Chapter 2:

I stared at the dead bird at my feet for a good long while. With wet mud still clinging onto my pants and hoodie, I stood there feeling miserable. Both because of the cold damp feeling from the mud, as well as because I felt like a jackass. There was no blue halo around the dead bird. Nothing to be gained from it. No Skills.

Fuck.

Did the system have a size limit or something? Or was the leopard I fought magical or spiritual in some way? Was there a danger requirement? I had no way to know, but I really didn’t feel like trying to figure it out right now. Not when it would involve either fighting another dangerous animal or killing a bunch of innocent creatures.

I glanced down at the poor bloody bird again and sighed. I wasn’t a vegetarian or anything. And if things had worked out I might not have felt so bad… But… Damn... Yet there was no point in crying over spilled milk. I had to move on.

I had to get over it cause I couldn’t stay here forever. More leopards might show up. Or the wounds on my leg might end up killing me if left untreated by someone who actually knew what they are doing. So I tore my gaze from the bird and tried to figure out if I needed anything from this clearing.

For a second I considered taking the bird with me in case I needed something to eat. But it was gross and I had no idea how long it could last uncooked in this weather. So I left it alone.

Instead, I ended up taking the biggest stick I could find to use as a walking stick. Partially to put some weight on it, but mainly in case I needed to leave the path and had to poke the underbrush for dangers. Then I started walking along one of the possible dirt footpaths that led out of the clearing. My leg continued to throb with pain, but it seemed to not be as bad as before. Duller.

Hopefully, that was a good sign. Or maybe my new Vitality was kicking in? Either would be good.

I walked for quite a while, quickly losing track of time. With my phone gone, and the lack of a watch, the best I could do was try to gauge things with what I could see of the sun through the canopy. And I wasn’t good at that at all. I could have walked for half an hour or several hours. I didn’t feel inclined to count it out in my head.

Along the way, I saw some more animals, but thankfully nothing large or predatory. It let me slowly relax just a bit and think more about my situation. Not enough that I lowered my guard for any real dangers. But enough that I didn’t feel like I was going to jump out of my skin.

At first, I was focused on thinking about just how this was all possible. Quickly I realized I had to stop that train of thought, however. I was just going around in circles in my head. This could all be a random cosmic accident, the machinations of a powerful multiversal being, or maybe the System itself. Yet I had no way of knowing the truth.

Not when the System didn’t respond to anything but the Status command. It would just have to remain a mystery for the moment.

So instead I focused on what I could do now. Mainly because it was my most pressing concern, but also because I needed to distract myself. If I didn’t, then I would end up focusing on the fact that I was trapped in another world away from my friends and family. And the fact that I had no idea if there was a way for me to get back.

And if I did that I might break down. Sure, I’d been preparing to leave home for some time now. I had to since I was planning to go to college on the other side of the country. But that was one thing. This was another. I could at least still keep in touch on the internet on the other side of the country.

In another world that wasn’t an option.

So yeah, I needed a distraction from those thoughts. Which meant trying to plan out what I should be doing. Even if it wasn’t all that easy given how little information I had about where I was.

Without exploring more, all I knew was that I was in an immortal cultivation world and I was in a forest. My main plan for dealing with the forest part of that was just traveling along the trail and hoping that I found a way out. I also kept note of any place that looked like they might make for good temporary shelter, as well as any source of food and water, in case plan A failed. But all I knew about survival was from online videos so I wasn’t sure how much good that would do me.

As for the immortal cultivation world part, I tried to think of how to deal with it, but there were so many unknowns. My only idea of what that meant came from fictional stories online. But since that was my only source of possible intel, I decided to assume for now that this world was like those stories.

For now. Until I learned more.

Which meant that the wilderness could be filled with magical monsters. That there were people who could become immortals, and had the power to wipe away mountains—or even more—with just a wave of their hands. That there might be demonic cults out there that worked with actual demons—or were just called that cause they did blood magic and human sacrifices. That all arrogant assholes had a stronger family member just waiting to cause trouble if you actually fought back and won.

In conclusion, I was in a death world. One where the strong ruled and the weak were trampled upon.

So what could I possibly do to prepare for all that?

Well, the obvious answer was that I needed to use the System. It was my only leg up and my only way to get strong enough to deal with all that. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an instant win ability and I wasn’t in much of a position to use it at the moment.

Since animals that I could readily kill seemed to give me nothing, I would have to figure out what were actually compatible targets first. And that was too dangerous to do when I was injured and lost.

So really all I came up with after thinking about it was that I had to keep walking and hope I get out of this forest alive.

That was a frustrating realization. Especially since I was still worried about getting attacked by another leopard or something worse. Thankfully, though, in the end, despite my growing worries and frustrations, the worst didn’t come to pass.

Instead, eventually, the dirt path ended up leading me to a much larger dirt road in a cleared-out section of the forest.

Even better, looking down one direction I could see a lot more daylight. A way out of the forest. It seems despite my terrible luck so far getting caught up in all this, the universe wasn’t completely out to get me. I had a way out.

I sighed in relief and started making my way towards the sunlight. My leg continued to throb, and I was limping worse and relying on my walking stick more. I was also still cold and muddy. But my eagerness to get away from the danger of the forest pushed me to keep going.

When I finally got out into the sunlight and saw the grassy hills beyond, I took a moment to take it all in. I leaned heavily on my walking stick and let the heat of the noon sun warm my skin—and hopefully finally dry out the mud on me. Deep breaths let me untense my shoulders as I finally left the dangers of the forest behind.

Sure, it probably wasn’t completely safe out here. Even if there weren’t animals or spirit beasts or whatever beyond the forest, there were still people out here. Potentially dangerous people who might be able to blast around fireballs and cut boulders with swords.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

But, for just a moment, I let myself ignore all that and feel safe.

That moment didn’t last too long. I was far too paranoid and far too close to the forest for that. And the elation and adrenaline that pushed away the pain of my leg began running out and it started to feel worse again. I needed to keep going and hopefully find some help before it got worse.

Thankfully, it seemed that taking Primal Vitality had been the right call. Despite the leg pain and my trek through the forest, I felt like I could still keep going. Something I was pretty sure was because of the Skill because I wasn’t super fit normally. I honestly thought I would have to rest a lot more than I did so far, and the fact that I felt like I could keep going was a good sign.

So taking one more fortifying breath, I pushed myself to stand properly and continued on, following the road that led out of the forest.

I walked for quite sometime after that. I had to go up and down several hills, which didn’t do my leg any favor. There wasn’t much to see either, as there were only grassy hills for what seemed like miles, and the only sign of civilization was the road I was on. There were also few clouds in the sky, letting the sun's rays hit me with impunity.

I was fine with it before, after being stuck in a dangerous dark forest. It helped dry the mud that caked my clothes. But I had no sunblock and my hoodie was starting to get a bit too warm. If my t-shirt wasn’t being used as a makeshift bandage, I would have taken off my hoodie to cool down.

But since it was, all I could do was bear with the heat. All the while cursing my past self for not bringing my backpack with me. I always had a water bottle in there and I certainly could have used it now.

I was starting to wonder if this road actually led anywhere when I finally saw something new. It was to my right. Dark dots in the distance that seemed to be moving perpendicular to me. For a moment I worried it was a group of animals or monsters that were going to incept my path. But as I continued to walk I realized that I was approaching a crossroad. And that what I was seeing in the distance was some kind of caravan.

I could just barely make out what looked like horse-drawn wagons and mounted riders.

Both excitement and trepidation filled me at the sight. On one hand, my leg was getting really tired and was hurting a lot. So if these people could give me a ride or help me treat it better then that would be amazing. On the other hand… even if this place wasn’t like the ones in the stories I’ve read, it still looked to be a bit on the primitive side. No cars, just horses and carriages. What if they’re suspicious of me? Or were some rich nobles who won’t bother with a peasant? Or heck, what if they hate foreigners and think I am one?

Just cause this was called a cultivation world doesn’t mean these people had to look even remotely asian after all.

Then there was the worry about language. I think those System messages said something about a multiversal translator. But did that mean languages? Or something else?

Well, I was about to find out.

I ended up reaching the crossroad before the caravan, though it was a close thing. They were faster than me but had been further away. So I waited at the intersection, not actually on the road, and hoped for the best.

Before the main body of the caravan reached me, a rider and a couple of other men moved to intercept me.

The first thing I noticed as they came over was how fast the men on the ground were. The rider wasn’t going that fast, but the men on the ground easily kept pace at speeds that would have been a run for me. Once they got closer, I noticed that they were all armed. The man on the horse had a sword on his hip, and three other guys were armed with a spear, an axe, and another sword. Thankfully, only the spearman actually had their weapon out since there wasn’t really a way to store something like that.

I raised a hand as they approached and tried to give them my best friendly smile. “Hello.”

At the same time, I noted their clothing and overall appearance. It seemed looks-wise this world—at least this part of it—matched with what I was expecting when thinking about immortal cultivators. They looked vaguely Asian, and their hairstyles reminded me of the type of things I saw in the C-dramas—Chinese dramas—my parents liked to watch. That meant having long hair tied up into buns or tied up with a hairpiece. Their clothes were the same as well, reminding me of ancient Chinese clothing.

The men on the ground had rough spun clothes that consisted of tunics and baggy pants. The pants were tied down near the ankles and they all had cloth sashes around their waists. They also had what looked like leather armor on top of that.

The man on the horse resembled the ancient Chinese look a lot more, though. He had what I would think of as cultivator robes, which somehow remained rather pristine looking despite the more road worn look of his companons. He sat on his horse with a straight back and an impassive face. He didn’t look either friendly or angry. Just very neutral as he slowed his horse and looked down on me.

“What are you doing here?” The man on the horse asked.

I tried not to react too much to what he said. It… wasn’t in English. Or Chinese or anything. But I understood him. So it seemed Multiversal Translator was for languages. That was good.

“Well, I’m in a bit of a bad state,” I said, hoping my words were translated too. I tried to keep the friendly smile on my face as I gestured down to my bloody and muddy jeans. “Had a run-in with a cat in the forest back that way. I’m kinda lost too and I saw your group. I was hoping I might be able to find some help.”

The possible cultivator looked me up and down for a moment with a slight frown on his face. “And just how do you expect to pay for such aid?”

I grimaced. “Well, admittedly, I don’t have much to offer… I was hoping that someone would help out of the kindness of their hearts. If not that then at least I hope you could point me in the direction of a town or city where I could find someone willing to help.”

“I see,” the man said impassively. He had a really good poker face as I had no idea what was on his mind.

I fidgeted as I waited to see if he would say anything else.

“Come on, Captain,” one of the other men spoke up eventually, surprising me. He was actually quite young, maybe my own age, maybe even younger or a little older. He was the one with a sword and looked a bit exasperated. “It’s just some lost kid. Let's take him back to the caravan, look over his wounds, and see if we can help. It's not like it costs us anything.”

A small part of me felt annoyed at being called a kid, especially by someone who looked around my age. I was seventeen, after all, soon to be eighteen. I was hardly a kid. Still, I did my best to act unphased by that. Cause maybe if they thought of me as a kid they’d be more likely to help.

The other two men on their feet said nothing, keeping impassive looks on their faces. Though the man with the spear might have given the swordsmen an annoyed side eye for a moment. But it had been quick so I wasn’t sure.

The captain sighed but didn’t take his eyes off me. “I know you are new to this, and a bit of a bleeding heart Shui Jianfeng, but have some respect for the chain of command. And given your background, you’d think you’d be more wary of people showing weakness to lure you in. Not to mention the possibility of spirit beasts that can mimic the human form.”

I frowned at that but kept from speaking out. The man was being cautious but hadn’t drawn a weapon yet. So hopefully he was still going to give me a chance.

I also filed away that thing about spirit beasts for later. That… wasn’t great. Shapeshifting monsters was the last thing I wanted to deal with. Though was that what he meant, or was he referring to the thing where monsters can get a human form once they were strong enough?

The now-named Shui Jianfeng—though was Shui his first or last name?—scoffed at that. “Sure, pretending to be younger or in pain to try and pickpocket someone might be a thing. Even to rob them. But to rob a heavily armed caravan and someone like you captain? Only the dumbest person around would try something like that. Either they had the strength to do it and wouldn’t need to. Or they'd be kicking a steel wall. And aren’t spirit beasts only able to transform like that at Rank 3?”

“I appreciate the confidence,” the captain said with a quirk of his lips. “But I’m hardly infallible or all-powerful. There are plenty of people out there stronger than me, and many might favor less direct methods. And I could still lose my life to someone weaker than me if I wasn’t cautious enough. As for spirit beasts, many can have rather exceptional abilities even in the lower Ranks.”

“So then what do we do?” Shui Jianfeng said, looking at me with a tilted head and narrowed eyes. It was a bit exaggerated and he didn’t seem to be taking the concern seriously. “We aren’t just gonna leave him here with directions or something while we go on by, are we? Kinda cold-hearted.”

The captain continued to stare at me for another long moment. This time it felt like he was looking right through me, seeing all my secrets… Which thinking about it might be possible. Cultivators had spirit senses, right? A way to perceive the world with spirit energy or whatever. And given his state of dress he was likely one.

If that was true, he could be using it right now and I would have no idea.

Hopefully, whatever he saw showed him I was no threat.