My leisurely cruise lasted for several days. I think I'd covered at least sixty or so miles, and things started to take on a more lively aspect. A tree or two, exactly the evergreens that should've grown closer to the mountain, though nowhere near enough of them to satisfy my needs. Also, in the distance, I could make out signs of human settlement.
It would probably take until early dusk to arrive, judging by my current speed, the day-night cycle, and the afternoon sun overhead. And already, this world impressed how much I took my previous life for granted. Watches, GPS, phones, they're all great at timekeeping, knowing where you are at any given time, or keeping yourself connected with hither and yon, anywhere and anytime. But in this other world, where nature was your only guide, you're left subjected to the raw experience of ineptitude and mindless guesswork.
I had about half a day to figure out what I wanted to do. According to experience, the people of this world weren't too hospitable towards me, but maybe that was simply because of my predisposition as a biological oddity. While I hated them with a very intense passion, those monks most likely weren't aware that I was a living, thinking thing. I was their experiment. It was only natural for them to continue with their work.
Not that that changed my opinions of them at all, of course. Watching them burn would be most entertaining.
Yet, I was still left with a decision to make. Whether to ride on, or take my chances with some out-of-the-way hamlet. I wanted a more secluded, forested area, and there could be further downstream, if the trees I'd seen were telling the truth. Then, if for some reason I needed or wanted to bother myself with humans again, I could.
But there was also the chance that I'd be discovered. As I drew closer, it appeared the town sat squarely on the river, two halves straddled across the banks where an arched stone bridge served as the connection between the west and east sides -or, what I assumed was the west and east. No doubt the bulk of its traffic crossed it, leaving me with a non-zero chance of being spotted by a random passerby.
Admittedly, I myself didn't even know what I looked like yet. The parts of my body those monks took had the same visual aberration around them as numerous other things I'd encountered did, rendering them impossible to determine what they looked like and, by extension, myself on the outside, as though seeing myself was strictly verboten. If I were some terrifying goo monster, then I wouldn't know until I met a human. Who knows, they might shit themselves as soon as they caught sight of me.
That, or burn the witch on sight. I wasn't looking forward to that option.
With that in mind, I decided to meet all my criteria halfway. I'd make landfall before getting too close to town and, if tenable, take the long way around to avoid detection. Precautions like these were probably signs of borderline paranoia, but I had my reasons for bearing those symptoms. Trusting anyone or anything outside my own ken was tantamount to suicide to my traumatized mind. There was far too much at stake to take that sort of risk.
A long fir-trunk, washed down from upstream -strangely enough, considering the lack thereof heretofore-, jutted out at an angle from the side of river. I heaved myself onto it after a soft bump against the wet bark, and waddled along it's length to the bank. Where I then promptly sat to rest.
I felt weak. My body was small, and it felt malnourished. How I could tell that was beyond me. I wasn't human anymore to guess what my anatomy was doing.
I didn't know what my body ate, or for that matter, how it did. The pink fluid from my tank remained as the only intimation that I had the faculties for the activity, but that was gone. I cursed myself for losing what I had on me, but there was no point crying about it. If this world operated on similar principles to my own, then the law of conservation of mass and energy would come to bite me in the ass eventually. My body might shrink even more as I lost whatever nutrients my body fueled itself on. That was... actually a rather frightening thought, considering any loss in mass meant a respective loss in memories. Just sitting here might be costing me precious seconds.
Pushing my sustenance to top priority was a no-brainer.
Eukaryotes like the common amoeba undergo a form of phagocytosis for feeding. If I can assume that I'm something similar, then engulfing various things to see if I can digest them would probably be the best way to sift out the edibles from the non-edibles. A skill might even show up for it, given the vagaries of the awarding scheme so far.
Thicker patches of bluish grass laid around, so I tested myself on them first. I probably wasn't a vegetarian sort of thing, and wasn't in my previous life, but it was the only option I could consider food that was readily available. Wrapping myself around a tantalizingly plump bundle of blades, I squeezed down and tore at them with all my might.
I felt a familiar tingle, but not intolerable as it was with [Rudimentary Locomotion].
[Proficiency requirements met. Rudimentary Object Manipulation awarded.]
[Rudimentary Object Manipulation: Despite your limitations, you have successfully found a way to move objects. +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity]
[Related requirements met. Rudimentary Shape Manipulation awarded.]
[Rudimentary Shape Manipulation: Despite your limitations, you have successfully mastered basic morphological transfiguration. +1 Dexterity]
[Rudimentary Shape Manipulation, addendum: You may now freely alter your body into basic shapes.]
Huh. That's odd. I haven't really moved things around much. Going by how I got [Rudimentary Locomotion], I had to work myself a fair bit until I met the proficiency requirements. Although... I did carry that bead of pink fluid around. And the fact that I played around with changing my body shape both in the tank and while I floated on the river accounted for [Rudimentary Shape Manipulation].
What was more interesting was the addendum to the skill. Maybe I could complete that water jet technique. Or forgo it all together and shape myself into a boat. Now that would be a sight to see, if only I could see it for myself.
I did feel a bit stronger now thanks to the strength award. Not enough to fully wrench the grass out by the roots, probably because I was barely as tall as the grass itself, but it was enough of an improvement to tear off a few blades. Those went straight into the folds of my body.
I watched as they tumbled around inside me, waiting to see if they had begun to dissolve. While I couldn't perceive myself, apparently I could sense objects inside me. It's a relief to know that I could detect foreign bodies, potentially life-threatening ones in the event there were.
Ever so slowly, thin striations began to form, weaving an intricate tracery in the grass blades. Some of those lines began to crack. After what I reckoned to be thirty or so minutes, the blades fragmented into tiny specks, and those too disintegrated, to diffuse into nothingness. The whole process looked like I was watching the grass decay, only on fast-forward.
I was nothing short of elated about that! There was no indication that it actually gave me anything, nor did any new skills crop up, but the knowledge in itself was yet another load off my non-existent shoulders.
I could eat.
That's probably the most human trait I've found myself to have thus far. But hat's a nasty bit of sophistry, since most every kind of animal stuffs some kind of other animal or plant inside themselves to live. I couldn't be blamed for hanging onto what was left of my humanity though. I was, after all, a strapping young man not four days ago, assuming days were actually days here.
Though the time required to finish was a bit disconcerting. Plants are known to have a tougher constitution compared to their animal counterparts, mostly because of the cell-walls surrounding them. If I were to absorb, say, an insect, it might take less time. But that's only an assumption.
Unfortunately, I had plans other than trying to chase random insects around for testing. I needed a home. It wasn't safe to stay close to this town, out in the open, for any longer than I had to.
I threw some more grass inside myself for the trip, hoping my invisible stomach would process them while I went my way. Then, I set my sights on the western edge of the town. Compared to riding the river to wherever the whims of nature took me, this wasn't going to be a pleasant jaunt.
Uncertainty abounds, and I was just an innocent little blob looking for a place to hide. I could only pray for the good fortune to do so, alive.