Crunch Crunch Crunch.

Leaves were being crushed beneath my feet as I walked, it was a ravishing sight, the large trees had yellow, red and orange leaves, falling with every breeze.

Wow~! So pretty, I guess it's Autumn? That's not a good thing though, if I don't find a settlement with people before winter comes I'll freeze to death, It's already chilly. I thought as a shiver ran down my spine.

However it looks like it's still the beginning of Autumn, the trees still have most of their leaves.

I was walking slowly, since I had luggage to carry and my head was still in a mess trying to sort memories from two lives together, also I'm only 8 years old physically, I'm very weak.

This place is similar to Earth in some aspects, it has the same seasons, months, days and some of the holidays such as Valentine's day exist here, I don't anymore information though, sigh, these Calliopes were truly isolated from the rest of the world.

I have read some reincarnation novels before as past Noah, what I'm trying to figure out right now is if this place is just a parallel world or a novel one.

the reason is because, parallel worlds would be quite similar, but would have differenes in History, names and such, novel worlds are unique though, they have unfathomable logic and very different things according to how the author writes the novel, I am leaning towards novel world as everthing I've seen or remembered point to that conclusion, there are elves, dwarves, spirits, Beastmen, magic, demonic beasts and many other things that are a product of fantasy novels, also similar things to Earth that make it like they were there for some sort of cliché scene in the novel, like an a romance novel with Valentine's day to give chocolate to the main love interest or go on a date with them.

I need more knowledge to determine if this is a world in a novel, and if I have read about such novel, which would help a ton, knowing if this is before, during or after the main story line of the novel, who the main characters are, secrets only readers knew and not people of this world, what type of world this is, or are the races friendly to each other, what I should avoid doing, I would probably also go and watch the main story from the sidelines it would be fun!

...Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself, what I need to do right now is to survive this predicament, although I'm excited for being in a new world with fantasy like elements, that excitement would be for naught if I die.

I picked up my pace and walked faster.

I need to be cautious, there are sometimes demonic beasts lurking around the village, low-ranked ones though, like a horned rabbit, but that would be enough to kill me, although I took self-defense and some martial arts classes before, I can't let my guard down with this child body.

It was troublesome navigating through these forests, despite how beautiful it is, wherever I looked it was the same; large trees, falling leaves and gray rocks.

I stuck to same direction I picked and continued trekking through the large forest, otherwise I would be making minimal progress.

Hah, hah. I wiped the sweat accumulating on my forehead.

I'm tired, I want to sleep, no no you can't, it's nowhere near night time yet, I'll just rest for a bit while eating some bread, then I will continue at a slower pace.

I took a knife out and carved an arrow on a tree trunk directing me to the direction I'm taking so I don't get lost or go backwards, that would be bad.

I sat down on the ground and started eating the old bread, it wasn't satisfying my taste buds, but it was satisfying my stomach, after finishing I rewarded myself with one piece of jerky that tasted much better than the bread, and drank a little water from my water bottle... or cask? I don't know it looks weird, it's a water container but it looks like a barrel.

Okay! I'm refreshed let's go! I wiped my mouth with my sleeve.

I noticed that the more I walked the denser the forest became.

did I pick the right direction? Should I change it?

I was hesitating on this decision, I've already walked for almost a full day, so changing directions would be time consuming, but it would also be harder to go through a denser forest, it was easy to lose my sense of direction, and wouldn't be able to see my surroundings.

well, it's getting dark, I better find somewhere safe to sleep before it gets colder.

I thought as I carved another arrow on the tree beside me.

I'll decide tomorrow.

let's see... a little cave would be good, or under a tree, safe from dangerous creatures... oh I just realized, I haven't seen any animals at all, I only heard birds tweeting and chirping, that's odd, I wonder wh-

my thought were cut off by the rustling of a bush behind me.

That's Ironic.

I turned to face the bush, knife in hand, I readied myself and fixed my stance to a defensive one according to the lessons I have had in my previous life.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

My heart started pounding furiously, I was scared.

The bush stopped moving and time passed by in silence, I only heard my own heart beating and felt light-headed.

...

Suddenly a shadow burst out of the bush and flew in my direction, my eyes widened and I dodged to the side, just barely avoiding it.

Thump! Thump!

I looked at the horned rabbit that was recovering from throwing itself at me and was going to do it again.

"AHH. That was close." I said, sounding indifferent despite being frightened.

As if the horned rabbit took my words as a challenge, it made a growling sound and launched itself at me again, I didn't have time to dodge again, and I freaked out, I just pointed the knife to the flying horned rabbit, and closed my eyes.

I can't believe the reason of my second death would be a rabbit!

Shluk!... Drip, Drip, Drip.

Oh? There's no pain.

I opened my eyes and saw that the horned rabbit that hung lifelessly was penetrated by the knife, red blood running down the knife and my hands and then dripping to the ground.

...

Blaaargh!

...

I hate it! I hate it! That feeling was horrible! The knife just going through the live rabbit just like it goes through meat normally, it felt normal, but it was because it felt normal that I was disgusted! taking a life away so normally and easily! The red blood dripping down! Ahh!

Blaargh! Cough! Cough! Cough!

after emptying my stomach I finally slightly recovered.

"Argh! I'm so weak. I hate myself." because of the extreme stimulation, my voice actually had some emotion in it.

If I'm going to survive in a world like this where i'm guessing killing is a normal thing since slavery also exists, I must absolutely overcome this problem!

But it just feels wrong! Arghh! I'm frustrated!

I went to the horned rabbit corpse and took the knife out, and tried to skin it.

Groan! Blaaargh!

Even though I was vomiting nothing came out but stomach juices.

dammit dammit dammit dammit, dammit all!

Tears were forming in my eyes, it was a rare occurrence for me to cry.

Wow! I thought in disbelief at myself.

am I really crying for something like this? Why am I such a hypocrite? I always knew that meat came from killing animals and enjoyed eating it, now that the process is being done by me I feel this way? Come on Noah!

I steeled myself and roughly skinned the rabbit, drained the blood and took the meat, the horn and the fur.

After finding a little hollow place under a tree trunk I put my bag there, got a knife and went to gather twigs to make a fire.

Succeeding after many fruitless attempts with the flint and steel, I finally had a fire, I got the rabbit meat and skewered it then put it to cook above the fire, sitting down after this long and tiring day, I issued a long sigh as I got lost in my thoughts.

it was a pure coincidence that I killed the horned rabbit, otherwise I would be dead right now.

Coming from a peaceful Earth where one just has to study, or learn any useful skills to have an occupation and just have a carefree life hardly getting in danger because you're being protected, this world so far is the exact opposite, you have to be strong enough to protect yourself, which I'm not, I could barely kill a rabbit let alone a human, what would happen if I met bandits?

I shuddered at the thought of killing someone, the feeling of stabbing someone would be no different than cutting meat to cook, but your taking away a life, not cooking a dish, you are killing someone who - despite your reason for killing them - had their own experiences in life, had friends or family, had emotions just like me

Wouldn't they be scared like me when death was a step away from them?

... Haah...

I really need to get rid of this empathetic side of me, it would only drag me down in the future, just like they say: survival is for the fittest... hold on, no it was: survival of the fittest.

It doesn't matter it's the same, but what I mean is there is no reason to hesitate Noah! Kill them and become strong! If they give you a reason to kill them then do it! Or else you'll be the one saying hello to your third life!

And just because this life has been like an arduous journey so far, I won't give up and let the obstacles on my way break me, I'm going to use them to be the best, and show the world how excellent I am! Just like how Mother wanted, I want to make her proud of me!

I smiled inwardly as I finally felt motivation to keep me going through this new life.

By the way, I feel like I would be mean if I disregarded Blake, he gave me this body to live in, so should I change my name to Noah Blake? I mean, my original last name and middle name were from my father, I don't like them, and it would be good to leave a trace of the Calliope tribe, no individual of them exists anymore other than me after all, if I forget his name it would be tragic, and I recall this world doesn't have last names and only a first name and a family name for commoners, so Noah (first name) Blake (family name) fits perfectly, okay it's decided!

I got up and went to the fire, the rabbit meat had finished cooking, I took it, it looked yummy, tasted yummy aswell, but I couldn't help but gag with every bite, even though I was determined I still couldn't fully get rid of the feeling.

With a full stomach, I put out the fire, covered the place under the trunk where I will be sleeping with twigs and leaves, went in and took a planket out of my bag, curled up and lay down using my bag as pillow then I drifted off to sleep.