My head hurts.
“Ugh.” I sat up, my back hurt too, and my arm had long gone numb from lying on it. I could feel small stones digging into it as well. That wasn’t good. Neither was the distinct lack of light. It wasn’t like the pure darkness from before though. I could tell I was somewhere. Somewhere damp and dark. Probably a damn cave. Perhaps even worse, a prison cell somewhere. My eyes were adjusting to the light now I could see the dark rocky walls around me. A stone floor beneath me. Above me? More rocks, but there were small stalactites hanging from the ceiling above me. That was a good sign. At least I wasn’t in a prison.
“Did that old fucker drug me? I knew that shop smelled like shit, but was there something in the air? Am I hallucinating?” I scoffed, hallucinating? That was too good to be true. I didn’t get hit by a truck, but I was pretty sure I’d been Isekai’d. I should have seen it coming to be honest. Signing a strange contract with nothing written on it should have tipped me off, but I was beguiled by something shiny. There was nothing I could do. Speaking of contracts, I still had the pen at least. My left hand had it in a death grip. That same grip had managed to let me steal many pens of lesser consequence from all sorts of people. Bankers, waitresses, anyone who dared to let me get my mitts on it. That didn’t matter now though, I don’t think people will be handing me ballpoint pens to steal in this dank, dark cave.
It was the start of a new adventure though! I stood up and dusted myself off, I had clothes on at least. They looked like I’d draped a brown burlap sack over my body, and they chaffed uncomfortably against my skin, but I wasn’t naked. I stretched out my limbs and my body complained aching all over from having spent god knows how long lying on the uneven cave floor. After my uncomfortable stretch I took a better look around. Behind me was a wall, so no going that way. In front of me was more cave that disappeared into inky blackness. I didn’t know what was in that darkness waiting for me, so I was momentarily stunned into inaction. I looked at the pen in my hand.
“I can probably do something with this right?” I mused and tried using the pen to write on the uneven surface of the wall. I drew a line. Or at least I think I did. I couldn’t see black ink in the dark, but after I picked the pen up nothing happened for several seconds until a small blue light traced along the cave wall where I’d run the pen along it. It reached the end of the squiggle I’d drawn and flashed before a small blue thread fell from the wall. Well that was certainly something. I picked up the small blue thread off the damp floor and examined it. I couldn’t see much, quite literally. I’d need to get somewhere where the sun shone before I really started to play around with this thing. Maybe I could just draw whatever I wanted and build a massive fortress in this world. That would be grand. I thought to myself as I put my hand on the wall and began to shuffle through the cave.
Getting through the cave was slow and miserable. I cut my feet on so many sharp rocks, and nearly twisted my ankle on a few of the steep drops in the cave. If that was any indication for how things in this world were going to go I was in for a hell of a time. I nearly died in the tutorial. Then I wondered if the pen would respawn in that shop where I’d bought it from, or if the world would just shrivel up and die after it’s supposed “Hero” starved to death in a cave, or died of an infection mere hours after starting his adventure. That would be a funny story to tell in the afterlife, assuming there was one. It seemed more likely now since contracts that teleport you to a new world existed, and after leaving the cave I could say certainly this place didn’t exist anywhere on Earth.
The outside was fairly typical, there were some pretty big trees, some shrubs, nice soft looking grass that I may have rolled around in a little after escaping the cold unfeeling rock. Oh, and speaking of rocks there were some of those too. Floating in the sky like little islands. They surrounded a massive mountain range. They surrounded it almost like one of Saturn's rings, and frankly it was a breathtaking sight. I could almost imagine Xianxia cultivators sitting on those floating rocks while practicing for their next big tournament. It was amusing, and horrifying. I didn’t have the patience to meditate for 2 hours let alone years. I’d be stuck as a mere mortal who got struck down all because I found some 12 colored jade spirit grass or something. I couldn’t tell if that was more troubling or fighting against a demon horde to save the planet. I shuddered, and turned my attention back to the pen in my hand. Hopefully I’d have some way to defend myself here.
The pen was the same as it had been before I was teleported. A pretty blue that faded into a slightly chilling red. There was a small button at the side that was split in two. The top half was blue and the bottom red. It was a detail I hadn't noticed before. I'd been using the blue button until now. I held the red pen up to one of the mighty trees in front of me. I traced a line around it and stood back and waited.
The solid black line was hard to see against the dark bark of the tree. But suddenly it turned bright red and circled around the tree completing the misshapen circle he'd drawn. He felt a chill run through his body as the red flashed and a perfect slice disappeared from the tree where the circle had been. Gravity suddenly brought the top half of the tree falling down. It landed awkwardly on the bottom half before tilting to the side and falling into another large tree. With a thunderous noise. Branches snapped and rained down from the sky and I retreated back into the cave for shelter, half expecting a domino effect to occur with trees knocking down more trees, but luckily the other held firm under the weight of its fallen brother.
"Holy shit, I could have died right there." I said looking at the pile of heavy branches that covered the ground near where I'd been standing. "I need to be more careful." I murmured to myself and looked at the pen. So the red took things away and the blue created things? That would be useful, but could I only create that thread? I sat down in the cave and started experimenting.
After several hours I'd learned a bit. First of all, using the pen drains me. I'd nearly passed out from exhaustion several times in just a few hours. Secondly I could influence what I got to some degree. If I drew an object I could imagine it being either solid, soft or anywhere between. It depended on what I was thinking of when I drew it. I could also draw in the air to make 3D objects. I'd managed to make a shirt for myself out of the blue threads. They were incredibly light and felt much nicer against my skin than the burlap sack thing I was wearing before. Just making that really sucked the energy out me though. I had a pounding headache, and I was beginning to feel faint when I crawled deeper into the cave and passed out until the next day.
When I woke up I felt pretty good. Even though I slept on the hard rock floor for a second day in a row I felt a little more spry than usual. Was this magic? Qi? Some other fantasy nonsense? It felt pretty good, but a low growling brought me out of my thoughts. I was hungry. Really hungry. I hadn't eaten in a little over a day now. I'd need to start foraging, or look for a town today. I walked out of the cave and met the day.
The mountains in the backdrop were as beautiful as they had been before. He took more time to appreciate them today. They were a lovely shade of green at the base and rose into the sky with peaks of pure white. The little islands floating around it were covered in lush green, and all of this was framed by an orange red sunset. Nature sure was beautiful when it wasn't marred by the sight of skyscrapers rising from the ground and thick layers of smog. I took a deep breath and decided to take a look around my little cave area. First though I'd probably need to defend myself. I drew a rudimentary club with my pen. It had a satisfying weight to it, but like everything else I made with it the club was a light blue color.
These woods were pretty ripe with fruits and berries, the only problem was I had no idea if something was poisonous or not. I looked at the berries and even gave them a good smell. I suppose that I wouldn't be able to just smell poison, but it was worth a shot. Maybe I have super powers now? It didn't seem like it.
After a few hours of searching and listening to my stomach growl I heard the distant sounds of rushing water. That was good. I could drink there. I could maybe find some animals, and better yet I could follow the river to a town or something. People always build near a good water source.
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The river was further away than I thought. Much further. The sun was already low in the sky before I arrived. I was tired and drenched in sweat from my trekk, but this river was massive. I could hardly see the other side from where I stood, and great torrents of water flowed past me at alarming speeds out toward the massive mountain in the distance. Is this what it was like looking out over the Nile? Or one of the other great rivers? I'd seen them before, but they were never this wide or perilous. I didn't have much time to gawk at its grandeur though. The sun was sinking quickly, and I didn't like the idea of sleeping out in the open on the ground. Luckily I had the pen with me.
I traced out the outline of an exceedingly small building. It was only big enough for me to walk inside and lie down in, but even that drained the strength from my body. Each line made my headache worse, but it paid off. I had a place to sleep, and I'd decided to make the floor of my makeshift hovel soft. It would be a lot better than sleeping in a cave. I stepped inside and drew in the final wall. It sparked blue and closed me in. I pushed against it and it felt sturdy enough. I could use the red pen to cut my way out in the morning. I had lots of ideas for tomorrow. I could make nets, a boat, water skins, traps for animals coming by. My stomach grumbled again at the thought. Hopefully I'd find food tomorrow, or I'd be forced to just chuck a boat into the water and pray I found people. I laid down that night both excited and worried for the day to come.
I woke up the next day to the sound of something scratching at the side of my hovel. I looked around groggily and noticed that the morning sun had turned my little home into a sweltering sauna. That's something to take note of. This stuff insulates pretty well. I thought peeling my sweaty body off the floor and looking toward the scratching sound. Whatever was out there didn't seem big, but I grabbed my club anyway.
I cut open the side letting in the cool morning air. It was refreshing. I crawled out and circled around to the side. There was a fox there. It was a beautiful fox with fur as white as snow. It's ears perked up and turned its head to me. It had pretty blue eyes that looked at me evaluating. As if it were deciding whether or not I was a friend or foe.
I didn't think it would hurt me. Instead it sniffed curiously at the air and slowly approached. I smiled and crouched down holding my hand out to the little fox. It approached me slowly. Each step was cautious and measured. I stayed where I was, and before long I felt its wet nose brush against my fingers.
The fox seemed satisfied that I wasn't going to hurt it now and sat down in front of me. It glanced at me expectantly.
"I don't have any food." I said regretfully. I was hungry too. I had a plan though. I took out my pen and began to trace a large net onto the ground. The fox seemed particularly interested in this. It sniffed at the lines excitedly as I traced them. A look of surprise alit the Fox's face when the lines began to light up and form into a sturdy fishing net. I didn't know how well these worked but I tied some stones to one end of the net so it would sink and hopefully catch fish as they washed by.
"Well. Let's hope it works out Kitsu." I said looking at the fox beside me. I'd decided to call it Kitsu. It sounded cute, and I wasn't very creative with names. The fox cocked its head to the side looking at the net in my hands before I tossed it into the river. The long line I had attached to it quickly spooled out as the net was washed down the flowing current. I let it set for a minute before trying to pull it back in. It was a chore to do. I didn't know if there was a school of fish inside or if the current was just that powerful. I was hoping for the latter though.
I tugged at the rope for several minutes, becoming more and more certain that it couldn't just be the current pulling against me, and I'd be quickly proven right as the net got closer to the curved bank and I saw several bodies flopping around inside and struggling to escape. I felt a sudden surge of pride at my triumph. Maybe living out here in the forest wouldn't be so bad. I thought while pulling my bounty on shore. What a bounty it was too. Nearly 20 fish were caught in the net. They were a vicious looking bunch with long powerful looking bodies. They reminded me of the Arapaima from the Amazon, but with more bulk to them. Which made me wonder how I'd actually managed to pull them to the bank. Each one must have weighed at least 200 kg. I groaned, pulling on the rope before tying it to a nearby tree. I gave the massive fish a few minutes of swimming against the net to tire themselves out before pulling them within jumping distance of me. A few of them escaped, but I probably only needed one of them anyway if that.
The gassed out fish sluggishly followed the net to the edge of the river where I snatched up the nearest one and drug it onto the shore. Where I gave it a swift clubbing to kill off the poor beast. The rest I decided to release back into the current once they'd regained some of their zeal. I slowly untangled them from the net, and maybe they'd noticed my goodwill because none of them tried to torpedo me while I released them.
By the time I'd recollected my net and folded it up beside my hovel I was already getting pretty sweaty again. I was already starting to smell myself. I'd have to wash up soon. Though I'd probably make a large basin and fill it up before I actually got into the water. Who knows what else is in there. A massive tiger fish? A dragon? Nessie? And that was just the stuff you could see. The mere thought of some little fish deciding to swim up my you know what made me shiver in horror.
I could think about the horrors of the river later though. I had a fish to filet, and all I had to do it with was a pen. I walked back to the fish. It was almost as long as I was tall, and it seemed to still have a little bit of life left in it. I felt bad, I thought the club would have been the end of it, but it seems these fish had quite a lot of vitality. I nodded an apology to the creature and drew a black line where it's head connected to the body. It's life quickly ebbed away with it's head severed, and I felt a warm rush flow through me. The sensation made me shiver, and I looked at the pen in my hand.
"That was strange. It felt. Wrong." I said aloud and saw a blue spiral lift from the fish's body and disappear into the pen. Was that its soul? Did fish have souls. I frowned and looked at the pen. I resolved not to use it to dispatch anything else until I knew for certain. Killing the fish for food was one thing, but potentially absorbing it's soul? I wasn't cut out to be a necromancer. I could only imagine having your soul absorbed was incredibly painful. I whispered another apology to the fish. Before I began to dissect it. It was a hack job. I didn't know where the bones were. I didn't even have a knife I could stick inside so I could feel around for them. I wondered if I could draw one up, but I'd already hacked up the body beyond repair. I salvaged what I could, which was still a lot after cutting up a 200 kg behemoth of a fish. There was a lot to eat, and Kitsu, my new fox companion was licking her lips while staring at my hacked up cuts of fish. I threw her a few morsels and she greedily snapped them up in her mouth before retreated backwards to consume her meal. I smiled wondering how long she'd stick around while I began drawing up some things to make a fire which was just a stick and some thread. After doing it I thought that I could probably go into the forest and get the same supplies, but this was easier. I wonder how long it would burn for?
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That human was strange. He used his Qi so strangely compared to others she'd seen. It also didn't reside inside of his body. It was in the object he kept on his person. That's how She'd found him. She thought that it was some rare herb, and planned to refine it inside of her body only to find it locked behind strange walls of solid…. Solid something. It didn't look like the material other humans used, and it faintly radiated his Qi. It wasn't until she saw him making that food catching device that she'd realized he could use lines on the ground to make these things. It was truly a strange, but profoundly interesting technique. She'dd tried to ask him about it, but he didn't seem to be able to hear me. What a vexing man he was. He did give her some offerings from his catch though, so she supposed that she could stick around for a while.
Right now he was rubbing a stick on the ground and looking at it expectantly. What kind of foolish game is that? She laid down chewing on her meat when suddenly small Sparks came from the little nest of strings he'd made on the ground, and from those Sparks a small flame blossomed. A strange fire making technique? But he could use Qi.
"Hah! Finally it worked. Look at that Kitsu!" He beamed proudly looking in her direction. He'd also started calling her Ki Zu? A strange name, but she didn't despise it. She'd respond to his excitement with a soft snort of acknowledgement. If he'd only asked she could have started the fire for him ages ago. What a strange human he was indeed. The fox thought before snapping up the last of her meal and walking into the man's strange blue abode.
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"Did that fox just snub me?" I asked incredulously as she sauntered away. I could almost see the disdain in her eyes. I kind of pissed him off, but I had just spent over an hour just trying to make a small fire. The small threads he made burned wonderfully though. The fire burned a bright blue, and the heat was nearly unbearable, but the little threads only slowly burned away while producing no smoke at all. I decided this would be plenty to roast my fish and boil my water. I was getting mighty parched after not drinking for a few days, but I didn't want to risk getting poisoned with salmonella or some other fantasy super virus that was living in the water.
I'd made a pot and two large kegs with a stand. The keg fed into one of the pots that was above the fire and he had a lid connected to a tube the fed into his second keg that I could use to collect my purified water. I was quite happy with the whole set up. It worked beautifully, and it wasn't long before I had about a cup of water than I greedily slurped down while I waited for my fish to cook. I decided to cook it all up in on go. Some I just cooked and the rest I kept higher above the heat to make jerky with overnight. It would be easier to keep that way.
After my fish was done cooking I carefully pulled it from the roasting spit I'd placed above my now roaring fire and popped a little peice into my mouth. It was good! It had a slightly muddy fishy taste to it, but it wasn't really that offensive. I was starving to boot, so that made the meat taste a lot better by default. I drank nearly a whole keg of my water and laid back on the shore of the river patting my stomach and looking up at the colorful band of stars in the sky. If life in this world was like this I wouldn't mind. I just knew I wasn't cut out for dueling cultivators, or fighting through massive hoardes of demons. I could be logistics support though. I closed my eyes relaxing. It had been a good day. I smiled thinking that I wouldn't have to drag myself to some meeting at the office tomorrow and dozed off in the riverbank.