"Am I about to die again?" The boy thought frantically, the weight of despair pressing down on him, "Is this the end? Am I going to die before I get to learn magic??" Before he could calm himself down and think about the situation properly, the beast that had tiger-like black stripes on its body and two huge incisors in front caught up to him. It was about 1.5 m in size. Double the size of the child, in height and also in width.
He had positioned himself behind a tree, where the beast couldn't see him. The way he positioned himself blocked the line of sight of the beast. However, he couldn't fool the animal for long, and it soon found his hideout.
Moving his small legs as fast as he could, he ran for his life. Even though he was very nimble and flexible, giving him an advantage in the forest, the sheer difference in size and speed made him unable to run away from the animal.
It was now a battle of stamina and grit, and the beast had an inherent advantage. There was no way he could win and survive unless something miraculous happened. Even though everything seemed against him, he didn't give up and kept on running and hiding. He had been running continuously for an hour already, and his body was giving up.
After running for a while, he managed to somehow evade the beast and find another hiding spot. It was a massive tree with a hollow, big enough for him to get inside but too small for the beast. He was covered in dirt. It was not because he had fallen or anything, but he intentionally put dirt all over his body to cover his smell. Although all the running made him breathe very heavily, he tried his hardest to breathe lightly so as to not expose his position.
It was pretty dark inside. You could hardly see your own hand. Such a place was a nest for snakes and the like. Fortunately, luck was on his side, and there were no such reptiles except a few insects. To cover his smell even more, he put in more dirt and planned to stay the night inside the tree.
"That was a close call. If it were not for this tree, I would have definitely died." The boy sighed a breath of relief. His body was covered in bruises and light scratches because of running in the forest, which had a lot of obstacles.
"Where did this beast come from? I have never seen or heard of this kind of beast roaming around this area of the forest." He was still very shaken. He had never seen such a beast, let alone been chased by it.
He then checked for his pouch, which was attached to his waist. And luckily it was still there. He was collecting some herbs before he sensed a beast nearing him. Although he ran in the direction of the town while shouting for help, the beast was smart and led him to the middle of the dense forest.
Although he was in a very bad situation, a feeling of relief washed over him. The herbs inside his pouch could be very valuable for him at the moment. He had a little over 3 herbs inside and some yarrow leaves, which can be used to stop bleeding and disinfect wounds. Yarrow, also known as Achilea millefolium, was a common herb found on Earth, and to his surprise, he found them here as well.
Orin was not originally from here. He was a brilliant student, studying science in some college in a third-world country on earth. He had reincarnated in this world eight years ago.
At first he was ecstatic to know he had been reincarnated, and that too in a world where there was no modern technology, but it soon dawned on him that he was born in the slums—poverty—a fate worse than death. The only thing that motivated him to keep on living and not just kill himself in the hope of reincarnating again, hopefully as a rich person, was the fact that this world had magic. But more on that later; first he had to secure himself.
He wiped off dirt from wounds and scratches and crushed the leaves into a paste-like form. Only after applying he felt safe and secure—having an infection in the middle of the forest was like having a death wish.
As dawn broke, Orin cautiously peeked out from his hiding place. The forest was eerily quiet—the beast had vanished. His body ached with fatigue, but he pushed through the pain, aware that danger could still lurk nearby.
He was very cautious because the beast could be anywhere, and he was not in the mood to have a near-death experience again. The town soon entered his field of vision, and he could finally slow down.
'I survived. HELL YEAH!' He was very glad and nervous at the same time—glad because he survived and nervous because his only parent in this world might chew him alive for not listening to him and being away from home for a whole day.
He had to come up with an excuse really quickly; otherwise, his business plan would fail miserably. He wanted to use his modern knowledge to create a soap using herbs that are similar to the ones found on earth, and he could not afford to not go to the forest to collect herbs. It was his one-way ticket to become rich and access the resources of this world.
The town was quite desolate, with not so many people outside because of the heat. He got quite a few weird looks from the people because of his looks, but disregarding them, he quickly entered the slum area where he lived. After moving through a few alleys, he soon arrived near his home.
His father was sewing some clothes. There was fabric all around him, and although he seemed really into his work, his face carried a hint of worry.
"Dad, I'm home." He said. As soon as his dad heard his voice, he stared at him intensely—fury visible in his face. 'Fuck, he is going to kill me.' He thought as he broke a small smile and immediately apologized for coming home late.
"Explain yourself, Orin," the father said calmly.
He froze—all the excuses he made while returning home simply vanished into thin air, and he couldn't think of anything. Mustering up courage, he finally told the lie he had been preparing. "I fell into a pit and just woke up this morning. After waking up, I came running here as soon as I could."
His father narrowed his eyes. "Where did you get those scratches from?"
"The pit had a lot of plants with thorns and sharp things." Orin lied, hoping to sound convincing. "You look like you smeared yourself with animal shit; go and wash yourself and come quickly to eat breakfast. It's already cooked, and don't use a lot of water. We don't have much left."
He quickly nodded and dashed out to clean up.
After the bath, Orin felt relief wash over him. He had survived that ordeal and had now finally gathered enough herbs to start making the soap and venture into the business world. If this worked out, he could finally start to change his fate, turn his life around, and maybe start thinking about learning magic.