Waking up to some sort of rumbling sound I stand up thinking that the roadworks started again. Oh how I kinda wish that was the case. I am instantly assaulted by the desolate scenery of a forest filled with pinetrees. Really makes me remember my childhood playing in the backyard forest. There were a lot of forests back then untouched by the grime that is humanity. Looking around I can tell that this is your typical pinewood forest with each tree atleast a few meters from each other. Moss is growing everywhere and there is the occasional bush and sapling aswell. Most plants seems quite typical to pinewoods, but I can't recognize some of the flora around. Take for example some of the moss growing on a large tree that is dotted with red spots. Does it have some sort of parasite or disease, or is that just something innate for the moss itself.

Yep we are definetly in a fantasy world. Also remember those wisps I've been collecting since I surfaced? Yeah there are a fuck-ton of them here. I think I can make a pool of them now instead of just a jarfull.

Well atleast that is something nice for you. I still do think we need to find a way to civilazation before anything though. I don't fancy the idea of sleeping in an unknown enviroment. Standing up from my sitting position I notice the blue dagger still held in my hand. That thing came along huh. Still should be nice for atleast a minimium of self defense. Would be nicer if you were a sword though. Just as I finish that thought the dagger starts humming and I can feel a suction in the air. Almost as if it's sucking in the coldness of the air. Now that I think about it, I should be freezing right about now with the ground being covered in a thin layer of frost and all. Might have something to do with becoming a wielder as Slithas put it. Now that I think about what are wielders anyways. The way he spoke of them made them out to be some sort of people with superpowers.

Update for you my friend. You know how the wisps used to just stick around for a bit and dissapate. That doesn't happen anymore. They seem to be a lot more willing to be caught and sometimes they seem to come to us of their own will. Might have something to do with becoming a wielder. I can also notice that they're all differently coloured. We got a lot shades of blue right now. Those ones are the easiest to catch. The brown wisps are a bit more stubborn and the green guys are neutral about it.

Speaking of those wisps didn't you say that everyone had atleast a very small condensation of those. Let's classify those wisps as something similiar to mana for now. Seems like a reasonable bet to me.

Can't help but agree with that. I'm gonna make different areas for the different colours now. Don't wanna mess around with powers we don't quite understand yet too much. Mixing unknown elements usually ends up badly.

With that inner monologue done the sword also seems to be done humming and drawing in the cold air. It seems to have encased itself in a block of sword shaped ice. A few moments later the ice cracks and dissapates revealing a sword with a blade 1 meter long blade and a handle perfectly sized for my hand. Well ain't that convinient. We got ourselves a shape shifting weapon. Should help if we need to process something. Although the freezing effect it seems to have on wounds would probably make that a bad idea. Still I have done some hunting in my life with it running in the family and all. I still remember that one time when we were hunting with our friends uncle and he accidently brought an elephant gun. He only realized what happened when the moose had its torso pretty much blown off.

And that fellow still just laughed it of. Really how come all our associates turned out to be crazy in some way. I suppose birds of a feather flock together holds true.

Well we were technically diagnosed with a personality disorder or something like that. For dissorder you sure are useful. That or the skull shrinkers are just terrible at their jobs which I find more likely. Let's actually get a move on now.

There seems to be a sound of running water to the west. Settlements are always found alongside rivers in the olden days.

Well atleast we have a source of water if nothing else. I start heading towards the distant sound of rushing water with steps of someone used to traversing the woods. It takes about 10 minutes of walking before I hear a scream of a woman.

Damsel in disstress development. That or the you peeked on me and now I have to kill you one.

Eitherway it would provide a solid clue towards some sort of village atleast. Breaking into a jog I head towards the place where the scream came from. Getting closer I can the silhouette of someone running away from a giant bear. That someone also seems to be a catkin. I always loved cats, even if they are pricks sometimes. My thoughts get interrupted by the strangers yell

''YOU THERE PLEASE HELP ME!'' (Catkin)

Just as she finished yelling for help the bear tries to claw at her. She tries to dodge it by jumping away which results in her getting hit and slamming into to tree. Well she is out of the game for a bit. Releasing a threatening growl the bear looks at me trying to intimidate me away from its prey. Well this has to be the dummest idea I've had today.

Yeah sure just ignore the idea of fighting Slithas in the first place.

That turned out fine okay. Examining my opponent in more detail I can notice a few distinct changes to the grizzlies I know. First of this thing is huge, it's atleast 3 meters tall with longer limbs aswell. The mouth also seems to have an assortment of far deadlier looking teeth than normal. The eyes are also red.

And don't forget the football sized mass of wisps aswell. As a side note it also has pathways for the claws.

Brilliant, I get to fight an oversized grizzly in the woods with nothing but a magic shapeshifting sword. The grizzly decides to break the standoff first by charging at me at an unexpected speed. I manage to still dodge the charge barely by rolling to the side just as the brown rocket goes past me. Well this won't be easy that is for sure. Any advice for taking this thing on.

Aim for the limbs I suppose. The vitals are most likely not in reach of our weapon so disabling it is the best bet.

Sounds like a plan to me. Focusing on the bear again it seems to have recovered from the failed charge now looking at me a bit pissed of. This time the bear doesn't break into a full charge only running at me. Just as it gets in a few meters of me it stands up bringing its 2 claws up to strike down with them. Such a large movement creates easy to exploit gaps as always. Kinda like reloading a few bullets after you get a kill in a shooter. I decide on the most sound of strategies and dash under the bear while its still winding up the attack. Sliding under its back legs and stopping myself by stabbing into the sword into the ground, I lift the sword from the ground and aim for where I suspect the ankle is. My guess is rewarded with my stab cutting through something tense. The bear at this point has already dropped on all fours again starting to turn around. It doesn't get to finish that movement before it falters and slips from the loss of balance. The bear seems flustered about the loss of usability from one of its limbs. Taking the opportunity I wind up a large swing aiming for the other back leg. The bear flails a bit and I end up missing my mark a bit cleaving the leg in question in half. The bear at this point breaks into a complete frenzy just trying to swing at everything wildly.

It seems to have lost all reason and is just flailing in desperation. Let it exhaust itself and then finish it off. Also do take that catkin a bit further away.

Reminded of the catkin lying unconscious against the tree, I run next to her and lift her up throwing her on my shoulder. Taking her away from the flailing mess of an apex predator, I set her against a tree further away. It takes a few minutes for the bear to lose all of its energy. Getting a bit closer I take a stone of of the ground and throw it at the bear looking for a response. The bear does react to it, but it only raises its head weakly. I kinda wanna take pity on the poor fellow, but rules of the jungle most likely apply here more than ever. Bringing my sword up ready to decapitate the bear, it only closes its eyes in acceptence. The sword comes falling down cutting through the bears spine with some effort. Luckily the wounds on the bear were closed by the spreading frost my weapon seems to inflict. Atleast the blood won't attract other predators. Turning my attention to the still unconscious catkin I finally take a closer look at her.

I must say those boobs of her are quite pitiful. She seems to only be a b-cup while looking like an adult.

Well beastkin usually mature much faster in every novel ever, so she might be younger than she looks. Focusing again on the inspection of the catkin, I take in some general details. She seems to be around 1.60m tall with bright brown hair, from which 2 cat ears peek out from. Her tail is also bright brown, but has some darker spots aswell.

You think catkin purr in this world? How about scratching her ears?

Hmm considering I saved her it should be fine as compensation. Sitting next to her I move her head into my lap and begin to absent mindly scratch her ears while inspecting her. Her clothes look like a stereotypical herbalists clothes. Maybe she was looking for ingredients in the forest when she got attacked. That might hint at a village being close by. She seems too young to venture out too far anyways. After a minute or so of petting her, I notice a small purring sound coming from her.

Oh that is cute. Her cute face full on innocence makes this so much better.

I can agree with her being very cute. Slowly her tail starts getting more active and finally after about 10 minutes of petting, she starts showing signs of waking up. Yawning a bit while purring she opens her bright brown eyes staring into mine.

''Uhh... Hello?'' (Joe)

She seems to fall into some sort of daze and starts mumbling to herself.

''am i in heaven... this is definetly heaven.. i'm sure i got eaten by that dire bear...'' (Catkin)

''Are you ok? Are you hurting anywhere?'' (Joe)

My question brings her back to reality causing her to jump up, which she immediatly regrets judging by her falling down. I quickly catch her in a princess carry and gently place her on my lap again. Which causes her to freeze up again.

''Maybe we start with names. My name is Joe what is yours?'' (Joe)

''Ahh.. Right my name is Patricia, but most people call me parts.'' (Parts)

She seems like a typical airhead character doesn't she? I think i know where that nickname came from with that.

''Right. So what were you doing and why were you attacked by that bear?'' (Joe)

''Oh right I was supposed to collect some mushrooms for teacher, but then I got attacked by that bear. Why was that bear so close to civilization in the first place. Usually they stay atleast a day away from town...'' (Parts)

She starts going on and on about what lead to the events, even if she does it in a klutz way. The summary of the situation is that she was supposed to collect some mushrooms for her teacher which grow on the riverbank an hour away from town. While she was collecting them she started singing to pass the time while collecting them. That singing attracted the dire bear to come and take a look at the source of the sound. Parts got spooked by the bear and threw a mushroom she had in her hand at the bear in question. The mushroom just so happened to land on its face. The problem with that was the fact that the fungi causes irritation when touching skin. It got enraged by the irritation she caused it and started chasing after her causing her to scream. That was the first scream I heard. And the rest I know.

''So mind taking me to town? I'm kinda lost here anyways.'' (Joe)

''How did you get here in that case? The town I live in is the closest town for atleast a hundred kilometers. No one wants to build a town around these woods anyways. Too dangerous with things like those dire bears being one of the weakest inhabitants.'' (Parts)

''Right are transmigrators a thing here?'' (Joe)

''You don't mean that youre one of those legendary people!?!'' (Parts)

''Oh good that makes things so much easier to explain.'' (Joe)

''Oh god, oh god, I'm glad i didn't insult such a person.'' (Parts)

Parts falls into a daze while mumbling yet again. I can already see a pattern here.

''How about we get to town to converse these things instead of being in the woods? That is if you would prefer another dire bear to come and looking?'' (Joe)

''YES PLEASE!'' (Parts)

She tries to bounce up again only to make a pained face and fall down. I once again catch her this time taking her into a piggyback.

''Don't try to walk with that back of yours now young lady. Just point in the right direction and I will take us there.'' (Joe)

Taking a commanding tone with Parts to stop her from doing anything stupid at this point seems like the right choice.

Just how much a klutz can one person be.

Leaving those thoughts behind, I start walking in the direction Parts is directing me to. After I took a commanding tone she seems to have turned into a meek little mouse.

How ironic. A cat as meek as a mouse.

Let's just hope no more of these annoying stereotypes pop up. I always did hate harems. Thinking about such things we make your way towards the village.