It had been an hour or so since I started my not-exactly trip into the depth of the forest, and you know what I want to say to all the isekai writers? Marching in the thick of the forest was both the most beautiful, yet most vexing action I had ever done.

No, really. Whoever tells you that the trip in the forest is all beauty is a big liar who had obviously never went into one, or at least, never entered deep enough into it!

"The forest was really deep with thorns and branches." they say, but they undersell it a lot!

Maybe it's just the part I am in, but I feel that I am being hated by the heavens, or fate, or whatever that controls destiny in this world.

To give the credit where it's due, the forest was majestic. And I sure am underselling it, but I only have that many words to describe how vibrant life was, from the large trees that seem almost alive like they are plant beasts (they're not, so far at least), the many pretty and large flowers blooming on the soil, looking harmless and breath-taking, literally, in the case of one pesky Normal-ranked Level 1 Thorny Flower that met its demise, and the many animals and insects that thrived in this setting, living, truly living in this forest.

But tragically, these many pretty, exotic details are just as frustrating and annoying to deal with because as soon as I went deep enough into the forest with the bees around me?

The thistles, weeds, and branches gradually became thick enough that I had to just cut (or eat) them just to move every few steps, and the insects, while not beasts but mere normal insects, were numerous enough that had I not been a beast but a normal human, I would have died just because the sheer numbers that would have entered, everywhere. And by that, I mean EVERYWHERE!

I had to hide my upper body with vines just so these pesky leeches won't try biting at my stomach and breasts! I hadn't even made any honey so far since I began the walk, and they just want to latch on me whereever they could!

Remember Anakin Skywalker's speech about sand? Take that memetic quote and make it about insects and thick forests. That's how annoying this is. Well, ignoring the fact that Anakin made that speech in an attempt to relate to Padme and trying to make his experience as a slave in a sand planet feel as little insulting as possible when he thought she liked sand.

Oh where was I? Yeah, moving through the forest that was definitely thicker than any that existed in my previous life.

Thank gods that the insects were quite fragile and were easily killed with the barest use of my least toxic pollen which would do nothing against even the weakest Worker Bees around, and at least the bees took it as part of their duties to eat some of the insects to refill themselves, so it wasn't completely, totally annoying.

"Still, this area too thick! Did I just go the wrong way or is this forest so full of branches and thorns in in most parts?" I almost growled as my vines cut another bunch of branches and flora on my way along with the relatively harmless insects.

Well, this trip will surely take a while, it seems, and I was correct! It was only after what felt like another hour that the nature probably took pity on me and gave me enough room to actually move around.

Now at least, the buzzing of the Worker Bees was the sound I hear the most, unlike the buzzing of a thousand other bugs all around me which just sounded irritating instead of borderline sweet.

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The smell around me was now less like someone is trying to go way beyond all that is reasonable by bringing a whole tree when they were asked to just bring a flower, and it was more... natural. It wasn't as overbearing as it was up close.

It was now that I had found a place where the forest isn't as thick, and it was rather pleasant to look at.

The bees were buzzing a bit louder and spinning around me, and from what my instincts tell me, they wanted me to follow them, and I had no reason to disagree.

Thankfully, it was only a five-minutes walk before they reached their destination.

It wasn't their colony, that much was obvious, since even before reaching this place, my senses could pick up a vision of the details just using my ears and nose.

While the smell of flowers and nature was very much dominant, I noticed a smell that felt... pure and untainted, for the lack of better word, and I was able to hear something gently yet apparently staying in area since I couldn't hear the sound moving closer whenever I stopped.

The bees not caring also reassured me that they know this place very well, thus I finally reached it.

A large lake that seemed to extend for hundreds of meters, two hundred meters at the very least, met my eyes.

"Oh..." My mouth dropped from awe. I honestly didn't know how to react any other way. I had never seen something this pretty before, at all.

Sure, I read about how people describe lakes, rivers and oceans to make them grand, but at times, words simply fail at delivering their sheer natural beauty.

Which was honestly what made my brain shut down for a moment from the seemingly obvious contradiction of how something like this could exist so naturally, yet look out of this world.

There are also, of course, the life that is thriving in the lake and around it. Naturally, I saw the many vibrant trees and plants around, the grass that felt greener than before, and the air felt more relaxing than my 'home', though the difference was so minute I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't focus on it.

There was a lack of animals and beasts around, except the occasional deer and herbivore that was just enjoying their meal uninterrupted, which I sensed was just fitting.

But that didn't make me ignore the lake's inhabitants as I moved towards it to take a bit of water, realizing that I hadn't really drank any since I was reborn. The liquids of my victims didn't count.

I slowly submerged myself in the water, absorbing some of it as I gave a sigh of contentment. The water was quite delicious and refreshing!

I even felt as if my leaves and petals became even more vibrant! Truly, water could be a plant's best ally!

The Worker Bees were on the other hand still flying around me, and I realized that they didn't like getting their wings wet. Yeah, that would be problematic for them.

Okay then! I will protect them from falling into water in this case.

Time to get a good bath in nature now, and I indeed did!

It was honestly fun! The way the cool water feels so nice yet strangely warm is just too good for words.

Still, everything good must come to an end, and my happy bath got interrupted, though I really wasn't sure I would use this definition, when I felt that the armosphere around me was getting colder.

I though didn't really see or feel the coldness right away, or if I did, I just used my Qi to warm myself up. My senses didn't sense anything strong, nor did the bees react in any strange way.

Thus, I was surprised when I felt the few vines I let 'float' got quite cold enough that they started to freeze. Of course, that didn't actually harm me, but it did of course catch my attention, and I looked at the preparator.

"Huh." I uttered, seeing the beast that was... uh, trying to pull a snake coiling move against my frozen vine?

It was, surprisingly, a plant-type beast. A large flower with blue petals and what looked like a jewel in the center, and from there it was clearly unleashing the cold aura. And of course, like most plant beasts, it had a body consisting of a large stem and a couple of "legs" to move with.

And it seems that this one loves water even more than usual.

I could just eat it right away, but honestly, it looked so strangely adorable trying to eat my vine, so I decided to let it slide this time. Plus, I could probably find another one later if I really needed it.

Thus I just broke the frozen vines and let the cute ice flower have its meal. And also, now that I am thinking about meals, I see that the bees are a bit hungry, so I gave them a bit of nectar each.

Hm, this place isn't bad. Maybe I will stay here for now?

Ah, decisions, decisions.