Chương 11: Chapter 10- A Wondrous World and a Scaly Friend

When Eli awoke with the rising of the sun as nautical twilight gave into true dawn, he was greeted by the sight of a thin winding trail of smoke rising in the distance where he saw the light source last night. Elias couldn't contain his glee at the prospect of possibly finding people so quickly, as with the massive expanse of the forest he could easily have found himself wandering alone for months.

The glee was tempered a bit by the return of the unusual dream sequence last night, but Eli was more sure than ever that the dream was a memory and not a figment of his imagination. The sensation of his thoughts after fighting off the pervasive stupor were undeniably his, and while Eli was unsettled by the trajectory of these memories he was at least mollified that he could remember anything at all.

Eli hoped that in time the events that brought him to this strange world would be revealed to him; and honestly, Eli was a little grateful that his memory seemed to be recovering more quickly than he hoped. Specifically that the recovery did not appear to be a slowly dragged out affair, as if by some great cosmic author was cackling with glee as they drip fed a series of teasing cliffhangers to an exasperated audience.

The night had passed with little issue despite Eli sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning in excitement at the chance for meeting someone else in this wilderness. A full belly can do wonders to ease a tired mind, but the occasional roaring calls of known creatures in the night combined with the memories of the earlier fight flashing through his mind meant that he was only able to rest in fits and bursts at best, and was only able to rest deeply when the strange dream came to him in the early hours before dawn.

As he woke, Eli found himself thankful that he must have covered both his trail and the fire pit well enough to not draw anything in, and he was able to greet the sunrise without having any of his supplies raided. Eli grabbed his supplies from the branches around him and dropped down to check on the pit. To his delight Eli found the smoked boar unmolested and hopefully as well preserved as was possible without any salt to cure properly.

Eli wrapped the strips of dried, smoked meat in the smaller boarlet skin, removed some ash from the fire to clean himself with, and tossed some wood on the fire to get it started back up. As with the day before, Eli wanted to take some time in the morning to put together some quick improvements to his equipment before setting out for the day, but wanted to take advantage of the already started fire to get a quick bath first. When he stepped into the river and stripped down again he found yet another surprise.

The stains from the previous day were gone completely from his clothing and not only were they back to a dull white, but there was no sign of the tear from the boar in the sleeve either. Eli brought the sleeve closer to inspect it more thoroughly and could find no disruption in the weaves of the fibers, it was as if it had never been torn. Eli smirked with a laugh himself, I got nuked to another universe and all I got was this magic shirt.

Wait, this means I'm going to have to stain it everyday if I want to camouflage myself. Fuck me. He thought with exasperation, Still pretty cool though, smells better too, a couple more days and there would be no use hiding, the funk alone would give me away. Eli shrugged and chucked them over a bush since he won't need to work on them yet. After a quick scrub clean with some of the ash he proclaimed, "Goddamn it feels good to get clean, I finally feel a little more human again" and got to work.

Clothes first since they need to dry, Eli applied the camouflage once more, rubbing in some grass stains and then dunking the garment in appropriately colored mud yet again before setting them out to dry. While waiting for the stains to set he assembled the tusk daggers he envisioned last night, notching out a couple bones from the larger boar he was able to seat the tusks and bind them together after wrapping them in some of the hide for grip.

They'll need to be sharpened later and the result looked incredibly primitive just like the rest of his gear, but they should help with butchering and the next project, making a bag. The smaller boarlet skin worked fine for keeping the jerky bundled by rolling it in the hide and tying the legs together, but any weight in the larger skin would cause it to fall open especially if jostled while Eli was moving at any appreciable speed.

Using the small bone daggers Eli punched a series of holes in the lip of the skin and fed the last of his cord through as a drawstring to bundle it into a large pouch he could strap to his back. With a smile he pulled the bag open and shut a few times before opening it again and tossing his firebow, jerky pouch, and the left over tinder inside. Getting dressed, Eli applied the mud to his exposed skin with a grimace. I'm not taking any chances if our campfire friend turns out to not be so nice.

Satisfied with his prep work Eli found a stone with a nice grit, kicked soil into his fire pit, and while humming a soft tune as Eli headed once again down the river sharpening his new dagger as he went.

Miles pass under Eli's feet as he trekked through the woods, and once his daggers were sharp and his spear shaft replaced, he picked up the pace. Now that the pangs of hunger were not sapping his stamina, he found himself feeling better than ever, with a loping trot and the gentle rhythm of his footfalls, Eli found his mind wandering back to his unusual surroundings again. There must be something special about this place beyond the system, what kind of place could even support something like that?

With his arm healing so quickly, his clothing repairing itself, the wondrous ring in the sky, the unusual wildlife he's seen, Elias even found himself with more energy and feeling better than he had in years. Was it really nothing more than feeling a new lease on life, or was it something else? Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

There was an energy and vitality in the air that he had never felt back home, and with it suffusing his body with every breath he found himself feeling rejuvenated. This same energy seems to have a rather stark effect on his surroundings. Now that he had a full belly, and at least some provisional implements to defend himself with, he began to feel more relaxed and more attentive to his surroundings.

Not only were the trees larger than all but the largest varieties he could remember from Earth, there was a fecund diversity among the other plantlife as well. Bushes were heavy with berries and fruit, there were large stands of reeds, grasses, and ferns. Fragrant patches of wild flowers in striking blues, yellows, reds, and more spread underneath patches of open sky and glistening colorful fungi grew in the shade where it was dark and damp.

The ecological niches he was familiar with from back on Earth also seemed to have their analogues here as well. While the tree climbing rodent he spotted was at least twice the size of the average squirrel, it was definitively similar in form and diet as it feasted on a set of bright red berries while eyeing him warily as he trotted past. On the other hand, the otherworldly vibrant green color of the animal's fur that blended in so well with the local foliage gave away the difference.

Eli became more familiar and at ease with the terrain as he traveled down river. He spotted many animals that he had previously missed, both large and small. From lightning quick rabbits with a delightful set of small pearlescent horns protruding between their ears, to a towering monster of a boar that passed underneath him while he rested for lunch in a tree.

Maybe that second boar wasn't as full grown as I thought, Eli mused to himself quietly, trying not to gain the attention of the hulking mass of muscular flesh. The animal had to be half the size of a city bus and easily weighed a thousand pounds if not more, as it drifted below him with eerily quiet steps as it snuffled through the brush stripping fruit and leaves from bushes in equal measure in its wake.

Eli started to let out a shaky breath before halting and holding as still as possible as he spotted another creature creeping past below. Stalking quietly through the sun dappled brush below was a giant panther at least half as large as the boar, with soft fur that was predominantly obsidian black with a mottled pattern of dark indigo spots along its flank. Darkness seemed to cling to the creature allowing it to drift between shadows as it tracked its prey.

The giant cat stopped to sniff the trail of the boar and Eli could spot fangs the length of his forearm gleaming in the creature's maw as it cracked open in a silent hiss before quickly padding away through the trees. Frozen in place Elias barely dared to breathe for several minutes after the panther left, heart pounding at the near miss with a creature that could have ended his life in a heartbeat.

Suddenly a large crashing sound blasted through the distant trees followed by a rippling snarl and a roar of outrage, Eli's face grew pale at the familiar noise as he recognized the sounds that he would occasionally hear in the night must have come from the panther or something eerily similar to it. A thunderous crack sounded out as one of the smaller trees toppled in the distance and the canopy swayed with the cacophonous sounds of the distant battle between the two titans.

"Definitely staying out of the deep forest" Eli muttered to himself as he dropped from the tree, crept towards the river bank, and rushed off downstream as stealthily as he could. Ding [Congratulations! [Observant] has reached Lv 4] Ding [Congratulations! [Observant] has reached Lv 5] Ding [Congratulations! [Stealth] has reached Lv 8] Ding [Congratulations! [Stealth] has reached Lv 9] Elias's travels were not all as tense, and after discovering the reason so many of the forest denizens invested in camouflage, he found himself better able to spot the inhabitants around him. There was a staggering array of insects in all sizes and colors, he found however that below a certain size they were fairly mundane; but once they grew larger than his hand they proliferated into a variety of dazzling shapes and colors.

Six inch long bright pink locusts hid among a bank of similarly colored wildflowers, a foot long ruby red six winged dragonfly dashed along the river, and Eli even spotted a pair of bright gold beetles jockeying on top of a branch for territory.

The thunk that the loser made on the ground after being thrown from the tree led him to believe the metallic hue was more than just a color, which made sense in retrospect, since if it was going to display such a bold eye catching color in this forest it would need a hearty defense to fend off any attackers headed its way. Of which there were plenty, for as abundant as the insect life was there were plenty of winged critters to feast on them as well.

There were birds of every shape, size, and color the variety of which would put even the Amazon to shame. Flocks of small brown birds would gather berries on bushes bordering the river bank, large brightly plumed macaw analogues fed on fruit in the canopy, and even gathered around the distant mountain peaks of the neighboring range Eli could see the silhouette of birds of prey of an astounding size circling the mountain passes scouting for prey.

It was hard to tell at this distance, but they looked large enough to even give the panther he previously saw a decent fight; a couple of the bigger specimens might even be able to snatch one up and fly off with it. Eli's absolute favorite so far had to be a small creature he found snacking on some fallen fruit in a meadow he passed through, which resembled nothing more than the most adorable little dragon.

At about a foot long from snout to hind legs, and another six inches of whippy tail it wasn't the largest creature in the forest but shimmering emerald scales with cobalt blue highlights trailing its spine and flank gave off a slightly iridescent sheen which contrasted pleasantly with the rainbow hued membrane that flashed whenever the creature fluttered its wings.

The display of brilliant color in such a dangerous forest led him to believe the creature was likely far more deadly than its relatively diminutive size would suggest, but the happy trilling chirps it let out as it feasted on the downed fruit were endearing. Alas after only a few moments he was spotted, and the reptile fixed him with an oddly intelligent gaze before narrowing its eyes in suspicion." Don't worry little guy, I mean you no harm."

His words seemed to set the little creature slightly more at ease, but it was still tense. Fishing out a couple pieces of jerky from his pouch, he showed that it was safe by taking a bite before tossing it in the creature's direction. It gave a curious trill with an adorable head tilt, before creeping slowly forward and sniffed the offering. Eli grinned as it quickly gobbled down the piece of jerky and tossed another piece which quickly vanished as well.

Deciding to press his luck he inched forward and offered a final piece directly from his hand. With an indignant squawk, as if at the very idea that it would be willing to be hand fed, with a flap of its wings it swooped in, snatched up its prize, and disappeared into the nearby treeline in a flash of dazzling color. Chuckling to himself Eli turned to continue his trek, musing that the world he found himself in was definitely wondrous indeed. Man, teeny dragons, who knew?