"Those are some good stats if I do say so myself," Leo said with a smirk as he whistled slightly.
'I wonder how far I can go if I strain myself.'Leo thought, licking his lips.
Saying he was excited would be an understatement. He was ecstatic.
"Awoo..Awooo."The wolf's howl poured a cold bucket over his head.
'Right, I'm in a forest naked.'Leo thought as he started taking a closer look at his surroundings.
The first thing he noticed was the blood and organs on the place he was standing. He had been too occupied with the status window that he completely overlooked where he was standing, and as he tried to move, he slipped after stepping on his own intestines.
'Fuck, that's disgusting.'Leo thought as he hurriedly stood up and got away from the organs.
When he looked down at his body, he saw it was covered in dry blood.
"Oh fucking hell l've got to get this blood off me before predators get a whiff of my blood's scent," Leo muttered to himself.
'But where exactly should I go?' Leo thought, confused.
Everything looked similar to him.
'Whatever, let's just pick any direction and move. It's better than staying here.'Leo thought with a sigh as he looked at his organs on the ground.
Leo then picked up a rock that had one sharp edge from under a tree and placed it on a flat surface.
'Okay, let's do a little gambling.'Leo thought with a smirk.
He then spun the rock. The rock spun for about ten seconds and then stopped with the edge pointing in one direction.
'Okay, let's start moving.'
Leo didn't want to waste any more time. He didn't know how long he had been out, and he felt that the scent of blood had already attracted a lot of animals, which he didn't want to meet.
"I hope you are my lucky charm, my trusty compass," Leo said, looking at the compass.
He then picked up the rock and started sprinting in the pointed direction.
Leo kept running for about an hour nonstop. At this point, he would have passed out from exhaustion if he were in his old body, but now he just felt mildly tired.
Even though he had already covered a considerable distance from where he came from, he just kept going, the unease still lingering. It was only after 3 more hours that he stopped.
His breath was ragged, and he could barely move. His legs felt like noodles, and his muscles were sore and were practically screaming for him to stop; it was like that one time he tried a full-on leg week, which only ended with him not moving for two days due to the pain he felt if even one muscle twitched.
'Fuck, I'm tired.'Leo thought as he lay down under a tree, while trying to catch his breath, his lungs felt like they were on fire, with every breath feeling almost punishing. Sweat trickled down his naked body, mixing with the dried blood and producing a smell Leo didn't exactly like to say the least.
Just as he was resting, a window popped up.
[System notification]
[+1 Agility]
[+1 Endurance]
"Hm, this should be because of adaptability if I remember correctly. I just have to push myself to the limit.Nice."Leo said while nodding to himself slightly.
Leo also felt his fatigue reducing at an astonishing rate, which he could attribute to his immortality.
'Well, with immortality l don't have to worry about dying due to hunger or thirst. Though I still need to find water to wash this blood off.'Leo thought, looking at himself.'And I also need food. Though I won't die due to hunger, I will always be in a state of weakness until I adapt to hunger fully, and in this forest l don't know what is in here, so I don't wanna risk it.'
As Leo was thinking about his survival, he caught a glimpse of the sky; the sun was receding, giving the sky an orange glow.
'I need to find a place to stay for the night, and if I can't find it, then I'll just have to sleep in these trees. I may be able to see at night, but predators are also more active at this hour.'Leo thought, looking up at the branches of the tree he was under. They were huge and could support at least two people.
After a few more minutes of rest, Leo was fully restored. He then picked up his rock and continued with his journey.
'I feel a bit faster, not much but still noticeable, ' Leo thought as he was sprinting through the forest. He had to maneuver himself so as not to bump into trees or trip over roots on the ground, thus reducing his speed so he wasn't sure about his max speed, but he felt faster.
'My reaction speed is also a bit faster,' he thought as he ducked under a low-hanging vine without stopping.
After about two hours of running, Leo stopped. Night had already crept in with two moons illuminating the night sky.
'I guess I'm sleeping in the trees tonight.'Leo thought as he started climbing the nearest tree. It was hard at first, but he was able to get high enough, about twenty meters high.
Huff.. Huff
Leo gasped as he lay on his back on a branch that was thick enough to fit two people side by side.
'That was fucking tiring.'Leo thought, looking up at the night sky, his chest rising up and down at a steady pace.
Leo just kept admiring the sky as he caught his breath. Back on earth, he never truly felt like this. He was always occupied with work or something else and never truly took time to appreciate the small things in his life. The beauty in nature itself, the clear sky during the day, and the beautiful stars decorating the night sky, along with the moon.
'This feels nice. No job tomorrow, no annoying boss, no pressure about deadlines.'Leo thought, looking at the sky.
'I wonder how Sally and my parents are doing. Are they still alive, did they find out I'm dead, or are they wondering why I stopped answering my phone?'
Leo hadn't had time to think about anything in particular until now, and in the silent night, he couldn't help but recall his past life.
It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. He'd lived his life like any other person.
He went to school, got a job after uni, and just kept living. However, he was never satisfied with it, so he found joy in immersing himself in novels. And in it, he found his own reason to live. A burning passion for knowledge.
Humans have always tried to find a purpose to live, whether it's because of family, friends, religion, art, or anything else. Because in the end, the universe was and has always been silent. As for Leo, he found joy in acquiring new knowledge, with his greatest being science.
'Ha, what a hustle. There's no point in overthinking anything at this point, though I hope everyone is fine.'Leo thought, scratching his head in frustration.
~sigh~
'I'll just continue living, maybe I'll find answers in the end if this. But now I'll just sleep,' Leo thought as he let out a yawn. He then closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep while holding his trusty rock.
As Leo drifted off to sleep, he didn't notice the pair of eyes watching him from below.
The eyes stared at him for a long moment, seemingly frustrated, then backed away while giving its precious meal a last glance, and letting out a low growl as it disappeared into the dark forest.
Leo just kept on sleeping, snoring loudly and muttering something about kernels and Linux being better than Windows, unaware of the danger he had just escaped.
As the sun rose the next morning, the forest seemed to come to life.
Birds could be heard chirping, and the grass was covered with morning dew.
Leo's eyes opened slowly as his world exploded in white. He tried to block the sun's rays with his hand as his eyes adjusted to the brightness.
'That was the best sleep I've had in a while. Surprisingly, I didn't feel any cold at night, but it may just be due to my high endurance.'
Leo felt Happy and rejuvenated.
However, his joy was short-lived as he looked down the tree.
At the bottom of the tree, there was a pack of wolves that were staring at him. Though what scared Leo more was their size. Those things were about the size of a tiger from Earth.
'Damn, I was lucky I decided to climb high enough, or I would be dead by now.'Leo thought nervously, looking at the wolves.
They were ten in total, each with silver fur and golden irises.
Suddenly, one wolf tried jumping up toward Leo, but it only reached about eleven meters before falling back down.
Leo backed away from the edge, his heart pounding.
"Fuck, that scared the shit out of me, "Leo muttered, his voice a little shaky.
'Okay, let's calm down,' Leo thought as he took deep breaths.
'From what I can see, they can't jump up this high, so I don't need to worry. Though I wonder how long they are gonna stay down there.'Leo thought as he peeked his head to look down.
'They must have been attracted by the scent of blood, and if I remember correctly, wolves can stake out prey for hours or days. But these aren't normal wolves, so I can't really tell .'
~sigh~
'Fuck me.'Leo looked defeated.