Chapter 28

Inch by inch, Lwanda watched his hand regenerate. Bewilderment, this was the only words that could remotely describe his feelings right now.

“What the hell is really going on?!”

Lwanda mumbled under his breath, he watched his hand with his eyes wide open and his mouth fully agape. He stared intently not wanting to miss a single thing. Regeneration was not new to Lwanda, back on earth technology had developed to a point where limbs and organs could be regenerated if need be, he’d seen it countless of times. But...

This, this was different. Regeneration in the modern world was only possible through biological and genetic modification and advancement, it was all science, made possible after decades of research and tests but this … what was happening right before his eyes. He had no words to describe it.

Regeneration just by eating a few vines what the hell was this?!

Lwanda shifted his gaze towards the furiously growling jaguar, he seemed to have had an epiphany. He stared at the jaguar keenly, observing every inch of it, he said nothing out loud nor did he display any emotion on his face, it was literally impossible to guess what was going on in his head.

The jaguar continued to growl more ferociously, thick veins bulged from its neck, its blood red eyes seemed to be getting darker by the second, an intense and almost suffocating bloodlust shot from it, the aura was so dense the space around the beast seemed to warp, seemingly trying to escape from it.

The jaguar clawed harder and faster, its speed kept increasing exponentially, the brittle looking vines matched its pace though, the faster they were cut the faster they regenerated, their speed seemed to increase to match the jaguar’s, but this didn’t come without a cost, parts of the vines deeper within the labyrinth seem to be losing color and almost withering.

Lwanda noticed this phenomenon and guessed the vines must be diverting their power towards the actively regenerating parts trying to protect itself. The once sapphire like vines now had more of a dull blue shine to it. He was uncertain whether this was an instinctual response or one made by a sentient being. However, he still had his guard up, if not for the jaguar then the vines all around him.

As the jaguar clawed faster and faster Lwanda shifted his gaze not at the breaking vines but at the jaguar itself. It seemed to be weirdly upset, this behavior was odd to him, it was almost like it understood what was going on.

“This jaguar...”

Lwanda held his chin pondering, flashes of the injured jaguar returning with barely any wounds came to mind, Lwanda couldn’t help but make a connection between the two.

“Every time I dealt damage to the jaguar it would always come back perfectly fine, maybe this is the reason? Did it eat the vines and heal through them?”

Lwanda thought hard, the idea seemed feasible, but there were some flaws to it, if all it needed was to eat the vines, why did it have to disappear from sight to do so? Was it hiding its secret or was it something else? The jaguar was by all means powerful but Lwanda doubted its intelligence, it didn’t seem like the type to come up with such a well thought out plan, which meant, there had to be something he was overlooking.

Lwanda glanced at the direction the jaguar always fled towards, he tried to retrace the steps in his mind, he had been fleeing the last time so he didn’t really have time to study his surroundings, but now that he thought about it, something did seem to stand out in that general direction and that was the peaceful spring.

“Can that be it? Can that be the reason?”

Lwanda asked, it seemed possible but still he couldn’t be sure, the vine had its roots in the spring so he couldn’t be sure which of the two had the real regenerating abilities. Although he didn’t get the direct answer he was looking for, he was glad he had a clue to explore.

He shifted his attention back to his body, so many changes were happening that Lwanda felt that he was being reborn, shading and becoming someone new, something new. His broken left hand had since completely healed, his right hand was halfway through, it was only a matter of time till that was done as well.

He shifted his attention again to his body, he could feel a significant change from within, the black veins he had all over his body were gone, his skin was back to being normal if not fairer. It looked like it did before but only Lwanda could tell that it was way more resilient that before, it was like he had a layer of protective armor from underneath.

As he marveled over these changes Lwanda also realized that his strength and the overwhelming power he felt before was gone as well, the explosive strength, speed and basically everything he felt before seemed to have faded away just like the black veins.

He could clearly feel a drop in ability but as the overwhelming surge of power disappeared a new feeling replaced it; it was the feeling of comfort. He felt comfortable with his body, he felt one with himself, he could assess every inch of himself, every cell, every organ, it all seemed to be assessable to him with the slightest thought. It was like he was analyzing himself from a third person point of view.

He had never felt like this before, he had never been one with himself like this before. This was a new feeling and he loved it. Although he could tell and feel that the majority of his power was gone, he could still feel power within him. He wasn’t quite like he was when he arrived in this world, his strength seemed to have doubled likewise to his speed and other abilities, and it all seemed safe like the kind of natural boost, one would get from working out.

“Seems like the vines did something to my genes”

This was the first thought that came to his mind. Ever since he ate the flesh of the panther and eagle, he’d been aware of the mutation happening within his body, he could feel himself changing with each passing day, one cell at a time. The changes seemed great on the outside as they brought with them a significant boost in power but in reality, it was all a ticking timebomb. His body was changing faster than it could handle and it was only a matter of time until he dropped dead.

Based on what he was feeling he theorized that the vines must have countered the rapid mutation, healed the overly modified genes and only left behind those that were within the limit of his body to comfortably and naturally contain.

That explained why he grew stronger but still felt comfortable with his body. Lwanda had a slight feeling that this wasn’t all, he felt his body could grow stronger, although it would take a longer time, he was happy trading time with safety.

As he was assessing the changes within his body Lwanda also noticed one odder thing, he glanced towards his staff, the golden crystal radiated a light golden aura around it seemingly reacting to Lwanda’s gaze. He felt an odd pull from the crystal, he felt familiar with it, an unexplainable attraction to it, like it was part of him.

This feeling was both strange and familiar, two opposing extremes but yet it still felt right. He could tell that with this connection he could communicate better with the crystal, send his will easier to it without the prior hustle. He couldn’t quite estimate the exact degree of change but he knew it was significant.

Unable to understand it Lwanda just let it be what it was, not bothering to dive too deep into the details, sure he was curious of the change, but thinking about it wasn’t going to provide answers immediately so he decides to let it go for now.

One hour passed, Lwanda’s hand completely regenerated, he tried moving it around and made a fist, everything seemed perfect, like it had always been part of him since forever. Lwanda felt exhilarated, he knew it was growing back but he still kept his cool fearing a deformity but it seemed there was no need to worry.

He bent and with his new right hand picked up his staff. His face suddenly turned cold and his gaze intensified, he looked towards the growly jaguar and a trace of fury quickly revealed itself underneath his forced smile. He shot a death glare at the beast while grasping hard on the staff, his gaze was focused and an intense wave of bloodlust shot from him.

“Well then, how about we settle our old score”