Kibo crashed and tumbled into a pile of bushes and twigs as he rolled over onto his back. As he slowly calmed down his heavy breathing, he heard small animals rustling in the underbrush as they scattered from the noise. He looked up past the wild and thick layers of the canopy and he noticed a clear blue sky.
A large smile crept over his face as he counted his lucky stars, “What are the odds that a portal will open in front of me during my escape?”.
[https://i.imgur.com/U9rhC8Q.jpg]
Kibo thought, ‘I doubt they will chase after me into the portal, for all they know I am dead or dying from the harsh environment of this world. I probably have three days to get as far away as possible from this portal before they come in with specialised reconnaissance teams.’
A chill weaved down his spine, and a sudden wave of fear washed over him. He quickly shot up onto his feet and knelt as he slowly spun on the same spot while clutching onto his daggers in a reversed grip.
Kibo couldn’t believe how careless he became and bit his lower lip in frustration. He started to think, ‘I'm in a new world, not knowing what dangers lurk around here. There could be any number of predators or other natural enemies watching me right now.’ He looked around and noticed a dense, rich green forest with vegetation growing excessively. He heard the leaves rustling in the wind and what seemed like lizards scrambling up tree bark. Along with wildflowers, a strong earthy smell overtook his nostrils.
All of his senses were being overloaded with new information, He truly was experiencing a different world. ‘This forest seems to be uninhabited and, hopefully, I’m not stuck in a world with never-ending jungles and forests, otherwise, I might be screwed since I have no outdoor survival skills at all."
“Okay, the basic necessities to survival are air, water, food, shelter, and sleep.”
He started to take slow, deep breaths, in and out, to check whether the air was safe which also calmed his once rapidly beating heart further. Until he realised the foolishness in his actions, Kibo proceeded to facepalm himself as he realised that if the air wasn’t breathable, he would have already been dead.
Within his thoughts he moved onto his second problem, ‘As for water, I need to find some type of pond, river or lake.’ He proceeded to venture deeper into this mysterious forest, the foliage rustled, and twigs cracked with each step. He bent down on the uneven ground and slowly picked up the soil, letting it sprinkle back down to the ground after examining it.
“I was right, it’s dry, I just need to keep walking in a direction until I see the ground become moist or hear sounds of water flowing. I’ll also need to look out for an area where I could set up camp if it comes to it.”
Kibo became tired as his pace slowed after walking for three hours, he started to contemplate, ‘I’ve travelled pretty far and haven’t had any chances to take a break. Hopefully, I have gotten a good distance away from the portal, so if by chance the people who chased after me came a lot sooner than I had expected. I have given myself a head start, by switching between walking, jogging, and running multiple times as I travelled away from the portal in a somewhat straight line.’
‘The forest has become less overgrown, but it still isn't enough to prevent others from tracking me. I need to reach an area where my tracks can disappear naturally or blend in with other people. But I have no clue if people even exist in this world.’ He gritted his teeth at that scenario possibly being the case.
After wandering a little longer, he came across a small turquoise blue stream which intertwined its way through the trees.
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“Finally!” Kibo yelled out in delight but he quickly refrained from making further noise.
‘It’s small but it will do, as long as I follow it I will find its source or even some civilisation. I remember learning about early civilisations settling near water. But what if they are dangerous? I will have to kill them; I can’t take any chances. I’m not strong but my summon can probably do decent damage now since I finally promoted its rank.’ Deep down as much as he wanted to stay safe and hope no one was there, he couldn’t bear the fact he could be all alone in this world.
While he aimlessly thought to himself, he continued walking, he then began to hear the sounds of gushing water, he quickly picked up his pace and rushed towards the source of the sound.
“Amazing!” Kibo shouted.
It was a small Caribbean-blue waterfall which gushed over the rocks and into the pool. It was still high enough to leave a large vortex at the bottom along with it spraying up bubbles as some sparkled in the light of the descending sun. “I truly am experiencing a picturesque landscape”, he thought to himself.
It was such a beautiful sight that he would have never been able to see it on Earth. However, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted, as he began to hear the sounds of screams and metal clashing.
‘Seems like the sound is coming from above this hill.’ He walked around the pool of water and climbed up the wet grassy incline until he slowly peeked over the edge. He saw a large, unnatural opening in the forest which looked like a dirt road.
Kibo saw a fancy looking carriage drawn by brown horses. There were also guards fighting with what seemed like a larger group of bandits. He saw bodies from both sides scattered across the ground with pools of blood slowly growing larger around them.
‘Judging by the vehicle, their attire, and weaponry I would guess that this world is in some time near the end of the middle ages, but I guess another term would be a fantasy setting you find in games since that is a more recent comparison people from Earth will make.’
‘I need to stay away from people and attract as little attention as possible because I'm still weak as much as I hate to admit it since I never developed my abilities. My only defence and offence come from a single summon of mine. I'll also need to update my plans to finding the nearest capital city. How troublesome!’, he thought to himself.
As he continued to observe the scene, which was unfolding before him, he noticed that the last two guards were being backed up to the carriage, they fought until ultimately, they were slain by the more muscular bandit wielding a sword.
Kibo had already deduced that the guards had no chance of winning, not only were they outnumbered, they were overpowered as well. He then thought to himself, ‘I didn’t notice any magic though, Is it possible this world has no magic? I will need to investigate further.’
“Ughh! Too many questions and not enough answers!” Kibo tiredly moaned out.
Suddenly a loud shriek was heard from the carriage. The sound rang out across the forest.
***
“Let my lady go right this instant!” a woman dressed as a maid shouted as she repeatedly hit the muscular arm of one of the bandits.
The bandit then grabbed another woman who was sitting next to the maid by her legs and began to drag her out of the carriage. His evil-like laughter is only encouraged by the maids' vain attempts to stop him.
A lady wearing a white dress was dragged across the muddy ground, leaving large streaks of mud on her expensive-looking clothes, however, that was the least of her worries for now. A group of bandits was looking down upon her with lecherous eyes as they licked their lips.
The young lady looked across the faces of the bandits as their eyes glinted in disgusting anticipation. She gulped as she became more nervous at what fate laid ahead of her. The timing of this attack couldn’t be any worse, she had depleted all her mana from her earlier training and needed to rest, but they were being attacked by mere bandits on their way back home.
She couldn't help but be embarrassed with how quickly their guards lost, her security detail wasn't of a high quality due to her just leaving to train. She started to speculate within her thoughts, ‘But no one would have expected a mere second daughter of a random noble to get targeted like this. Maybe, in fact, it was just because I was some random nobleman's daughter, they chose me since they saw me as easy money.’ She tightened her fists as her nails dug into her palms.
“You lucky bastards, my mana has run out. My father will kill you once he hears of this, and If you don’t kill me right this instant, I will send you all to your deaths myself!”
“Haha, do not worry little missy, once we are done with you, your maid will be next, we will slowly torture her to death before we kill you. We will be taking our sweet time.”
The bandit proceeded to smile as he licked his dagger he had kept at the side of his belt.
Her face started to fall as a wave of dread washed over her, she felt like there was no hope in escaping this. Tears started to form and roll down her pale cheeks as she looked back towards the maid who was also helpless.
***
“Ahh, fuck it,” If I thought about it logically, these guys were my best bet at getting to the capital quickly anyway, and if I let these bandits live they would probably do the same to every other rider who shows up here.
“Awaken.”