In a new unfamiliar body, he shook his body heavily, feeling the effects of the cuts and bumps all over his body.
His eyes were already open, staring up at the sun that was barely noticeable through the crown of these trees.
"Ah-ahh…!"
Before he could take any more view in, he grunted in pain once more, groveling on the ground.
Subconsciously, he moved to check what parts of him were hurting when the pain reduced.
He raised his arms that were shorter than he was used to.
On his pale colored arms, asides from the scars, there were multiple cuts that were almost fresh designing his arms along with the dried up blood.
Normally it wouldn't have hurt as they are almost healed, but these cuts had a white glow on them – Even the healed scars had a similar glow, and they were also hurting underneath.
Dropping his arm, he looked down to his body as he sat upright.
He was donning a plain white shirt and straight black pants – both were tattered and torn, they were also stained with dried blood, dirt and sweat.
Raising his shirt, he saw more scars and cuts that had white light, and a big injury at his side – also with a white light.
This injury would have been alarming and could lead to death, but for some reason it wasn't bleeding as if the lights prevented the blood from spilling out.
His bare footed legs were swollen and dirty.
He could feel a swell on his cheek too.
By now, he felt less pain. The reason was this white light was a sign that he was healing.
"Sigh…" Feeling the pain reduced, he relaxed a bit.
After a short moment of soothing himself, he said bitterly,
"The hell is this?! Right from the start, I'm already wallowing in this much pain! What's with this body?! Why's it looking like he was running from a bear or something?! How do I even get out of here?!"
He became silent again, then hissed, "Tsk. "
Although he wanted to let the white light do its work and heal his body while sitting and assessing the situation, his instincts told him that he should run.
Based on the body state, one could tell he was running from something. The injuries on his body were caused by a man.
He was certain that the previous body owner had died from blood loss, before he became the new owner.
There was a pool of blood not far from where he sat after all.
His current situation gave him no opportunity to think.
Gritting his teeths and ignoring the slight pain he still felt, he ran towards the direction where he felt was right.
Aside from worrying about his chaser, with a new ability he had gained, he could sense multiple presences that he believed he should also be worried about.
They seemed weak and reluctant to attack him, but if they attacked him, he didn't believe he'd be able to handle them.
Standing up, he looked around to determine what part he should follow.
Then he noticed two things as he did; First was an illusory black and white colored screen that he seemed to have not noticed, and the second thing he noticed sparked something within him.
Not far from him, a blue ghostly humanoid figure that was similar in height to him and had a blank face was staring at him with void-like soul piercing eyes.
Run. Run. Run! Run!!
He heard this word resound within him, each time more intense than the last.
Without thinking further, he ran.
He kept running without looking back.
He didn't know where he was going, he just ran the opposite direction of where there was a blood trail believing it was the best.
In this body that was way younger, hence smaller, than his old body, he ran at the fastest speed he ever ran with his stamina barely dropping.
At that moment, he forgot the lingering pain on his body and the surrounding noise became mild, paying attention to the only goal he had in mind.
To get out of the forest.
As he ran between the trees that had their roots disrupting the paths, he avoided any presence he felt.
During this, he saw a few more blue ghostly figures of different shapes and sizes wandering around the forest aimlessly.
Based on the fact that he didn't really know what these things are, he was promoted to keep running.
~ ~ ~
The sun already dipped and the air was cool.
But he was still running.
He was yet to stop.
By now, he was already getting tired and hungry as well.
His desire to stay out of the forest was still burning fiercely. At some point in time, he realized that this fear was too much for him.
He came to believe that the fear of that forest stemmed from the previous owner of his body.
No, he was certain that's the source of the fear.
Nevertheless, he kept going until he found a place he considered safe.
After hours of running at full speed, he was already at a part of the forest where the population of trees were thinning.
With his eye sight that was improved after inhabiting this body, he saw something stand out under the night sky, not so far from where he was.
The first thing he noticed was light – multiple of it.
Lights made by people.
He didn't stop moving towards it as he discerned the surroundings of those light.
Soon, he could discern a wall that circles a range of homes.
That was a town.
As soon as he acknowledges it, the worries he had –and imprint of the former body's inhibitor– died.
Standing under a tree that was close to the edge of this forest, he muttered, "Phew… I guess this is where my new life really begins…"
After coming to the conclusion that entering this town would be the best way forward, he moved closer to the town wall.
From the edge of the forest where he was to the town walls was a grassfield, eliminating natural cover when one steps closer to the town.
He could make out an entrance facing his direction that was being guarded, but he didn't follow that path.
His dressing alone would be too suspicious and it was going to lead to a troublesome situation if he was seen.
Preparing himself to covertly enter the town, he mused.
"This is really another world… It's really like what you'll see in fantasy works! I wonder if those fiction writers are actually world travelers or something. At this point, it doesn't seem impossible."
Using the natural darkness to his advantage, he navigated his way around the forest edge that surrounded half of the town.
His new ability gave him senses that could perceive the weird energy within the atmosphere, the concentration of energy within living beings, and the aura of energy that all living beings had.
The range at which he could perceive was also very extensive, reaching about 5km.
It was this ability he was going to use to detect people and avoid them.
As he moved to avoid the eyes of the wall guards, he hissed, thinking back on what God told him.
"How does this even make my life better? In a world like this any mistake may lead to my death. If just living is already this hard, how would the task be?!"
On reaching a part where a guard had just patrolled, and didn't seem to have that much on the other side of the wall, he braced himself.
One mistake would lead to him being detected by the strong looking guards.
Then, he would even be in more trouble because he tried sneaking into the town.
In that instant, his mind raced faster than usual as he prepared himself to move.