Free

"Okay, let's get moving… I'll find something on my way to the ci-"

But before I could finish talking, a loud beating sound came from above me.

Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum

I looked up and saw something flying in the air.

Its body was longer than its width, and it had spinning blunt blades atop of it that helped it seemingly levitate in the air.

And suddenly, a rope was dropped down from one of the holes towards the middle of the frame.

Without hesitation, I ran deeper into the forest as I saw a few men slide down the rope.

I had a terrible feeling coming from them, and for a while now, these bad feelings were pretty accurate, so I listened to my gut and ran.

This time I didn't trip up on my feet.

I even began to run faster than my maximum in my past life.

It felt like I was one with the wind as I intertwined between the trees.

A gust of wind blew past me, rattling the leaves and fluttering my dark purple hair.

But suddenly, I realized that I had forgotten everything back at the two corpses, including the few materials that I had kept throughout the years.

I cursed myself internally as I had given into panic.

I still had a few seconds left until the men hit the bottom of the rope, which I could've used… but in the end, I panicked and escaped as quickly as possible.

I had an idea of where I was going but did know what was awaiting me past this forest.

The magic tower me, and my mother were kept in was built atop a large hill and at the bottom of the hill was a city named New York City.

According to Leo, it was the closest city next to the tower so I of course made my way there.

"HUFF HUFF HUFF HUFF HUFF…"

My breathing was so heavy I had trouble controlling it.

My vision was tinted in a light blue as I began to grow light-headed.

My bare feet hurt from running downhill.

And all of these factors were enough to convince me to stop running.

Stopping was troublesome as I had built up so much momentum, and when I tried to slam my feet against the dirt, I just tumbled over and over down the hill.

The world around me spun until my back slammed against a fallen tree.

I groaned in pain as I regain my balance and rub my aching back.

"HUFF HUFF. It seems my defense also increased with the buff… HUFF HUFF... Wait, does that mean my strength also increased?" I mutter, but before testing, I did my best to regain my breath.

I was wheezing as my body had absolutely no conditioning whatsoever.

I probably could've worked out in the prison cell… but my body was so weak that I couldn't make any progress.

"Foooo… Okay,"

After regaining my breath, I scanned the area around me to ensure I wasn't being followed.

Nobody was around… not even a single animal.

I was a bit suspicious of how there were absolutely no animals or bugs around but still proceeded with my test as I walked up to a tree.

It was tall.

Really tall.

Much taller than any tree I had seen in my past life.

Do the trees get taller the lower you go down this hill?

I decided to set away my questions for now and ran my fingers along with the rough, dark-brown bark.

It was sturdier than the trees I had seen up there.

I took in a long breath before winding up my fist and punching the tree as hard as I could.

Knock

My knuckles collided with the wood, doing absolutely no damage.

And as I stumbled back, I gripped my fist in pain.

Luckily nothing had broken, but my fist would definitely be bruised for the next few days.

"Ah… Shit… That was the most pathetic thing I had ever done in my life... well, both lives," I mutter, smiling to myself as I lay on the soft dirt coated in fallen orange leaves.

I stared up at the canopy above me, each corner filled with orange and brown leaves, but they weren't dying… in fact, they were healthier than ever.

This is nice… maybe I should stay here for a bit.

But just as I had that thought that, my stomach rumbled so loudly it echoed throughout the forest.

I sighed before getting up and continuing down the hill.

The same beautiful forest surrounded me, with the trees getting taller and taller.

"Oh,"

In front of me was an orange bush with bright yellow berries dotted all around it.

But, it was so obvious that the berries were poisonous, so I avoided them.

This reminds me of survival training when I was first drafted for the army.

We all needed to survive independently in the wild for at least two weeks.

If we got hurt, we had to take care of the wounds ourselves.

If we were hungry, we had to kill any animal we spotted in order to survive.

If we ran into a water source, we were forced to drink it, despite most of the sources screaming that they had tons of bacteria and diseases floating in them.

It was a grueling and harsh two weeks, but I finally managed to survive with a few warriors picking me up from deep within the forest.

"That was a terrible time," I mutter.

…

The sun had fallen, the moon replacing its spot in the sky.

I filled my belly a bit with a few bluish berries that I assumed to be safe to eat and rested on a fallen log coated in some moist moss.

It wasn't the best, but it was still much better than a hard stone floor.

My eyes slowly closed as my mind began to drift off into nothing.

…

[The buff has been removed]

When I awoke the next day, I felt refreshed.

My back wasn't aching, but I was very thirsty and just a tiny bit hungry.

But, there was nothing around, so I was forced to move even farther down the mountain in hopes of finding a water source or more fruit.

I don't have any materials to make a trap, and I can't really hunt an animal myself now due to the buff wearing off... So I can't do much...

My journey down the hill was much longer than I expected.

I initially thought I could reach the city yesterday by sunset… but not one of the strange buildings was in sight.

"HUFF HUFF HUFF HUFF,"

It was going to take a while to get my stamina up, so I had to take breaks in between the long jogs down the mountain.

The scenery was breathtaking at first, but now it was a bit repetitive and boring.

I also practiced a bit with [Tangible Bloodlust], and after only a few practices, I gave up for now as it would drain my mana and stamina almost instantly, leaving me immobile for half an hour.

"Okay, let's go now," I mutter after popping another few bluish berries in my mouth.

They were sweet and gave me a boost of energy as I made my way down the mountain.

But this jog was a bit different as I had reached the end of the treeline… but behind it was a large cliff face?

And towards the bottom of the cliff face was a massive hole that led into the cliff and traveled downwards.

It looked like an endless abyss from where I was now due to how dark it was inside.

I debated with myself whether I should check it or not but eventually came to the conclusion that going in there was pure stupidity, and walking along the cliff face would hopefully help me find the city.