Novels2Search

Chapter 7

The morning welcomed Robert with a hard ground right into his face. His dreamy consciousness for a moment felt as if he was flying before a strong impact blew up all his sleep. He stayed motionless for some time before starting to laugh like crazy. Rob had thought to bind himself to a branch to prevent such an outcome. The problem was that he had nothing, not even a belt. Empty pockets of his uniform or, precisely speaking, rags were everything he had.

Mental strength and positive thinking…

Robert repeated himself before standing up. This event was so stupid that he couldn’t stop smiling. Breathing fresh air and looking at the green scenery around, he really felt refreshed after the night. Maybe it was related to his spirit body that recovered all his injuries, but even his mood was on a high note. His past with a pitiful childhood or painful event with the bear hadn’t changed in the slightest. However, the attitude toward it returned to normal acceptance as unavoidable in his case experience. Therefore, there was nothing to ponder about anymore. Everything was as fine as it possibly could, taking into account the whole situation.

He wasn’t a crybaby. On the contrary, in most cases, he would feel anger at himself because of his own weakness or crucial mistake. This extreme change with his own death, God’s killing mission in the dying world temporarily knocked the ground from under his feet. However, the short rest returned his mental state back to where he was. As always, while the reality hadn’t changed, his view on it had. Maybe it was “fine” surrounded by flames as it was in a famous old picture, but nevertheless, right now he cleared his mind and indeed felt that way.

Robert made a quick plan while stretching his body, which was quite stiff after uncomfortable sleep. Not wasting any more time, he decisively headed to the river again to calm down his growing thirst. During his walk, he reaped his uniform into pieces, leaving himself only in pants. The bloodied clothes could attract unwanted attention from predators that he wanted to avoid. Also, its condition was so pathetic that it covered less than exposed. He couldn’t even make any kind of rope from it which could be useful.

Fortunately, the water place met him with the emptiness of its surrounding area. Still, Robert hastily drank and cleaned himself to minimize the chances of the dangerous encounter. Only at this moment he finally checked the consequences of the bear’s claws. Yes, his limbs were not broken, the eye regained vision and there were no wounds. Instead, the places of most powerful hits were covered with white thin scars. He found at least six and one of them was near his previously blinded right eye. Reflection from the water didn’t give a proper image, but it definitely was not some kind of cool mark that the main hero might wear to emphasize his brutality. Nope, it was quite horrible, and together with rude facial features, it created a horrible picture.

Okay, I am almost ugly as fuck… Just need a few more such fights with bears… or maybe only one with a huge cat, and my Prince Charming appearance not gonna happen even with the help of the best surgeon or God’s superpower…

Robert intentionally made a creepy smile, which was immediately broken by his laugh. He looked like a proper villain from old movies but without any muscles. However, he aimed to get the latter in the future. With the last glance at his own reflection, he left the river’s beach. After a few minutes, his luck gave him a suitable stick to replace his spear, fallen in the first battle. Sharpening didn’t take long and soon he focused on his main goal for the day – to find a good spot to make an observation of his surroundings. That appeared to be hard.

Trees were quite tall, but their branches on top were thin and likely couldn’t keep his weight. Moreover, most of them were of the same type and therefore had the same average heights, resulting that even if Robert managed to climb on them, it wouldn’t help at all. Leaves would still obstruct his vision. He tried to get higher just to find any hill or mountain but without any success. It seemed that all this green area was situated on a flat surface which made him curse his bad luck.

Where were the mountains or hills that helped the main heroes from books to find the right direction in no time? Where were the caves that made natural shelters? The hell, Robert even didn’t seem to notice many animals around him. Of course, maybe it was because of his non-existent stealth skills. However, most likely the density of living beings was not so exaggerated in reality as it was in movies. His always-focused mind was able to notice plenty of bugs and insects, small lizards, and rodents, but rarely anything bigger than that. Still, he was grateful for such a low-eventful time. There were few creatures, as he didn’t want to name them as ordinary animals, that he managed to see, getting real shivers in the process.

Once Robert almost bumped into a puma that was devouring its prey with visible pressure. And that puma not only had sharp bones, sticking out of its spine, but had the size of a lion or maybe even bigger. Rob’s heart had skipped a beat when that monster had looked at him. This piercing glance with vertical irises made him tremble. In a single moment, he understood what the outcome would be, but Robert still tightened the grip on his spear to calm himself from a false feeling of safety because of the simple fact of having a weapon. Fortunately, having enough meat right behind its maw, the predator didn’t want to make more unnecessary motions. It was more like a warning – “I know you are here, don’t come over or else…”

There was also an elk. Even the ELK. That thing was huge, noticeably bigger than any tank under his command. Robert even wondered how it could pass between trees with its enormous horns. As if to answer this unspoken question, another elk emerged, crashing the branches like they were made from glass. There was a small pause, while both animals glanced at each other. In the next moment, they took off only to ram into each other with all their might. The sound of heavy impact resounded across the surrounding forest, sending shivers down Rob’s spine. He didn’t waste even a second before leaving the site of destruction, not willing to be collateral damage.

However, once again Lady Luck had turned his back on him. His rushed escape made him miss a small colorful snake on the ground with an easily guessable result. With lightning speed, giving no time to react, he was biten in the shin. His self-made spear almost immediately killed the sneaky creature, but the damage was done. His vision soon started to become blurry. His heart accelerated to unimaginable speed, making it hard to breathe. Cold sweat appeared on his back, but Robert steeled himself and tried to get further away from danger. Dizziness and nausea made it quite hard, especially when his muscles began to stiffen. The body just refused to listen to any commands. He felt as if his blood turned into boiling liquid and then everything went dark.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Robert found himself in acceptable condition only in the evening. He felt like a chewed piece of meat that was thrown away into a dump because of its shitty taste. Hungry and thirsty, he barely had the strength to move. Only willpower helped him to stand up. To his surprise, he had made less than ten meters from the place of bite despite all his efforts. His weapon was still stuck in the ground together with the snake’s body. That outcome took all remaining energy and he just sat there, looking around with blank eyes. In a few minutes, Rob regained his composure and focused on a small purple mushroom near him.

Okay, fuck it! Even if it is poisonous, what difference will it make? I was already poisoned, so no fear of death. Just a few bad minutes. However, if it is edible, I will have new options. Without fire and a proper knife, I can’t skin a snake to cook it. Raw meat doesn’t look good, at least for now – I am not that desperate. Making fire will take time and can attract predators. The knife can be replaced with a sharp stone, but that again will take time. Nope, not waiting!

Before he could change his mind, Robert quickly grabbed a mushroom and swallowed it, praying that it would be edible. Of course, it wasn’t. At first, he felt a pleasant warmth in his stomach, but soon it started to burn. This time experience of poisoning was pure torture. He got a fever in no time. Vomiting with blood, Robert couldn’t even lose his consciousness. The world around him was spinning at high speed and the addition of his highly focused perception made the situation even worse. It took a few hours before his regeneration or adaptation abilities to help him recover physically. However, Rob lay for at least one more hour to adjust his mind and make some proper plans.

Okay, that was stupid… Rob, next time don’t make hasty decisions under the influence of unknown substances… And need to memorize how this mushroom looks so as not to repeat the same mistake… Also, the snake – this small fucker! No traces of humans so far… There is the possibility that this world doesn’t have any at all. At least animals are only bigger but mostly look ordinary and not like some monsters. No huge spiders, fortunately, hate them. If I am careful enough, I can avoid the danger. The next question is food and water. My strange ability to recover from fatigue helps with energy supplements, but not completely. So, need to continue testing mushrooms, berries, and other plants to find eatable types. Maybe roots? Heard they can be eaten. At least I will not die from poisoning. Hunting is out of the question right now – I am too weak, and I know nothing about traps. Again, just in case I need to check the surroundings from above from time to time. Also, need to choose one direction – the forest can’t be endless… probably…

Robert made a forceful smile before getting up. He picked up his spear but had to throw away the pierced body of a snake. Way too many insects were already crawling all over its remains, having plenty of time for a feast. That made him lose any thought about possibly eating it. At least the mushroom that he had swallowed earlier somehow managed to calm down his hunger. Logically speaking, it was edible but also filled with poison, so it was indeed the option to feed himself. Painful and masochistic, but the option.

Rob tried to keep his chosen direction until dark, only stopping for new food tests. This time he prolonged experiments and started only with a juice inside, skipping a phase with squeezing it on a skin. If there were no bad signs, he ate a small piece first and only after another confirmation swallowed everything. The method wasn’t his own invention and was recovered from a vague memory of reading something similar in a book. Robert was not even sure if it was a fictional story, which was based on imaginary facts of an author, or the real deal. Still, it was better to have any plan, even the dumbest one, than to have none at all.

Moreover, taking into account what he liked to read, the usefulness of the information inside his head was under a big question. Most of the ideas were even quite misleading. The author could give the hero the necessary knowledge at any time and skip the routine explanation of a process straight to the needed result. When a hero met any problem, the solution would most likely magically appear in the next few chapters. Of course, if a hero would realistically die in the beginning, it wouldn’t help a story at all. Still, he could pick a few valuable thoughts or ideas. One of them came to Robert when he started to search place to stay for a night and made him curse his stupid brain loudly.

I was near a fucking river! Damn, most cities or villages are located near water, whatever era it is. This is quite obvious, but apparently not for me. Fuck! I am such an idiot, lost so much time!

The next morning he hurried in the opposite direction, expecting no problems with that. Turned out he was very wrong again. Robert thought that he was traveling in a straight line, but repeated stops and obstacle avoidance changed it completely. He could notice some of his own traces, but there were definitely not enough of them to track his way back. Rob couldn’t read footprints or distinguish one from another. At least he knew approximately, where his goal was. Still, it took him two days to find the streaming water. Thirsty, tired, filthy, he just jumped into it without thinking.

Robert’s experience wasn’t that death-threatening, but not good either. He accidentally stepped into an ant hive only to be beaten by literally an army of huge red insects. His impulsive hunt after a raccoon, or whatever it was, ended badly when he almost broke his leg in the fruitless chase, not noticing a protruding root on his way. He had to stay alert a whole night because an unknown predator was constantly growling around in the dark only to find out in the morning that it was just the snoring of an odd animal. He had crazy hallucinations after he ate another mushroom that led him to the stupid thought that he could fly, which he almost tested personally from the top of the nearest tree.

That exhausted him both physically and mentally. Rob’s adaptation ability always helped him to recover from some part of fatigue, but without a proper meal, he just couldn’t get rid of it completely. The cold water helped him to feel himself slightly refreshed. At least the weather was nice and didn’t create any difficulties. Robert didn’t want even to imagine what might have happened if he found himself in this forest during snowy winter. Of course, there were other “perfect” alternatives to be transferred to - tropics during the rainy season, snowy mountains, an ocean surface, a desert, and many more fun places to have meaningless death.

Every time I complain about something bad happening, I only need to think about the worst scenario, and everything turns out is not that terrible… The perfect solution to increase my mood! Works every time.

Robert smiled and pushed himself out of the water. After he weighed his options, he resolutely followed the stream in the hope of finding any settlement there. The chances were the same, so he relied on luck in this decision. Not that he was the most fortunate person, but it was a fifty percent chance, right?