"Hey Pakura, do you know where this is?"
I asked her despite knowing it was a weird thing to ask someone that just arrived. Her face scrunched up.
"Hm? I was gonna ask you that, Roma-sama. How did you even get here?"
"I was kinda teleported here. I was just minding my business until suddenly—whoop—I'm here."
"Space-time Ninjutsu?" Pakura whispered under her breath. "Do you know why you might've been teleported here?" She looked around, noting the familiar looking yet strange forest.
I was sure at that time it was because of the survey. That might've answered the how, but the why was still completely blank.
"No idea." I only shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. Pakura looked to be in deep thought. I was glad that she's taking my situation into consideration, but we really need to worry about it right now.
"Hey, shouldn't we be walking around looking for some village or even some kind of settlement?"
Pakura snapped out of her reverie, her eyes focusing again. "I'm not sure that's wise," she said, glancing up at the slivers of sky visible between the canopy of leaves above us. "The sun's starting to set. It might be better to find a place to settle for the night and start searching tomorrow."
I looked to the sky also, a bit skeptical, but the light was starting to dim, the forest shadows growing long and dark. She was right. As much as I didn't want to sleep in a forest without a tent, wandering through an unfamiliar forest in the dark didn't seem like the best idea.
"Okay, yeah. So we should get a fire going right?"
Tiger, Rabbit, Dog, Ram, Dragon. "Wind Release: Steel Tearing Winds!" she called out, her voice clear and commanding. She swung her arm in a swift arc, and a massive crescent-shaped blade of compressed wind shot from her hand, tearing through the air with a roaring whoosh. The blade slammed into a nearby tree, slicing it cleanly in half. The trunk toppled with a loud crash, sending birds squawking into the darkening sky. The wind slash was so powerful it left deep gashes in the trunks of the surrounding trees.
I stood there, stunned, my mouth agape. I had just witnessed Ninjutsu—real, destructive power in action. I became a little scared of Pakura, fearing she might turn on me. If she did, I would have no way of resisting.
"I have a handle on things here. I could make a fire with my Fire Release and a simple shelter. But we need to get water, especially by how parched you sound. If that sounds too much for you, I can just send a Shadow Clone to do it?"
I hesitated. She was right—Something about the transfer took everything out of me, and my stomach felt like it was trying to eat itself. But I didn't want to be completely useless. "No, it's fine," I replied quickly, trying to muster some semblance of determination. "Save your chakra. I'll look around and see if I can find a stream or something."
As I turned to head deeper into the forest, Pakura called out to me. "Ah wait, Roma-sama." She placed "Be careful," she warned, her voice softer now, almost as if she sensed my unease.
The underbrush crackling under my feet, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was walking into something far more dangerous than a mere wilderness.
How am I supposed to find water again? Look for wet rocks?
I was an indoors kid, I didn't know how to survive in the wilderness, I didn't have basic survival know-how.
Tch why did I have to act tough?
I was scratching my head in frustration, mists of sweat flying off from my hair.
"Haah... I should just swallow my pride and go back. It'll be dangerous if there are wild beasts around."
I promptly turned around with my head hanging low, facing the ground. That was when I noticed a footprint. It was almost a human's, heading in the direction of where I was just walking to.
"All things living must drink water..." I whispered to myself.
So following it should lead me to water.
"Aha! I'm a genius!" I proclaimed, before throwing a coughing fit because of my dry throat.
I turned around and followed the trail of footsteps. Each step I took seemed to crunch louder in the forest's eerie silence, making me acutely aware of just how alone I was.
And now I wished I had taken her up on that Shadow Clone offer.
The footprints led deeper into the woods, their path winding around thick tree trunks and over gnarled roots. They were faint, but discernible—enough for me to follow without losing track.
To make sure I didn't get lost and forget where I came from, I took any fallen tree branches and stuck them into the ground.
Minutes passed, or maybe it was longer—I couldn't tell. Time seemed to stretch as I moved through the forest. I tried to focus on the task at hand.
Using just logic that I could come up with, I reminded myself to follow the low ground, listen for streams, look for signs of animal activity. The footprint trail certainly counted as the latter, but I couldn't help but wonder who—or what—had made them.
I wish my system was those omni-purpose ones that could do anything.... Ah there was that notification after I summoned Pakura wasn't there?
[Congratulations on your first summon!
Summoned characters retain most of their personality, but rest assured! Any violent thoughts will be suppressed should they be directed at you. But it's still possible for them to find you undesirable to serve and disobey. Tread carefully!]
Oh, thank god.
My biggest worry with this system was what if I got absolute maniac characters, but knowing they're psychologically compelled not to harm me was extremely reassure.
[A quest has been completed]
[Summon one Character (1/1)
Reward: 100 Ancient Coins]
There's quests on here?
There was a choice to claim the reward now or close the panel and claim it later. And also there were more quests, like in a game's achievements.
So this is how I'm going to get more Rainbow Jewels.
I began to imagine, in the future, having a large group of powerful and loyal followers. Characters that was summoned through the system.
On Earth I was a nobody, a loser without a future. But now I could just let my competent summons do the all the work and reap the benefits!
...wait isn't that slavery?
In the midst of my fantasizing, I finally heard it: a faint trickling sound, barely audible over the rustling leaves and my own breathing.
Please!
My heart leapt with relief. I picked up my pace, following the sound, and soon enough, I saw it—a small, narrow stream, glistening in the fading light.
I ran up close to examine the water. It looked unbelievably clear. I knelt by the stream and quickly cupped my hands, scooping up the cold, refreshing water. Throwing all caution out of the window, drank it.
It was as refreshing as sipping the bottle of water when you woke up in the middle of the night.
"Ah, I don't have any bottles to store it. Maybe there's something I could use here..."
I looked around me, I didn't find any containers, but I heard a swashing sound. I turn my head to the source of the sound, further down the stream.
It had a hunched figure, no taller than a child, with reddish-gray skin stretched taut over bony limbs. Its ears were pointed, a tangled mess of white hair hung down its back, partially obscuring a set of beady, suspicious eyes that darted back and forth. It wore a crude loincloth made from some kind of animal hide, and a knife dangled at its side.
A goblin?!