The grasses slowly faded out as ferns took over, along with more trees. The farther we got from the bones, the more everything grew. From ferns, to moss, to even taller grass. The sudden change in environment was a little strange, like most things didn't want to grow near the bones. Then again, I remembered that shock of power when I’d touched the rib.
"Is it just me, or did the jungle resist growing around the bones?" I asked.
Noseen chuckled. "The great devourer resisted death for a long time. The fight more than likely destroyed the surrounding jungle, and it will take time for it to grow back."
That hadn't been my experience with the jungle. At the colony, one of my jobs had been to help the farmers fight back the grasses and ferns within the crop fields. Somehow, everything just grew so fast, sometimes overnight. Still, a massive battle would have destroyed the surroundings, though it wasn't like it was recent. Something to think about later. My focus switched to searching out the edges of the mud pit again, and finding the sled. The crystal should be grounded at this point, and I kept my breathing light to try to hear it as well.
It took longer than I would have liked, but I spotted the fern-covered crystal and sled eventually. As I got closer, the humming grew louder and my shoulders relaxed. My pace slowed until I stopped near the mud, but not in it. Looking at the crystal, a rush of emotion washed over me, happy that I’d let go of the rope. I had no idea how I would have gotten the sled back up the bank. The mud surrounding it looked much drier now, but I didn’t dare disturb the sled and unground the crystal. Right now, I needed that protection.
I crashed onto a dry patch of ground next to a tall fern, taking a deep breath. The plant provided some shade from the warm sun. My stomach rumbled yet again, and I yanked a Microraptor out of my inventory. The feathers were beautiful this close. Some were a deep blue, others a deep green, along with a few gray or white ones. I stroked a feather with a finger and found it soft. Very soft.
“You might want to pluck it first,” suggested Noseen.
After the last bird, I agreed with them, and started yanking the feathers out. It didn’t take long to discover I could only pluck 5 out at a time without destroying the feathers. I tossed them into my inventory as I went, creating a stack. Thankfully, they didn’t stack per color, so they didn’t take too much room in the crystal. The feathers might be useful later for a pillow or something.
My stomach wouldn’t shut up the whole time I worked on the feathers, and my arm throbbed with each motion. The gash didn’t bleed through the bandage, which was all I cared about. Still, I kept at it, eager to finish plucking since the bird was pretty big and seemed to have a decent amount of food on it, especially compared to Compys.
The wings and the head I didn’t even bother with. Once the core of it was de-feathered, I cut the head and wings off. The legs were rather skinny as well, so they were tossed into my inventory. I’d leave them behind at some point, but for now I didn’t want to leave a pile to attract anything else to my location. My cheek was bad enough.
Finally, I cut into the thing, almost splitting it in half. My heartbeat increased looking at all the meat. The heart was as small as a Compys heart, and I tossed it into my mouth all at once.
The flavor burst on my tongue, more lovely candy, this time almost a deep chocolate. I closed my eyes in bliss as I forced myself to chew as much as possible. Chocolate, I'd forgotten how chocolate tasted.
[You have devoured a Microraptor and gained insight into Quickness.]
[You have gained a stat point in Quickness.]
The notifications were a pleasant surprise as I swallowed. An extra point in Quickness was perfect, as I was focused on that, at least for now. Still, I had leveled up to level 9, too. I was so freaking close to 10, and I hoped that I could hit that magical level before I got back to the shuttle.
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My thoughts froze at that moment. Even thinking that meant I hoped to fight more beasts. Did I really want that to happen? I thought about it for a couple of moments, since my stomach was temporarily chill. I wanted to grow, and grow faster than I was now. I also wanted to prove myself, and getting to level ten would do that. I'd be like everyone else at the colony.
My stomach grumbled, not happy with only the heart for more than a moment of reflection, and I started digging into the rest of the carcass. My movements increased until I was shoving raw meat so fast into my mouth, I was shocked I didn’t choke.
Then, suddenly, the raptor was picked clean.
The bones I tossed in my inventory, along with the organs I hadn’t eaten. I drank some water and used it to clean off my hands and my face. Blood came away from the cut on my cheek, which felt a little warm to the touch. Out of everything, I needed that to close up first. It was more important than the cut on my arm, which would heal the more I ate.
Three more raptors to go, but at least my stomach wasn’t growling as loudly as before. Somehow, I was still hungry though. The second bird went much faster than the first had, but it was smaller than the higher level one. These feathers came out much more easily, and all I focused on was the body. Everything else I tossed into my inventory to leave behind.
The heart, unfortunately, was smaller as well, and it only gave me moments of chocolate bliss before it was gone.
[You have devoured a Microraptor and gained insight into Quickness.]
So, Microraptors were fast, which I’d already picked up on. Maybe after the next two, I would unlock another stat point. The body of this one didn’t have as much meat on it, and it didn’t take long for it to be picked clean as well. The cut on my cheek throbbed a bit, but I ignored it. Right now I had to eat all of this food before I moved on, and I needed to get traveling.
The next two went as fast as the first smaller one, and I didn’t even bother going for anything but the hearts. They were very skinny.
[You have devoured a Microraptor and gained insight into Quickness.]
[You have devoured a Microraptor and gained insight into Quickness.]
[You have gained a stat point in Quickness.]
Four Microraptor hearts had given me two Quickness stat points. That was pretty freaking amazing. Quickness was my highest stat, at 38. It was inching toward 40, and it should cross that line when I leveled up to ten, even if I didn’t use any of my free stat points on it. Level ten was within reach, and I wanted it bad. Yet, was that going to be good enough? Did I want Len telling me what to do on hunts? Did I want Alexander assigning me to a section to work?
Being in the jungle on my own made it harder to accept the facts of the colony. They were needed to help everyone survive and grow together, right? Or, were they, really?
I wiped my mouth without thinking about it, using the back of my hand. It crossed over the cut on my cheek, which didn’t hurt anymore. Instead, dried blood flaked off. The cut was healed. Devouring the hearts, or the raptors, had healed my cheek. Part of me wanted to jump for joy, the other part of me poked at my arm. That gash still hurt through the bandage, so it wasn’t healed. I needed to eat more to finish healing. I’d hoped what I ate was already enough, but it seemed not.
With my cheek healed, it was time to get this show back on the road. I needed to get to the shuttle and hand over the crystal. John could take over management of the crisis at that time. Part of me wanted to rest a little, but the longer I sat here the more likely that cat would find me, if it really was after me. I hadn’t slept much the night before, though my clothes were finally dry, so maybe tonight I’d get some sleep.
My stomach was full, but that only made me want to stay seated and let the food digest to fix my arm.
I had to think of John. He was counting on me.
That got me off the ground and cleaning up my hands with some water from my canteen. I had to refill it from one of the jugs, but I had plenty of water left in my inventory crystal.
I needed to get around the mud pit and find the marker on the other side. I’d really screwed up by coming this way instead of going to the other side. Now, I remembered I had left two or three markers along that edge.
A hissing sound from down over the riverbank made up my mind. If more of those Microraptors were about, then I should get moving. Three hadn’t been too hard, but I bet they moved in larger packs than that, and a group of five of them could become tricky. A deep voice in the back of my mind whispered that it would be more Quickness stats with those chocolate hearts, but I pushed that thought away. I had to focus on John.