As I open my eyes again, I'm laying at the floor in the woods, immersed in a pool of my own blood...
"Ugh!"
I can feel an intense pain over my whole body! Especially my insides, they feel as if they had been placed inside a blender... And my bitten hand feels so cold… But at the same time it burns...
I look around and the whole camp looks as if it was ravaged by beasts. It has multiple claw marks everywhere... Also, the meat of the snakes is completely gone, except for some few remains on the ground. It looks like something(s) had a feast... Lucky it was the snakes instead of me...
"S-Status..."
Gabriel Kanade Aki
Status:
v Mortal
v Summoned from another world
· Mana Conversion: Incapable
· Mana Expression: Advanced
· Spirit Affinity: Godly
· Mana Capacity: High
Ø Health: Poisoned
Ø Condition: Severe Anemia
Ø Virgin
§ Demon Lord: Soul 40%
It must be the first time I ever felt happy from seeing that the virgin part was still in there.
But the poison and anemia are concerning to say the least…
I have to find the antidote and healing potions…
…
They're gone. My waist pouch is gone too...
I check around and my broken armor and gauntlet still remain. But my sword, boots and the other good gauntlet are gone...
Haha... Stolen...? Damn...
… Could it have been red hair? No, she would've taken everything before the beasts ransacked the camp... Actually, it would've been faster to just do something while I was asleep... Besides, she just didn't seem the kind of person who would stab someone from the back... Is she oka---
"Ugh!"
O-Ok, focus on surviving for now...
I take off my broken gauntlet and check my hand...
"Fuuuck!!!" It hurts so bad!!!
The wound looks terrible... My hand is way too swollen and the skin is very red, almost purple... Is it inflamed? Ugh, at least it stopped bleeding, it seems the blood has coagulated at the wound... Either way, my hand is completely crushed…
I place my other hand on the ground and try to get up... I`m having to use mana expression to do something as simple as standing up and walking. I`m pretty sure my body must be nearing it`s limit soon. Very soon.
I search through the remains of the camp for anything useful, but there's nothing…
Every step I take feels like it will be my last...
What can I even do now…? I thought I could be an adventurer, but the adventure barely even started and I'm already like this…
It is then that I notice some movement at the trees…
Crap... What is it this time…?
…
There's nothing I can do in this state… But I… I can't die here…
Damn it...
I silently watch the trees, hoping to discern any information that might help me in this situation.
But what I see is something way different from anything I was expecting...
A… Fairy…?
It`s a small creature that seems to be flying, moving from the ground to the top of the trees in strange patterns... As if it were dancing around the forest...
The way it suddenly stops midair, or changes to complete opposite directions, in smooth movements, resembles a hummingbird...
It's a beautiful spectacle for sore eyes...
It is translucent, with a deep green color, similar to the one of dense forests...
It's difficult to discern its shape while it's moving, and also because of my current condition. But it doesn't seem to have any wings, so how is it flying?
Could it be a… Spirit?
…
Or is it just a trap, trying to tempt me into getting closer and then eat me... Like those lantern fishes... The adventurer's book does seem to be missing on some important information about Sherwood`s Forest… After meeting a bear with iron balls, I wouldn't be surprised to find a carnivorous fairy…
…
However, in my dream Tsubaki did tell me to follow the spirits…
But then again...
"Ugh!!!" All I feel is pain.
Then again… I don't think I have a lot of time…
I slowly approach the fairy… Or whatever that thing is. And it starts to fly around me…
It looks… So pure... I feel as if I shouldn't even get too close to it, or I might end up sullying it...
All of my doubts disappear. Or rather, my thoughts in general start to cease... Is it the blood loss, the poison, or…
"Cough! Cough! Cahag!" I cough a considerable amount of blood---
My train of thoughts is interrupted as I see a second fairy dancing nearby. I follow it, almost in a trance, and it begins to dance around me as well…
This same scene keeps on repeating, until there are more spirits dancing around me than I can count, and my capacity to think is fully gone.
The world around Kanade distorts itself. As a single drop falling into water, he disappears, leaving only small ripples in his wake. They soon vanish as well. Naught is left of a dream, as the forest awakes.