Unknown Chaser

Kai was moving through the forest with a bone spear tightly clenched in his grip. Jogging across the forest he made sure to avoid certain parts of it, so he wouldn't meet any monsters.

It has already been a month after his foot was wounded and now, he was fully healed.

Looking at him from the side one could notice some visible changes to Kai's outer appearance. His previously sickly pale face was now more defined and looked healthy, his arms that were like twigs had outlines of muscles and his body which previously was frail, now had some power.

Running into a steep hill Kai momentarily stopped to catch his breath. His body was profusely sweating while his legs were complaining in pain.

Now armed with understanding that he can still suffer from cramps Kai took a seat on the green grass intending to let his muscles rest before he continued.

'It's been over a month...'

Looking off in the distance Kai sighed recalling the time when he died and was transferred back in time.

For the past month he avoided the matters concerning his death... He was afraid, afraid all of this was just an illusion.

The wind ruffled his hair and Kai had to brush them to the side, so they wouldn't obscure his vision.

Whether Kai looked the landscape was exactly the same, huge green trees with some of them being taller than others.

Only far in the distance he could see a different patch of white treetops towering above all the other trees, as if the snow was covering them.

He was yet too weak to explore or investigate this phenomenon, but was pretty certain that curiosity could kill a cat, hence just left it for the time being.

Kai has started to make a map of the entire forest, in his cavern, on the wall, he used a bone from the Salamander's skeleton to carve out a medium-sized map with landmarks like hills, huge trees and lakes included in it.

'It was a good idea...'

While it was much easier to do it on a soft surface, Kai had no luxury of obtaining such stuff, hence just had to do it on the stone wall.

Taking a deep breath Kai stood up, it was time to continue his jogging.

While moving through the forest he tried to grasp Mana around him, since his core was now 4% formed he was now a lot more sensitive to Mana, hence could slightly feel it.

Kai has been doing this for the past two weeks, running around the forest and trying to sense Mana lingering in the air. He was searching for Natural Treasures of the forest, hoping that it'd help him to awaken faster.

These natural treasures were rich in mana making the surrounding have a higher density of Mana which Kai was looking for.

Fully focused he suddenly heard a twig break to his left and immediately jumped to the side, trying to avoid whatever was nearby him.

Full of uneasiness Kai glared towards the direction he heard a sound from and started slowly retreating backwards.

At some point, since no monster lunged at him, Kai turned around and dashed away from the area hoping that no beast would chase him.

It's already been a week since he met an alive monster and Kai hoped not to break the streak.

Crack...

Something was closely following him from behind. Hearing the sound of footsteps Kai's face tensed up as he started maneuvering in between the lush trees trying to confuse his chaser.

Ready for the worst he tightly clenched the spear's shaft held in his hands and gritted his teeth feeling that his legs were burning in pain.

At the last second Kai felt something rapidly approaching from his right side and quickly fell on his knees avoiding claws which tore through the air, right above his head.

Feeling a huge silhouette hovering above him, Kai quickly rolled forward and continued to run as fast as he possibly could.

'Shit!'

Feeling the side stitches Kai cursed, but didn't stop running even if he was feeling sharp pain. Trying to even out his breathing in the distance he noticed a hill which was his shelter during his stay in the forest.

Making a last ditch effort Kai gave it his all and dashed towards the Mountain, hoping to at least get inside the cavern before the monster could grab him.

Roar...

For the first time while running Kai heard the beast behind him let out a roar and to be honest was surprised to hear how light its voice was. He didn't see the monster's body, but by the size of the limb that passed above his head, he could discern the approximate size of his chaser. The monster was at least as huge as the Embermane.

The ground below Kai's feet was getting rocky, he was nearing the hill range. It meant that he was close to his shelter, but also meant that there were no trees he could maneuver around allowing the beast to run in a straight line, not restraining its speed.

'Come on!'

Feeling his legs muscles tensing up Kai could see the entrance to his Cavern and jumped forward hurting his body in the process, but also rolling inside the safe zone, where the claws of the monster couldn't reach.

Roar...

Hearing the creature outside roaring in rage Kai could only smile while looking at his bleeding skin. He wanted to see how the monster looked, but before he lifted his eyes the beast was already gone.

'At least I know its fur was black...'

Shrugging his shoulders Kai took a deep breath before grabbing one of the Bananas he had stored inside the cavern.

Consuming it he felt his legs burning and could only sigh massaging his calves.

"I should not leave the cavern today..."

Kai had to be careful, the monster that almost killed him could still be outside, waiting for him to leave the safe shelter of his.

'Not happening'

Snorting Kai closed his eyes, starting to meditate and absorb Mana into his core.