Chapter 6 - Lost & Hungry

Two scorching suns blazed above Eric who sleeping or resting as sleep was scarce when shivering from cold nightly winds. He woke up feeling the blistering sun on his skin; the heat rejuvenated him as he yawned, stretching his aching limbs. He sat up, looking around in daylight. The most spectacular view entered his eyes.

*Good morning young master*

The sweet, cheerful voice from yesterday entered his mind, making him smile. He had almost forgotten about Amiy after passing out.

“Young master?? Haha that would be pretty cool I suppose, bossing folk about and what not. But… I think you should just call me Eric,”

*Yeaaaa well I was only joking*

A mental image of a small girl pouting entered his mind. Smiling to himself, he looked around.

To left was a grassland that expanded as far he could see. There was a forest to his right that looked around 5 - 10 miles away, in between was more grassland with various flowers plotted around. Behind Eric lay more grassland with large hills scattered around. In front was an epic large mountain range that expanded across the entire horizon. The mountains looked too far away to walk to. Snow covered the tops as it glistened, reflecting the sunlight. Eric's eyes sparkled in awe, he turned around in wonderment.

Eric started smiling as he stood up before laughing out loud while spinning around with his arms spread wide. After a few minutes relishing the sense of freedom, he finally come to a stop, his smile fading as he realised his predicament. He was alone in a new world with no way of getting back. His family was non existent, and he had no real friends back on earth, but the feeling of being trapped made him uneasy.

“So we need food and water, any idea on where we should go.”

*Finding a river would be the best option and following that to a settlement I suppose*

“So a river. hmmm The forest then, trees need water, right???”

*Maybe they drink mana, who knows it’s a new world, remember???*

“Yea Yea but still it’s the best option I can think of right now,”

With a simple plan made, Eric began his journey heading to the forest. He started thinking of earth and when honest with himself he was happy to have left. His time growing up in an orphanage was rough, most of his free time was spent tinkering and inventing. He couldn’t relate to the other kids much, they played with toys and joined sports teams while he rigged his room with booby-traps to stop people touching his stuff. When a fellow orphan tried to get something from his room, a nail fired off, sticking in the poor boy’s leg. They locked him in his room for a month for that one, at least they fed and watered him. Not all was bad for Eric tho, from all his experimenting he eventually earned a place in MIT.

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About half way to the forest the trees grew bigger, now the sizes of small skyscrapers. With still no sign of a river, he could only hope as he continued his trek. He had seen no wildlife yet, only small shrubs and flowers. The first sign of life made him drop to the ground in fear. It looked like an eagle but only super-sized, its feathers were multicoloured, making it look majestic. But its beak was also enormous, making a shiver flow down Eric’s spine, imagining it tearing him apart.

As Eric neared the forest, there was more vegetation. Hearing his stomach growl in frustration at being empty, he stopped to look for some berries or something to eat. The only bush with berries had big juicy orange berries with dark red spots hanging off; he pulled a hand full and found a spot to rest. Eric hesitated eating the berries, fearing poison, but hunger got the better of him. He touched one to his tongue, feeling no reaction, he dumped a few in his mouth. A sweet burning flavour enveloped his tongue. But the burning continued, getting hotter and hotter until he held his hand to his throat, choking. His vision blurred and his face turned red. The heat radiating from the berries felt like a thousand suns. A sudden shadow of an enormous dragon flew past overhead before doing a 180 and heading towards him.

*Eric, we have a problem, the dragon, and that mean man is back*

“A fucking problem, you say!!” Eric said while struggling to breathe.

The ground rumbled as the dragon landed, dust flew up and scattered around. The hooded man glided down, landing gracefully before walking to Eric. Eric was still holding his neck, his eyes bloodshot and his face bright red. He held up his other hand, trying to stop the man from getting closer. The cloaked man didn’t care about his shaking hand and pushed it aside. A firm hand gripped him and tilted him back, then a quick jab hit him in the throat causing him to open his mouth. A warm bitter tasting liquid trickled down his throat, coolness soothed the temperature and swelling. Eric panted for breath, taking in as much air as possible to refill his lungs.

After a few minutes of getting himself together, Eric turned to look at his savour he stood with his back leaning against the black dragon. Sweat dripped from Eric as he trembled at the sight of the dragon. It looked towards him in disdain and a sudden blast of hot air blew dust into Eric’s face. Clearing his eyes, he glared at the dragon, who stared back with a toothy grin.

“fuck you shitty dragon,”

“Arksalpo siror, loskatae wlete,”

The mans voice was smooth, like a gentle breeze washing over him. Eric stared at the hooded figure with curiosity. Why has he not killed me yet?

*Maybe you're not worth it* Amiy chimed.

“I…Dont…Know….What…Your….Saying…” Eric said slowly, gesturing with his hands.

The cloaked man groaned, pointed to Eric, then to himself and the dragon, gesturing him to follow. Eric looked at the dragon and remembered the death it could bring with a single fireball. He stood rooted to the ground, Like hell im going to that dragon.

*But it looks so cute <3*

“So your doing emotes now….”

*Ya there so cool :P*

The strange man sighed and walked over. Startled, Eric stumbled backwards, tripping on a branch. Before he recovered his balance, he was being carried one handed towards the dragon.

“Dont feed me to it, im not tasty I promise,” Eric waved his legs and arms around struggling to free himself. The carrier didn’t even flinch. He floated above the dragon before dropping Eric down. Thinking to run, Eric tried to jump off, but with a sudden punch to his temple, the world faded to black.