the stamina he used up.
After confirming that his stamina is almost full, he removed his clothes only leaving his boxer underwear. Then he continuously used Everyday water magic on his clothes, he washed up all the dirt that was on the clothes then he used Everyday wind magic to dried it up. After confirming that it's all dried up. He used Everyday water magic to himself, cleaning himself.
After cleaning his self and wearing his uniform back, John looked around once again.
'That monster last night..., what in the world was it?' John's body shudders as he remembered the sight of the monster he saw, despite seeing it up close he still wasn't able to know what it was.