If the forest outside the city of Rurik, that'd we’d left behind, had been kind of a jungle, the place our escape pod had landed in, was a full-on Jungle. Like, this was the difference between a guy who says he kind of likes a band, and the dude next to him who’s dressed only in the band's paraphernalia, and has given up his work, friends, and family to follow the band on tour, and only speaks in lyrics of the band’s greatest hits.

It was more than a little intimidating. We were surrounded on all sides, by an immense, and a seemingly endless, array of ferns, weeds, bushes, grasses, ivies, moss, molds, and sky-high trees. We were facing a dense, and overwhelming, sea of greenery. The landscape of the entire jungle was chaotically clustered and compacted, as if to say, “human, you do not belong here”.

Sigi and Alina, the leaders of our little group of survivors, fell silent as they gazed into the steamy, eerily quiet, green gloom. The other survivors, both the civilians and the guards, hid at their backs. The civilians were carrying gear and equipment that had been packed into the escape pod. The guards all held weapons in their hands. Jack and I, being outsiders, just followed along because we weren’t entirely sure what we were going to do yet.

“So, uh...Any ideas?” whispered Jack.

“Strangely enough...Yes,” I said. Feeling an alien calm settle over me, as a broad litany of instinct that I’d only faintly been aware of before, rapidly awoke.

“...Really?” said Jack.

“Yeah….It’s the damnedest thing,” I said. Furrowing my brow. Feeling my ears and nose, swivel and twitch, as they picked up countless sounds and scents and then meticulously arranged all that information in my head to create a mental map of what my surroundings were like.

“Okay, so what’s our first move?” said Jack.

I frowned and then I smiled.

“Follow me…” I said. Quickly moving.

Wasteland, plainsland, tundra, desert, ocean, or Jungle, the wild was my element regardless of whether I was a boy, or a beast. The [Tale of the Hunter] made it so. I followed clues and hunches to where we needed to go. I swiftly crossed the thick undergrowth, and ducked the overhanging ivies and branches, with ease. And for her part, Jack barely stumbled as she trailed behind me. I guess all those monsters that she’d fed to her grimoire back in the 17th Pearl had made her almost as adept at dealing with this kind of environment as I was.

“We’re here…” I said. Finally stopping. Panting lightly and blinking in surprise as the mental map in my head told me that we’d come quite a ways from where we’d been. Travelling several tens of miles in just a few minutes.

“Where ‘is’ here?” said Jack. Panting a little. Reminding me that I needed to take things a little easier. Jack was strong in her own way, and she fought alongside me just fine when we hunted, but my physical stats currently dwarfed hers by several magnitudes. Thinking along those lines, I wondered how she’d been able to follow me as well as she had for so long.

Seeing my puzzled expression, Jack guessed my thoughts and smirked as she rose from the ground on a set of four, bladed, black, limbs. Looking a little like a spider. I realized then that at some point, she’d started using limbs of shadow to keep her aloft and carry her, while she followed me.

“Ah...Er, so anyway, here is our new home for the next couple of months, I think,” I said.

“We’re going to be living here?” said Jack. Surprised.

I nodded.

“Yeah...I mean. First off, it’s not like we have that many good alternatives. We’re still technically lost on account of how everything went down...Also, I figure that this would be a great place for a training montage,” I said. Feeling a little bit embarrassed as I said the latter words.

“Huh?” said Jack.

“Think about it? What’s the mistake every other protagonist makes when they finally leave “their” metaphorical starter-village?” I said.

“Jumping into shit while they’re still under-leveled, and then having to run for their lives until their plot armor kicks in and saves them?” said Jack. Quickly answering, her expression looking stern as she recalled our shared nitpick.

“Exactly…” I said.

“Oh...Huh, yeah...I think I get what you’re getting at,” said Jack. Kindly acting as if I hadn't said something the least bit cringe.

“I’m currently carrying enough food, water, and supplies to last the two of us a year, maybe two...if we’re careful. Based on some of the stuff I saw on our way here, it wouldn’t be hard to replenish our supplies as needed, using the local flora and fauna,”

“And we’re two people who can’t really use the excuse of needing to go out and “experience the world” to breakthrough, to explain why we’re walking around under-leveled...We can just keep grinding forever, like in the old world games, if necessary,...and at least get a raw advantage in stats and skills,” said Jack. Quickly hopping aboard the train that I’d pulled into the proverbial station.

“Yeah…” I said. Nodding.

“Alright, yeah...I think I get what you’re saying,” said Jack.

“But why here though?” said Jack.

“It’s a cave?... It’s a nice enclosed space with sturdy walls. There’s a river nearby, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to make a few modifications to make the place a little more homey, after reading some of those books we brought along,” I said.

“Mhm...Wait, how did you know that there was a cave here?” said Jack. Raising her brows at me wondering if my powers had grown even more bizarre.

I pulled out a spear from my inventory and threw it with enough force that it created a sound like thunder as it flew. Breaking the sound barrier. This was followed by a deafening roar, as a massive, pink and green, feathered and scaled, winged-snake came rushing out of the cave. Breathing a mass of burning, poisonous, flame.

“I didn’t...I was tracking the flower-wyrm inside,” I said.

“Oh, snap! Okay, we’re doing this then!” said Jack. Hopping on the balls of her feet. Smirking excitedly. Eyes shining, as the shadows gathered around her, and a pair of black horns and a little black crown appeared on her head.