It is strange. It is as if something pushes me back—it feels like repulsing magnets. Well, not that I’m too surprised. This place is strange.

 In the chilling forest, Alum found himself at a crossroads. It was bizarre—all of it was. The plains and this forest. While it was lush and relatively ordinary, he couldn’t shake the eeriness of his mind. There were no fauna to be found, not a single insect.

 When he walked and looked around. He found fruits hanging high up amongst the leaves, some slightly gleaming, some luminescent in the dark, and plenty of fungi.

 I suppose I was lucky. From a distance, it was ominous. I shuddered at the thought of what might’ve lived here.

 Alum hardened his heart; his hands trembled slightly, and adrenaline coursed through his body. Be it his cowardice or excitement—curiosity or anything else. He pushed forward and walked against the stream that resisted his body.

 Eventually, a dull pain struck him, along with dizziness. But it didn’t stop him from going forward. As he walked a meter or two in the resisting force, his body became lighter, and as if something shattered, he stumbled and fell forward—barely catching himself.

—Finally.

 Singing chirps of birds and hum of insects entered and rang in his ears; the odd suffocating feeling he bore vanished. He rolled on his back and looked toward the sky. Light shone through the treetops, and the gleaming fruits fractured light—evenly illuminating the forest.

 He finally relaxed and spread his arms wide, taking in the soft scent of soil and the aroma of the budding flowers where he lay; it was a slightly soft yet rough feel to lie there.

 The singing, the hums. It’s nice. The leaves dance, and the sun feels nice… Unlike before, this feels natural; there are birds and insects, the overall scent is fresh, and my body is not suffocated. There are cries in the distance. Whether it be screeching cries or relentless howls—this forest is dangerous, and close thuds come near.

 Alum took a deep sigh and got up on his feet. His eyes breezed around. From a distance, his gaze became glued to an open area ahead; however, it was an enormous creature that he couldn’t take his eyes off. It was carefree, and with a swoosh of its tail—it tore the ground up to coat it in pieces of rock. It smashed into a tree, and fruit started to fall.

 The creature noticed him—their eyes met for a moment. Alum’s energy levels surged as intense blue lightning hummed, zapped and crackled. Sensing immense danger, he materialised shards of ice in the shape of blades.

 But the creature covered in steel-like armour kept peering at him as if frozen in place. Its head tilted slightly before lowering it to the ground to eat the fruit it previously knocked down.

 Sensing its indifference, Alum calmed down, and his powers slowly dissipated. He closely observed it as it ate the fruits.

 It looks like a type of Ankylosauria shown in children’s picture books. Alum pondered, his eyes then shifted to the fruits he encountered plenty of. Is that safe for me to eat? he wondered.

 Unexpectedly, a thud followed by a rolling fruit appeared before him. The creature had tossed him some, but Alum couldn’t fully comprehend its actions.

 Is it telling me to take it and leave?

 Alum considered its actions. He knew that some predators leave behind prey they hunt so as not to get followed by other animals trying to snatch their actual prey. He used strings of water to pick up the fruit, not wanting to look away. Despite that, the creature kept looking at him, but as he tried to back away slowly, he bumped into a wall the creature made. It tilted its head somewhat playfully.

 Is it trying to prevent me from leaving? Why? Does it want me to eat this while it watches? Is it poisonous? Does it want to make sure I die from it if that’s the case?

 Cautiously, Alum sliced the fruit into smaller pieces and put it in his mouth. He wouldn’t do this normally. Even so, it was different this time—he could manipulate water as he wished. Thus, he made sure to encapsulate each piece he swallowed.

 Seeming elated by Alum’s action, the creature made a bowl of stone and put the fruits in it while making its way toward him.

*Chuckles*

 Am I screwed either way?

 Each step it took lightly shook the ground. The creature, double his height, slowly made its way to him with a stone bowl in its mouth, dropping it before him. Alum raised his brow as he cautiously got closer to the bowl. He took a piece of fruit but saw something in his peripheral vision; the mouth of the creature was overflowing with drool.

—It wants to devour me.

 As soon as Alum realised that, he pulled away as fast as he could. The creature roared and stomped the ground, resulting in spikes of rocks piercing up from the ground. Alum swiftly dodged each and every single one, but they were relentless—it then swung its tail to destroy the pillars to scatter sharp projectiles towards him.

 Alum, with sharpened senses, managed to both avoid the pillars and slow down the projectiles with multiple layers of water sheets. He created strings to then pull himself up to the treetops—taking cover from its relentless attacks while further distancing himself.

 Catching his breath, he coughed up the pieces of fruit. Alum sighed in relief at the fact he didn’t lose control as the pieces he threw up were still encapsulated. He couldn’t catch his breath for long, however.

 With a bang and snaps of branches from projectiles, the tree he was on shook tremendously as it began to crack and fall—the creature presumably tore the forest down to look for him. Swiftly, Alum pulled himself to other trees in the distance. But by doing so, he became temporarily vulnerable—a shard suddenly pierced his shoulder.

*Uhg…*

 Alum gritted his teeth, barely making a noise from the extreme pain coursing through his body. He was left stunned and gasped as though his heart were being twisted while he lost control of the water.

 Move! He commanded his body.

 He twisted and turned in the air to avoid the rest of the projectiles while creating many sheets of levitating ice that damped his fall.

*Thud*

 I really messed up this time…

 Alum clenched his fists and rolled to hide behind a tree. At this rate, he’d created quite the distance between it and him. But as he felt some relief by catching his breath, a deep rumbling noise intensified as it got closer—it was the Ankylosauria-like creature that tumbled and curled up in a ball towards him at high speed.

 …I am unlucky, am I not? 

 As the creature crashed into the tree he hid behind, Alum swiftly got out of the way, but pieces splinters scattered all over, and blood started to run down his chin as one of them managed to scratch his cheek. However, it wasn’t the only place he bled. His left shoulder had a shard of rock stuck in it still.

 It’s really forcing my hand…

 Alum took a deep breath. It was perfect; he’d arrived at a more open area, but the trees were times more massive, and there was a river close by—meaning he didn’t have to exert too much energy from materialising water.

 Promptly, Alum hid behind a massive tree, but as soon as he heard the creature tumble and crash into the tree, he dragged the river waters with great force, crashing it into the creature—causing exhilarating pain to the point he began to cough blood.

 He instantly froze the massive wave and fell to his knees, but he wasn’t going to leave it to chance; thus, as if to not leave a single air bubble in the ice, he compressed it to make it tight—putting it under tremendous pressure to assure it dies.

 I’m not done with you yet. Alum declared.

 He made sure that it was so cold to the point of being brittle. Alum took a heavy breath to gather his remaining strength to twist and turn the ice along the creature inside. But so did the giant tree as it snapped and came crashing down, putting a roof over him.

 His vision became blurry, and the sound of waves crashing into one another rang in his ears.

 I am exhausted… But I’m bleeding too much. If I heal it…might I fall unconscious? I have expanded too much energy, and I am uncertain if my body can handle more trauma.

 Alum clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to brace himself for the trauma his body was about to experience. He put his hand on his shoulder and pulled out the shard.

*Argh…*

 Despite the pain, he slowly materialised distilled water. Like before, it came instinctively to him. Although he didn’t know the principle behind the healing, the water began to glow and heal his wound. As though his wound was being sewed to repair itself, Alum held back his voice despite the exhilarating trauma his body was feeling—yet a barely audible cry surfaced.

 Shit… I might as well die at this rate…