Stupid humans, just leave already.
Damned savages…
Why?
Oh, the two who entered the forest with their crossbows came back and they brought some boars with them.
…Dead boars though…
Two of the big ones, one medium sized and even one of the small ones.
…
I get it, okay?
It was quite obvious an unlike me they need to eat something and the boars also killed other living beings to eat them. Actually it was me helping them to find insects and the like… but still.
Meh!
I can't really be angry at them but I liked the boars so of course I antagonize the humans. Stupid humans.
…
Well I have to admit that the boars that are getting roasted over the fire fill my field of perception with a really nice smell.
Oh no, I wont go down that road!
Humans are bad!
\\And I still want to interact with them?
Nnngh…
//Yes.
\\But I just saw what they are capable of, silly me.
//I know but to be fair: I saw what they are capable of. All the things I could learn… all the information I could obtain… That is even more delicious than the smell.
\\Haaa~ Fine. If I ever can get the hang of looking like a human then I will try to interact with them.
Maybe I should really be concerned that the silly me can persuade the rational me quite easily.
But not for now.
The silly me made a mistake. It would take me ages to control the ability to look like a human good and long enough so that I wont get found out.
//I could just go as I am… just for trial…
\\Am I stupid?! I have to be stupid, stupid me! I ignore that memory but humans don't like me. They will kill me!
Yeah I don't want to remember.
Humans are scary.
I still could go for a small trial. There is a good chance presenting itself near me.
After she got hurt the girl ran back to the group. The old man seemed to scold her a bit in a way to friendly tone and then covered the small wound on her finger with a plaster.
It confused me that he didn't just heal her up but then he started talking with a lecturing voice so I guess its better for her to learn from the experience or something like that.
Because it was still a while until the sun would vanish behind the trees and the lecturing ended, the girl entered the forest again without anybody stopping her.
Now she was a few meters away from me and played around with a twig that she found and used as some kind of sword to fight a young tree. It seemed like some kind of play pretend adventure.
Hey, whatever you like to amuse yourself but let me give you a pro tip; counting and calculation is the real deal of entertainment.
I let myself slide from the branch and fell out of the tree without making a noise that would raise suspicion. As I seem pretty light it is not a problem to not create to much sound if I concentrate on this.
Quickly but silent I closed in on the girl until there were only a few steps left.
The trunk of a big tree still was between us but of course it didn't hinder me at [seeing] her.
Do I really wanna do this? Yes.
I took a deep breath in my mind and checked myself in my field of perception.
The cloak is closed and long enough so that it covers even my legs and feet. The sleeves are far to long too and like this my arms and hands are also not visible. I used the hood to cover hair, horns and half of my face. The horns give my head a weird form with the hood on but I don't mind it for now.
So now there is just the lower half of my face and a bit of my neck visible.
Here goes nothing.
I quietly breathe in literally and concentrate on the visible parts.
In the same way as before a thin layer is formed over my skin. In my field of perception it looked like human skin. Well, at least it was very close to that.
I breathe out and step out of my hiding spot behind the tree.
Now with the intention to be heard, I made some small rustling sounds with the cloak and stepped on a twig so that it would break. The girl reacted.
She turned around with a quite careless smile out of reflex but slightly froze up when she saw me. The smile still didn't vanish completely.
…
…
We stared at each other for nearly a minute without moving. She can't see anything from me expect the part that looks like human skin. But still, the situation of someone who is around the same size as her in a forest that could be anywhere would startle everyone a bit.
I got anxious and with that it got way harder to concentrate on the human cover.
Should I run? Yeah, I should definitely run away. But if I do that, I wont get another chance.
But what if she only pretends to be startled and actually already called the other humans via some kind of telepathy?! No that can't be. Still it is possible.
Ahhhrg-! Oh?
I was mere seconds away from fleeing but the plan got interrupted.
Her smile got bigger again.
An ocean of relief filled me. I passed!… right?
Yes!
The girl lifted her twig and drew a simple pattern into the air with it until various flowers popped up on the piece of wood. Then she pointed at me with it and said something.
I couldn't understand what she said but the information that I should take it was grasped. There was no deeper thought or trick behind it, just the simple information of what she wanted to tell me. I relaxed a bit more.
Still highly on edge I got a few steps closer to her.
I carefully reached for the twig with a slightly shivering hand that was still hidden in the sleeve of my cloak and grasped it.
Nothing happened.
Well, the girl let go of it though, but there was no trap or hidden meaning.
I relaxed a bit more.
That's what I hoped for; the irrational carefreeness of a child.
My trial was a huge success!
But now I should really run away.
My body didn't move an inch.
\\Wait, I should go a bit further with the trial.
I lifted my other hand and pointed at the plaster on her finger. She gave me a puzzled look for a moment and then presented her hand towards me.
Now shaking again I reached out and grabbed the hand. It took me a few tries because of the sleeve but eventually I removed the plaster.
There it was: the tiny hole in her skin. It already stopped bleeding a while ago and would be healed up without a trace in about two days maximum. That is if I don't have anything to say about this.
The girl seemed confused as I [stared] at the small wound. I could [see] it on a cellular level and of course [see] the mana that moved trough her cells.
Now just move it and the cell with that.
Slower as it would work for me, the cells start to divide and with this heal up the wound. At first the mana crated a fake cell but then the body followed and created a real one where the fake was. Maybe this is what it should look like when the technique is used on a real body?
Sadly the old man didn't heal her so I have no comparison.
Still, the result speaks for itself.
After a few seconds the small wound was gone without the slightest trace and I let go of the girls hand.
She stared at it with a weird glance in her eyes for a few seconds, then she shifted her gaze towards my face.
I smiled slightly and just noticed that the fake skin followed the movement without delay. But the smile didn't hold on for long as the girl did something unpredictable.
She just turned around without a word and started to run towards the forest clearing.
Eh?
Dumbfounded I just stood there and [watched] her running all the way until she reached the old man.
She talked very fast to him in a loud, excited voice and seemingly stumbled over her own words while pointing at the forest all the time.
The old man answered in a calm tone when she finally stopped to take a breath and judging from the sound it seemed that she told him something funny like and illogical joke or something.
But that can't deceive me.
The information that got presented as he talked was serious and I also [saw] the look that he gave some of the guards who immediately started to walk in my direction.
Maybe I should leave.
Yeahhhh… that would be best.
I just dropped the twig and my fake skin and started to run.
Similar to the other day I ran around the forest clearing while holding quite some distance to it but this time I ran into the opposite direction.
When the guards reached the point where I met the girl, I was long gone. Sadly that location is not in my field of perception anymore so I can't check on their actions.
Well, if they come closer I will notice them and run again.
I should stay on the ground for now. Just to be sure.
…
….
No one came towards me.
It took a few hours until the dispatched guards returned and in the meantime everyone in the camp dressed up and equipped themselves with their weapons.
The tension in the air was nearly something physical for a while but by now it calmed down again.
Some of the humans even put away their weapons and began to eat the meat that was ready by now.
The little girl was already asleep in one of the tents.
From what I could grasp it seems that most of the humans believe, that she somehow scared herself while playing with magic and then her imagination made up the rest.
The old man was not with their opinion.
He let her tell him the story over and over again and looked at her healed up finger many times. Only when she nearly fell asleep while talking he let her be and send her into the tent to get some rest.
Now he was sitting on a cushion in front of said tent and absentminded started to stroke his beard while giving off an aura of deep concentration.
Every now and then he looked at the forest.
Well, bad for yo, old man I am not there anymore.
Something else is though.
Eh.
What?
How the fifteen?!
It took me by surprise as it entered my field of perception from the opposite side with an absurd speed. It only took a few seconds until it reached the hotspring and came to a halt. Only now a slight tremor in the ground reached my field of perception with its origin seemingly being the starting point of "that".
What is that?!
It was a creature with two arms, two legs and a head but otherwise as inhumane as it could be.
The creature was about four meters tall and its head reminded me of a horned lizard. Even though it stood straight on its legs, the long, muscular arms reached the ground easily and ended in giant hands with brutal looking claws. The width of the palm would be around my body's size.
The torso was slim and covered with pitch black scales like the rest of it and even though its legs are muscular, there is no comparison to the arms. Like me it had a tail that was as long as the rest of its body, but it's seemed as muscular as the legs.
WHAT THE HUNDRED IS THAT!?!
The grotesque creature leaned back inhalingly for a moment and while the humans still tried to grasp the situation it let out an earpiercing roar while showing its big, horrifying teeth.
Only two seconds had passed since the creature showed up and finally the first guard seemed to catch up.
It was a woman that shouts something in a commanding voice before swinging her sword towards the creatures shin.
Fired up by the womans shout, the other humans got ready to attack the creature and even the old man jumped up and unleashed his bizarre mana into the air.
It was completely futile.
The commanding woman was the first to die as the big creature just stomped on her in a speed that no human should be able to match.
Three other people followed in a split second. The creature just swung its long arm as if it swept up some dust and hit the humans with that move. In my field of perception I could [see] their bones getting shattered and piercing vital organs. At leat it was quick.
With the swiping movement the creature grabbed another human and lifted him up like a puppet.
Neither the terrified screaming nor his struggling could help him as he got lifted higher and higher. The creature slowly opened it's mouth and bit off half of the mans body. The other half wasn't interesting anymore and just got dropped on the ground while the creature turned a bit to get the remaining humans in his sight.
It stared at them with green glowing eyes and made a sound that was terrifyingly similar to a chuckle.
I need to run! Hide!
JUST GET AWAY!
…
No.
My body couldn't move.
The mere [sight] of that made me frozen up in terror.
I could just watch and hope that it wont come to me next.
The humans on the other hand could move.
Humans are strong, huh?
A big man used his gun to shoot at the creatures eyes but that seemingly only made it angry. With a furious hissing the creature kicked away the man.
He seemed prepared for the impact and just got sent flying into the forest but hit hard against a big tree only a few steps away from me. His skull got crushed on the impact and he died immediately.
Only sixteen seconds since its arrival and six humans are dead already. There is no way anyone will survive this encounter.
Suddenly a new scream got mixed in the human shouts. It was higher pitched and softer but filled with the most terror yet. It reminds me of myself in a world of darkness…
The source of that scream was the little girl but soon a hand covered her mouth in the attempt to silence her. A tall woman lifted up the child and started to run towards the forest with her.
At the same time a loud thunder shook the air and a bright flash hit the creature.
The old man took a pose and pointed at the creature with two fingers. Another flash hit the creature immediately. Its scales were chipped at the point of impact and the bare skin was visible.
The old man lifted his hand again to point on the wound but with a fierce roar the creature turned sideways. Its tail hit the old man, knocking him of his feet and sending him flying.
He had more luck than the other one as he came to a halt near me without hitting into anything too hard. But he would not survive this either.
Many of his bones were broken, he had internal bleeding at two points and one arm was half torn off. His eyes are closed but he still seemed barely conscious. Maybe he was just waiting for the end.
You need to struggle, old man!
Don't just give up! Fight! Crawl away!
Flee and life on!
… Of course he didn't hear that.
What a sad man.
I only noticed that I moved when I already stood next to him.
The tip of my tail touched his forehead and completely confused of my own action I stared at the soon to be corpse.
I thought nothing.
No silly me.
No rational me.
Not even the counting.
Just a hollow body that looked at a near dead one.
…
No, there was more.
Many points.
Way too many.
Ugh I'm getting dizzy.
My concentration was on all the lethal wounds of the old man but even though it made me feel sick, I couldn't stop myself from [staring].
They started to heal up!
Huh?!
It took mere seconds until nothing was of immediate lethality and with this it wouldn't even take a minute until he was recovered to a good point.
But it wouldn't come to that.
The loudest and most terrified scream until now rang in my ears and released me from that blank state.
Immediately the counting was back and my [sight] wandered to another location in my field of perception.
It was the girl who screamed.
The woman who hold her earlier was lying a few meters away from the girl. At least some parts of her.
The creature looked at the screaming girl for a moment. Then it shifted its gaze towards the few remaining adults and in a confused way back to her.
Seemingly irritated by her size, it reached out to grab her.
Oh no…
Kill her if you want, I don't really care.
But my body reacted and started running.
0.7 Seconds until it would grab her.
0.5
0.3
I would reach her easily before that.
I wont slow down and just take her with me. The impact might hurt but at least she would survive.
...
Fate is cruel.
...
I reached her.
But the bloodstained stones made me slip.
Instead of grabbing the girl while running I hit her and pushed her away.
…
I got grabbed instead.
The big hand closed completely around me. I felt that I got lifted up and in the next moment there was a brutal pressure all around me.
Some gross cracking sounds and everything vanished into a flood of pain.
...
This only kept going on for a second and the pain turned into a refreshing nothingness.
…
….
…..
Hm…
Yes.
I died.
Again…
But this is really refreshing.
No suffering anymore.
No pain.
And it should be the final end this time.
That sounds quite nice actually.
…
How do I know that I died?
It's easy. I am only my field of perception now and I can feel it vanishing from the outer edge.
This [sense] was my first proof of existing after I died before and got reborn in this world. So its natural that it will be my last [sense] that vanishes when I leave this world too.
I can [see] the closed fist of that creature. A bit of my cloak is sticking out between the fingers and a huge amount of black liquid is dropping down.
I [see] the remaining humans and even the old man in the forest. With a lot of luck he will not be spotted and survive this.
The girl will not.
The creature dropped the mess that once was me and reached for the girl again. What a waste, that I got killed and she still wont survive.
You owe me one, little girl, so at least try to run.
…
Oh she did…
Not towards the thing you stupid -! Huh?
My field of perception got quite blurry by now but if I'm not mistaken there are two girls now. Or is the other kid a boy?
Ah I can't tell.
The one I know is still sitting on the ground, covered in blood and dirt and crying her eyes out.
The other one wears the same clothes but has black hair and runs straight towards the creature.
So suicide it is? Can't blame you.
Hmm… I'm almost gone but sadly not fast enough so that I will at least see one kid dying.
This will give me a bad aftertaste in the afterlife.
Hehe… aftertaste… afterlife…
How stupid am I to make a dumb joke in this situa- WHAT THE FUCK!
NO!
That- WAH?!
The black haired kid just dodged the swinging arm of the creature and then jumped at it, far higher than what should be possible.
The creature seemed a bit surprised but opened its wide mouth for the incoming snack that presented itself in front of it.
The child stretched out its hand, the palm barely touched the creatures nose and at the same time its head was blown off.
What just was that?
Th creatures body collapsed and then vanished as my field of perception shrank once again. Outside of this field is just nothing.
Now I'm sad.
Not about dying though.
I just would have loved to learn more.
About this situation and this world. About everything…
…
Ah well. Can't be helped.
…
When was the last time I felt sleepy?
I can't remember. Neither in this, nor in my previous life.
Hmmm~
That just means I have earned the right to sleep. That's perfect.
…
Good night.