The cold, rough earth slammed into Wei Shen's face with force, the impact snatching the air from his frail lungs. For a moment, he felt nothing but the searing pain in his knee where it had struck a sharp rock, and the taste of dirt and dust in his mouth. Then, like an electric shock, full awareness of the imminent danger returned.
The Thornwood Gnawer was upon him, its small shadow covering Wei Shen's prone body. He heard a low, fierce hiss and smelled the pungent, foul odor of the creature's fur nearing his face. Its small red eyes gleamed with bloodlust in the faint gray light of the forest.
There was no time for regret over the scattered food or the carelessness that had led to his fall. Every part of his consciousness screamed: "Danger! Get up! Get up!"
With a body still aching from the fall, driven by a raw survival instinct now honed by a mind accustomed to making decisions under extreme pressure, Wei Shen rolled to the side with all the speed he could muster. The Thornwood Gnawer's sharp fangs snapped shut on the air where his head had been a split second before, making a sickening click.
It wasn't a graceful maneuver, but a clumsy, painful roll that brought more scrapes from pebbles and small twigs. But it bought him that precious second.
The Thornwood Gnawer, having missed its target, spun around in fury, its small claws digging into the earth as it prepared for another attack. It was small, but its speed and aggression were terrifying for Wei Shen's current body.
"Mistake," a voice, chillingly calm and cold amidst the panic, screamed internally in Wei Shen's head. "Allowing it to get this close was a mistake."
Wei Shen scrambled backward desperately, trying to get away from the beast's fangs. His hand fumbled frantically on the ground for anything, any weapon. His fingers brushed against the sharpened piece of stone that had fallen from his grasp – that pathetic tool which was all he had for self-defense.
He gripped it with a trembling hand, raising it instinctively as the Thornwood Gnawer lunged at him again.
This time, there was no escape. The creature pounced, and Wei Shen barely managed to twist his body so that he took the attack on his left forearm instead of his throat or face. He felt sharp fangs pierce his meager flesh, and a pain like fire spread through his arm. The original "Wei Shen" screamed within him from pain and terror, but the now-dominant consciousness suppressed that scream, transforming it into a choked hiss of fury.
In the same instant, Wei Shen blindly stabbed with the sharpened stone at the creature's side. It wasn't a powerful or precise blow, but it was enough. He felt the stone strike something hard, then something softer.
The Thornwood Gnawer let out a sharp, sudden cry of pain and recoiled, dark blood beginning to seep from a small wound in its flank. It wasn't a fatal injury, but it was painful enough to distract it for a moment.
"Opportunity!"
Wei Shen didn't hesitate. Exploiting this precious moment, he rolled, crawled, and scrambled, ignoring the fiery pain in his arm, towards the dark opening of the cave which was now only a few meters away. He knew the Thornwood Gnawer would quickly recover from the shock of pain and attack again with even greater fury.
The cave. It was his only hope.
"Confined spaces limit an attacker's maneuverability," the cold analysis echoed in his mind as he dragged his injured body. "Darkness can be an ally if used correctly."
He reached the cave opening and slid inside like a terrified rat, his body scraping against the rough rocks, adding to his agony. He didn't stop, but continued crawling deeper, into the profound darkness where he knew the beast would hesitate to follow.
He heard the Thornwood Gnawer's enraged hisses at the cave entrance, its sharp sounds echoing in the narrow passage. He saw its small shadow moving back and forth at the opening, as if contemplating whether to enter or not.
Wei Shen pressed his body against the cold cave wall, near the place where he had found water and "the Warm Stone." He was panting heavily, his injured arm throbbing with intense pain. Blood was flowing from it, hot and sticky against his skin.
He waited, holding his breath, every muscle in his body tensed to the extreme. Would the beast enter?
Moments stretched into what felt like hours. The Gnawer's hissing at the entrance continued for some time, then gradually faded, mixed with faint scratching sounds, as if it were trying to widen the opening or vent its fury on the rocks. Then, silence reigned once more, a silence deeper and more ominous than before.
Was it gone? Or was it waiting outside?
Wei Shen didn't dare move. He remained frozen in place in the darkness, listening with utmost concentration. After another long period, during which he heard nothing but the dripping of water and the pounding of his own heart, he began to feel that the immediate danger had subsided.
Very slowly, and painfully, he began to assess his situation.
His left arm was bleeding relatively heavily. He felt slightly dizzy, either from blood loss or from exhaustion and shock. The food he had painstakingly gathered was completely lost outside. His stomach was still empty, and the pangs of hunger were now mixed with the pain of his wound.
"Utter failure in the resource-gathering mission," the internal assessment was harsh and merciless. "Misjudgment of the environment, slow reaction to the fall. Physical losses incurred, complete loss of provisions. Short-term probability of survival has significantly decreased."
But he was alive. That was the only bright spot in this catastrophic situation.
With a trembling hand, he tore a piece from his ragged shirt and tried to tie it around his wound to stop the bleeding. The darkness made the task almost impossible, but he did what he could. The pain was sharp, but he ignored it, focusing on the task.
When he had finished crudely dressing the wound, his other hand found itself almost instinctively touching "the Warm Stone." It still radiated that faint, comforting warmth. In a moment of desperation mixed with scientific curiosity, he gently pressed the injured part of his arm against the stone's surface.
He didn't expect a miracle. There was no instant healing or surge of energy. But he felt that the stone's warmth, when it touched the blood seeping from his wound, increased very slightly, and that the faint red glimmer that sometimes appeared from the stone became more constant for a few moments, as if… it were feeding on or reacting to something in his blood, or in the essence of his pain.
"Interesting… very interesting," Wei Shen whispered in the darkness, his voice hoarse from thirst and pain. "This stone is not just a warm rock. It reacts to vital energy… or perhaps to blood."
This observation, despite its simplicity, was enough to ignite a new spark of determination in his exhausted spirit. He had failed his first mission in the forest and had nearly lost his life. But he had gained new information, information that might be more valuable than any food he could have gathered.
He was still hungry, injured, and trapped. But now, he had a new puzzle to solve, a puzzle that might be the key to his survival, or perhaps… the key to his power in this unknown world.
And Wei Shen remained sitting in the darkness, listening to the dripping water, and feeling the faint warmth of the mysterious stone under his injured hand.