Tormacc cleared out the other mole nests without a hitch, successfully obtaining both the food and water he needed until he was fully healed and could explore the rainforest above. There were no more gem moles, which he was grateful for considering his injured state, but if they all dropped blue crystals it was a bit of a waste. The performance of his tattoo in battle was above and beyond his expectations, but still not enough to offset his injuries for such a difficult fight. An increase in perception was one of the best boosts he could have gotten, but for some fights you just needed more power, which was definitely the case if he were to fight another gem mole.

He rested for three days after clearing out the rest of the tunnels. He could have left after two, but used the extra day to adjust his senses to the tattoo, something that was difficult to do when he wasn’t in peak condition, hence the extra day. It was worth the wait, as even after a full day of training he could tell he still didn’t have a full handle on his new capabilities. But his improved senses wouldn’t get in the way at least, so it was time to adventure above ground.

Advancing up to the surface, the first things that struck him were the noises and smells. Staying in a damp cave allowed him to focus his senses, but it was also rather dull, something he couldn’t say for the rainforest above. The sheer life that was suffused into the bird calls and the animal cries brought forth some primitive instinct of wonder, and the scent of thousands of flowers was a far cry from rotting corpses.

When he reached the tunnel exit, he paused, surprised at its size. It was small, almost too small for the moles to squeeze through given their girth. He had assumed they were high up on the food chain considering their size and strength, but if their tunnel entrance was this hidden he had to reconsider his previous assumptions. Anything that could prey on the moles was potentially lethal for him. He needed to move with caution.

Unlike the sunlight that was streaming through the crack and into the cave below the forest floor was dark, similar to the rest of the cave system. Looking around, Tormacc was almost overwhelmed by the different shades of greens and browns, so much more vivid now than he remembered them thanks to his tattoo. It felt like he had been colorblind before, and only now was the vast range of color opening itself up before him. It took him a bit to get used to the information overload. Apparently his tattoo wasn’t all positive. While he could perceive much more now, there was also more information to take in. He would have to adjust to tuning out the extraneous details.

Without any hints as to where he needed to go, Tormacc set a direction and started walking. It was possible that he could try and get a higher vantage point to try and spot landmarks or places of interest, but venturing into the understory blind was a great way to get swallowed by a snake or eaten by a panther. He didn’t know for sure there were dangerous predators lurking about, but that was like saying you didn’t know the planet was round. Sure, you couldn’t see it for yourself, but there was more to knowledge than what you could directly glean from your senses. In some situations following your gut was the way to go, but in others it was the way to a quick death.

The forest floor was fairly open, and as he walked along he tried to stick close to the tree trunks. If he was ambushed he wanted something at his back. He marked out a path along the way, otherwise he knew he would quickly get lost. While the rainforest didn’t all look the same, differentiating it would be like asking him to tell the difference between two rusty swords. The rust patterns would be different, but the amount of detail you would have to remember to spot that difference made it an exercise in futility.

As he moved in and around the trees he couldn’t help but wish he had better armor. To be precise, he wanted something skintight. He had never personally been in a rainforest before, or he didn’t think he had, and he wasn’t prepared for the amount of insect life. He could handle bugs crawling all over him, but if they were poisonous he could be in trouble. He didn’t have access to any antivenom, and his natural healing abilities might not be enough to save him if he was bit by something truly venomous. But a big perk of his increased perception was an improved ability to notice things crawling on him, which allowed him to swipe off most of the insects before they dug in for a free meal. Hopefully it would be enough to protect him from the worst.

It wasn’t all bad though. He had been lamenting his lack of heavy armor when he was underground, but now that he wasn’t in a temperature-controlled environment his lighter clothing was a godsend. The heat was refreshing when he first stepped out of the tunnel, but now, with sweat streaming down his body, the humidity didn’t seem quite so nice. There were bodies of water in the tunnel system he could use to wash himself off, but for his time above ground he had to adjust to the high temperature and moist environment. This was another situation where increased perception was a negative. When you could individually feel each drop of sweat rolling off you it was much harder to tune out.

But as he continued his trek he adjusted, the sweltering bug-filled journey becoming more manageable. The bugs and humidity were only distractions. He needed to keep his attention peeled for the real dangers.

The rainforest seemed to be endless, and he worried it could take him years to get out. He wasn’t sure how long he was supposed to stay here, but years seemed a bit long. It was beautiful, minus the bugs and humidity, but he had things to do and places to be, or he thought he did. If his objective was to climb The Tower than getting stuck in the starting zone seemed counterproductive.

As he walked along, lost in his thoughts, he suddenly froze, the tattoo behind his ear stinging. As first he thought it was a bug, but he quickly realized it was that tattoo screaming “danger”. Crouching against a tree, Tormacc moved his eyes around, searching for whatever set off his danger sense. It was difficult to spot anything, the collage of colors featuring endless movement from birds and bugs. Step by step he tuned out any unnecessary distractions before going through his surroundings in a grid pattern, checking for anything out of place.

He almost missed it. There was just too much to take in. But something had tickled his senses as he stared at a particular patch of green and brown. And then it moved. It didn’t really move, just slightly shifted, the colors staying the same but the material under it rippling. His breath caught in his throat. Swallowing a curse, he dialed in his focus, hoping what he saw was just a trick of the light.

As the patch of color shifted once more his worst fears were confirmed. Hovering just meters away was a giant cat, nestled into the understory above. While some ambush predators had coloring allowing them to blend in with their surroundings, this cat took it to a whole new level, it’s skin changing colors to reflect the forest. Even knowing it was there he sometimes lost track of it, its silhouette merging with the greenery, the outline lost among the shifting leaves.

Calming himself down, he took stock of his options. The cat clearly saw him, to assume otherwise was pure folly. He would have to fight it; the only question was how. His first thought was to outwait it, but that seemed unlikely to succeed, and making such an attempt could lead to him waiting until dark, putting him at a massive disadvantage versus its slit pupils. With the forest floor dark even during the daytime it would be impossible to fight something that could shift the colors of its coat at night. His best bet was to make the first move.

From there it was all about planning. His first thought was to ambush it where it stood, but because of the height difference it would be impossible to reach it before it could leap away. He cycled through ideas, each one riskier than the last. Once he had confirmed that an ambush wouldn’t work, he moved on to a counter-attack. The strength of an ambush lay in its surprise factor. Without that, it was often even riskier than a direct assault. He knew the cat was there, and he knew the cat knew he was there, but there was a good chance the cat didn’t know he was aware of it. His best chance lay in taking advantage of that and turning the tables as soon as the cat launched its attack.

Keeping an eye on the cat with his peripheral vision, Tormacc mapped out the surrounding area in his head. He didn’t want any unknown variables to interfere in the fight. It was best to end things as cleanly as possible. Dragging it out was disadvantageous against an opponent with unknown abilities. After seeing the mole’s berserk abilities there was no telling what supernatural powers the cat could have.

After making sure he had a good grasp of his surroundings he moved, breaking away from the tree he had been crouching against. His eyes were focused forwards, but it was his other senses he was paying attention to. Step by step he moved, each footfall sounding like thunder to his straining ears. Then, right as he crossed under the giant cat, he heard a slight swish. It was the sound of leaves rustling, normally something meaningless, but in this scenario, it was a signal, and after hearing that slight rustle Tormacc moved, straining every muscle in his body as he twisted and slashed with his axe in an upwards motion right into the pouncing cat.

He felt his strike connect, the axe cleanly entering the cat’s stomach. Then he was on the ground, buried under a terrifying bundle of razor-sharp teeth and claws. He still had his hand on his axe, but the position he was in only allowed him to slightly jostle it, not having the leverage required to pull it out to take another swing. For a brief moment he felt claws slicing into his arms, watched in horror, eyes wide, as fangs the size of his entire hand descended for his throat.

Then the moment passed, the cats jaws sinking lifelessly next to his head, its fangs millimeters away from his exposed throat. He could feel its breathing slow, only a few rasping breaths remaining before its chest stilled, the slow flow of blood from its stomach wound the only movement left. His strike had been true.

With gasping, rattling breaths Tormacc sucked in a mouthful of air, restarting his respiratory system he wasn’t even aware had stopped. The fight had been close, but he was still alive. Something he couldn’t say for the cat. Wincing at the wounds on his arm, he carefully struggled out from under the corpse. He had been hoping the cat would implode into a crystal, but he had no such luck.

Checking his Fate Wheel, he frowned. Killing the cat had only increased his Essence by one, same as the moles. He couldn’t be sure, but that likely meant the cat wasn’t anything special, meaning there were more of them. He had survived the battle, but his margin of error was uncomfortably low. If his tattoo hadn’t warned him or the cat had survived a bit longer to maul him, he would be dead. The starting zone might be more difficult than he thought it would be.