Scott took a deep breathe and stood inside a small clearing and looked around. There was still daylight available, but he couldn't tell the time of the day, or whether the day-night cycle followed the same rhythm as it did back on his world. Going by Earth's standard, he surmised it would be some time around noon, although the canopy was still too thick to look at the sun…or whatever celestial body that gave light to this…planet…realm...whatever. It had been at least three hours since he set off.
'I should stop confusing myself with stuff that doesn't matter.' He thought grimly as he tried to re-assess the direction he'd taken for the fourth time. The compass, provided it was functioning correctly, was still pointing at North. Scott wasn't at his best in the woods, but he wasn't completely hopeless either. He could definitely keep moving unfailingly towards the direction which his compass was pointing, at the very least.
That being said, Scott was still quite lost. His exhaustion and hunger obviously wasn't helping. For the last three hours, he'd seen signs of several birds and small animals that looked similar to those he could find on his world. He was both relieved and a bit disappointed at that. Sure, the sense of familiarity was nice, but Scott couldn't help feel a miffed by the fact that he was yet to 'feel' that he was not on his old world. Apart from the System and the dimension he got sent to when he 'portalled in', there was nothing he saw, or heard, or felt that could make where he was stand out. Yet. For Scott, this was just another exploration through a random jungle at this point.
His stomach growled again. He'd stopped wetting his throat with saliva a long time ago, because all his saliva had dried out. Now his tongue was just as parched. The situation was getting direr by the minutes. Scott decided to keep moving.
He'd moved maybe a dozen or so steps after leaving the clearing behind and landing on a tiny trail through the thickets, when he heard a sound that felt like music to his ears. It was faint at first, but got louder as he kept moving towards the source. The burble of a stream.
Even though he was excited, Scott tried to exercise even more caution in his movements. He knew very well what the presence of drinkable water meant - a gathering of wild beasts. And he didn't for one second naively hope that they'd all be docile herbivores. He tried to avoid leaves and twigs as much as possible, keeping his foot on hard ground or rocks as he moved closer and closer towards the possible source of water. His thirst seemed to go up a notch, colluding his rational thoughts, urging him to sprint towards the water. He kept a tight lid on his impulses and kept moving through the forest carefully, and at last he reached his destination.
It was as he'd expected. A beautiful creek meandering through a depression formed mostly out of rocks. It wasn't narrow but also not wide, or deep enough that he would have to worry about finding a way to cross it. Scott tried to scan the area nearby closely but he couldn't find any animal nearby. The forest was still alive from the chirps and twitters of birds so he knew he hadn't again stepped into a desolate dimension or something. Even though it might seem ridiculous, Scott knew he would have to keep an open mind about anything and everything he encountered here.
After staying as still as humanly possible and watching the part of the stream falling within his vision, Scott decided that his thirst needs to be satisfied before he could make another rational decision, so he ventured forth. And by that, it meant Scott dashed forward, negotiated the slippery rocks near the bank, reached the stream, cupped his hands together and drank to his heart's content. When the fresh, ice-cold water hit the back of his throat, Scott felt a supreme bliss spread all over his body and right at that moment, even if he was attacked by a ferocious beast or bloodthirsty bandits, he would have told them to hold off until he'd had his fill.
After several minutes, Scott stood back up and realized he was standing knee deep in the stream and his entire upper torso was wet. He immediately took off his T-shirt and waded through the water, trying to see how deep it went before he reached the bank on the other side. The water level barely went up beyond his waist, so he just dove inside the water gently and washed off his sweat and grime while trying not to make any unnecessary splashes.
Thoroughly cleaned and thirst sated, Scott was about to come out of the water to dry himself when he felt something brush past his legs. Although apprehensive at first, he decided to investigate. What he found solved one more of his immediate priorities - food. Scott saw a school of carp-like fishes but with more angular face surround his legs. They were moving in a leisurely manner, so Scott felt a tiny bit bad when he scooped out a couple without much hassle. Scott threw them on the bank and climbed out, eager to find some dry twigs. He knew starting a fire could prove dangerous but Scott's trepidation about the unknown realm of Athionia had mostly abated by now. He knew he was probably being complacent but he couldn't help feel any other way, when he'd encountered nothing to write home about for almost several hours.
[…Several moments later, after a lot of failed attempts at building a campfire before finally meeting success…]
Scott was enjoying the taste of roasted fish when he suddenly felt a strange sensation. Before he knew what was going on, a voice resounded in his brain.
<<…Skill gained - Survivalist…>>
[A/N: Yes, changing Ability to Skill from now on. Will make the change in the previous chapters too]
Scott opened his interface and confirmed the new entry.
Survivalist - Level 2
'Great! Totally not a game…right?' Scott spat out some fish bones and mentally clicked on the name of the skill.
< Survivalist - The user's resourcefulness allows him to sustain himself in varied natural environments and perform several associated tasks with greater ease and efficiency. Each level in this skill increases Endurance by +2.>
Scott double-checked and saw his Endurance value had indeed jumped to 20. He also realized that he was lucky to directly have this skill at level 2. Or maybe not, Scott didn't knew whether his passable skills in being a survivalist in his own world counted for his skill rank behind higher here.
Scott still had another fish left to roast. Although he knew the basics of cleaning, gutting and roasting caught fish on a skewer, he had a sudden epiphany about small details about all those processes that he probably knew from somewhere but hadn't applied. With the help of a nice, sharp piece of rock that he'd picked up and used on the first fish, he set out to repeat the procedures again. This time, his hands moved as if they had a mind of his own. No, that wasn't exactly right. Scott realized he was still definitely in control and not some System-assisted mechanism born from the Level 2 Survivalist skill guiding his limbs. All that changed was that he could now think about and also perform dozens of little tricks and techniques for all the tasks. As a result, his movements were fluid and steady, and he had a new confidence inside him about the entire process.
The results were also evident in the cooking. While his first roasted fish was passable as food and also he was hungry so he didn't care all that much, his second attempt was so good he almost wanted to grow a hand in order to pat himself on his back. The fish meat was succulent and juicy, with just the right amount of flakiness. The roast was just perfect, in his opinion. While he had inhaled the first ever meal out of sheer hunger, he savoured his second meal like a gourmet dish.
In fact he was so engrossed in the food, he barely had time to register the fact that an arrow had suddenly pierced his left leg, just above the calf.