Edward took advantage of the morning to continue practicing his new powers. It was a good way to familiarize himself with what they could do and how to use them, and he had to admit that teleporting around was fun. He only regretted that there was no one around to spook, it would be so easy to spook someone once you could teleport. Probably too easy now that I think about it. It would remove some of the fun, it would be like cheating in a way. Though just the face some of my friends would make would be worth it. Damn! It feels good to take some time for yourself once in a while. It has been a long time since I had this much fun. He looked above him, the sun was already high up in the sky.

It should be around noon. I don’t even feel hungry though. Is that because of my breakthrough too? I would have to observe myself for a few days to be sure of all the changes. This is a little concerning, before I broke through, I was having that hunger for power. I don’t feel it anymore, but it means that even though I’m getting huge boons like an increase in strength and powers, it affects me in other ways too. Once I go back to the village, I will have to ask more questions. I don’t want to be controlled by urges or to turn into a monster. Having powers is good, being controlled by your power is not good at all.

I will continue to explore the forest, and once I feel ready, I will go back to the village. I wanted to slaughter all of those monsters left in the ruins to avenge Adrien, but if killing them can affect me I should wait to have more information before doing it. They are too numerous too, I guess I don’t have any other choice but to sneak past them and avoid fights. The priority will be to go back to the village instead of killing them.

Look at me, it’s my day off and I’m already thinking about “work”, getting all serious. Let’s think about something better instead. What can I do in my free time apart from killing monsters? There are not many distractions in this world. No phone to listen to music, no video games, no silly videos on the internet…I’m starting to miss all of that…I know I hated my life on Earth but I guess that in the end you only remember the good sides.

I could write a guide about all the monsters that I will meet during my travels. That would be cool, it would be like Pokemon, catch them all. I could make one page with a description of the monster and his characteristic, and one page with a drawing of it. I’m not a good drawer but I could pick up the skill, I have time. I could pick up all the chicks with something like that too, I would just have to show off all the monsters that I courageously killed. Who can resist a charming adventurer? It could be useful too if people have never met those monsters before, knowing what their characteristics are could save their life. I would kill two birds with one stone. Getting chicks and helping people.

What do I have until now? The Teleportcrow, the monsters in the ruins in Oshle Tirion, the dark wolves, and that regal wolf. I should give a name to the monsters from the ruins. Edward immediately pictured their bloody maws when he thought about them. I would call them Bloodhounds but that would be bad for the dogs, I will just call them Bloodmaws instead. It is not the most imaginative name but it is fitting.

I don’t have anything to draw or write in this place, however. I guess this project will wait until I can get some supplies. I really need to go back to the village. But for that, I need to get used to my new powers first. Especially my teleportation power and my aura perception work in tandem if I want to teleport in rooms where I don’t have direct visibility. It is a must if I want to avoid the Bloodmaws.

Edward felt a bit dizzy after teleporting around during the whole morning. During the afternoon he took some rest simply lazing on the rocks and enjoying the warmth of the sun, he was sunbathing just like a lizard. It has been a while since the last time I sunbathed like that, I may even manage to get a bit of tanned skin. After his day off Edward had a soundly sleep at night.

*****

He woke up feeling refreshed the next morning. I feel better than ever, a good night of sleep makes wonders. Now, let’s get back on business. Before I was trying to hunt those monsters so I was only going into the forest during the night, now that I want to explore the area a little more, it makes more sense to travel during the day. Especially if I wander in areas that I haven’t been to before, facing an unknown monster in its environment is dangerous.

The only problem is how to avoid getting lost. If I have to fight or if I am surprised by a plant similar to the flowers’ trees, I could easily lose my sense of direction. My aura perception is good, but it can reach up to fifty meters at most, it won’t help if I am deep in the forest. Last time, I managed to find back my directions by climbing a tree, but it is not the ideal situation and it takes time.

A more practical thing I could do is to leave some marks behind me. It will be exactly like Hansel and Gretel, except I will need to use something better than breadcrumbs. I can grave an arrow pointing toward my base on the trees on my way. I feel a little bad for the trees but that should prevent me from getting lost.

Edward got ready quickly, preparing his backpack to avoid losing time. He would have at most a day of exploration. It was still too dangerous to spend the whole night in the forest. He could survive it, but he wouldn’t get any rest. If any monster managed to find him while he was asleep, he would be dead before knowing it. And the monsters could vary in strength too, the Teleportcrows that he encountered in the borders were quite meek, but the other ones he met deeper in, were a lot more aggressive.

He walked quickly, already used to the rocky area before the forest, he slowed down to a normal pace only when he entered the forest. He activated his aura perception, slowly expanding its range until he got saturated by the amount of information, he then decreased the range a little so that it stayed bearable. The range of his perception was now thirty meters instead of the fifty outside of the forest. I see, due to the number of living beings here, I can’t manage to expand my aura perception to its full range. With practice, I should be able to get used to it and slowly extend my perception until it reaches its maximal range. I should train my aura perception here during the day, it would be more effective than doing it in the middle of rocks, where there is not much to sense in the first place.

He was able to feel the majestic aura of each and every tree, the small leafy aura of the ferns, the ones of the tiny but very vivid animals. It was a lot to take in. When you are able to sense all of that, you really see the forest in a new light. There is so much life in there. He decided to go straight forward until the sun would start to set, afterward, he would go back to his tracks. He probably wouldn’t be fully outside the forest before the night fell, but he would be in a familiar area at least.

Edward walked while sensing the auras around him, he was also able to see them faintly with his naked eyes. This really makes you understand that you are only a part of nature. There is so much different life surrounding me. He slowly got used to it and walked for several hours only stopping either to sustain himself briefly with some mushrooms and berries or to mark his way with arrows on the trees. He noticed that the small arrows he was graving in the trees' trunks weren’t disturbing the trees’ aura. The trees were just too massive to be hurt by such small cuts, it made him feel better about it.

As he was walking, he noticed that the environment around him was slowly changing. The soil was becoming mushier. He also hadn’t seen any flower trees for quite some time. Instead, the trees were more spaced out and smaller. He even noticed some dead trees laying on the floor, with moss and mushrooms growing on them. Before long, there were some green ponds on his path, this part of the forest had turned into a marsh.

That’s when he heard some noise, the cracking of rotting wood being torn apart. He stopped to identify the direction of the noise, it was still farther than thirty meters, and so out of his aura perception. The noise was coming from his left, from behind a dead tree fallen on the ground. He approached quietly to discern what was making this sound. The thing making this racket was of small height as he still wasn’t immediately able to see it even after coming closer. He sensed it with his aura before being able to see it, the thing was around one meter and a half long with a height of only fifty centimeters and roughly the same width, and it had six legs. Six legs... I have a bad feeling about it…

He skirted around the tree to be able to see that thing without being too close to it. He saw a humongous rove beetle, the thing more than one meter long was indeed a giant insect. He suppressed a feeling of disgust, imagining what kind of other giant insects or arachnids there could be in this world. A beetle was still ok, but a meter-size spider was a hard no. Okay, it’s just a beetle, everything is fine, no need to panic. He watched as the rove beetle tore another chunk of rotten wood. It seems herbivorous. See he is nice. The beetle threw the piece of wood away before grasping in its mandibles a twenty-centimeter-long larva that was hidden inside the tree. Ew, that is disgusting.

The beetle ate the larva in a few gulps before reporting its attention on Edward. Edward waved a hello awkwardly while saying “Hello, see I am not a larva. I have arms and legs. I am not edible, go back to your tree.” The rove beetle turned to face him and straightened its rear just like a scorpion would. “Okay, this is not what I was expecting.” The beetle threw something at him from its rear, Edward teleporting a few meters on the side to avoid it. The projectile splashed on the ground with a sizzling noise, forming a puddle at the emplacement where Edward was a moment ago. He watched dismayed as the leaves on the floor dissolved in the puddle while forming a few bubbles. He slowly turned his head back to the beetle “How the hell do you take me for a larva!!” he scolded it angrily.