Haa~~
I'm nicely cooked.
Not literal though.
Well… maybe a little bit…
Why…
Uhmmm~ No reason.
It can't be because I stayed in the hotspring for 5 days now. There is no way that this is even possible.
…
But maybe I should get out eventually.
On the other hand I could become a water-Imp. That would be cool, right?
The plan to create a home inside of the big broken down tree? Discarded long ago.
What do I need a shelter for if I could sleep in the hotspring? Not that I actually sleep though…
But I wasn't just relaxing in the water, I did some serious training.
Well it was a mere coincidence but that still counts.
As I was floating in the water I checked out the surroundings with my [sense] of [feeling].
I tried to analyse the structure of the tree to make some plans how to build my home and like this I tried to [feel] more and more details.
Soon I noticed, that the tree wasn't usable as a shelter for me; there were so many animals that already made it their home and it would be a real bother to drive them out.
Also there are so many places that would need some minor repairs and a lot of holes that I had to seal up… So one could say I'm just to lazy.
But I'm not.
I am just a generous soul that cares for the animals that would lose their home.
Hah~ I'm so nice.
And talented too!
Because I used my [sense] of perception instead of my eyes or ears I soon realized, that it was far better than the normal five senses. Or at least 4 of them.
I could [see] things in the distance in high detail and even was able to [see] through things. But in an open area I suppose that my actual view would reach further. But nonetheless; x-ray vision all around me is pretty cool.
I can also [hear], [feel] and [smell] everything in my field of perception.
Not sure if it's bad or not but I can't [taste] though.
But anyways; this [sensing] is awesome!
So I spend hours on hours on the bottom of the hotspring, holding onto some stones so that I won't float up and relaxed.
…
I mean trained!
I concentrated on random points in my field of perception and tried to stretch it as much as possible without getting a somewhat dull [feeling].
At maxed out range I can [feel] everything within an about 50 meter radius around myself.
Actually 52,31 meters.
Oh, thank you, rational me!
You are always welcome, silly me.
Hehe.
What great company I am.
But I have to admit; I am quite curious about the Forest. Maybe there are more nice places like this hidden somewhere.
But to find those I have to get out of my literal comfort zone.
Can't be helped…
I sighed underwater and created a small amount of bubbles like that. Then I let go of my holding-stones so that I would follow the bubbles and float up to the surface.
I paddled to the edge of the hotspring were my jacket was lying. Even if I don't know how to swim, this method should be somewhat similar – and if it's not it still is a way to move through the hotspring.
Hesitating for a moment I then placed my hands on the stone and lifted myself out of the water.
...I want to go back in...
But I stayed strong and got out completely.
Cold.
Actually not cold but only a bit chilly.
For me who spent some days in the hot water it was freezing. Not as much as the snow covered land but still enough to feel unpleasant.
I already yearned for the hotspring…
But no.
Bad me!
I decided to see if I can find some other nice places too. After I do that for a while I can go back into my awesome bath.
Yes~~ this will be nice.
Already dreaming of going back into the water I took my jacket and put it on but I left the sleeves on the stone. I don't need them for now.
In spite of the cold it was actually a pretty sunny day and it should be just about noon so I looked up to the sky to clarify my position and calculate the way.
It's pretty obvious; I came from the west when I found my paradise so now I would just go east.
I wasn't worried the slightest that I would loose my way back, because it was easy to calculate when I know where I came from.
With that in mind I started running.
Underestimating my speed completely I reached the border of the forest clearing immediately and just ran against a tree.
Ouch… I forgot.
Okay; careful.
Not even trying to adjust I started to sprint at full speed again but this time I was prepared.
I am still way to fast for my reaction speed so every now and then I ran into things.
It doesn't matter.
I don't hurt anyone besides myself – and the weird person who gets hurt heals up nearly immediately – and I got to experience this awesome feeling of running again.
It is such an awesome feeling of freedom.
I really like it!
…
…
~~~
Running around is awesome!
I didn't got much better at dodging the trees and mossy boulders and by now had quite a number of hard collisions to count that I will never reveal to anyone – 52 times – because it's kinda embarrassing.
But its worth to endure those for this feeling of of being part of the wind. The feeling of freedom that I never want to miss again.
I was enjoying this feeling so much, that I completely forgot my surroundings and even stopped to count the time even if I still managed to calculate my way back. What an odd feeling.
But not much time should have passed since I started to run.
…
Or did it?
Now that I watch closely the sun seems to have gone back a bit…
I already confirmed that the course of the sun is quite similar to what I'm used to, even though the days seem a bit longer overall. And it had same direction; from east to west.
So it shouldn't go back…
Then I'm already running for a full day?
For fifteens sake how is that possible?!
Well…
A body that seemingly wont get tired and a mind that gets distracted very fast… it could be possible…
I should run a bit more to confirm it.
And so I did.
And yes: the sun moved as I thought it would while I was running as fast as I could.
But even if I just spend a whole day running around it's not like I have anything to do or anywhere to be. So I should just do what I want, as I already decided once.
And now I want to run and enjoy it a bit more.
I decided to keep running until the sun reaches the same point it was in when I started. After that I will turn south-west and then explore into that direction so that I will get home after running in a perfect triangle.
But I stopped a bit before the sun reached that point.
I slipped a bit but didn't fell over before I came to a halt and concentrated on my field of perception.
Nothing out of the ordinary…
Hmmm.
I took back a few steps.
Ah, yes!
There seems to be another clearing in the woods just barely in my field of perception in the north.
I got excited and started to run again but stopped a few steps later already.
The clearing seemed a bit odd.
I slowly made my way towards the clearing while being highly on edge.
There are many tree trunks and the closer I get towards the seemingly huge clearing the more of those came into my [view]. What surprised me was that all of those trunks are about the same height and there is no sign of the rest from each tree. Also there are no bushes and the ground seems barren from overuse.
I walk even slower. Not making a single sound I could be a ghost in the woods.
Then I stopped.
A small, ungrounded wave of terror hindered my movement for a few seconds.
As soon as it came it vanished and I was the master of my body again.
I found the reason why there is such a weird clearing;
Humans!
Two of them. And as I convinced myself to get closer a third one came into my field of perception.
I was now at the edge of the clearing.
Hiding in a bush I peeked through the leaves to observe the humans.
Two of them sat on some treetrunks and seemed to talk. Even if I could [hear] them I couldn't understand the language.
That I somehow didn't expect. For some reason I still compared this world with the one from the book I loved so much and in this certain book everyone just spoke in the same language.
Considering that I had covered quite the distance it should be possible that this is another country than the big city so it shouldn't be surprising if there is another language…
But how should I spy on them like this?
I puffed my cheeks.
Stupid humans!
Can't do much about it so I observed a bit more.
Close to the humans are some weird tools that look like the pincers of a beetle but quite oversized. Are those the tools the cut the trees with?
Could be.
A bit in the distance and just in my 52,31 meters stood a small, red version of those cars and it had a trailer attached to it that was loaded with logs.
The third human, a man with leathery skin and dark hair, took a backpack out of the car and then walked over to the other two where he sat down on a trunk too.
He rummaged in the bag for a few seconds until he took out something and gave it to the other man, a huge, blonde mountain of muscles.
I couldn't see what he took out but with my other [sense] it wasn't a problem: it was a glass-like red stone, about the size of a chickens egg.
The first man rummaged in his backpack and then handed over a metal pot to the third person – a dark haired woman who was neither less tall nor less muscular that the men.
She took it while saying something and then all three of them laughed.
It somewhat annoys me.
I don't know them or anything about them but some part hidden deep inside me just doesn't feels right when I see those humans being happy.
Do they even deserve to be happy?
...No time to judge now – too curious!
The blonde man held the red stone in front of him. Aiming at the ground he snipped against it and a small flame spurted out of the stone. It was there just for a moment but that was enough to ignite some small logs and sticks that are stacked nicely on the ground. They even prepared a stone circle to prevent the fire from spreading.
I barely noticed that as my focus was on the mysterious stone that now got handed back to the first man who put it away as if it wasn't one of the coolest things he just witnessed.
Show me more!
As if she heard me the woman started to draw something into the air with both of her palms.
The performance took a few seconds and I observed every movement as close as I could.
The moment she stopped a bubble of water appeared in front of her hands. It hovered in the air for a few seconds and then fell down in the already prepared metal pot.
Completely fascinated I just stared at them, waiting for more.
The woman placed the pot carefully in the small campfire so that the water could heat up and the dark haired man started to throw some things into the pot. Then he took out a dipper from his bag and stirred the water with it.
Wait a second.
I waited.
Because it was just a second I didn't even get angry at myself.
But the important part; did those three just used some cool magic-stuff just to make some lunch?
It seemed so.
Soon a very nice smell entered my field of perception and shortly after I could smell it with my nose too.
It was way to much for me to comprehend. I have no words other than "good" but that is hardly enough to describe it.
It somehow made me feel lonely…
I want to have this too…
Unconsciously I made a step forward.
They noticed it as I created some rustling in the bush I was hiding in with that movement.
I ran.
The first one who reacted was the blonde guy but the moment he raised his head out of curiosity I was already gone.
With my ranged perception I [saw] that they just looked too the bush for a few seconds then shrugged their shoulders and got back to their conservation and meals. But I didn't stop running.
What if they just pretend to not really care?
I can't risk that.
Running as fast as I could I made a big curve until I reached a point in the path that I used before and then aimed straight for my little paradise in the far distance.
I wasn't fleeing.
This might have been the starting idea but as soon as I lost [sight] of the clearing my mind calmed down.
Now I have a goal.
I want to learn those nice magic stuff too!
The movements the woman used was burned into my thoughts and I would be able to copy them perfectly without any effort thanks to the rational me being great at observing. There is even another set of movements in my memories that should create a small flame but I strongly pretend that I have no idea were I could have seen them.
That's not important anyways.
The important part is, that I will be able to do that too.
I don't have usage for this?
Who cares? It's cool!
With this magic I can become like the forest witch in my book that the hero once fought.
…
Uhm…
…
Should I be concerned that my first thought is to be like an antagonist in the story I loved so much?
No, its okay… right?
Well…
As an Imp I should be one of the evil ones anyways. So there is no reason to deny being an antagonist.
And I don't want to be anything that is good or useful for humans in any way…
So it's decided;
I will become the most magic using, evil forest witch anyone can think of!
He he he~
That sounds fun.
Chuckling to myself I enjoyed running through the woods once more.