Hours pass as I walk through the creepy semi-living and breathing woodland, all the while keeping a wary eye on all the fauna that I pass close by.
As I continue to go deeper into the woodlands and come increasingly close to the origin point of the whole forest, the fauna is only getting more and more… Well, alive; For the lack of a better word.
They seem to be actually breathing now, as a pulse can be seen moving through the stems of the trees and the bigger foliages such as vines or big shrubs and such.
'It's really freakin' freaky, is what it is. It's giving me the creeps.
Trees aren't supposed to be able to do that…' I muse as I continue my trek all the while always keeping a wary eye on the surrounding fauna.
Nothing ever happens however; None of the trees ever reacts to my passing, and there are no indications of any sudden attacks, neither are there any giant sentient tree giants to scare the hell out of me either.
Therefore I try to simply keep myself as calm and quiet as can and simply continue to trek along while aiming towards the most concentrated area of Mana I can sense; Of course, all the while I continue keeping a wary eye on any and all of the foliage that I pass. Just to make sure that they won't suddenly jump me; You can never be too careful in a magic infested, living and freakin' breathing forest, if you ask me.
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Hours pass and as I slowly trek along toward the origin of woodland, sometimes I would stop a few minutes to eat some rations or drink some water from my water-skins as well as stopping and refilling the water-skins whenever I find a source of water; Which isn't all that often, since so far, I have just come across one river since I jumped off the cliff.
…
…...
As realization hits me, my legs stop moving. "...Wait. I freakin' jumped off a cliff." I exclaim in sheer as the sheer absurdity of my actions suddenly hits me in the face; Figuratively speaking. "I really have gone crazy; Who the freakin' hell willingly jumps off of cliffs for f#cks sake?!" I practically yell, until I remember that I am standing in a practically living and breathing forest.
'Shiiiiiit!' I mentally exclaim as I grab my head in remorse of my actions.
A second later I start surveying my surroundings for any reaction from the supposedly alive woodland around me.
…
...
...…
Nothing.
Nothing happens.
Even as a minute passes, noth… "GRaawwwRrrh!"
"…. F&ck my life." I mutter tiredly as I gather and start condensing mana as I get ready to fight this new enemy.
… It is, enemy, right?
"GRaaaawwwwuuuu!" "GRAAWUUUU!" "GrrrAawwwwuuuuu!!"
….
... "Double f#ck my life." I mutter wearily as I start gathering even more Mana and start condensing it as fast as I can manage.
It only takes the monsters a few seconds before I can hear them barreling through the forest towards me at high speeds, and a scant few more before I can see them between the foliage. They are almost upon me now, only a hundred meters or so away and as they get closer I start to be able to make out their features.
They are a new variation of monsters that I haven't seen before; Their body is cat-like, and they move with incredible speed and flexibility just like cats do. Unlike cats however, they have spikes sticking out all over their body; Not unlike a porcupine, if porcupines were the size of a black bear that is. All I all, I see 4 of them barreling towards me, and I really hope that is all of them.
As I get a clear view on one of the porcupine-cats, I start forming a lighting spell and a moment later I release it on the monster to spectacular effect: the monster whimpers as it gets fried inside out and promptly drops, tumbles for a bit before it comes to a stop and lays completely still; Deader than dead, as steam rapidly escapes from the remains of its super heated body.
'One down' I note mentally even as I prepare my next lightning spell.
The other porcupine-cats are not pleased by me killing one of them; Roaring angrily, they somehow start moving even faster and I barely manage to fire another lighting spell at the closest porcupine-cat before I have to dodge out of the way of the two lounging porcupine-cats that are even bigger than I am: Undoubtedly they are also heavier and stronger than me to boot.
Even as I prepare my escape spell: Blink, a spell that is more or less instantaneous and also quite Mana efficient, I continue to gather and condense mana for my next lighting spell.
Using blink to teleport out of the pouncing porcupine-cats way;
I teleport behind the two pouncing monsters, to reappear a few meters behind them and prepare to blast them with my half finished lightning magic even as I watch them continue sailing through the air; Now confusedly looking around for their now suddenly disappeared prey.
'Hate to be the one to break it to you, but it's you two who are the prey here.' I comment in my mind as I release a chain lightning spell that hits the right porcupine-cat and starts jumping between the two monsters blindingly quick. Before the monsters even manage to reach the ground again, they are dead; Fried from the lighting spell and it's high current that rampaged through their bodies countless times.
Two deep thuds resound as the two heavy porcupine-cats hit the ground as two sacks of 100kg meat each and the sound sets me to wincing slightly.
A moment passes as I survey the area for more dangers; But as a minute passes with nothing forthcoming, and I promptly drop down on the ground wearily.
'Throwing around spells willy-nilly is really tiresome, in a strange way: It tires a part of my mind I didn't know I had before I started using magic.' I muse as I try to recover from my exhaustive use of magic, and it is helping; Slowly, the weariness lessens.
'Huh… Now that I think about it, what is it that gets tired when I use a lot of magic? I can think just fine, so it shouldn't be the mind? ...It's not quite the same as when you get tired from actively focusing on something mentally taxing, but as close an explanation as I can come up with; But somehow different. As if it's not actually the mind that gets tired, but something closely related to the mind.
… The spirit?
....
… I dunno. Let's ask someone who knows more about the subject later.' I decide as the lethargy has receded enough for me to move unhindered once again.
Getting up tiredly, I glance around the area before moving to inspect the porcupine-cats remains while muttering quietly to myself. "That fight wasn't so bad, all things considered… It almost feels like it was too easy, considering how long Ter'vi went on and on about the dangers here..."
Once I reach the two well roasted porcupine-cats that now lie close together, I inspect the two: Yup, they indeed look like a cross between a porcupine and a large cat.
'Wonder how that happened…' I muse as I inspect the carcasses, poking them with my sword so as to not directly touch them with my body.
What I hadn't noticed before though, was their needle-like fangs and thin needle-like claws.
They look as if they are specialised for thrusting and biting, rather than clawing and tearing, so to speak.
'Well, that's a strange pair of claws, if I should even call them that.' I muse as I inspect them closer. 'Unfortunately I don't have any better word for them than claws; I mean what would it be called? Needle claws… Ne, neelaws? Needlaws? Needaws? …
…...
… Nah, All of them just sound stupid as hell.
Ah, whatever.
Let's get me some rations and get going again. ...Wonder if there's even anything edible left on them... '
Long story short: Yeah… No.
There is nothing left of them that I felt I could eat; At least not willingly, that's for sure
.
With the knowledge that the carcasses are uneditable, I quickly lose interest in them and instead turn away from the roasted bodies and face the direction towards the highest point of Mana concentration to continue my trek towards the origin point of the forest.
Only to freeze as I spot this huge monstrosity: A small hill of muscles, thick armor and wickedly looking claws and fangs that is staring intently at me. This massive… Thing, sort of reminds me of a giant ape.
My thoughts stop for a moment as the shock rocks my mind, like a deer in headlights, I just stand there dumbly for a good long moment.
I am brought out of my stupor a moment later however, when the massive mountain of muscles roars and starts charging me unexpectedly quickly.
"God damnit!"
End of chapter 29.