Chapter-27 Into the Light [Part-2]

Chapter-27

(First-person POV)

Looking around for a while and after being sure that there was no dangerous creatures near the river, I walked to stand near the edge of the riverside.

Gazing at the clean, transparent river water, I could even see the streambed filled with dirt, gravel, and pebbles. I crouched down and bent my head down to drink from it.

As the cold and refreshing water cascaded down my dry throat, reaching my belly, I felt refreshed and satisfied.

Without waiting, I plunged my head into the river, opening my mouth wide and drinking the water like crazy. The system again warned me not to drink too much water at once, but this time I completely ignored it's adivice, and only after I was satisfied did I pulled my head back out of the water.

Feeling cold and refreshed due to the water over my head, I ran my fingers through my hair, pulling my wet hair back.

Then, gazing at the river water, I murmured under my breath, "I should first locate the herbs and then take a bath in the river to clean my wounds." Stopping for a second or two, I looked around my surroundings before again speaking, "And I should probably do it fast; the smell of blood, even this small, might attract some unwanted guests towards my location."

I got up with a sigh and then asked the system to tell me which of all the herbs I could currently see at the riverside were the ones I needed.

Finding the herbs was easy with the system's help. It only took me 3 minutes or so to gather all three herbs that I required.

The first was an antibacterial herb by the name of Oupriclosse. The second one was an antibiotic herb by the name of Coerulea. The third one, called Alfro, was a yellow flower that served as a natural analgesic.

To heal my wound, I would need to apply a paste created by grinding the leaves of the first two herbs, and then to relieve the pain, I would simply need to eat the Alfro flower's petals.

But before all that, I needed to clean all my wounds. Sitting near the riverside, I slowly unwrapped my feet, leaving the bruised and cut wounds on my feet now visible.

The good thing was that none of the wounds were too deep; even the bleeding had decreased by a lot, and there was no visible pus. I also took my other clothes off. Then I slowly entered the water to sit in the river water.

Allowing the flowing river water to do most of the cleaning of my body. With focus I used my hands to clean the wounds.

After that, I got out of the river and began to grind the leaves of Oupriclosse and Coerulea with a smaller, cleaned rock on a larger rock near the riverside. Then I began applying the paste to my wounds. The paste made the wounds burn a lot in the beginning, but soon the burning sensation decreased, signaling that the Alfro flower's petals had done their job right.

Then I wrapped my feet in the same cloth as before. Of course, I had washed and left it to dry in the sun before I had begun grinding the herbs.

Still naked from above, I walked away from the river and then set under a tree and took an Omble out of the system storage before starting to eat it.

Now I need to do two things: first, get a good rest and sleep, and second, reach the location of the village, which is located in the north of the forest.

From what the system had told me, I knew that the forest I was in was called the "Forest of Echoes".

Currently, it might look like a calm and peaceful forest, but that is only because this sector of the forest is relatively less dangerous. I was also on the outskirts of the woods. The deeper into the forest one goes, the more dangerous it becomes.

After finishing the fruit, I asked the system to show me the map of the forest.

Looking at the map, I could see my current location and the location of the village. According to what the system had told me, most of the people were hunters who hunted wild animals, magical beasts, and monsters in this forest.

Wild animals were normal animals, like the ones back on earth. Magical beasts were a more common and weaker version of monsters, but they could not be underestimated. Not many animals are born with the talent for magic. They are creatures that are stronger and more dangerous than any creature of their size found on earth.

Monsters are the evolved version of beasts; only creatures with great talent are able to become monsters by forming a mana core. Any creature that is referred to as a monster would be an apex predator.

"Ah! Again with this walking and hiding sh*t,"

Cursing out loud, I got up and then went on to prepare for my journey.

(Third-person POV)

Nearly two hours later, Karna was now standing while holding a crude wooden spear.

After removing the twigs and bark from a 5-foot-long hard tree branch using a sharp stone he had fortunately discovered, he had made this spear.

He had also sharpened one of its ends to make it pointy. Naturally, utilizing a stone did not give him the desired outcome, but it was still an improvement over having nothing to protect himself.

Taking his gaze away from the spear, he looked toward the sun and then murmured under his breath.

"I should probably get some sleep before the sunset."

Nearly four hours had passed since he had come out of the mountain tunnels. From what he knew from the system, he had more than 7 hours left before sunset; after that, this place would descend into chilling darkness.

Although most of Pandora's nights are not completely dark thanks to the enormous Deucalion's illumination, because this is a forest, the area is nevertheless draped in the shadows of the trees.

Soon, he found a good spot to sleep.

Karna had decided to sleep between a large boulder and a tree. With this and the system that could use his hearing and smelling senses even while he was asleep to keep watch of his surroundings, it would keep him safe from danger.

He thoroughly examined the ground to make sure it was free of bugs and other vermin. He then began to remove dirt from the ground. After he had dug a half-foot-deep, 6-foot-long, and 2-foot-wide pit, he carefully placed all the dirt from the pit onto the sides, from wher he could be visible to any passing creature.

Patting the dirt wall and the dirt-filled ground to settle them all, he looked satisfied.

Then he got up and brought three broken branches from a tree with lots of twigs and leaves on them. Lying down on the pit, he placed one branch on his left and the other on his right sides, then covered himself with the third one. Due to the dirt walls and pit, there was a good amount of space between him and the branches, so he was not uncomfortable.

Karna was only able to come up with this solution to ensure his safety. Lying in the pit, he murmured to himself weakly, "Finally, I can sleep." He slowly closed his eyes and falling in the embrace sleep.

*****

While Karna was having his first sleep in the world of Pandora, somewhere in the echoless, dark, and vast space, something else was going on.

Nearly 500, 000 km away from a star that the scientists from Earth would have referred to as a white dwarf, a small crack in space suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It looked like a glass window was cracked.

Soon ripples started to form on the surface of the crack, which then kept elongating at an extremely fast speed until it was large enough for an adult to fit. Then suddenly, the cracked part of the space started crumbling, leaving a purple-coloured fissure in the space.

Just then, an adult humanoid figure of a man came out of it. His arrival caused the very space around him to convulse.

The man, appearing to be in his late 20s, stood tall and imposing, his muscular frame clad in armour forged from an unknown black-gold material. His facial features, while reminiscent of a human, possessed an otherworldly allure.

Silky black hair adorned his oval-shaped head, complementing the clarity of his brown eyes, framed by long, envy-inducing eyelashes. Neat eyebrows and a small, well-defined nose completed his symmetrical and sharp countenance.

Immobile, his gaze fixated on a distant galaxy, the man's presence exuded a commanding aura. A voice, youthful yet resonant enough to travel great distances, emanated from his lips.

"Hmm, I am certain I sensed it," he uttered, his voice trailing off as he raised his right hand, extending it slowly into the empty space before him.

As his hand reached forward, a peculiar sensation coursed through his armoured gauntlet, and half of his hand, along with the gauntlet, disintegrated into grey dust. No blood or flesh remained, only the grey dust floating remnants of his hand in the void.

Unperturbed, the man calmly withdrew his hand, observing as the lost portion swiftly regenerated before his eyes. Within seconds, his hand was made whole again, albeit with the exposed, pale white fingers where the gauntlet had crumbled.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, the man's expression turned puzzled, his furrowed brows and sharp eyes displaying intensified severity.

"Che, it's the same as before. This cursed affliction remains as dire and dreadful as I recall."

"Hmm... But—I definitely sensed spatial fluctuations forming in that location just moments ago."

"The occurrence was fleeting, lasting a mere fraction of a second. It was so feeble that had I not been in close proximity, it would have gone unnoticed. Yet it undeniably existed," he continued, his expression shifting to one of indifference, though his icy gaze retained its chilling gleam.

The black-haired figure, emanating an aura of fiery determination, shifted his gaze away from the void before him and directed it towards a white dwarf star.

"Perhaps two of these celestial lamps collided, giving rise to a spatial rift," he mused, contemplating the distant white dwarf. With those words spoken, he fell into silence, saying no more.

His narrowed eyes remained fixed upon the distant galaxy, until finally, he turned away and strode into the spatial fissure behind him.

Soon after, the rift closed, leaving the void once again empty and devoid of his presence.