After an hour of walking, I had finally stopped hearing the sound of the automobiles on the highway.
From the roadway, this forest appears to be quite small because not many trees are visible as the forest continues to develop on a downward slope until reaching a slightly flat levelled area once more. As for Leigh, he had noticed his misinterpretation of the size of this forest after only an hour of walking.
Leigh had reached the halfway point of the descending slope, and he could now see a portion of the woodland. Nothing except trees, trees, and more trees could be found in that exposed section. The forest, in particular, was densely forested with relatively bushy Evergreen Trees. For Leigh, this was both perplexing and terrifying.
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My thoughts were only on one thing as I stared at this stunning yet unexpected view: what dangers lurks beneath this forest. I've always assumed that this forest was devoid of animals, or at least fearsome animals, due to the presence of a nearby town, but I could be mistaken because this forest is far too large to not house any living creature.
By the time I reached the bottom of this downwards slope, two hours had already past because of my slow and cautious speed. I did not want to encounter an aggressive animal without the knowledge of its existence since I still had no valid confirmation regarding the endurance and defense capability of my new body. Based on my dream and the appearance of my physical appearance, one would say that my body looks weak and penetrable.
The ground of this forest's rather flat area appears to be covered in leaves, but I can still see the dirt and grass that give the forest a more foreign appearance when compared to the city. From closer observation of the leaves that are only 2 meters away from me, I can see that some are crushed which is a sign of an animal.
As I approach the location where the leaves appear to be crushed, I notice another crushing sound approximately 6 meters away, behind a very large tree. Even though I'm nervous, my curiosity seems to outweigh all common sense, leading me to attempt to gain a different angle that would give me visibility over whatever thing lurks behind that tree.
Many would consider my actions to be quite dangerous, but in my defense, I had a feeling that whatever thing was hiding behind that tree couldn't hurt me. As I attempted to find the race of this creature, I was suddenly greeted by a white furry rabbit jumping from behind the exact same tree which confirmed my earlier intuition.
The sight of the rabbit reminded me of my hunger that I tried to ignore but now the creature in front of me, seemed to be offering itself to me as my next meal. Even though I had never killed such an animal, I still needed to satiate my hunger and I believed that I was superior than a rabbit.
I began closing the distance between the animal and myself but when I was within only 4 meter, I could see the rabbit turning its head to be greeted by a 2.2 meter demon that had the eyes of a hungry predator. At that exact moment, the rabbit jumped and with an ever increasing speed, it got away leaving me stunned and embarrassed at my own stupidity.
After my failed attempt at what many would call hunting, I began to consider more important things than food, as my hunger was still insufficient for me to prioritize hunting. After collecting my thoughts, I came to the conclusion that shelter and water are my most pressing needs, therefore I decided to look for a temporary shelter and a water source.
I decided to continue walking in the other direction I had come from in order to explore more of the forest in hopes of finding a water source because it would be more rational to find a water source and then a shelter near that water source than the opposite. The major reason I chose to look for water is because I am unsure whether my new body requires water or not, and I'd rather be safe than sorry.
As I continue searching and exploring this vast forest, I see more and more wildlife. At some point, I even spotted a grey wolf with a white underbelly. At the sight of this creature, I changed the direction I was walking in and chose to walk in the exact opposite direction from that wolf. Since there was more than 50 meters distance between us, the wolf did not notice me hence allowing me a smooth and unnoticeable escape.
A normal human is supposed to see around 6-7 meters but my new eyesight seems to be around 40-50 meters and beyond that starts to blur a bit. This was a huge advantage when I was exploring the forest grounds since it allowed me to avoid many unfriendly or all in all annoying animals.
After walking for some time, I finally reach a wide clearing in the forest that is truly scary since there is a cave at the bottom of a cliff that rises at this part of the forest. My guess is that the forest continues on top of the cliff since I still hear no sign of human civilization. In addition to that I can see vines hanging from the cliff with many wildlife within the 100 meter vicinity of this area.
I decided to take a closer look at the cave and its surroundings. The first and most noticeable feature is a tiny pond with a waterfall pouring water into it directly next to it. This waterfall is relatively modest, measuring only 3 meters in height and 2 meters in width.
With this pond, I realize that this cave will be the best place for a shelter since caves are generally good shelters in themselves. To add on to that, the location of the cave is in a clearing that does not allow dangerous predators to sneak up on me due to the lack of trees. There is also a water source here that might attract wildlife, giving me a source of food as well besides the water itself. Sadly there are no fish in this pond but I believe this is the perfect location for a temporary settlement.
After the observation of this location, I decided to check the cave out for any dangers. The cave seems to be 4 meters tall and 5 meters wide which is more than enough to accommodate me. The cave also seems to be only around 25 meters deep which is a good enough distance to rest for the night. As I continue exploring I notice a very annoying stench but I decide to ignore it since no animals seem to live in this cave.
I exit the cave after a thorough investigation and decide to make this site my temporary home. After resolving the issues of a water source and a shelter, I decided to put hunting as my next priority.
As I am thinking about hunting, I hear a sudden brush of leaves as another one of those white rabbits makes itself known to me and this time I am not planning to fail.