Rushing towards the tunnel, Xaviel encountered another Giant Rat. Like before, the rat hiss towards him aggressively. Xaviel then holds out his knife, still running aiming to stab its head. The rat's movement is relatively similar to the one Xaviel had killed before. They hiss and body slam.
SHRUST!
Xaviel, who had anticipated this, successfully thrust his knife to its brain, this time thrusting from the upper head skull to the brain, avoiding the toxic near its chin. The creature struggles a little, and after a few seconds, it stops moving.
"A clean kill.."
Xaviel said as he took out the knife swiftly.
As he walked through the corridors and found more rats to fight, Xaviel became more aware of his ability. He now can adequately use his power to damage certain body parts or organs by his own choice. The feeling of hunger then came, pausing his intent of killing other rats.
Upon reaching the cellar room from the knob-less northern door, he looked around, searching for food. However, he didn't find any trace of food. It occurred to him that the world he is in may have not invented canned foods or any other types of storage-able food.
"Sucks to be in this era.." Xaviel mumbled as he entered the southern door.
"Guess I'll head back a bit,"
Xaviel touched The Tree Root once again. Light emerges yet again, zapping him from this world to his original world in a flash.
***
Xaviel, who had arrived in his original world, moved swiftly from the bed to his high-spec computer. He enters the keyword 'Survival Tips and Guides' in the Gurugel search engine. Many search results then popped out.
He scrolled down each article and website until he found a website named 'Whatyouneedtodotosurvive.com.' As soon as he clicked the website, he was greeted with an eye-catching web design. The website has many articles regarding how to survive in a specific situation, like, 'Howto Survive In Forest,' 'Howto Survive In Caves,' 'Howto Survive in a Desert', etc.
Xaviel then assumes his situation in the other world was similar to that in a cave. As he clicked the article regarding tips for survival in a cave. He carefully scrolls and reads its content.
"THE HELL YOU SAY!"
Xaviel shouted in shock. He was somewhat surprised to find that one of the foods recommended for survival in a cave. In a survival condition, it is actually safe to eat a rat. Yuck. That's what Xaviel thought right off the bat. Just to prove the article that he is reading was wrong. He opened another tab in the browser and searched whether a rat is contagious to eat or not.
Alas, he found more and more proof that it's actually quite acceptable to eat a rat. If one were to cook it properly. Virus and harmful organisms may be killed and exterminated when the rat's carcass is heated correctly.
As he returned to the Howto Survive website, he noted and remembered most of the details inside the articles. The time now was showing 17:10, as it had been about 5 hours Xaviel spent in another world. Mostly spent fighting the Giant rats, studying their physiology, movement pattern, and mastering his own ability.
"I'll return at 18:00, I guess,"
BZRRT
A vibration sound was heard by Xaviel. The Phone that was beside Xaviel's PC setup was receiving a call. Looking at the name shown, it was one of his friends at Uni. He still feels somewhat weird to be around them. However, getting called on the Phone was actually heartwarming for Xaviel. It actually made him feel a bit better. It made him think that he was really scared by his friend.
As he opened his Phone again for the first time in forever, he instantly opened the research group multi-chat on 'ENIL,' a widely spread messenger. In the messenger, his friend has been texting about him. Wondering where he had gone to for the past 3 months. Indicolite was a prestigious college. The research group had always maximized their credits throughout the year. This made them really busy, especially in the 2nd and 3rd months. As the 3rd month had already passed, their friends finally got the time to hang out with Xaviel. Or rather, it was merely his expectation.
"I can't believe the bitch had the nerve to suddenly move! After all our effort of trying to forgive him. The hell he had to scare us like that. Maybe he's using drugs www. What an ungrateful drug addict. LMAO," said one of his friends through the chat. It was unsent after a split second. To which, his other friends responded with the word 'LMFAO.'
BLUK!
Xaviel threw his Phone to the wall in anger. As his Phone cracked and seemingly unusable, he lost balance and sat on his bed. Tears fell droplets at a time from his cheeks. His teeth gritted, and his fist clenched.
***
"What.. what happened to this place?" Serena, who was grocery shopping, had been shocked to find the Crestia household was in shambles. Papers were everywhere, some of the furniture was ruined. As Serena began to analyze the place, he found droplets of unknown liquid substances and pieces of cloth.
Serena closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"KheTa" As she opened her eyes, yellow shade light began to occupy Serena's eyes. The eyes glow radiantly for a few seconds. At that moment, she looks around swiftly, seemingly searching for something. After 20 seconds, her eyes lose their glow.
"This cloth… It looks so similar to what Maru usually wears. There are also bits of armor inside this room. That can't be a mere coincidence,"
Serena stops and thinks for a few seconds. She roses from her squat position and exits the household.
As she ran to the Village market, he looked around the area.
"As I suspected, why is there no Village guard patrolling?" Serena said. The situation has a very ominous feeling to it. She can't be sure what's really going on, but she knows. Something is terribly wrong.
"Hey, Serena!" a familiar voice calls her.
Serena looked in the direction of the voice. She is delighted that the one who called her turns out to be Maru.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Maru casually asked.
"The House! It's in total shambles!"
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I don't know what happened. When I came back from shopping, the house was peculiar. Papers are scattered, and some furniture was ruined!"
"The hell? What of Mika and Mom or Dad?"
"They were nowhere to be found. Dad previously walked Xaviel through the town for a job interview. Mom was with Mika in the house. It doesn't make sense that both of them were missing simultaneously! Something is terribly wrong!" Serena starts to blurt out her thoughts, panicking.
PAT.
"Serena. I know you're scared, but stay calm. I'm still here. Rather than stressing the circumstances, let's search for clues and find out where they went. I'll search for Mom and Mika. In the meantime, you went ahead and asked around town whether they had seen Xaviel and Dad or not."
"… Alright," Serena responded as she became calmer. "But don't you dare go missing too!" Serena pouts as she lightly punches Maru's left arm.
"It's alright. I am fairly strong. Right Rook?" Maru looked to Zed.
"You're more than that, I think. Hehe."
"See?" Maru looked back to Serena.
Serena nods in agreement. Without any more words between the two, Maru and Serena set out on different paths to find the whereabouts of their family. Unknowingly to the danger ahead of them.