It didn't take much for Miguel to fall asleep, his body required it. He would have to wake up every few hours, to eat some and sleep. It didn't take long for his body to protest for water. At that time, he was able to walk some steps, but even that wasn't without pain. But he was thankful that he could find flowers that had water on them. He could guess that it must be the dew that was collected on its surface.

Days had passed by, the only schedule he religiously followed was to eat that disgusting thing, search for water on the flowers near him, and sleep until he was good enough to move again. From then on, he had started searching for a way out.

Miguel had grown sick and tired of eating the petals. He wanted nothing more than to get his hands on some actual food. At first he would just skip to other flowers to travel about. But that had to stop when he found that the plants were sparse as he moved farther and farther. And he would have to jump to even have a chance to land on its surface, otherwise he would fall down.

Miguel had no choice but to go down. He had thought that it would be easy, but it had taken him hours to just get a handle on how to get down and land onto the protrusions that were on the sides of the plant stalks. Finally, after much struggle he was on the ground.

And just like that he had started wandering on the ground, to find a way out. He saw many insects, some worms too wandered around. Miguel had sighed in relief when he had found that they weren't the size of the plants. Otherwise he would have to be more careful. He didn't wait to eat them. He wanted to be out of this place, and it took him some hours, that he was finally on the edge of the flower field.

He could see normal trees, normal with the standard of this world. There were many mutated trees among them that looked terrifying at a glance. Some looked akin to a face screaming to get out. But Miguel wasn't here for them, he was out for something else. His vision had instantly landed on the first thing that looked familiar. A rabbit, it looked different, but anyhow it was still a rabbit. Miguel had just wanted to run outside and grab it, when he saw blood.

The same rabbit was shredded in the mere seconds. It looked nothing comforting, the thing had razor sharp teeth, blood dripped from it. Its gray eyes held no emotions. Its claw hands grabbed what remained of the rabbit, and pushed it inside its mouth. After he was done, he crouched low on its legs, its legs were twisted and didn't look developed. It started running on his claws and legs after a few moments. Getting away from Miguel's vision.

It was the most terrifying sight he had ever seen. The instant he had seen the creature, he had developed a deep fear for it. He wanted no more to get near the creature, unless he wanted to be shredded like the rabbit.

From that day onwards, Miguel would just go around, looking for other beasts like the rabbit. He would just observe them from far away, and most of the time he would find the same gray eyed creature as it consumed those animals.

On his tours Miguel had found himself a very suitable weapon. One of the thorns on a specific plant he saw looked suitable at a glance. He hadn't wasted a moment as he tried cutting it down, using stones on the ground. He wanted to test it on the creature, the gray-eyed. But there was a very big flaw to the weapon. After getting cut down from the plant, it took it mere 15 minutes or so to shrivel down.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Back to the present. Hiding behind the plants, Miguel saw the creature come again, it didn't take long as it bit down the ear-eyed rabbit to pieces. After the creature was finished with it. Miguel had thought that the creature had taken a glance in his direction before it walked down away from his sight.

If there was someone else, they might think Miguel was wasting time. But they won't know that he was studying the creature, trying to find something that he could take advantage of. So he could kill it, and get the hell away from here.

This time, the gray-eyed creature would be his prey.

Miguel needed a way to lure the monster creature inside the field of plants. He didn't know how he would do it. But he needed to find a way, a fast and secure way. He couldn't risk his life on the line. The more he was here, the more he was away from his family.

In the past 15 days, there wasn't a single day where he wouldn't miss them. They were a goal for him, he wanted to meet them as soon as he could. Encountering death here had made him realize how precious it was for him to be alive at the moment. He couldn't thank the strange screen enough.

The strange screen had been a lifeline for him. Always guiding him in the toughest moment. If it weren't for it, Miguel wouldn't have been alive after falling from such a high distance. If it weren't for it, he might haven't not been able to communicate with the creatures from this world. Even when the conversation hadn't gone in a good way, he knew that someday, the strange screen would definitely come to help him some day.

Maybe the strange screen would be his guide for the way out.

Miguel tore one of the thorns from the plant, near him. It was big for him, but he had been able to get a hang on how to handle its weight. And if he was right, this thorn might be something he could use to kill the creature.

He thrusted the thorn in front of him, like how someone would thrust a spear.

"Hah!" Miguel screamed, as he thrust it again. Each blow required him to generate a massive amount of power from his body. It was good that his previous experience of karate training was helping him at the moment. He could understand the mechanical way of movement of his body. How much of his hips were engaged to generate enough power to move it. The way his legs accompanied him forward, the movement of his upper body. His hands, rotating to generate some amount of thrust.

With both his hands on the non thorny part. He hurled it to one of the plants. But it failed to penetrate inside the plant. Even if he was able to do it, you couldn't deny the stem's softness. It was not rough like the bark of a tree. If he was good enough he could get the thorn inside.

Still Miguel was happy with it. He could see a minor protusion. He had come far away, in his training. The strange screen was a major factor in his achievement. He could realize only now how much of a good thing self healing was. He could feel the improvement in his physique. The frail Miguel had changed, to become a little bit better. He could feel the hardness of his arms after he was done with his training.

During one of the hurls, Miguel collapsed. The makeshift spear escaped from his hands, he fell on to the ground. A strange tremor, advancing from his hands. Shifting to his whole body. Until he couldn't help but shiver under it.

"It… is… only.. Ge–tting…wor–se." Miguel said between chattering of his teeth. He realized how much of a critical situation he was in. He had observed it first hand, when he had started getting on his feet. The anxiety that had only made it difficult to do things, was now making him unable to react. He didn't know how long he would last, if it continued like this.

The strange screen healing was already doing its purpose in mending his bones, and healing his trauma. Now another factor was added to it. Even if the strange screen was capable of healing even his broken bones. Which was nothing less than a miracle for him when he had expected to die here. It couldn't even cure his anxiety attack, as he named it. Even the screen showed a different text for it.

[Warning: user is experiencing an unknown attack. It is best to find the cure before the user dies.]

The acute anxiety was now replaced with an unknown attack. It feels like even the strange screen couldn't help him with it. But there was something more written, which had appeared only now.

[Remaining Time: Calculating…]

[Remaining Time: 7 Days left]