Chapter 3 - "The Strong."
Alpha Date Year(002): 315,848
Day: 258/365
As J walked up the mountain's winding path, he saw the day coming to an end, and dusk was now falling upon the forest. The view from this height on the mountain was perfect and would make anyone else stay to watch it, but for J, it only made him walk faster up the arduous path. He knew that once it turned to night, he wouldn't be able to enter the cave and be safe. He also wanted answers as to why he needed to bring the small stone inside the rabbit to him after spending almost an entire week hunting the rabbit. After five minutes of walking straight up the path, he made it to the cave entrance. The cave itself was very peculiar. While still made of jagged rocks, the sides of the cave seemed to be unusually smooth for a cave, and noticeable slashes were marking the inside of the cave. "Uncle said that he killed the ruler of this forest and took his home. I've lived here all my life, but now I feel happy to be back." "STOP!" his Uncle rang out throughout the cave in an ominous tone. "DID YOU BRING THE RABBIT'S MONSTER CORE?" "Monster core? Do you mean this stone? Then yes, I did."
J then pulled out the core of the rabbit and held it out in his hand. His Uncle then emerges from the deeper region and shadows in the cave, stepping out and standing straight in front of J while observing him and the core in his hands. "Good. This will pay for one night here and some stew that I have been making. You may stay." A wave of relief washed over him as he could relax in the safety of the cave, where absolutely no creatures from the forest dared enter, both because of the harsh terrain and the fact that Uncle was the strongest in the forest. After his Uncle took the core, he began following him even deeper into the cave. J saw a large campfire and a metal pot boiling over it, with the smell of hot steam and vegetables wafting through the air. The fire, which seemed to be dying down, was given another log, and with a wave of his Uncle's hand, the fire rose and became more intense than before. "Uncle is different from me…he doesn't need to rub sticks or strike a smooth stone to light a fire, he can just control it. HOW does he do that?" His Uncle stirred the broth a few times before handing him a bowl with a serving of the soup. The soup was surprisingly flavourful due to the mixture of vegetables, and the meat was soft yet tender after simmering for a long time.
However, even though he wanted to relax and immediately go to bed after finishing his bowl of soup, he began to ask his Uncle questions. "Uncle…why am I doing this survival training?" He asked with a slight tone of impatience and concern. "J...IF YOU WANT AN ANSWER, THEN YOU NEED TO PAY. If you want gear or information, then you need to pay. Nothing is free anymore." His Uncle said in a serious tone. This answer made him silent and only caused him to have more questions, but knowing that it would cost him made him more nervous. "Okay…then what do I get for the core I brought?" After his Uncle took a large gulp from his bowl, he said, "Food, a safe place to sleep…and since it's your first time hunting, a book." "A BOOK?!" This response surprised him since he had never had a book of his own before, since he always just learned how to read and write by drawing in the dirt or the books his Uncle had.
His Uncle then handed him the book, which seemed a bit worn but in relatively good condition, which made him happy. "Thank you." "This is only a one-time thing. From now on, if you want to stay here, get a book or another piece of gear, you need to pay a certain price." His demeanor was cold, but that didn't bother J much at all, since he had lived with his Uncle all his life, and he was the only person he knew.
"Also, since I can't be bothered every day to explain the rules, I'm only going to do this once. You must PAY to stay here with the cores of monsters you take or find outside. One rabbit core gets you a stay at the cave with food, but anything more than that must be paid with even more cores." J listened as closely as he could despite his tired body. "For example, that book you have is worth a whole rabbit core, yet, since it's in a less-than-ideal condition, I got it cheap. But for higher-level information and equipment, you may need to pay multiple cores. Any other questions?" This new information intrigued him and made him question everything around him. "How much is this knife?" he then held out the knife given to him, which he used the most during his days hunting. "Around 50 cores." "REALLY?!" This made J jump up in surprise after using his knife to do everything from digging holes to carving sticks and preparing his food. "Yes, and the price for your clothes is between 25 to 35 cores." His Uncle stated in a matter-of-fact tone."Why does my knife need so many cores to buy?" J asked, wondering why it was more expensive than everything else. "The knife was made to be the most durable…and it is the one thing you use the most compared to everything else, so the price for the knife is greater than the clothes on your back."
The value of the knife in his hand made the weight of the knife more significant, and he started to clean off the knife using his shirt, realizing that the knife in his hand required 50 times the effort he put in for an entire week. "You better take care of your gear, 'cause anything that breaks, you need to pay for and wait a certain time." "But… how am I going to hunt that many rabbits?" J said this, looking at the core in Uncle's hand and feeling like he wouldn't be able to pay for anything besides the meal and a night in the cave every week. "Look at the book inside your hands…it should help you." J then opened the book inside his hand and scanned the pages, observing the images of trees, lands, and different structures unknown to him. "What's this called?" J then pointed to a diagram of a deep hole covered in spikes, with instructions beside it telling how to prepare it. "It's a spike pit, a simple yet popular trap." "TRAP?" His Uncle then brought his hand to his head and let out a growl, as if he had a headache. "A trap is… when you manipulate or change your environment to catch, harm, or even kill something." "Like this?" J then thought of what he had made in the woods to help him catch the rabbit, and brought out his tarp, tied to a rope. "Yes…that is also a kind of trap, but remember, traps are only useful because of where they're placed. You can't put that kind of trap in an open field and expect it to work; otherwise, you would've built it for nothing."
J was learning so much today that it honestly made his head hurt, but he still wanted to listen to whatever he could now that nothing was going to be as easy as it was before. No more trying to learn from his Uncle at his own pace while the days passed by; he was now going to have to figure things out by himself. "Alright…head to bed. You must leave at dawn, and if you want to come back, you need to pay with a rabbit core.UNDERSTOOD?" "Yes, Uncle." J then hurried to his bed, which had a small frame and mattress on the floor but was still more comfortable than sleeping and hunting for almost seven days in a tent. J then asked one final question, the question he had been longing to ask ever since he started his survival training. No, he had probably buried this question deep down, out of simply accepting life for what it was, his whole life. "Uncle…what are we doing here?" His Uncle was silent for the longest time, but J was patient, stopping just as he was lying down to listen closely for his answer, despite the tension that arose over the crackling fire. "I'll tell you one day…but for now, you must learn to survive before anything." His Uncle spoke in a serious tone, as if that were the only truth in the world, and made J fall completely silent. J then rolled into bed with his stitched-together blanket and turned to face the wall of the cave, showing his back to both the fire and his Uncle. "I promise…one day." With those last few words spoken by his Uncle, J then immediately drifted into a deep sleep in under a minute, which was rare for him since he was never a deep sleeper. But his dreams, while deep, weren't peaceful despite the security he felt inside that cave. All he could dream about tonight was a recurring nightmare that had haunted him many times throughout his life.
It all began in a place so dark that trying to call it pitch black wouldn't do it justice. It was the definition of nothing, where you couldn't see anything or sense any presence for the most part, besides a growing intensity being felt upon his body. The feeling was warm and secure, and his movements were so slight that when he hit anything, he simply was pushed right back. It wasn't until suddenly that the growing intensity in his body felt more and more tense as his body was then pushed towards somewhere brighter. Once he made it through, everything around him seemed so intense that for a moment he was nervous and stunned, feeling everything around him, and just then two different things placed around his back picked him up and brought him somewhere warm. But before he could see what brought him into this intense world, he could feel the approach of something. This new presence was suddenly there, and unlike any before, it seemed ominous and dangerous. Just as it appeared, the things holding him filled him and covered him with powerful energy, not very different compared to what he felt before this event happened. But the dark and foreboding presence didn't stop…it couldn't be stopped. All he could do was wait until it was over, and just as he was about to scream, it came and pierced his being completely. Everything that he knew and didn't know that he had was harmed, and he suddenly couldn't do anything. But despite the sudden pain, he was then feeling the same way he was before…calm, nothing to see or feel, and the world was so much less intense. But there was no warmth…no soothing and no known place to reach towards, everything that happened just…passed away.
But before he knew it, a familiar feeling crept towards him, and just as he felt as though he would be completely swept up in this new reality, he sensed something he had never perceived before. It didn't push him or pull him like everything else did; it was simply so massive that he wanted to go back, and despite the pain and debility he felt, he still persevered until everything came back once more, and he was now back in the same intense world he knew earlier. He reached for anything to hold on to and felt something peculiar that moved so differently than everything else, and wondered if it was the same thing that picked him up previously. Then he felt a large mass come to his abdomen, and he felt hair around his neck and wrist. He wanted to grab and push it out of the way, but couldn't because he was too weak. The being then put their hand back on him and filled him with a healing presence like before, almost like they were trying to keep him there in that world. It lasted for a long time until he could breathe again like the first time, and he was now feeding on something large, although it was hard to eat, he eventually did, and after he was done, all he could do was rest until a blurry picture washed over him. The person he saw was different from anything he had seen before, and she looked weary despite not being able to properly glance at their face. The next few images that flew by were images of the being healing him, hurrying, and putting them in someplace dark, yet still intense. All he remembered from then was hanging on the inside of a dark place with everything around him shining brightly as if the light itself was attacking him.
The very last part was when he finally saw the outside for the first time; his senses were never as full as before, and everything around him seemed so clear. But the thing he saw that was the most shocking was the clear face of a person with long hair and the same arms that had helped him before. He didn't have any words at the time, but he probably would've said "Beautiful" to describe them, even though they looked even more tired than before. Just as the dream reached the same ending as before, and the person gave him to someone else, as he saw them, they spoke to him, although he couldn't decipher exactly what they said, all he could do was stare at their face, from their dark hair to their green eyes, and just as they smiled at him, they closed their eyes. All that he could do now was cry because he couldn't do anything but that, and he was left with someone else he didn't know, and just wanted to be here with him like before.
J then woke up, rising from his bed as if he was scared awake and was taking deep breaths, teary-eyed and nervous at first, but then he saw the light coming into the cave from the outside, a clear sign that it was now dawn. Closing his eyes and catching his breath from his strained and tired lungs, his Uncle stood before him, waiting over his bed. "You're awake…GOOD. I was just about to wake you up. Gather your things and prepare to head out. Remember, if you want to come back, you need a rabbit core." His Uncle then walked away from him and his bed to his corner of the cave and sat down, looking at him with a serious and judging look. J knew this look was the "'Hurry up and do what I said right now!' look.", and he certainly didn't want to be punished for taking too long. J then stood up from his bed immediately and began gathering both his gear and supplies for the coming week. He looked at all the rope, gear, and the trap he had made, and checked the condition of his knife. Refilled his flask with the boiling water that would cool by the time he needed it. He also made sure to bring both his journal and his new book, shoving both in his bag quickly to use and study them later. He double-checked that he had everything he had brought into the cave and the book he had been given beforehand.
J then gathered his belongings in his bag, checked his clothes, and headed outside the cave. Before he left the cave and stepped outside, he said, "Bye, Uncle, see you later!" He stared at the outline of his Uncle moving about the cave, who didn't respond, and then headed outside, taking the same path he had come up the mountain. J then once again took out his Journal and began writing down what he was doing. "Dear Journal, today I'm going to start writing down my day more often. I'm going to start writing every day the same way the book that my Uncle gave me told me to keep track of everything around me. I'll organize and plan for everything around me, and if I use the book to learn more about how I can survive more effectively, then eventually, I will be able to catch rabbits more often than before. I need to get better at survival training. I need to get stronger. And most importantly, I need to learn why I'm here in the first place."