With a smirk, Rivan tried to climb again and, unsurprisingly, fell again.
Thinking of how he could get out of this situation, he glanced around. There was a shirt hanging from his waist, crumpled tissues, algae on the root, and a few earthworms.
His eyes stopped on the earthworms, he looked at them for a moment thinking of something then as if in disgust, he immediately turned away. "Definitely not. I can't stoop so low...", suddenly a growl came from his stomach.
His body prioritised the search of food over the ways to climb, while his eyes rescanning the surrounding halted at the roots. With weak, unwilling expression he stared at the root covered in algae next to him strangely, It can be eaten, right?
"Isn't this what they show in those survival programs?"
He reluctantly moved his hands forward in an attempt to grab the chunk of algae only to stop halfway, sigh.....,then suddenly with the straight face turned around, and started walking towards the earthworms.
"There is no way to cook in such a closed environment, I can't even light a fire, and more importantly, there isn't even a shed of water here." While saying so he picked few earthworms. 'chi! chi! Chiii!' making such noises, those creatures tried their best to get away, but failed.
Rivan bringing them at the eye level; "Well, what can be done? You are the only witnesses of this strange phenomenon, and since you have seen me in such state... I can't let you live. So you have to die, but don't even think that this is because I need rope."
Thereafter while dawdling, he glanced at them again, squishing them a bit. "Tch! This won't do." Saying so he placed them back on the ground.
As soon as they gained their freedom, they ran away in opposite directions with all their might, although still sluggish.
Not having anything to do, Rivan sat down with a weak, hopeless expression, subconsciously scraping the surface with his nails.
Rivan : (-_•)
What he noticed was that though green liquid was dripping drop by drop out with each scratch, there was not a single scar on the surface. But his nails were definitely affected.
Have I grown weak, maybe due to hunger, "or did that vaccum cleaner sucked my strength! Che! Despicable.", As he rubbed the nails gently to soothe the pain, a thought crossed his mind: if this algae is so strong and stable, can't it handle my weight?
After some thought, he picked the sharpest stone he could locate in the darkness and started hammering the root.
With passing time, a hole started to appear on the surface, as it deepened with each strike, disgusting green liquid seeped out with strange stench filling the air.
Rythmic striking sound resonating in empty cave. Time elapsed and a cavity big enough to grab unto was formed. Eager to test his idea, he jumped and clutched the cavity.
"Ha! Ain't I a genius!" he said while hanging. Then, letting go of the grip, he landed on the ground, stumbling in the process thanks to his weakened physic.
Exhausted he sat down, breathing heavily, but a smile still lingered on his face, his head started to drop in an attempt to take a quick nap. But stopped, widening his eyes he looked around.
Had the environment gotten dimmer? Turning around, he looked at the ray of light, and as expected it was noticeably dimmer.
Panic surged in. He got up and, without wasting a single moment, grabbed the rock, clutched the cavity with his right hand, and began striking where his left hand could reach. Proceeding to straggle through the narrow passage, as every part of his body was in pain, his breath heavy, completely drenched in sweat, he kept moving forward.
Over time, the light diminished completely, but his determination to stay alive, find his way home, and save his property from his brother kept him going.
As he climbed, he noticed a small opening. He climbed further. The ray of light, visibly getting brighter and brighter with a tinge of redness in it. As he climbed further it fell on his face, he closed his eyes covering his face with his left hand, but unable to hold his enthusiasm he slowly moved his hand away savouring the result of his efforts with his eyes.
He stared at the passage with determination and, mustering his last bit of strength, pulled himself out of the opening.
Finally, standing on the ground, staggering from pain and unable to open his eyes completely, he stretched his arms, bathing in the bright red light, and laughed maniacally "Haha! Hahaha! Ha...ha!"
But unable to hold his own weight any longer, he finally fell, his fatigue took over. And not caring about his situation or any potential danger, he closed his eyes, grumbling something under his breath. " @_#&-$;$!... Whoever the fuc.... made this hand....some... yo..ng...mannn..n.....go.... thro....this, ....jus...wait... I will....kil..you...."
.
.
.
.
**"Roar!"**
Rivan was jolted awake, his heart hammering in his chest. The noise that woke him was a deep, guttural roar, unlike anything he had ever heard. It reverberated through his bones. The sound seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.
Rivan stood up on his legs, sweat clinging to his brow despite the chill in the atmosphere. It was not just a roar, but a complex cacophony of sounds—growls, howls, and something like a distant, thunderous crash.
His eyes darted around, as the roar had left him disoriented. An unfamiliar environment unfolded before his eyes. Massive dry leaves covering every part of the ground, finally! he could see clearly, there was light everywhere.
He looked up with the hope to see the blue sky, but there was this huge root obstructing his view. In order to assess his surroundings and feel some freedom, Rivan tried to run out of the root's shadow but fell as soon as he tried to take his first step.
Rivan covered his face with both hands in an attempt to avoid injuring it, he crawled and sat back to where he had woken up.
He looked at his shivering hands, thin and trembling legs, dry throat, and examined his naked body only covered by the shirt concealing his vital organ. He concluded that he had been asleep for more than just a day, as his own heartbeat felt heavier.
The worst part was that his mouth kept drooling as he stared at the small pool of water on the massive leaf. It was dirty and slightly muddy, rainwater perhaps hadn't evaporated because of this massive root overhead, it's just rainwater.
He kept staring at it while swallowing his saliva rigorously, trying his best to subdue his thirst. But despite his best efforts he was unable to hold on any longer as his body moved on its own, and he reluctantly started drinking the water.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he choked on the water, his body betraying him, forcing him to swallow what little he could keep down. Unable to resist any longer, he kept drinking, his body giving in despite the nausea threatening to overwhelm him.
Quenching his thirst he threw the leaf away and leaned back with the thought of giving up on life. No definitely not, atleast not without a proper resistance.
A bit far from him, he noticed a creature similar to a squirrel. The creature was half his own height, but he was definitely not in the state to be surprised by the XL-sized squirrel. Instead his attention was on the blue-colored fruit that creature was eating. He looked at the pulp beside him, which, although smashed to ground, resembled the fruit it was eating.
Unable to move his body, barely crawling, he grabbed a big chunk of pulp and started gulping it down.
It was a bit astringent and mildly sour, even emitting a pungent smell. But not caring about any of that, he continued gulping, even choking in the process. Continuous stream of tears welled from his eyes, his mind completely blank with only one desire to survive.
After filling his stomach, he leaned back, his face and body covered in the starch of the pulp, with dirt sticking to it, but he couldn't care. He looked up, in an attempt to say something but lacked the energy to do so.
Not caring about his surroundings or that roar he had heard, he closed his eyes, What's with this fucking voice, tch whatever. Thanks to the root for providing him with a sense of security, he fell asleep.
* Ding *
[Your resilience increased by 0.5]
[Your willpower increased by 0.5]
[Skill - climbing lear.......