Another day has descended upon Edenia, neglecting the frosty wind and giving life to the warm sunshine. A true morning warmth hasד enveloped Fang's body as he fluttered his eyelashes open like a butterfly. He's not used to sleeping on the rough rocky ground...
"I really need to get myself a bed or something nicer to lay on, I can't continue like that for long." He said as he straightened himself, now sitting. In front of him, was the furnace which he upgraded last night.
The only upgrade was that instead of four big rocks he managed to find slabs and brick-like stones that made it much more efficient.
Now that there were no big holes in the furnace, he finally managed to conserve the heat properly.
The branches still burning, and the meat was eaten but there was plenty of meat smoked there.
"I ate the meat I butchered from the pig's chest and belly, so the legs were smoked all night.
I know it should make them safe to eat, but I guess I will try to eat only fresh cooked meat from now on. It will be my last choice until I get my hands on a fridge or a way to preserve meat."
The now awake Fang went to take a piece of the smoked legs hanging in the furnace.
He pulled out one of the four legs that were skewered and carved himself a piece with his katana.
The katana went through it as if it was butter making him wonder how common it is to have such a strong weapon. Was the pig weak or was he strong?
"I guess strength is relative. I might be smaller but I'm definitely smarter."
The next goal I have is to improve my living conditions, to secure enough food, and hopefully, I will raise my intelligence so I can finally start using spells.
Let's check what I have in my arsenal.
"There are 15 branches, 10 glowing rocks, around 5 meters of mushrooms, and even more smoked meat. I think I should start looking for a way to create myself tools, it should be better to have hatchets and pickaxes."
So he started. Fang exited the cave, the sun invigorating him endlessly.
A few small creatures could be spotted quite easily, but Fang couldn't care less as he had enough food for now. Exploring the area around the cave was quite fruitful but it took him so much time that the sun was almost at the highest position which meant it was around 3 or 4.
The discoveries were that the cave is 150 meters wide, with one ramp-like entrance to it.
A great lake flowed a few minutes of walk from the cave, and long athletic fish were swimming down the lake. It was a slow-moving water stream, a very relaxing existence in his life.
Now knowing that there is a water source pretty close by made Fang less worried about water and resources in general.
"Animals look for water all the time so I would be able to hunt pretty easily here. I just hope I won't encounter anything too dangerous as well."
'Why did I say it...'
Suddenly the ground moved. Maybe shook is more appropriate.
Flocks of ducks have begun to move towards the lake, running away from whatever that sound was.
"It sounded like an explosion, but it wasn't a normal explosion... It sounded like an explosive roar."
Fang wore a worried face, his eyes squinting. If he had a clear sightline, he might have been able to see what was going on.
But then he saw it.
"A fire in the forest! I must go to the cave quickly, if the forest catches on fire then I must stay as far away from the trees."
And so he ran. Fast. As fast as he could. The smoky smell started spreading in a single minute, the forest was really burning but why would it?
"It must be related to that explosion, it must be an artificial fire... never mind, I have to go find shelter." As he finished the sentence, the smoke started to look closer and closer. After another minute he saw the first burning tree but something was weird.
It was the closest tree to his cave. The explosion wasn't a coincidence.
Someone was trying to take him out, he was sure of it.
Fang rushed into the cave fast, he held his sword in an offensive position. He knew
There was a fight waiting for him, but Fang wasn't someone who would die twice so quickly.
He is a master of his own will from now on.
And so, he entered with the intention of killing.
It didn't take long for him to spot a weird man with the fire raging in the background.
Around the men were several burning stones on the ground.
He must have blasted something inside the cave.
"I don't know who you are but if you'll leave I will not follow you nor attack you."
"It's cute you think you have a shot against me..." Said the mysterious figure. It wore black robes, they covered his head and body completely. The fire in the background only made him more ominous and so Fang made sure to be careful.
"What do you want?!"
"Who are you, outworlder?" He said as if it was obvious Fang was an outworlder.
"Why do you care?"
"I asked you a question... I find rude people very annoying you know?"
"I didn't barge into your home and ask you questions, YOU are the rude one!"
The mysterious figure couldn't stand idle anymore, he knew it wouldn't advance if Fang felt calm.
"I will grant you another chance. Answer me and you'll not die. Well, no promises."
'I can't really escape this shit...'
"I am Fang. I do come from another world, but you seem to know it already. What does it have to do with you?"
The mysterious figure took his hood off and revealed a slightly short man, only 1.5 meters and mostly shaven except for a little mustache. He didn't have a pretty face, but he had a strong long chin, a nice nose and he looked quite wolf-like.
But the interesting thing was that he wasn't an elf. He was looking like a human, but still had a bit of a weird look to him.
"You... you're a dwarf, right?"
"I am not just a dwarf. I'm like you. I'm an outworlder as well."
"What do you need from me?"
"I need-"
It took Fang a second to process but the mysterious dwarf collapsed instantly and fell forwards just in time for Fang to catch him.
'Should I leave him outside? If he is like me, surely the elf town nearby would send someone to inquire about the smoke and figure it is related to a mage.
If they suspect an outworlder as he called me, they will hunt me down like Asu said.
I can't leave him outside though, they will certainly look for more hints and check my cave.
I can't leave him, He needs to stay in my cave for now.
The question is, is he going to survive the afternoon?'
Fang lay him on the ground near the furnace so he would stay warm, he took off his jacket and saw a long laceration across his chest.
Not having any medical experience, fang cleaned the blood with a water-soaked sleeve of the man's shirt.
Fang took his katana and cut both sleeves of the man's shirt into long strips of clothing and tied it across the man's chest to stop the bleeding.
'I am no expert but I am pretty sure that will take care of it. Well, I hope it will...
I will try to find some medical plants in the forest, I cut my hand while foraging and I tried using those blue flowers on the cut.
It didn't heal it but it lessened the pain pretty well.
I need to study this forest as fast as possible, but for now, let's try and keep this asshole alive.'