NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 011: Questing & Spelunking
I am excited by a prospect of a new adventure. A secret tunnel! Will I find something amazing on the other side? Or is it blind and I am expecting too much? However, before I can do anything, a sudden and loud rumbling of my stomach drowns out any further questions. I feel a blush of embarrassment spreading on my face, despite the fact that nobody but me heard it. I haven’t eaten anything since the morning and I have been walking, swimming and… performing other fun activities. I originally wanted to eat as soon as I arrived, but I got caught in the moment; which isn’t a bad thing since I had a great time. But I cannot ignore my needs any longer.
I start preparing the bird. I am ravenous, and the perspective of the meal makes me salivate. When I finally start cooking I cannot stop myself from drooling; the smell is divine, even though I haven’t used any herbs yet. Curious, I take a small piece as soon as I feel it's ready and taste it – and it blows my mind. The flavour reminds me of cold turkey, but a crispy one with the aftertaste of fresh snow; it’s completely unlike anything I have ever had, but definitely the best thing I have eaten in this world so far. Excluding the GOD-given tea, obviously. When my meal is ready, I have to constantly stop myself from just devouring it whole; instead, I slowly savour the entirety of the bird, meat, organs and bones; they were, to my unending surprise, the best part, with a slight fruity aftertaste. Paired with their crunch and texture, it was a bit like eating some sort of really weird ice-cream. I crave more; sadly, I could hunt this one only because it was already severaly injured.
Soon my feast ends, its only lingering evidence being the feathers. While it is very slight, there is some power left on them, similar to crystals of my earlier prey. When I put some of my power in them, I can feel a slight, chill breeze; it’s extremely minuscule, but when used in mass they could be quite effective, I assume. I never really saw them used, since my quarry was unable to fight me properly. For now, I wrap them in cavy skin and put them away – I can decide what to do with them later. What is more important is the perspective of exploration. I search my belongings for useful tools and I notice two crystals: the guinea pig one and the deer one. They are just what I need! And while I can use the former as it is, the latter requires some more experiments. I know it has some sort of wind controlling power; Can I use it to extend my time underwater?How long can I even hold my breath anyway?
I decide to put that to the test first, but my eyes land on the golden acorn. It reminds me of my quest and I have a peculiar urge to finish it as soon as possible. I pick it up and look for a place to plant it. I try to remember the dream, but it wasn’t clear to begin with; the thoughts of a tree are, after all, barely comprehensible for beings that do not live on the scale of Eons. However, I think that Boromir did quite a good job communicating – all things considered, of course; after all, I get that there must be residual magic in the environment for the sapling to develop. I ponder over it for a moment. While it is clear that cliff has some magic in it, those are, in the end just bare rocks; a tree needs some dirt to grow. I consider planting it on top of the waterfall anyway, but ultimately dismiss it. When I was up there the last time, there were not enough unusual plants to see the influence of magic clearly; it seems to be too far from the source.
That naturally brings my attention to the bushes of berries. I walk to them to have a better look – after all I didn’t really pay them much attention earlier. Up close I can clearly experience their strangeness – the air around them is significantly colder, to the point I can see my breath; yet there is no rime nor snow, not even a cover of ice around them. It makes the fact that the lake is unfrozen – at least in part – quite bizarre. I look at the first fruit that appears to be ripe – it shines a cold light, reminding me of the Moon; that makes me realise I know their name: Moonberries. I know they are edible, but in moderation. But what is moderation? Is eating 10 too much? 100? Well, it's not a problem for now; even a particularily careless lumberjack could count ripe fruits here with fingers of a single hand.
I pick the berry – it feels like touching ice, but it doesn’t melt and smells a little citrusy. I cut it with my claw to reveal it’s white, soft flesh and tiny seeds; chill juice drips from it. I taste one half – and immediately eat the other. The flavour is similar to a mix of lemon and watermelon flavour sherbet; it stings my tongue with pleasant cold. It feels as if eating arctic aura. I also notice I can feel magic power around better; I see that this cold comes out not from the plants themselves, but rather through them – and then it gets put into the fruit; it is definitely the correct place Boromir wanted me to go to. I walk around for a bit, to finally stop where the temperature is the lowest. I dig a shallow hole there and put the seed in it. As I cover it, an unusual and foreign to me sense of rapture fills my mind; there is something transcendent about what I just did. I sense the change in the air as the magic of the land is being pulled towards its newest inhabitant; I can feel the temperature raising already.
Soon, a pair of tiny leaves with silver sheen emerge from the ground. I watch it grow in silence, awestruck. I am lost in my thoughts, trying to understand my feelings. I have never felt such elation, nor have I ever had such profound sense of myself and my surroundings – except after eating the golden acorn. That was different, however. I was the focus back then. Here and now, I am but a witness. It gives me a particular sense of detachment, despite still being a part of the whole. It feels very profound and spiritual.
Personally, I have never had any need for spirituality or supernatural in my past life. Sure, I enjoyed it in fiction and old mythologies, but I liked it as such – a fantasy, a literary figure, or a way people back then tried to make sense of the world. But genuinely believing in gods, spirits, or afterlife? That was cringe. Except… now I have proof that souls exist. I know that there is something after death. I experienced it. Does it mean other things I thought to be a delusion are true as well? Just who is GOD, really? They claimed to not be one, but… they certainly fit the role – based on games, anime, light novels and other isekai fiction I have consumed. What does it matter if they really are one or not? It doesn’t change the fact that my body is their creation – and that, for better or worse, I still feel some gratitude towards them. I'm not particularly happy about that; I still feel they were rude and callous... but I am here only due to their actions. And my body is fantastic; should I forgive them for forcing me to... NO; I CRAVE FREEDOM!
A wave of explosive HATE and disgust at being controlled enter my mind, breaking my concentration; Little Boromir also stopped growing. It is now slightly shorter than my legs and has quite a few, fully developed leaves. I heard that bamboo can grow so fast in a day, it could be used as a torture device – it seems that magical trees are similar. Or maybe from now on it will grow normally? I will have to observe its development in the future. Now – it is a high time for me to finally start experimenting and preparing for spelunking.
First, I check how long I can hold my breath underwater. I inhale as much air as I can and start counting; I easly reach 100. 200? Still going strong. In the end, I exhale shortly after counting to 500. I do a quick math – it's nearly 8 and a half minutes! But that's when sitting on the ground – how will I fare when moving? I immediately go and tast it swimming in the lake. Turns out I can still actively dive for over 7 minutes!
I go on the shore, wondering if it is long enough; I don't know how long the tunnel is, after all. Luckily, I have an idea – and, most probably – a resources to realise it. I pick up the deer crystal; I know it can be used to control the wind – can I use it to control the air inside me? I take it into my mouth, but it is so unwieldy! Instead I carefully chip away small piece of it; it can now easily fit under my tongue. I feed it small amount of energy and I try to createmore air, but fail; then I try to create some oxygen, but fail again. It seems that it cannot create new air, which is not what I expected. So I change my approach – this time, I move oxygen to, and carbon dioxide from my lungs; and it works! I test it underwater, and using this method I can safely extend my swimming five times! Over half an hour! I need to keep my focus, but I think I'll manage.
After successful experimentation, I begin preparing to the exploration. I decide to investigate the tunnel for as long as less than halfway my breath limit – only about 15 minutes. If I don’t reach the other side in that time – too bad; I will have to train holding my breath. That being said, keeping the shard of deer crystal inside my mouth is the easiest part; it is more difficult to find out how to keep the cavy stone. If I keep it in my mouth, water will get inside, but if I keep it in my hand – I may not be able to see the light. Still, it is probably the best solution. Maybe if I had better leatherworking skills, or could firmly hold the gem with just my lips... alas, it is not to be. I won’t take my clothes as well. After all, I don’t need them to keep myself insulated from cold; no, I made them only to keep absolute minimum of civilized look for when I meet other people. And for myself, as I realize they make me feel better and more like an actual person. GOD was really rude to send me here naked. I have to make some decorations from the unused materials I have after I return. The feathers look nicely after all. Finally, I look at my weapons and decide to leave them too. I don’t have anything I can carry them in, besides my hand, which would interfere with my swimming; Nyx is too unwieldy either way.
I look to the sky – it will be dusk soon. I need to hurry – I want to sleep up the cliff, since the bear quite often comes to the lake, but never up the cliff. I quickly go into the water and swim as close to the tunnel as I can. I take one final, deep breath and submerge. Swimming with one hand holding the crystal is very awkward, especially when I need to keep focus on so many things; I am still decently fast It seems I am a much better swimmer than I thought. Or maybe that is what swimming with extremely fit body feels like.
Rather quickly I reach what appears to be a deepest point of the tunnel; from there it leads slightly to the left and up further that way. As I move closer to the top, the temperature drops. It surprises me in the beginning, but then I remember the magic that lowers temperature in the environment up top. It seems that the source of the magic is close.
Finally, I reach what appears to be the end of the tunnel: another lake, this one seemingly much smaller in size. It is surprisingly close and I would be able to swim the entire length on one breath, as I only counted less than 300. I cannot immediately surface, however; there is an ice sheet covering the whole thing. But what is some ice for my flame? I quickly gather heat in my left hand claws and slowly melt myself a hole. I triumphantly emerge through it with a glee, sense of accomplishment filling my mind.
My enjoyment is cut short, however, as I finally inhale the air in the cave. The smell of the bear is everywhere. Then I look around. To my growing horror, I am met with angry glare and annoyed grunt. Oops!
