—In complete darkness again —I thought, surrounded by an atmosphere of calm that scared me a little.

—That was an interesting but short second life —I thought, lamenting my situation.

I was willing to take my well-deserved rest when suddenly a light illuminated my entire face, which annoyed me, but made me realize something.

—I'm alive! —I said, alarmed before opening my eyes, almost closing them immediately due to the intense sunlight—. I'm not dead —I said happily as I got up and noticed Usaki and Shina were asleep next to me.

—Wait, what happened? The last thing I remember is being in front of an Elk and then —I paused, remembering what happened.

—He teleported us —I conclude— but where —I started looking around, seeing a plain that extended as far as I could see with tall grass waving gently in the breeze, with some very spaced out trees. The warm environment and characteristic color of its flora gave me an idea of where we were.

—Have we appeared on a Savannah? —I asked myself.

Admiring the landscape, I started hearing moans, noticing Usaki was waking up. As he opened his eyes, he stared at the sky for a moment before startling and starting to observe his surroundings until finally staring at me.

—Aru, where are we? —he asked, very confused.

—We're in some kind of very large plain, that's all I know —I explained.

—A plain? —Shina questioned as she got up.

—Shina, I'm glad you woke up —I said, relieved with a big smile.

—But what happened? —she asked, confused.

—Don't you remember? We were banished and sent to —I made a sudden pause—, the human continent —saying those words I felt my world flip for a moment.

—Arusai? —She immediately moved closer when she heard and felt my concern.

—What's wrong with me? —I thought, surprised, while taking a deep breath to calm down.

—I'm sorry to scare you, I don't know what came over me —I said, still a bit shaken.

—But that was very strange, you got like that when you mentioned the human continent —Usaki said, a bit puzzled.

—Human continent —Shina said thoughtfully—, I think I've heard of it —she pointed out.

—What do you mean you've heard of it? —I said somewhat insecurely.

—From stories my parents told me about it. As far as I know, it's a continent inhabited by very intelligent monsters and also terrifying ones. Just one of them isn't usually a big problem, but when several get-togethers, if I'm not mistaken, they're called humans —she explained.

—What a good way to refer to them —I thought, melancholy.

—I've also heard of such monsters, but I didn't know they were called humans —Usaki said somewhat bewildered—, and how do you know about them, Arusai?

—I… —When I tried to say something, I felt a sudden, severe headache along with small, blurry memories of my past life.

—You ungrateful bastard —I clearly remembered words coming from an angry female voice. The pain and memories stopped almost instantly after I remembered those words.

—What was that? —I said softly and quite agitated by the sudden rush of memories—. Sorry guys, I don't know what's happening to me —I said in an attempt to calm down.

—Arusai, is there something you haven't told us that makes you get like this? —Shina asked worriedly.

—It's true there are things I haven't told you, but I don't know what could be making me so upset —I stated, still a bit shaken.

—Maybe this has something to do with humans —Usaki commented.

—Yes. It's probably that, but I don't remember exactly.

—How have you had dealings with humans if this is the first time we're on the human continent? Right? —Shina asked, somewhat puzzled.

—Better not say anything else, Arusai —he said quickly before I could answer—, you might have another attack, so we'd better drop this subject.

—You're right —Shina lamented a little—, we'd better not talk about humans anymore. What we need to focus on now is this place. Do you know what it's called?

—Savannah, or at least I think so —I said, unsure if it was called the same in this world.

—Well, I don't think just standing still will help us right now —Shina said, as if trying to lift my spirits.

—You're right, we'd better start exploring this place. We can't stay here when night falls —Usaki supported.

—Okay, let's go —I said in better spirits.

Our progress across the plain was quite peaceful, allowing me to think about what happened when I tried to talk about my life as a human. All those random memories were very confusing, especially those last words. She really sounded very angry, but I have another life right now. Thinking about it will only cause me problems. But stopping thinking about it didn't stop the problems. Hours had passed and we hadn't found any food. Plus, the heat was starting to affect Shina and Usaki. I was fine thanks to my Fire resistance, but they were starting to get tired. So when I saw a tree up ahead, I suggested we rest under it for a while.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

—How many hours has it been since we appeared in this place? —Usaki said, exhausted, as he lay down under the tree.

—I don't know, but it seems to have no end —Shina said just as tired—, and how come you don't seem tired, Arusai?

—It's because I have a resistance that really helps me in this situation —I explained to them—, but if we don't find food soon, my ability won't help much.

Shina glanced around, looking for any sign of life. I didn't have the heart to tell her the most I had felt were small presences beneath us, nothing important enough. While we were resting, I started feeling the ground beneath us begin to tremble slightly. Those tremors were gradually increasing in intensity. Usaki and Shina had noticed it too, staring around.

—Uh, guys, look over there —Usaki said somewhat nervously as he pointed at something.

When we looked, we saw a dust cloud approaching in the distance. As it got close enough, we realized it was a herd of monsters that looked like gazelles from afar coming towards us.

—We have to move now! —I said, alarmed before we got out of their path.

Luckily for us, the whole herd passed us by, completely ignoring our presence. But I was worried about the strong feeling of fear they gave off. As they started moving away, I felt other presences heading this way. When I turned around, I saw some kind of lion jump towards us. Before it could even land, Usaki jumped up and kicked it in the snout, sending it quite far away.

When we realized it, we were surrounded by red-furred lions that resembled tigers. I suspected the one with the scar on his right eye was the leader, which was only confirmed when, after his roar, the lions pounced on us.

Before they could attack us, I activated Scale Reinforcement and Acid Body, then dodged the attack of one of the lions and went for the one behind it. With a quick movement, I sank my Poison Fangs into its jugular, then coiled its whole body tightly and squeezed with all my might. To my surprise, its bones gave way pretty quickly.

[You have killed a Leotigris]

I immediately separated from the Leotigris’ body to go for another one, being attacked by the one that originally came for me. But when it hit my head, it hurt its paw due to the acid my body secretes. When it tried to retreat, I bit its neck and then lifted it with all my strength, slamming it against another one coming at me. Without letting them recover, I threw a Fireball at them while they were still together.

[You have killed two Leotigris]

When I looked up, I could see Shina and Usaki had taken out two others each. The remaining ones were with them, while the scarred one was trying to stalk me. When it jumped at me, I turned and threw a Fireball right at its chest. It landed harshly on the ground. When I went to bite it, it moved away just before I could reach it, retreating in pain because its chest and part of its face were quite burned. I don't know why, but I hissed at the Leotigris. It took a step back before starting to run in the opposite direction.

—I've never hissed before, why did I do it now? —I thought, doubtful.

I didn't think too hard about it and left that question aside. When I looked at Usaki and Shina, I saw they had the Leotigris bodies around them. It seemed they had just finished because they barely glanced my way.

—That was easier than I expected —Shina said somewhat surprised—. I thought they would be stronger after managing to get such a large herd running away."

—It's true. I think if all those monsters had banded together, they could have beaten the Leotigri"-- Usaki mentioned.

—I think I can understand why —I commented—. You see, the monsters here may not be very intelligent.

—What do you mean by that? —Usaki asked.

—Wait, don't tell me it's true that here monsters don't form any kind of tribes and don't know how to speak the monster language? —I was surprised Shina explained it better than I had in mind.

—Yes, all of that is true —I stated seriously.

—I understand. I didn't imagine those stories would have been true. I thought they would at least know how to speak the monster language, but you're telling me they can't even do that.

—That's right. The monsters who could do that on the human continent would be very few. Even though we aren't technically prey to the monsters in this area, it doesn't mean we should lower our guard.

—But for now, we'd better eat something —I said before approaching a Leotigris body.

With a little laugh, Shina also started eating one. She probably would have eaten alongside me, but ever since she accidentally poisoned herself eating a monster's body, she surely lost her taste for it. As I ate, I wondered why I didn't kill their leader. I could have killed him so easily, but I chose to hiss at him and let him go. He'll surely die without his pack. I should have quickly ended his suffering.

—That's right —I said, remembering something—, what are you supposed to eat, Usaki? —I mentioned, concerned, turning to look at Usaki.

—None of this looks appetizing, but I have no other choice —he said as he hesitantly approached a Leotigris body.

—W-wait, you're not thinking of- —Before Shina could finish, Usaki took a bite of the body, tearing off a piece of meat with difficulty. I could see how he struggled to chew the tough meat with his teeth that obviously weren't made for it, finally swallowing the piece of meat.

—Usaki, are you okay? —I asked worriedly. Usaki didn't respond and just tore off another piece of meat. —I'm sure nothing will happen if you do that—. I said doubtfully.

—I'm sure something will happen, but it's either that or starve to death —he stated determinedly before swallowing a piece of meat.

—I hope what you're doing doesn't end up killing you —Shina said somewhat skeptically.

—I hope so too —Usaki said uncertainly.

—Oww, it hurts —it had been about an hour, and Usaki kept writhing on the ground as he held his stomach.

—I knew it would make you sick —Shina said as she kept healing him. Usaki's pains had appeared right after he felt satisfied. According to him, they were barely noticeable at first, but the more time passed the more they intensified, until reaching this point.

—Shina, are you sure you can keep healing him? You look tired —I said, somewhat alarmed.

—The truth is... I can't do anymore —she said before stopping—. I've done my best, but I can't completely alleviate his pain," she stated dejectedly.

—Don't say that. I think I'm feeling better now —Usaki said as he got up with difficulty—, let's go, we have to continue on our way —he said, trying to hide his pain.

—Usaki, you don't have to pretend. It's better if you rest, we'll take care of you —I said worriedly.

Usaki complained about a moment, but the pain ultimately won over, leaning on what was left of the tree to sit and rest for a while.

—Shina, take care of Usaki. I'm going to see if I can find something he can eat.

—Okay, but be careful —Shina said, somewhat unconvinced of my decision.

—That's what I should be telling you —I said before starting to move away.