Rising at the sound of the terrifying birds the next morning Jim set about consuming the nuts he was unable to carry. Didn’t protagonists in stories get an interdimensional storage that they could store anything they want in? He had no such thing; and the best he could do for now was stuff a few nuts in his cheeks for later. He wouldn’t need to talk to anyone anyway with programs being activated by thought.
Strolling out of the tree hollow he looked around at the same canopy as before but noticed something different. Scratches leading up to the canopy on most of the trees as wide as his hand bit through the bark on surrounding trees. His danger sense; that was like an instinct all animals have warned him that the silence around was not natural.
A small rustling sound alerted him of movement on a nearby branch and he froze at the sight. On the next tree over was a panther the size of a car with much larger than normal muscles. There was no way that his pitiful slice() would be able to take on a creature that looks like it's made of steel. Dropping the equivalent of a lead knife on it may not even penetrate its hide. It would be up to boost() and flash() to evade if his stealth is unable to protect him.
The giant panther sniffed the air and prowled closer to his abode, it was already looking this way so perhaps; it could smell him? It parted the branches creeping ever close and making neary a sound.
Its presence was the silence of death and the air was heavy with tension, the smell of blood on the wind. He held his breath even though the ethereal skill kept him hidden as if the thought of making a sound could be fatal. As it came within closer observation he noticed a mark like a whip had struck across its back. The mark suggested that it had been in conflict with another, until he remembered the practising of slice() and the roar he heard at that time.
It wasn’t a coincidence that the panther ended up at his doorstep if it was the same one he hit practising earlier. One thing was for sure it was no longer safe here anymore if the panther knew where he lived. As it drew closer he shuffled away from the entrance to the hole, it seemed more interested in the hole where his scent was strongest. As if to prove that he was living in one giant cliche the next thing that happened is that he stood on a twig, snapping it in half.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The panther whirled around quickly; turning into a blur as it swiped its paw at Jim’s position. He dodged successfully with boost() but upon landing in the new location the big cat swiped at him again. Dodging around the attacks of the big cat was proving to be exhausting for Jim so he applied frictionless() to it.
Jumping off a branch the panther did not expect to float in midair so hung there for a second like a certain cartoon. Where it slowly floated to another branch and dug in its claws to the surface, maintaining traction. It was not happy about being made weightless and the magic on its claws seemed to be unaffected unlike the rest of its body. While the panther considered its next option clinging to the branch Jim aimed at the base of the branch with slice() and sliced it off causing the panther to flail as the weightless beast and branch fell to the darkness below.
He did not think that the panther would die from falling to the ground however and really didn’t want to stick around for it to come back. Taking the little amount of nuts as his belongings he moved from one tree to the next with roars of the panther echoing behind him and growing more distant. It was time to go on the road and explore this world he found himself in.
He climbed to the top of the next tree he found himself in and looked out at the sky still seeing only green and trees in the distance.
The tree he ‘arrived’ in was now about 4-5 trees away and with his cheeks stuffed with nuts he decided on a direction, heading out so that the sun rises on his right. Whether that is the right direction or not only time will tell. His gut told him that it should be this direction and it hadn’t been wrong yet, at least not when it came to things besides bug checking. Usually with his luck it was the absolute last thing you check that turns out to be the issue.
Moving through the treetops he felt like a ninja bouncing between branches and using boost when the distance was a little too far, all the while being undetectable and invisible. It almost made him want to stop and develop a secret jutsu to make copies of himself or walk on walls. His love of anime and going to conventions was known to his workplace as well; or at least to HR as part of his leave was used on the endeavour. While he did consider stopping, he remembered that the reason he was leaving was the giant ball of fur and death which would probably still follow his scent.
He continued into the unknown in the endless city of trees, until it came time to turn in for the night and he found an unoccupied treehole to sleep in. Sleep came easily after the events of the day and he drifted off imagining beasts fighting ninjas.