Chapter 9 The First Hunt

Looking back at the tree James had just exited, he once more felt awe for the new world he found himself in. The distance from him on the ground to his home in the tree was enough that even while rocketing through a pre-made passage, it had still taken him a few minutes.

That meant the tree was literally multiple miles high.

Looking away, he made a silent vow to never piss off the loggers in this world. Hell, if they could tackle trees of this size, then they were scarier than the golem he met.

Brushing the thought aside, James pulled a roll of paper out of his grass-woven bag and marked his location down in the center. He had needed to create his supplies from things grown out of the tree, but it wasn't too big of an issue… Except when he accidentally grew what he now calls super poison ivy.

A full-body shiver makes its way through James at the memory as he puts the map away and begins to explore his new surroundings. Rose flew beside him, trying to put on a serious face while failing to hold in the occasional squeal of joy from being outside for the first time.

Walking cautiously through the underbrush, James observed his surroundings carefully. He used his domain at its max to ensure nothing snuck up behind him. He was so intent on his observations that he somehow missed the moment Rose disappeared from around him.

It wasn't until he heard her characteristic squeal that his eyes shot to the sky to see her clinging to the back of what looked like a blown-up squirrel, not "boom" blown up, balloon blown up. The poor creature looked like a ball with bugged-out eyes and limbs too tiny to fit.

"Hahaha!" James couldn't help laughing at the thing. It was so absolutely ridiculous looking. It didn't help when Rose squeezed it so hard in her hug that it released the air and shot around with a high-pitched "Phweee" sound.

However, Rose rode that squirrel like a champion bull rider and somehow directed it down to James. He was tempted to kill the now much smaller creature, but it had helped ease his anxiety about being on the ground again, so he let it go.

Rose did pout at the loss of her catch, so when they came across another, James didn't argue and killed it with a simple slash of wind. She perked up after that. She was pretty bloodthirsty, he realized.

The squirrel wasn't the only strange creature they encountered during their exploration.

While passing by yet another smaller tree full of strange berries, James and Rose were startled when a bird seemingly appeared from within James's domain and tried to grab Rose in its beak.

Needless to say, the bird was added to their growing pile of prey by an angry tree fairy.

However, when it happened again an hour later James actually caught the moment the bird came out of its camouflage. It seemed to have been able to fluff its feathers in such a way that it looked identical to the surrounding leaves on a branch.

He thought it was rather interesting as he believed it was somehow using illusion magic as well because he only saw it through his domain and not his eyes. Something he hadn't known his domain could see through until then.

Like that, James and Rose continued to explore the nearby surrounding of their treehouse. Getting in a good few hours and roughly a mile around their home felt like a reasonably successful day. On top of everything, James's bag was filled with wild game. He was already salivating at having meat again after his month-long vegetarian diet.

James heard an inhumanly high-pitched wail in the distance as they packed away their latest kill, a turtle that had refused to die.

Looking over to Rose, who was looking in the same direction, James asked, "feel like checking it out?" Rose, in reply, simply nodded her head resolutely.

Decision made and not needing other words, the two moved at high speed towards the direction of the sounds as they only grew in intensity.

As the ground James stood on glided to a stop and Rose flittered beside his head, they could see what was causing all the noise. There, in front of James, was something he had expected but not truly believed, goblins.

Specifically, three goblins surrounded what looked like a large hog. The poor creature's legs had already been punctured, presumably by the spears in the goblin's hands, and was now simply amid its death throes.

The goblins were helping the process along by repeatedly stabbing the creature. The manic grin on their faces made James believe it wasn't really for the intention of stopping the hog from making so much noise.

Having seen enough, James jumped into the clearing he had found the group in. As soon as he touched the ground, the goblins turned to him and immediately charged. It was like they had no concept of fear and were being driven by an obsession with violence.

James grimaced at the sight and, with a negligent wave of his hand, shot out a blade of wind that decapitated all three simultaneously. James paled slightly at the scene.

He was no saint by any margin and had no issue with killing the goblins, but he wasn't an idiot. Any creature capable of creating tools and working in an organized fashion should have some intelligence.

However, the moment of introspection passed when he saw Rose glide over to where the now-dead goblins lay. Before he could say anything or react, Rose clasped her hands and began to sing.

The sound struck something in James. It was like listening to a memory of a nostalgic moment, it danced through the mind pulling on every happy emotion, primal and pure. And as soon as it had begun, it was over.

Pulling himself from his glazed-over state, James realized there now stood three trees in the places where the goblin's corpses once were. On each of those trees was a single translucent berry the size of his pinky nail.

Rose plucked the berries from the trees and flew back to James, all while he stood there trying to figure out what was happening.

Not giving James time to understand Rose opened her mouth and ate one of the berries while floating in front of him. Instantly she glowed slightly golden and grew a slight bit taller. Then, she held out the other berries for James, seemingly trying to tell him to eat them.

Not questioning the, maybe, nature spirit, James received the berries before promptly swallowing them. Immediately he felt like he had received a full body massage and a hot shower. The feeling caused him to shiver in ecstasy and release a pleased sigh.

After the feeling passed, he realized his domain had increased by an entire meter, and his energy was fully restored. He felt ready to run a marathon.

"Thanks, Rose." James smiled at his companion, who had apparently anticipated the process. Rose beamed at him in reply and shot towards his face to hug his cheeks.

Chuckling slightly at his small friend's actions, James turned towards the now dead hog and lifted it onto a platform of earth before beginning to hike back towards their home. It had been a long day full of discoveries, some of which were incredibly shocking (hint Rose). Still, it was successful all the same, and James felt ready to enjoy the bounty of his labors.

Finally! Bacon!