Chapter 10 I Might Not be Alone

Two months is a long time for anyone. 60 days isn't something that simply disappears. However, that is precisely what it felt like to James.

The first couple weeks after he had stepped out of his hidey hole in the tree were filled with wonder, excitement, and adventure. It felt as if he would run into a new creature every other day, discover a new plant, or battle it out for survival.

Well, not so much a battle for survival, but battles were to be had. With goblins, only goblins, he refuses to acknowledge the traipse through an insect nightmare. Spiders have no right to grow that large!

Anyway, there were a lot of battles with goblins. He would go East a few miles to fill out his map and battle some goblins, West, more goblins, North, wouldn't you know it, a hell of a lot of goblins. And South… well, we don't talk about South *shudder*.

Each time James would kill the goblins, like harvesting wheat, Rose would create her unique berries. Each time they would grow stronger, it continued like that for the first few weeks.

After a few weeks of killing and harvesting the energy from goblins, they had grown to the point that the power no longer improved them. Rose had grown to nearly a foot, though she still preferred shrinking to fit in James's pockets, while James had increased the range of his domain by 8 meters, putting it at 10 meters or 30 feet.

Unfortunately, the growth in power did not translate into a growth of control. Both realized the issue after the berries stopped helping them grow.

It was incredibly awkward for James the first time he tried to send out a wind blade after eating a bunch of berries. The thing went as far as the length of his previous domain and then seemed to unravel into a gust of air.

Even the goblins were confused by the light breeze that hit their face after the arrogant creature pointed a finger at them.

Needless to say, James worked diligently on keeping up his control training, so he didn't embarrass himself any further. It helped that Rose had similar issues when she tried to throw her vines around, and they missed nearly everything. The tantrum she threw because of that was a sight to behold. James swore to never piss off a fairy if he could help it.

That's how the last few weeks had gone, explore the forest, return to eat, train control, and sleep. A monotonous cycle was only made worse because even after all that time, they still had not found water.

Although James could survive without a body of water by his ability to juice the fruits that he grew, it wasn't about that for him. Water represented civilization. Every great society had grown around a body of water. Regardless of the existence of magic, James theorized this world would be no different.

He was born in a city surrounded by noise and people. As peaceful as the forest could appear, its silence ate at James, and the isolation was grating on his sanity. He didn't think he would be as methodical with his approach if it wasn't for Rose keeping him from deciding to risk it all by choosing one direction and charging.

Two months later, he was desperate for a conversation in which the other person, or being, could talk back to him. It is why he had traveled further than ever today and was also why they returned later.

Although they had both brought their control back up while increasing their power through the berries and new techniques, the feeling of caution James originally had at the beginning of his exploration had lessened.

However, the threat of the golem, or forest guardian as he started to call it, still maintained that last sliver of caution he had. This is the only reason he could feel the change in the airflow behind him before a blur shot through his domain towards his back.

James spins as he reflexively launches a blade of air toward the black blur, only for it to shrug it off as if he was still throwing around gusts of wind. The shock of how easily the attacking creature ignored his air blade nearly cost him his life if Rose had not whipped him to the side with one of her vines.

His body had grown tougher as time passed, so he didn't suffer any damage from Rose's desperate move, and it worked well to break him from his shock.

"Rose! Bind it!" James Shouted as the ground below churned like a wave, pushing him out of the way of another charge.

Rose's tiny arms rose as if conducting an orchestra. Large thorned vines ripped from the ground beneath the creature to encircle its body and legs, causing it to momentarily stop. It was enough for James to get a look at the black blur that had been aiming to kill him.

To James, it was like he had returned to his time as a child attending the local history museum. Standing there, wrapped in thorny vines, was what could only be described as a saber tooth tiger.

However, he could see its black fur glinting in the setting sun like metal fibers and its eyes... Yellow orbs glaring into his own were far too intelligent.

He barely had time to comprehend that the tiger before him seemed intelligent before it ripped itself free from the vines that bound it and relaunched itself towards James. Its speed was still far beyond what James could match. Only his ability to shape his environment allowed him to move around with far more agility than the prehistoric cat.

James tried to think of a way out of this situation as he glided and bounced across the ground, doing his best to avoid the occasional swipe of claws and crushing teeth. Every blade of wind, every spear of stone, and even untamed fire, nothing seemed to hurt the beast or even slow it down for long. Even Rose, with all of her magical ability, could only slightly trip it up with her vines.

His only idea to do any damage was a technique he had yet to master in practice, let alone combat, and required too much time to prepare. However, after the tiger's next swipe nearly missed his leg and tore his pants, he decided it was worth a shot.

"Rose! Again!"

Shouting for Rose to bind it again, James created as much distance as possible by launching himself forward on a stone pillar and accelerating with the wind. Landing nearly 30 meters from where he started, he turned around and began concentrating on creating a horizontal tornado before him while pulling a spear of rock from the ground.

As James prepared his attack, Rose threw everything she had at holding the Sabertooth tiger in place. The area the beast was last seen was covered in thorned vines, sticky vines, bushes, and branches. Everything Rose could do, she did.

ROAR!!

And yet, it still wasn't enough.

The beast burst from the cocoon of nature, its eyes blazing as if infuriated its prey dared hinder it. However, it hadn't broken out fast enough.

James launched his stone spear through the center of the horizontal tornado, every inch forward, requiring his total concentration to keep the spear from simply being pulled toward the side. Instead, as it shot through the tornado, it began to spin faster and faster until it broke the sound barrier with an explosion of sound. Shooting out the end of the tornado like a bullet leaving a rifle.

James barely saw it smash into the tiger's back leg as he lost feeling in his legs, the exhaustion of holding everything in his control being too much for him.

The tiger released another roar, however, this time in pain as it felt a hole rip through its back leg, making a mockery of the defense it prided itself in. It glared at the human male that crippled its speed so thoroughly, only to receive a defiant stare in return.

James refused to look away from the eyes of the majestic beast before him. He had promised never to bow his head again to the world and wouldn't break that promise for this overgrown cat.

As if acknowledging James's determination and will, the tiger simply huffed and turned back into the forest in the direction it had appeared from, glancing at Rose briefly as it limped by.

As soon as its back disappeared into the forest, Rose flew to James and pulled out a few berries from his pockets, shoving them in his mouth. Although the berries no longer increased their power, they still worked well for rejuvenating stamina and health.

With the berry working on his body, James slowly straightened up from his slouch, his mind still comprehending what had just happened. Was he just dismissed by a cat? He could only shake his head in disbelief. This world only got weirder the longer he was there.

By this point, the sun had fully set, and the night was upon them, so James didn't give it any more thought, opting to quickly make his way back to their treehouse. And that's when he saw it.

Through the trees and bushes far in the distance was a light, not a bright light like a bulb, but the flickering orange light of a fire, a campfire.

Had he found civilization?