He didn't know how long he ran but, judging from the run position that's falling down. It might have been a few hours. Despite losing the snake for a while now he couldn't stop running, his fear wouldn't let him.
Ha... ha...
After the sun is almost down Michael sits down at the tree with his back facing its root. He looks around the area to confirm that the snake didn't follow him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he is certain that it didn't chase him anymore.
Hamarr is properly in too much pain to chase him into the wood. Right now he's resting comfortably. Grinning ear to ear when he looks down, in his hands is the Alma fruit that he successfully snatches from the Hamarr.
Can't wait any longer. He bites down on the transparent skin. The juice gushes out of the fruit, filling his mouth with a sour and sweet flavor unique to the Alma fruit. He munches down on the Alma fruit like a starving kid.
No, He really is a starving kid.
He finished the whole fruit in no time. With how hungry he was he could eat an entire chunk of Alma's lizard leg. Yet the Alma fruit could satisfy his hunger, It's indeed a magical fruit.
Looking at the leftover skin of the fruit, Michael can't help but think about a tale that the elder in the tribe has told, It goes like this.
----
There once was a young boniha kid whose mother is sick. He got no money to cure her so his only option is to work at 3 different places. The kid was hard-working and optimistic, People in the village all loved him.
One day they decide to help the kid with medical care.
This instantly brightens his day, he then bought this good news to his mother but, it's too late. his mom has gone silent. However, she's not dead yet, just deep asleep. Her condition could is called Atisia. It's a rare disease that renders the body useless. Paralyzed by a lack of soul connection in one's body.
Distort by the news The kid went into the forest in order to find a cure. It involves another tale about a mythical Alma fruit that could heal a person whatever the condition is. With this information, the kid ventured deep into the forest never to be seen again.
Some say that his spirit still wanders in the forest trying to find the Mystical Alma fruit. They said that kids who wander around at night might find him in the forest, asking where the Alma fruit is.
----
Shivers
Why did he have to think about this now? He had ventured out into the night alone many times before but, he never encounters such an event. Maybe the kid already find the Mythical Alma fruit? No one really knows.
Shaking his head, he gets up and finds a hole in the tree and gathers the wood, it's getting dark and he doesn't want to encounter a kid asking for alma fruit in the night.
After he gathers wood into a pyramid shape he then gets out his crackling. It's a stone that when smashed together could make a crackling sound, and they also generate a little bit of fire. This stone is quite a useful tool in camping and everyday life.
Crack! Crack! Crack! foo
A spark flew out from the Crackling and lit up a wood. Michael then carefully place the wood into the pyramid contraption that he build. Now the only thing that he has to do now is to wait till the fire spreads.
With a moment of peace, Michael thinks about how he could track down the Almazard. He stared into the fire thinking about various things that happened in the past 3 months He feel like he was grown a little.
From being bullied by kids to being bullied by an old man.
No, not that. But how he has hunted a monster by himself. If he told his eleven years old self that one day he could hunt an Alma lizard would he believe that?
Nope
His eleven years old self would sulk and say that day wouldn't come, that it was impossible to do it. Thinking back is really improved. His dream of becoming an apex hunter is not just a mere dream anymore. He could see it faintly that he would one day kill a mighty beast and has a tale told about him.
He thinking late into the night. With fire in place, Michael sleeps cautiously.
-Next day Moring-
yawn
Michael woke up feeling relaxed, Surprisingly no one visit him that night. He pushes himself up from the leaf that acts as a pillow, cover, and bed sheet. The fireplace is almost out with it lasting the whole night, with how much wood he put in it's to be expected.
Today he plans to imitate what Gurara did yesterday. First, he has to find a monster's track. As he scans the forest, It's still morning, and in Boniha the forest is so dense that the sun is barely visible. So he could hardly see any trace.
Michael considers morning air to be the nicest temperature ever even though the fire pit has been extinguished and the morning chill has descended. A little chilly but not extremely icy as in the winter.
Based on the direction the sun is shining, he realizes he is on the southwest part of Boniha island and needs to move east. This is because the monster is more hazardous in the west. He doesn't know how he got to this side of the jungle, but he needs to move quickly.
Micheal spends a few hours traveling back to the east side. Using the big mountain in the middle as a reference one could track where they are on the island even without a map. However, you could still get lost in the mangrove forest with its think tree obstructing the view.
On his way, he chances upon what he was looking for. The Alma lizard's footprint. Elated by the find, Michael quickly follows the trail that it left behind. The alma lizard leaves a three-long nail finger footprint. Its stamp on the ground is quite deep due to the weight of its size.
Michael follows it and learns that an alma lizard is not the best at following directions. He believes this because the footprint he is following deviates from its original path before returning. The track indicates that it would like to go eastward, but the footprint unexpectedly travels south before turning east again.
Making it pretty hard for Michael to follow its track. However, after some time the footprint that he's been following has disappeared.
Michael is now lost in the forest.