*Drip*

*Drip*

William felt his consciousness return gradually as the drips of water hit his cheeks, and slowly opened his closed eyes.

“…I’m alive?”

Attempting to get up, he was stopped as he felt a pain from his head.

“Aghh shit, so much blood.”

“This amount of blood would have normally killed someone, but I indeed still alive, so it should not be my blood right?” William survey the surrounding and his hand felt something.

“What is this?... soft.. no way…was this weird looking animal who prevent the impact from killing me..?” He take a breath of relief.

Six days have passed since he trapped in this cave. All this time he had not eat anything so of course the hunger is unbearable for him. The rigorous training with his father kept him alive under this extreme circumstances, even though the starving sensation assault him madly like a mad lion.

“This animal... disgusting, guess I can’t eat it.. no, even if I suffered from pain and hunger, I won’t! This smell is very disgusting like a rotten meat.”

Two more days elapsed, William had not taken in any food, only drink by accumulating every drip of water that fall from the cave stalactites using his gloves as container.

“These stalactites... speleothems?.. which usually occur in limestone caves, it form through deposition of calcium carbonate and other minerals... but this cave is very different from the limestone cave, nah whatever, without waters I would be dead by now, even so I got to find some prey soon, so hungry.” Will rub his stomach as he walks through the cave passage.

“Woah speak of the devil, I found some prey, but there are too many of them. It would be hard to kill them with just my knife.. what should I do?”

These beast is like a deer, but have a long and thick tail with enormous mouths and long ears hanging. They also have small horns across their head. Their skin is smooth and It's covered in thick fur.

In front of William, there was a pack of furred deer.

“They are moving in pack meaning that they are weak to stay alive in this place alone, that’s why they move in a group, I have to finish them one by one.” Cautiously, he observed the pack of deer from his hiding spot near the big stone and waited for the best timing to launch his attack.

The most fundamental hunting method was setting up an ambush. He throw a pebble behind the rubble of stone that was 2 meters tall to attract the attention of one of the wandering deer. He waited for the prey to come.

The moment one of them showed up, he sneak behind the deer and there is whimper sound as William slit the deer throat while hold it down by putting all his weight on it to prevent the deer from running away.

The deer still trying to resist and trying to throw off william from it’s back even after william slit it’s throat and blood flowing like a waterfall.

After it’s attempt to throw william failed, the deer trying to scream and ask for the packmate help but it can’t produce any sound as the throat is now in a sorry state. It was until William cut clean the deer head and sent it rolling on the ground that it finally stopped moving.

William fetch the head of the deer and throw it to the group of four deer that not far from him. Their attention immeadiately shifted to the object that rolling on the ground.

“...”

After one minute of silence, they run away with tail between their legs, leaving the head still on the ground.

“Hahaha I was planning to kill them all but this reaction is worth it afterall.”

After he finish his intense laughter that last for five minutes, william get back to the headless deer. he was salivating as he butcher it with his blood stained knife.

William build a tinder nest out of the dry plant in the vicinity and burn them with his lighter that barely spew a small fire after two minutes of trying.

In a cave passage, a silhouette of someone crouching in front of fire that illuminating the dark cave could be seen.

“Hmm, not bad but the lion meat is more delicious.” chewing could be heard.

The meat was a bit tough, but even so he took a bite and swallowed them in a fast motion. This had been his first meal for the past weeks. The stomach was surprised to suddenly receive the meat. Pains shot through his stomach. William did not even consider such a thought before he eat but now that it already happen, he ignore it and keep eating because he was very happy to have a meal after many days of starvation.

His appearance looked so elegant while he was eating even after he trapped in this cave for week. If any people or traveler saw what he looked like, they would think that it was his first day in this cave.

After eating so much of the deer meat and drinking the water from his glove, he lean his body against the boulder to take a nap, of course he didn’t forget to dispose the fire to prevent any unnecessary attention from the beast nearby before doing so.

Two minutes of resting, his left ear twitched as he heard a familiar sound echoed in the dim cave. The closed eyes were opened slightly. His unfocused eyes settled onto the direction of the sound and the open his eyes wide.

He stood up slowly, then starting to walk towards the narrow passage behind the boulder. Along the way, his pace becoming more and more fast, finally he is running with all his might until he can hear more clearly the wind that blowing from this narrow passage, and a big grin formed on his face.

“Finally, an exit!” William exclaimed as he left the dark cave and looked into the distance. Blinding light starting to assault his eyes that already accostumed to the darkness. The morning sun was illuminating the horizon with no end in sight, A very spacious grassland with a various flowers dancing by the wind, there was no longer darkness.

He also noticed many weird shaped fruits hanging in the trees, showing themselves to him, its luster flickered in the light and so dazzling. These fruits were all as big as apple. William dispel a thought to pluck them because he didn’t know if this fruit is safe to consume or not.

With no map and no sight of civilization to be seen, William travel further to the south. Occasionally, William see one or two wolves that were separated from their pack. he was prepared to kill them if they come at him, but they are smart enough to avoid him. There is no need to spill unnecessary blood if you can prevent it.

The vegetation around here flourishes wildly, but not one of the them is recognized by William, which is weird. Grass is very tall and the ground is muddy. The air is very fresh that hard to find in modern world that full of contamination.

He stroll the grassland like walking in the park, but even so he never drop his guard and stay vigilance in every moment. When the sun is about to set, William set up camp near a rocky area, building a rock shelter covering the roof with driftwood and a tarp for protection.

“Building a fire is the most important task when dealing with survival in the wilderness, at least the oldman said so.” William muttered as he build a fire in the rocky area. He recalled what his oldman said to build a fire in a sandy or rocky area or near a supply of sand and water as to avoid forest fires.

“The most common mistakes made by those attempting to build a fire are because they choosing poor tinder, failing to shield their matches from the wind and smothering the flames with too many fuel.”

It was night.

‘The sky tonight is beautiful.’ William thought while looking up at the sky filled with stars. If he think back about it, it has been a long time since he had a calm sensation like this while looking at the sky.

He begin to think how he had survived since the first day he wrapped up in this huge mess, separated from raisha, transported to this strange and dangerous place, nearly freeze to death, hunting a beast, and hunted by a beast.

William avoid thinking about what had happened to him and this weird place, despite the fact that he know something was unnatural. An animal that shouldn’t exist in this world roaming around in the sky, he even spot several creatures that known as slime that only exist in RPG bouncing around in the grassland.

“There is only one answer to this question...this is another world.”