Chapter 11

"Just how big is this forest?" A young man covered with a blue aura muttered to himself as he sped up his pace. Despite moving fast he was still able to dodge the nearby trees, preventing himself from crashing into them

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, this young man's ears perked up as he heard the sound of running water. Out of curiosity, he changes his direction to check

What he found was actually a running river and there were many forest creatures around it that were satiating their thirst. One noticeable thing about all of these animals is that they are on high-alert

If Xianth has to guess, this might be because everyone needs water from the river. This source of water is a gathering spot for the forest dwellers and it should not be uncommon for a fight to happen

There were many animals similar to the ones in Xianth's original world with some minimal differences but there were also those that don't look like an animal back on earth at all

Since Xianth can satiate his hunger by eating the energy leaking from Ischyros's chains there was really no need for him to drink or eat

His Gift enables him to eat energy to use as his own. Eating Ischyros' mana is already equivalent to Xianth eating and drinking food

However, he was still a human through and through. It has been months since he last drank some water and he misses the feeling of doing so

As such, just like the other forest dwellers, Xianth approached the river while maintaining his guard. He doesn't want to suddenly receive an attack without being able to prepare for it

He stood at the edge of the river and only now did he have the chance to look at his own reflection

"Huh? What happened to me?" He mumbled while touching his face and moving his head from left to right

Just like most earthlings, Xianth originally had black hair but now his hair as he can see on his reflection on the water was light blonde. It was a very light shade of yellow as if he bleached his hair. It was not only his hair that changes, his original brown eyes are now blue in color

This was quite a difference from what he could remember he look like!

"Could this be because of Ischyros? Perhaps, it being sealed on my body causes some physical changes. After all, my hair is like the lightest version of Ischyros' color. But my eyes... why are they blue now?"

Xianth has many questions left unanswered and since he cannot answer them by thinking hard about them he had no choice but to throw this matter at the back of his head

He lowered his body to scoop some water from the river. The forest dwellers drink the water from this river and it should also be safe for human consumption

Xianth raised his hand to drink the water from his palm and he felt refreshed. After two months, his throat finally met water again

A single scoop of water is not enough and Xianth was about to take another scoop when...

Splash!

From the water, a snake that camouflaged itself suddenly shot out like an arrow. It opened its mouth, revealing a pair of sharp fangs that was slimy with saliva

At this, Xianth's eyes turned cold and he moved his head to the side, narrowly avoiding that snake

It was the right choice that he raised his guard while drinking. If not, his face might have been bitten by the snake already. He doesn't even know if it was venomous and it was better not to let himself get bitten

Since Xianth merely dodged the snake and didn't kill it, it was naturally still alive. He willed it and his Gift was activated

When the snake moved again, its body turned into a living arrow once more and Xianth met it with his fist covered with mana

Smash!

The force behind Xianth's punch directly took the snake's life. Its head turned into a meat paste. Some bits of blood and flesh even landed all over Xianth's body causing his face to be crumpled in disguise

"Ewww!" He complained but after killing the snake he gained a problem bigger than that

The bloodshed he caused serves as the fuse that causes the other forest dwellers to fight against each other

These creatures started attacking one another. All sorts of Gift were activated and this is the first time that Xianth had seen that many Gift activating

This situation helps open his eyes to the diversity of superpowers present in this world

However, Xianth cannot admire these various Gifts for long as he was also attacked

A deer with thorny horns charged at him. Deers have considerable physical strength back on earth and since this realm has the existence of Gifts and Divinity, Xianth wouldn't expect this deer to be any weaker than the ones on earth

There were numerous forest dwellers fighting in this river and Xianth decided to flee

Instead of fighting that deer, he chose to retreat but he was still near the river when he heard words that possibly came from a fellow human

When Xianth turned his head behind him, he saw a bloodied human being chased by several grey wolves

He has many claw wounds on his body as he led the wolves into the river. However, he was visibly wounded and exhausted. His speed faltered and the grey wolves took that chance to pounce at him

"Nooo!!" That human said but before it could be ripped to shreds by the wolves, Xianth moved. He gathered mana at his palms before throwing it

A ray of mana traveled in the air and hits one of the wolves resulting in it colliding with the other wolves, rescuing that young man

"Phew..." Xianth sighed in relief after seeing that his attack was successful. This was the first time that he encountered a fellow human. Naturally, he wouldn't want him to die