Chapter 8 – Watching

Alex remained on top of the pine tree for quite a while as he simply looked at his surroundings in shock.

'These beasts are gigantic!' Alex thought. 'How am I supposed to survive here? If I accidentally get close to any of them, I won't even have a fighting chance!'

'Although, the God said nothing about killing everything. He simply said that I should remain here until I can survive without feeling much danger.'

'Is this what he meant with sufficient combat experience? I mean, I guess being able to survive in the wilderness could have its own perks. For example, if I ever get chased by anything or anyone, I would be able to survive.'

'These aren't the orchestrated fights I'm used to. These are real life-and-death battles, which means that fleeing is a viable strategy. I guess being able to flee is a valuable skill.'

Alex released a sigh.

'So, should I search for a cave for the night?' Alex asked himself. 'However, these mountains are around 20 kilometers away from here. If it's a straight and safe street, I could probably get there in half a day with the current fitness of my body. However, my journey there won't be safe, and I definitely need to make several turns.'

'Yeah, that doesn't work. So, I need an alternative.'

'Digging is a no-go. After all, I only have a knife. Additionally, the climate is rather cold, which makes the ground harder. On top of that, the ground should be filled with roots.'

Alex scratched the back of his head.

'I think that only leaves two things. I either need to find some humongous tree that has a big hole inside it, or I need to sleep on top of trees. Camping outside should be the last option.'

Alex sighed.

'Anyway, if I have to sleep on a tree anyway, I don't really have to look for one. These trees are all pretty big, and basically any one of them would do. I only need to cut off the needles and annoying branches.'

Alex looked up.

'It should be early afternoon, which means I still have some hours to kill. I should keep watch over my surroundings to see what kind of wildlife I can find. Knowing your enemy is already half the battle.'

Alex started climbing down the tree but didn't leave it completely.

Instead, Alex waited about five meters above the ground on a thick branch. He shaved off some of the needles of the tree to make himself comfortable.

But wait, didn't Alex say that he would look at the wildlife?

Yes, he did, but only an idiot would blindly walk through an unknown forest.

This was not earth.

Dangerous animals existed on earth, but they were not everywhere. Additionally, even if one were in an area known to have dangerous animals, these animals wouldn't be everywhere at once. These powerful animals had territories, and they needed a ton of food.

However, here, things could be different. Alex wasn't certain how many dangerous animals there were in this basin, but there probably were a few.

So, Alex simply remained on the tree as he looked down. At the same time, Alex tried to be as silent as possible.

Half an hour passed, and Alex's ass had already started hurting from sitting like this.

However, waiting like this had paid off.

Right now, Alex was so relieved that he hadn't left the tree.

He saw a wolf pack.

There were four light-grey wolves walking around the tree Alex was currently on.

They had obviously smelled him, and they very quickly found Alex as his scent led them to the tree.

The wolves looked up at Alex, who was looking down nervously.

'These wolves are normal sized, but still, they're massive!' Alex thought.

These wolves weren't really bigger than their counterparts from earth, but even the wolves on earth could weigh up to 90 to 100 kilograms.

In comparison, a german shepherd was only around 30 to 40 kilograms.

The wolves started circling the tree, and some of them started clawing at the tree with their paws, but the tree was just too massive.

Surprisingly, the wolves didn't bark, growl, or howl.

Except for the scraping sound of their claws on the tree, they made no other sound.

Alex's heart was beating quickly, but his head remained calm.

He knew that they couldn't get him up here.

'Light grey, what an interesting color,' Alex thought. 'Wolves are normally brown or dark grey. I think wolves with these lighter colors are mainly in colder environments since their color makes it easier to go unnoticed in the snow.'

'This confirms it. This is probably a colder region.'

After some minutes, the wolves left again. There was no point in remaining here. It was easier to find a different prey.

Alex watched the wolves leave with interest. 'They were suspiciously quiet. If they were the rulers of this place, they wouldn't need to be so quiet. This means that there are probably more terrifying beasts lurking around.'

Alex got reminded of the gigantic green hedgehog and the brown lizard.

'Obviously,' he added in his thoughts.

Alex remained on the tree.

Half an hour later, Alex saw another animal, and he certainly didn't like seeing that one.

A hog.

Alex could only describe the hog's appearance with the word fat.

It was nearly as tall as Alex, and it seemed just as wide.

'Great, a hog,' Alex thought sarcastically with an uncomfortable expression. 'Hogs are fiercely territorial and make a ton of noise when they get angry.'

The hog also smelled something when it arrived below Alex's tree, but instead of looking up, it was rummaging through the dirt.

Surprisingly and contrary to expectation, the hog was quite silent while digging.

Luckily, the hog didn't notice Alex and quickly left after a bit of searching around.

Ten minutes later, the next animal arrived, and this was an animal that Alex hadn't seen before.

It was a sizable green lizard. It was probably nearly a meter high, and it had quite some long legs. Additionally, there were long claws coming out of its long legs.

'Why are there so many animals here?!' Alex thought. 'Isn't it normal to only see one big animal every couple of hours? Yet, I'm seeing one every ten minutes!'

The green lizard seemingly smelled something of interest, and Alex became more nervous.

This thing looked like it could climb trees!

The lizard smelled the ground with interest, and after a couple seconds, it walked over to a tree and climbed it.

Luckily, it wasn't Alex's tree.

When Alex saw that, he silently released a sigh of relief.

'It probably didn't smell me. Otherwise, it would have climbed my tree. It probably smelled the hog.'

Alex looked at the tree where the lizard was with interest. While climbing it, Alex could still hear it, but after some rustling, everything became silent again.

'Its legs don't fit an arboreal animal,' Alex thought. 'It probably walks on the ground normally.'

Alex had a complex expression on his face.

'So, it's probably on the tree to hunt, right?' Alex thought.

The tree was still silent, but Alex couldn't see the lizard through all the green needles blocking his sight.

'I'm so happy that I didn't walk around aimlessly. Even if I managed to evade all the animals on the ground, I might walk by a tree with exactly such a lizard in it,' Alex thought.

Alex looked over at the tree as he lay down on the branch. He wanted to remain as hidden as possible.

Usually, Alex might try to kill it.

After all, he was supposed to grow stronger and gain combat experience.

This was a perfect opponent.

It wasn't too big, and it was alone.

However, Alex decided against it.

The lizard had smelled the hog and waited here in an ambush instead of going someplace else.

That hog had been huge!

It probably weighed over 300 kilograms!

How was a lizard that barely weighed maybe 50 kilograms supposed to kill that thing alone?

Alex decided that the risk was too high.

Alex continued waiting, but waiting was much more stressful than before. After all, the lizard was still there.

Even worse, Alex had heard nothing from the tree for the past twenty minutes. It was almost like the lizard wasn't there anymore.

Another twenty minutes later, something walked past Alex's tree again.

Alex glanced down, and his heart sank.

It wasn't the hog.

The four wolves were back!