Mundus stepped on the damp soil.

He crouched and picked up a handful of soil.

He then brought it to his nose, taking a few whiffs.

"This is good quality soil. It's decided. We will establish our city here."

His two brothers nodded their heads before leaving to direct the workers, who were busy setting up a temporary camp.

They were situated north of a tropical jungle.

A river was located east of their location, providing fresh drinking water, as well as serving as the foundation for an irrigation system.

The soil was fertile and perfect for planting crops.

The nearby jungle provided the necessary wood.

"This is truly a perfect spot."

Saying so, Apernora stepped close to Mundus and took in her surroundings.

"But even if it's the perfect spot, it'll still take about a week to clear the land until we can start farming. Even then it'll take at least a few months until the first crops can be harvested. Until then we must subsist on the nearby forest."

Apernora walked toward a nearby jungle tree and grabbed the vine growing upon its trunk.

While she was examining the vine, Mundus replied.

"that could be a challenge. The forest here is different from the ones back home. We will need to learn from the very beginning how to exploit it. Look here."

At that he gently grabbed the vine out of her hands

"See this vine, it's very sturdy. It could be used to bind some wood or to make rope. The ones back home weren't so sturdy."

Apernora glanced at the vine that was now in his hands.

"Even so, the people will have to learn to adapt. Everyone who came with us is young and strong. They will figure it out. And those that don't, well only the strong are meant to survive."

At that, Mundus shook his head.

"Even the strong can get caught off guard. We need to work together if we want to overcome this challenge."

Hearing her husband's words, Apernora nodded her head.

"You're right. We need the help of everyone if we wish to survive in this cruel world. We have no one to rely upon other than ourselves."

Mundus gave a wordless grunt of affirmation.

"I am going to go scout out the forest. Make sure that no threats are nearby."

Saying so, Mundus turned and departed.

Apernora was left standing by her lonesome, peering into the jungle, as if trying to divine the threats hidden within.

Mundus walked towards the main staging area of their temporary camp.

"You and you grab your spears, the two of you will come with me to scout the forest."

Saying so, he grabbed his spear and led the way.

Soon the party comprising of Mundus and two hunters left and entered the jungle.

At first, they walked along the edge, making sure that no threats were close to the camp.

They discovered many small critters and insects.

Whenever they would come across something, they would try to either grab or spear it, to later take back to camp.

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At one point, the group came across a gathering of colorful frogs.

"Don't touch those. I have a bad feeling about these creatures."

Hearing Mundus's command, the hunter, about to grab a colored frog, quickly retracted his hand, allowing the frog to hop off into the undergrowth.

"What do you mean, Sir Mundus?"

Mundus examined their surroundings.

"Look around. Everything we came across until now was either green or brown. In other words, everything is trying to hide from one another. Now tell me, why would a frog not want to be hidden?"

The hunter, hearing Mundus's words was perplexed.

"I'm afraid I don't know. Maybe it just doesn't know how to hide?"

Mundus let out a thoughtful hum.

"Either way, I don't like this. And I didn't become such a great hunter by ignoring my instincts. Until I say otherwise, no one is to touch any of these colorful frogs."

saying so, Mundus kept walking.

The hunters exchanged glances before shrugging and following along.

During their scouting, they came across many interesting and new creatures.

One such creature was a dark-colored feline.

It resembled a wolf, only with shorter fur and a shorter snout.

It stood at waist height, but it often was seen crouching, hiding in the jungle undergrowth.

It tried to ambush Mundus by jumping at him from his blind spot, but he used his developed technique to strengthen himself, giving him superhuman speed and strength.

He whipped around and struck the panther in the face, sending it sprawling on the jungle floor.

The two hunters quickly impaled it, putting an end to the panther's life.

The trio then decided to bring their spoils back to camp.

On their way back, they were ambushed from above by a type of flying snake.

It had short wings running down the sides of its ribs, allowing it to glide a short time in the air.

The snake was coiled up high in a tree, and when it spotted the trio passing close by, it launched itself at them.

Its target was the hunter who currently had the panther hoisted around his shoulders.

Mundus, heard the air being dispersed by the snake and thought that someone had launched a spear at them.

Instinctively, he used his power to redirect the spear to miss the hunter.

The snake narrowly missed the hunter and glided into the undergrowth.

Once it arrived, it tried quickly to slither away. Mundus would have none of it and grabbed the snake using his powers.

The hissing snake soon floated out and tried its best to snap at the nearest hunter, but without any purchase to propel itself, its attempts were futile.

Mundus examined the snake.

"It seems this forest is more dangerous than we initially thought. Make sure to keep an eye out for any other snakes hidden in the trees."

Saying so, he snapped the snake's neck and proceeded back to camp.

Only a few minutes after saying so, the hunters detected movement in the upper tree canopy.

"Up above!"

Saying so, they dropped the animal carcasses and readied their spears.

Multiple shadows flitted from branch to branch, with wild and mad screeching echoing across the canopy.

Mundus found himself surrounded.

No matter where he would look, in every direction he would see shadows jumping from branch to branch.

Soon, rocks started to be thrown at them.

"Watch out, they're throwing stones!"

Mundus was able to deflect and redirect the incoming stones, but he was stuck in a stalemate.

He couldn't float up to reach the canopy without abandoning the two hunters who were with him.

The two hunters tried throwing rocks back, but they lacked the strength to hit those hidden in the upper branches of the jungle.

Mundus launched some rocks back toward the canopy with extreme force, resulting in small detonations of rock and splinters wherever they impacted.

It seemed one such impact hit its mark, as out of the trees a figure fell.

Its mad screech came to an abrupt halt as it impacted the ground and an audible snap could be heard.

Finally, Mundus and the two hunters could identify who their assailants were.

"How could this be?"

One of the hunters couldn't believe their eyes.

There on the ground lay what appeared to be a small man, who had hair grown all over its body.

Its face was covered in wrinkles and it had thick eyebrow bones.

Its tiny beady eyes sat atop its slight snout-like face.

Its feet resembled hands more than feet and it had an overall muscular build.

As soon as that treeman fell and impacted the floor, the howls coming from above intensified, as did the ferocity of their attack.

Seeing that worsening situation, Mundus screamed "Enough!" and launched over a dozen projectiles into the canopy.

Screams of pain could be heard from above, but no more bodies fell from the upper branches.

Nonetheless, the screams and howls soon retreated and the trio once again found themselves alone.

"What was that?"

Mundus was still shaken from their earlier encounter.

"I can't believe that there are other humans."

Saying so, Apernora poked the dead treeman with her finger.

"I wouldn't go as far as to call them human. The hunters call them treemen."

Mundus chimed in.

After having encountered the treemen, Mundus and the two hunters traveled back to camp.

Mundus instructed the hunters to inform his brothers and the others of what they had seen, while he went to Apernora to discuss their findings.

"Well human, treeman, whatever, they certainly didn't seem happy to see us here. We will have to remove them from the area before we can continue exploring the rest of the forest."

Mundus glanced at the jungle and let out a thoughtful hum.

"I think for that it be best for me and my brothers to go alone. It seems their main method of attack is to throw rocks from above. All three of us can fly, so we can simply fly above them and knock them out of the trees using our powers."

Apernora gave an approving nod.

"Well, it seems like you've got a plan. In the meantime, I'll stay here and take command until you return. Remember, in this world, we can rely on no one but ourselves. Now go what must be done."

Saying so, Apernora turned and walked towards the camp.

Mundus was left alone with the treeman's corpse, lost in thought.