My Unique Adaptation Skill in Another world-Chapter 7 - 6: Stillness

"I’ve been here a long time now, it feels like weeks, I’m not sure." Leo thought to himself.

The light had not changed since he entered this part of the forest, like morning was forever judging from what little light came in. He had lost track after the multiple times he deprived himself of proper sleep for fear of something happening when he let himself relax.

He learned not to stay at one point for too long and made sure to log his experiences.

He rationed food he had, eating now only when the hunger was bad and restricted physical function, the maids had initially helped him with food for three days but he lost most he had packed in an encounter he’d barely escaped from.

Close calls had become quite common, it felt like everything in the forest was out to kill him.

The first, you could say, was a simple mistake.

Leo had been running around trying to get a good grasp of the new location he’d moved to, enhancing his physical capabilities with aura made it a breeze but came with a problem, using aura in a mana zone meant he stuck out, very easily.

The attack came out of nowhere.

Leo was struck while he was moving from the side, he was flung through trees, claws digging into muscle, his pack scattered, the pain searing through his body as it fell into muddy soil, he could barely breathe.

He stood, enhancing himself further dulling the pain and preparing for a fight, but he couldn’t see anything, he was alone again.

At that moment at the corner of his eyes another attack came which he barely reacted to, so he decided to run away as far as he could, whether a tactical retreat or simply fear he couldn’t tell, running in zig zag patterns.

The moment he felt safe and looked back the attack came again from his front striking him with great force away hard into the ground, Leo was beyond confused, in pain and could barely breathe, he wheezed anytime he tried.

Then he had a strange thought, what if he turned off his aura and restricted it tightly?

A gamble that could end terribly, seeing as even with it surviving seemed impossible, but he listened to his instincts, wanting to be as invisible as possible, his adaptation assisted with making his heart beat as slow as possible and forcing his body to require less oxygen reducing his breathing.

That’s when he saw it, almost shadow like, it seemed to materialize from thin air, it walked around the area Leo was in, but this time was unable to locate Leo.

Leo’s aura leaked for a second before being sealed back but it was enough for the beast to face Leo’s direction, closing the distance.

Leo’s laid down there as still as he could, as the beast came inches away from his face, it was obvious now that it was blind, it had been tracking and attacking him using his aura as a beckon, very soon it gave up on him and scattered like smoke into the air and gone, but Leo stayed lying down there for what felt like hours, he couldn’t be too sure that it was truly gone.

When he got himself and picked up everything that had fallen from him due to the attack, he had torn clothes, lost most of his meal, injuries now healed, which drained him, making him tired but he could not strengthen his body with aura anymore and he couldn’t really rest.

The next, was when he had been trying to set up an alert line. He’d wedged chimes between two roots, tensioned with a cord, but when he stepped back after he was done, the ground fell in under him.

Soil broke and poured downward, exposing a hollow beneath the surface, the roots beneath had shifted creating a wide opening.

He fell hard, dislocating his shoulder on impact. The sword that he had rested on the tree while working fell in immediately after and buried itself into his thigh as he rolled.

The pain hit all at once, white and blinding. He screamed, used every swear word he knew, maybe invented new ones, then clamped his teeth shut so hard till the pain subdued.

Resetting the shoulder took three tries. The third time, it went back into place with a sound like wet wood breaking.

Pulling the sword out, he bled a lot, but the pain didn’t last long, it all faded too fast for what he was going through. He tore a piece of cloth out of the already torn clothes, used it to wrap the injury to stop the bleeding first knowing it will completely heal up soon, stood up and climbed out the hole but his stamina took a huge hit.

And so it went on that he kept getting into different close calls, he walked long distances even while barely functioning to make sure he didn’t stay a place for too long.

He successfully laid traps and alert chimes wherever he went, although none ever clicked, but at some point he knew the area intimately.

He went through different intense emotions at successions, anger, frustration, annoyance, sadness.

He called on axiom at different times even if not for help but at least someone to talk to but got no response, it seemed like he was dancing at the edge of insanity but he kept pulling through.

He came across skeletal remains of huge beasts that he could walk through the rib cages, most had crystalized mana stone formed all over or growing where it had lay, he picked and collected different ones including anything of interest he found, trying to find some silver lining to the entire experience.

At some point the journal had changed, it became less description.

Pain tolerance, high

Aura, completely sealed

Regeneration, barely functioning

Tiredness, really high

Food, finished, hunger, high

Awareness, no longer dependent on sight.

He now traveled back to the area he had entered through, like a final attempt at some hope of being able to leave, but the darkness and fog still made it impossible. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

That’s when he saw them.

They entered loudly, mixed races, active auras, laughing, talking about trophies and territory without a care, they didn’t seem alert at all.

But Leo could sense that the air had changed, he had enough experience now with this forest to know when something was wrong.

He didn’t warn them, he simply stayed hidden watching.

Somehow a spark of hope lit up again in Leo’s heart.