A New Body

"Wha? How is this-!!"

Hearing the sound of something whipping through the air he ducked in reflex, managing to dodge the swinging tail once more

'Damn, not the time time to figure things out'

Clutching his sleeping body tightly he made a run for it, going for the tree line beyond the city

'Alleyways will only get me cornered, better an open place to lose this thing'

Trying not to look behind he focused on making it out, the heavy sound of crawling mixed with footsteps of the large lizard started to fade as his own little feet carried him further away

'I'm so fast?'

It could be that the lizard was slow, the air blowing across his face however told him of the quick speed he was currently managing

"Whoa!"

A whizzing dart almost hit his head, missing by a short margin, a reminder that another creature was hot in pursuit

The momentary surprise slowed him down as he looked for the shooter, that imp no doubt, hiding about

'Where is that little bugger'

Eyes darted everywhere yet no sign of the small annoying creature and its annoying laughter anywhere, only the lizard's crawling came closer

'Cant waste time searching for it'

Carrying on he went, yet as soon as he started picking up speed another dart came whizzing, scratching his shoulder but not stabbing into it

"Come out you creep!"

"Huihhuihe!"

The creepy laughter echoed from the shadows of the buildings, it looked like the imp was toying with him as it assisted the lizard in catching its prey

'Why does it want me dead so much?!'

It felt like everything was out to get him today, no room for breathing was given ever since the attack on town

'No way I will die here, not after everyone sacrificed themselves to save me'

Shaking the heavy thoughts away he listened close, waiting for the third shot which for sure would be sent

Whizz~

The second it came his feet kicked the ground to make a jump deemed impossible before, higher than the small buildings

'There!'

The unobstructed view coupled with knowing where the shot came from allowed him to spot the sneaking fellow

"Haa!"

A dropkick followed the spotting of the imp, heading straight down for its ugly face

"Huihi?!"

It rolled to doge, managing it perfectly, yet a cloud of dust resultant from the heavy slam obstructed its view, barring momentary vision of the second kick Jack managed after leveraging his planted foot for support

Carck!

All that could be heard was the loud crack before its jaw went flying, no more laughter spouted from its broken jaw

"Guess who's having the last laugh!"

Jack taunted before smashing it into the wall, then running away without finishing it off

It wasn't that he didn't want to, it's just that the lizard was almost upon them and he had no more time to waist

'I hope it doesn't keep chasing or bring its friends over'

His worries were unfounded as a pitiful scream was heard, along with it stopped the lizard's mad chase, no need to guess whos it was

'Well, at least it got that big thing off my back'

Even so Jack did not let his guard down, staying alert even as he exited town and entered the dense canopy of trees

Long and tiresome was the route to the grotto, yet free of predators it was, most of them infiltrated the town by now, clearing a path for him to venture through

"Haah, haah"

With trudging steps he finally arrived at the place just before the sun disappeared beyond the horizon

Squatting down he entered a small burrow in the ground with somewhat of a steep incline, barely holding his body in hand which felt heavier and heavier the more he carried it

"Whew~"

Upon seeing the water glistering under the light of shiny mushrooms he heaved a relieved sigh, placing down his body and walking to drink some water after exerting himself too much

"....As I thought"

Before even taking a sip his eyes got stuck on the reflection looking back at him, affirming the obvious yet confusing reality

"What is going on?"

Was the use of his Trait to give him a new body? But in that case why was his previous body still breathing calmly, as if asleep

'Maybe it is really just sleeping, perhaps all I have to do is wait for it to wake up and I can go back'

Sure this body was miles stronger than his own, but it felt weird to move around as not himself, not to mention he did not know what would happen to his original body if it was left untended

'Let's wait and see'

Shoving the matter aside temporarily he cupped some water to drink, only to retrieve it marred with red

"..."

Only now did he recall the state he was in after running across a town showered in blood

'Blood...right! I did not clean my wounds yet'

His thoughts were so jumbled he forgot that his body, the original one, had its arm badly wounded, not to mention the shot it received in the waist

Rummaging through the nearby mushrooms he found a few he recognized and mashed some into paste, others were washed and squeezed on top of the mashed mess, crude but effective for these magical plants

With the antitoxin ready he dragged the body near the water body and started washing the arm before layering it with that mushy stuff

'That should take care of the arm, but the waist...'

Though not as ghastly as the ripped flesh going from shoulder to arm the shot was lodged deep inside, with no medical knowledge of extracting projectiles from flesh he had no way to get it out without cuasing further harm

'It's gonna have to stay, for now I'll bandage it'

Less of a bandage and more so a ripped shirt wrapped around the waist, but that's all he knew

"Hopefully the scent of blood wouldn't attract any unwanted creatures here"

Muttering so to himself reminded Jack of his dirty state once more

'This calls for a bath, the water is already not drinkable anyway'

Taking off the dress he slowly stepped into the cold water, feeling the tight nerves come undone

"Huu~"

A much needed bath after one hellish day, so much so he did not notice himself slip into sleep