In the next moment Tim found himself waking up on the ground. Getting up, he took a look around him. Behind him he saw a gate that looked practically identical to the gate that he went through back in Han and to all other sides he saw densely packed woods. Closing his eyes to focus he could hear the faint sounds of water flowing. Feeling thirsty, Tim began to meander towards the sound coming to a clearing next to a river.
As Tim approached the clearing he began to look around, unsure of what he might find in the new place he has found himself in. The river was about 20 ft wide and about waist deep. He knew he would be able to use it for cleaning himself or any cooking he might do so had decided that he would follow it downstream hoping to find some people that might be able to fill him in. Walking towards the river to get a drink Tim was surprised by an unfamiliar sound.
SCREEEEEEEEE
Looking to his left he saw a small mouse-like creature charging at him. It was larger than a typical rat, about the size of a pumpkin. The white animal had charged at Tim and jumped in the air, clinging himself to Tim's clothing and proceeded to bite him. Each bite was enough to take a small chunk of his skin but not deep enough to tear the muscle. Thinking quickly, Tim pulled his shirt off and threw it as hard as he could to the ground with the mouse wrapped up in it. He pulled out the knife given to him and stabbed it down into the squirming mass which soon began to stop moving.
"Life taken, Typical Field Rat killed. No attribute."
There was that voice again ringing in Tim's head. "Who is that man and how did he get in my head?" Tim thought to himself after hearing the voice. "Since the voice came after I ate the Life Mango and after I killed the Field Mouse, I wonder if I'm supposed to eat this thing."
Tim then unwrapped the mouse from his shirt looking at the bloodstain and the hole in the fabric. He picked up both the shirt and the mouse and walked over to the stream. There he set his shirt on a submerged rock and placed another on top of it so that the water could wash over it without washing it away. After that he took out his dagger and cut down the belly of the rodent. Allowing all the blood to drain from its body, Tin began pulling out the organs, letting everything flow downstream.
Once the mouse had been cleaned, Tim turned his attention to building a fire over which to cook it. He gathered some small sticks that were lying on the ground in the woods and began to stack them. Then from a small sack on his hip he produced a small amount of flint with a hunk of iron. Striking the flint, Tim eventually got the fire started. He then pierced the organless, skinless, mouse with another stick as a skewer and left it to cook over the fire. To kill time as he waited for it to cook he went back to his shirt and began scrubbing it on itself to release the bloodstains. When it finally started to come clean Tim began to smell the meat cooking.
With the poverty of the Sen Kingdom since they lost their leader, fighters, and land, a hundred years ago, meat has been very scarce. Every now and then the villagers would catch a deer in a trap but there were no real hunters as there were no weapons to hunt with. All blades went to the guard and government and those who could use a bow got enlisted. Even with his lack of experience with cooking meat, Tim could tell that this mouse was going to be something great by the smell of it.
Getting up and walking over to the fire, Tim pulled the mouse off the fire and laid it on a flat rock nearby he was using as a plate. Once it had cooled off, Tim lifted the mouse up and took a bite from its meaty leg. Absolutely astonished by the taste, he began wolfing it down bite after bite. He then heard the voice in his head once again.
"Meat of Field Mouse eaten, Typical Life Point gained, no attribute"
"So I am supposed to eat the things here," Tim mused to himself. "But what are these life points I'm getting? What are they for?"
Tim continued eating the mouse and heard that voice in his head another 5 times that night. Looking up at the sky it didn't seem like he should expect any rain so he found some leaves to make a soft spot on the rocky bank to lay for the night. Tim ended up going to bed that day with his belly more full than he can ever remember it being. For the first time he didn't have to pace himself to have food leftover for the morning, there was simply too much to eat.
Waking up the next morning he used the remaining embers of the fire to heat up the leftover meat of the mouse which caused the delicious aroma to once again fill the air. All of a sudden he heard a voice that was neither his nor the voice in his head. Looking upstream he saw a man in a small paddle boat waving at him.