And before I even noticed, a new day arrived. I am still mentally and physically tired of all the weird things that happened yesterday. Even if God gave me thousand lifetimes, I wouldn't assume something like this.

 

I got up and looked at the forest in front of me. The weather is clear, and the snowing stopped, and thankfully, I can venture out for food and water without being drenched in snow. I inhaled the fresh air and shouted loud as I could. I don't know why, but it helps me.

 

I turned back and looked at the crushed skull on the ground. Perhaps pounded into dust would be a better way to define its current state. It shows me that no matter how unnatural things this place has, they are killable, and perhaps fear of knowing the existence of those monsters is more dangerous than themselves.

 

My stomach growled. No, that would be too underestimating. Roared will be a better choice of word for the sound it made. I suppose that's what you get for having a body that uses so much nutrition.

 

Just thinking about food is enough for my body to use the remaining liquids to create a waterfall of saliva in my mouth. I need to find something to eat. I should have eaten more for breakfast before leaving my house that day.

 

I looked at the forest. "I can eat a whole cow right now, so better give me something."

 

***

 

The weather is clear outside, with little to no clouds in the skies and a bearable cold, but I will lie if I say I don't miss the warmth of my house. And it had been some time since I began my search, but I had not encountered anything to eat.

 

But what will I do anyway? Stop searching? Walking is my only option, and I am not the type that quit. Food might come out from any corner at any time. After all, creatures still wander the forest even in the wintertime. That means there is a source of food out there.

 

 

Thanks to the small compass placed on my lighter as a decoration, I can wander a little deeper, but still marking a tree every now and then won't hurt. Trees here grow moss on all sides, and because of their massive size, seeing the sun is hard, and considering I am on a different planet, the polar star won't be much of a help even if I find somewhere open.

 

It is easy too. I choose a starting point and grave an arrow pointing towards the last tree I marked, then add some notches indicating how many steps away the previous tree is. I learned this trick when I was a child. Without it, I would most likely get lost in the forest and die while working with my grandfather.

 

I smiled because no matter how difficult those days were, I am still gladful to my grandfather. "Who would ever think I might use what you taught me one day, you old geezer." But back to walking.

 

***

 

After several minutes of walking through the large, secluded, yet relaxing forest, I finally found food, lots of berries growing on a huge bush. It might not be a complete meal, but I welcome anything that helps me go for another day.

 

And they look edible, even though most poisonous berries do as well. Thankfully, I know some tricks to identify some deadly berries.

 

I grabbed one and began inspecting. "Not white, yellow, or green. That's a good start." Then sniffed it. "Doesn't have a bitter smell too, and the bush it is growing from is not thorny nor dripping milky sap from its body maybe one last test to be sure." I smashed the berry in my arm and waited for a minute, then put a little piece of it to my lip and waited again. Nothing happened. That's good news.

 

I stopped resisting the temptation and began picking and digesting every berry I could. At the current point, it wouldn't even matter if these things could cause my death. They taste too good.

 

And thankfully, this bush has enough berries for two or three days. I think I have several more days with expendable calories to find food. For now, I will keep eating more until I satisfy my stomach. Every bite feels more delicious than the previous one, and I cannot control myself.

 

***

 

I finally stopped after eating unhealthy amounts of berries. My body feels refreshed after taking in calories and liquids after a long time. Even though I cannot survive only eating what I forged from the wild, if the taste stays the same, it alone can make me dare try it.

 

But I cleared the hunger problem for now. I can focus more on the real problem. Where am I, how can I turn back to civilization, and how can I survive while finding answers to those questions?

 

I sighed, sat on the ground, and stretched my body to relieve stress. "I got myself some food, that's one less problem for today. Now I know I probably wouldn't die in this place because of hunger, at least for a week, but it also marks another question..." I suddenly stopped thinking because of the snap from behind. There is something nearby. "Well, the question can wait for now. I think I found myself a problem."

 

And if it is another skeleton, especially one weak as the one I encountered in the cave, I can easily handle it. Still, I have one more problem. I didn't bring the mace, thinking I would avoid confrontations if possible, and wanted some extra space in the bag, but I guess that was a stupid choice.

 

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my Swiss knife with the hope of my current threat being something stabable.

 

I turned towards the sound and, big surprise, another skeleton. Well, a taller one with thicker bones and clothing this time, a medieval-looking fur coat, a bag hanging on its side. Still, its clothes are not the problem, but in its hand, it carries a stupidly long sword, almost tall as me.

 

I learned many things from my years of training, but our instructors always talked about a single lesson, a golden rule. If your enemy is armed and you are not, running is, most likely, your best option.

 

So the much-praised soldier began running away from the skeleton with a blade long as him. Or at least I hope to make it think like that. I won't just randomly dive deep into this forest. Getting lost will be too big of a risk, so why take that when I can easily make it lose my tracks and ambush it? They don't have much strength. Long as I disarm it, I can defeat it.

 

Now it comes to what to use to kill it. I don't think my pointy tree marker will be a suitable weapon against this foe. I need something blunt, something like a rock, but a sturdy one, and finding one wouldn't be easy.

 

I have thousands of possibilities, yet they all have a low probability of happening. Skeletons are weak, but something tells me this guy packs more than the last. Still, like how each beautiful rose has its thorns, victory has it's too, and that thorn is gambling your life.

 

I smiled and slowed down just enough for the skeleton to close the distance. I am making a bet by assuming this monster lacks critical thinking and planning abilities to survive against ambushes and tricks.

 

And luck smiled on the gambler's face. I suddenly stopped, turned to my pursuer, then charged and tackled the skeleton, but in the process, it swung its sword towards me, I barely avoided the sharp edge, yet I avoided it.

 

Skeleton dropped the sword as we both slammed to the ground, and the metal weapon hit the ground very loudly, indicating its weight.

 

I grabbed the skeleton from the skull and slammed it to the ground until I dizzied it enough to stop it from getting up. "Well, I need something to crack your skull, so don't get up now."

 

This new skeleton is heavier than the one I killed before, at least triple the weight, but still nothing for a man who used to carry immense amounts of weight every day in the field, but the difference in the weight is not the only thing. There are some shining orbs inside its eyes too, and I am not sure if the one from yesterday had those or if I didn't see it, but weird.

 

After getting up, I grabbed the sword, thrust it through the monster's head (right through the space between its jaw and skull), and nailed it to the ground. I hope this holds it enough for me to find a rock. "Don't move," I ordered the skeleton as I left it stuck. "I will be back in a minute.

 

***

 

Shortly afterward, I arrived at the fight point carrying a big rock with a sharp edge. It is large, so I hold it with both hands to use it effectively. "Using a sword good as that on you and chipping its edges would be a waste," I said to the skeleton with a wickedly cheerful tone.

 

Skeleton, meanwhile, was trying to remove the sword, but I think I overdid a little and pressed it too deep to the ground.

 

I placed down the rock, moved towards the skeleton, pressed on its skull, and grabbed the sword's handle with both hands. "Now, don't move much, so I can pull this out of the ground without damaging it too much."

 

I gave all my strength and pulled the sword out of the ground, and I think I even heard some cracking noises from the skeleton too, but I am unsure. But I got the weapon. "Quite an unorthodox design, but still good enough." I spun it around a little and inspected it. It is roughly made and has no decorations, most certainly a weapon of a soldier and not nobility.

 

I moved away from the skeleton, placed the sword away from its grasp, and grabbed the rock. It is time to finish this. I leaped towards the monster and struck the edge of its skull. The sharp edge smashed the bone and opened one wide opening, but I only started. I followed my first attack with more strikes till a punch-sized hole opened in the skeleton's skull, and the light inside its eyes faded.

 

And it is over, like, in every do-or-die scenario, death comes fast for the loser.

 

I grabbed whatever I could from the skeleton, then picked the sword from the ground with my left hand and opened the skeleton's bag with my right hand. "Let's see what we have inside."

 

"A canteen, two metal tankards, a small hammer, some like leather strips, and iron nails, then some clothing which theoretically could function as a bandage in time of need." I smiled. "Now that's what I call treasure, especially in my situation. Now, time to go home."

 

*** 

 

After an hour of following the markings I left on the trees, I am back at my cave, but problems are still not leaving me alone, and I am watching it behind a tree. The reason for that is something walking near my shelter.

 

A monkey-like creature with fur-like body hair and greenish-brown skin, it has equipment and clothing that look like it is from the bronze age. I hope it's just passing through. I cannot afford to leave such a good cave.

 

"What the hell are you even wanting from there? I don't have something valuable there or anything in general." I want to charge forward and slash this thing into two with my sword, but no. I must wait first. It may not be alone. "As expected," I said after hearing some sounds nearby and moved to a less visible location. I must act more carefully from now.

 

And not even a minute later, two creatures from the same species came out of the forest and began screaming at the one standing near my shelter. I suppose the one sitting was slacking from the job.

 

After some more time, a much bigger one joined them. This big fellow is tall as me and has a tree branch for a weapon. Big one joined the scolding and began hissing at the slacker.

 

Slacker listened to hissing for some time, but after being annoyed by the scolding, it decided to hiss back and direct its spear toward the other creature.

 

The bigger one got angry by this attitude and hit the slacker's head with its club, then began dragging the thing away from my cave. I suppose this place is not that important for them. Good to know that.

 

The little show they gave was funny to a degree, but this cartoonish feeling will not be enough to hide the real threat. There are creatures intelligent enough to craft equipment and communicate with each other, and possibly, they are hostile too. I must start making traps and mark my land. They just passed through this time, but they will see me. Sooner or later.