Sliding down the scarred and rock filled surface my body felt drowsy and dizzy which at first I thought was still due to the numbness from earlier however parts like my back and chest were experiencing the same dizzy feeling like I'd just come out of a bar.
'I probably do need a drink or something after I get back home'
tumbling and tripping a bit as I made my way through the devastation I made an abrupt halt at the mouth of the lush green Forest ahead of me stopping myself from falling at the sudden stop of momentum by placing one of my hands on a tree,spitting out hundreds of curses under my breath to the weakened state I was in I entered the forest more hesitantly than what my previous self would do.
chirps and sounds of smaller creatures rushing across the knee height grass filled my ears as I walked with barely any set direction but straight ahead,sunlight coming down in the form of cracks and patches thanks to the tree's with leaves as large as my own palm each overlapping the other leaves of the trees beside them.I made my way over a rotting hollow piece of timber the scent of moisture in the air sending a wave of relief down my spine as I took off in a light jog my throat practically crying out from thirst,fast rushing and crashing of water elated me even more my jogging turning into sprinting with the dizziness from before completely erased as I dropped to my knees at the sight of a crystal clear fast flowing river.
The rivers size was smaller than I expected but nonetheless it was water and I quickly drank as much as my body could take while splashing some on my face refreshing me and washing off the blood that had dried on top of it, I continued down to my legs ignoring the stinging cold as I felt the metal plates and leather around my shin and knee detaching themselves the blood that had glued them to me now making it's way down the river giving it an extremely light colour of red.
"this is wayyy better from before now all I need is something to eat then I can probably concentrate on finding something to point me in the direction to Loridea"
I sighed and pulled my pearl white hair which had now turned to a sort of light grey from all the dust and dirt and placed it in of my eyes truly I was still me and alive even though the fact I was still in the remains of my armour should've given that away I still held doubt.
"I was really ready to die there you know,how many god damned blessings are you going to give me!!"
I screamed above me to whatever god was there if there even was one to begin with,my sudden burst of annoyance subsiding I stood up and gave the water a light kick venting out the remaining annoyance I had left before running my eyes across the forestry, although my mana skills had disappeared my heightened senses such as sight and hearing were still on a high making finding the easiest catch for food a simple task.
Flash!!
my eyes caught sight of a flicker of gold and brown and the sound of a squeal behind a tree at least 20 meters ahead of me, staring at the tree for a minute then back at the river I quickly caught on and turned around as if walking away.
not turning around I heard the faint sound of the unknown creature slowly making it's way to the river while pausing occasionally to assess me.
10,15,12,10,11,i counted the distance between us slowing my pace a bit waiting for the creature to lower it's guard to drink even for a split second that's all I needed to grab myself something to eat.
Splish!!
there it was the sound of the creature making it's way into the river wasting no time I retreated behind a large tree I had been intentionally walking towards and made my way slowly up it in the most discreet manner I could even though my stomach was crying to me constantly,looking down I finally got a good look at my soon to be meal its fur was a light brown and looked awfully sharp with a golden under belly and a long tail that swayed as it drank the water in the river, the whiskers under its nose twitched from time to time while its slender legs positioned the body in a near perfect way to escape at the sudden appearance of danger.
'what an odd looking cat'
readying for the capture I walked across the thick branch I was a top of till I was right above the tantalizing meal, 7,6,5,4,3,2,1.
Crash!!
Splash!!
I pounced on top of the brown and golden cat as quickly as my body could go in its current state however the cat was faster and more agile moments before I could make contact with its body and pin it, the cat jolted backwards and twisted in mid air escaping my grasp as it took off.
Fueled by my insatiable hunger I chased after it surprisingly keeping up as it jumped and turned in sharp movements in order to lose me some how but I didn't falter and took alternative routes if I couldn't follow right behind,the level of the grass quickly dropped to ankle height with dozens of multi coloured mushrooms making up most of the ground.
the cat had it's sights set on a rock which I assumed it'll use to some how gets itself atop the tree's frowning at the idea of going empty for another day I increased my speed to meet it at the rock while muttering to myself not to miss the opportunity,the cat flashed across the mushroom like clearing at the same speed as me which seemed like it's limit causing a slight smile across my face.
the rock was now a few centimetres in front of me and just how I'd thought the cat took a large leap towards which I followed in suit, it landed on the rock and thrusted itself towards the tree next to it but I'd stretched my arm far enough to grab onto it's left leg and tightened my grip hard enough while pulling the meal towards me.
looking down I realized we were on a ledge although thankfully the drop wasn't anything to worry about.
"you better be worth all this exercise you've given me buddy"
I heard the cat let out a small sound of fear before we eventually crashed to the ground.
*6 hours later*
heat made it's way to my body from the fire I'd made with the conventional ways I thought I'd never have to use my entire life until now as I bit down on the near tastless animal I'd slaughtered, staring into the crimson flames in front of me I reminisced on my chase after the cat and the feeling of it.
"when's the last time I ever had to chase after. something like that pfft who knew being as weak as this actually brought a bit of fun"
I laughed.
"goodness what should my first sentence be when I meet Erebore or Curtis, those two used to work their asses off to be on par with me in battle I wonder what their motivation will be after seeing me like this..."
my voice trailed off as I heard the sound of snapping twigs within the dead of the aging night,concerned I kept my gaze on the direction of the noise only to find a pair large bright yellow eyes aimed towards me menacingly.
black fur and instead of 4 it harbored 6 legs with a large red mane and a mouth open revealing razor sharp teeth made for the tearing of flesh, it was twice my size and drooled with saliva as it made it's way towards me patiently like it knew I was just going to sit there in fear.
"a Crimson dire beast huh...i should've taken this fire out but I'd just woken up after being concussed from that fall"
ignoring my words the beast leapt at me with lightning speed that I wasn't even able to react to and was pinned to the ground with teeth sinking into my shoulder.
"GAAHH!!"
I couldn't help but scream at the pain being caused upon me as it thrashed shook it's head trying to rip my entire arm off,trying to ignore the pain I pulled off the metal plate on top of my shin and smashed it onto it's head but it was barely phased and continued biting harder.
"Gahh,get off damnit!!"
Crackle!!
Bang!!
I watched in shock as a blue arrow of lightning struck clean through the beast causing it to cease it's attack and slump over me:dead, a figure with a bow and arrow in hand looked down on me with a worried expression as a second figure much older than my assumed savior approached me with a torch and pushed the beast off me.
"Are you a survivor?"
"a what?....."