CHAPTER 5
Brion woke up feeling dizzy. The back of his head had stopped bleeding and the pain in his arms had subsided. Rays of sunlight peeled through the mouth of the hole he had been hiding in. He then walked towards the opening and looked at the sun's position in the sky.
'It seems to be about noon.'
His stomach then grumbled in protest, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since his transmigration. After again looking around and confirming that the large snake was nowhere near, he jumped down to the forest floor.
On the ground, he found rotten pieces of what looked like apples which had most likely fallen from the tall tree he had just jumped from.He then formed a plan on how he was to get to the top of the tree to get the fruits. He then went to the closest tall tree which he would use to climb.
Brion then went to the base of the tree and, after guiding the energy towards his feet, he jumped to a lower branch of the shorter tree where he got his footing. He then repeated the process and jumped back to the large trunk of the tree before returning to the shorter tree again. He was then able to reach the lower branches of the tall tree.
After seeing two or three of the apple-like fruits on the lower branches, he thought to himself that the fruits near the top would be more delicious and continued scaling the tree.
'Jackpot'
Brion found a fruit that was a bright red and a bit brighter than the others. He then sat on the branch and concentrated on collecting the unstable energy around him, as it would probably help him to make the jump for the fruit. After storing it in his soul/core, he then crouched and jumped into the air, his hand reaching for the fruit. After picking it, he then landed back on the branch and sat down, ready to eat it.
An arrow made from a black obsidian-like material with a shining silver tip whizzed past him, piercing the fruit and sticking it to the trunk. Brion looked at the arrow, confused. His immediate thought was to run as it was probably an attack on him, but on closer inspection of the arrow, he saw a small paper hanging from it.
"A message? Finally, human or is it demon contact? I'm not sure how I should refer to other people here. But at least it's contact from an intelligent being."
He then went and took the paper that was tied to the arrow. It had been stained by the orange-red juice from the fruit. He then looked at the paper and saw symbols which he couldn't quite identify, but he somehow could read.
Don't eat that fruit, it's poisonous. Stay put and don't try to run. If you do, I'll find you and the next arrow won't miss your head. We will be there in thirty minutes.
Brion then looked at the fruit dripping with juice and couldn't believe that he had another close call. In the past two or three days, the amount of times he had almost died exceeded those he had back on Earth. He plucked the arrow from the tree and the fruit fell to the ground. He would return the arrow to its owner when they arrived.
He then sighed.
"Where is my senior brother to warn me against constantly courting death? I hope these guys will be friendly at least!"
He then climbed back down and spotted the fruit he was about to eat splattered on the forest floor another reminder that he hadn't eaten anything.
"The message spoke of 'we', so they must probably have more than enough food."
Brion then decided to explore the extent to which he could push his strengthened body and see if there were any more abilities he had gotten. He was hungry, but at least he would have food in the next fifteen to twenty minutes. The lack of food during his initial days had weakened him, and the only reason he wasn't all skin and bones was due to the increased vitality of his new body. He moved the energy in his body and tried to control how much he moved to each part, but it was difficult, so he simply postponed it to another day. Then he slumped on the ground and lay there waiting for the group.
A few minutes later, a man wearing heavy steel armour walked into the clearing. The sun rays reflected off his shining silver armour that covered his entire body. On his left hand, he held a large rectangular shield and on his right, a double-sided sword. Brion sat up and after a few seconds of staring, he waved at the heavily armoured man. The armoured man then looked behind him and walked into the boundary of the forest.
"All clear! The target isn't hostile!"
After he said these words, four more figures emerged from the forest. The first was a woman holding a spear with an azure blade.Following her was a man with a two-handed steel broadsword, and behind him was a woman with a sheathed short sword and a medium-sized leather pouch on her back. The last person to come out was a slender man with a bow.
Brion then went to seem to be in deep thought for a while and then cut his train of thought before turning to the cohort.
"Here is your arrow."
He said as he passed the arrow to the archer before continuing.
"Do you have some food and water that I can take?"
The woman opened her pouch and gave Brion a waterskin, which he greedily drank from before he took the two loaves of bread she was offering.
"And can you please lower your weapons?You've already seen that I'm not hostile, and if it was an ambush, would I look so battered, bruised and bloody?"
Brion then sat at the base of the large tree and rested his back on the large tree roots. As the three put away their weapons, Brion started eating the bread as he planned out what he was to do, and when he was done, he faced the group again.
"Now that the atmosphere is a bit friendlier, I'm Brion. What are your names?"
The heavily armoured man introduced himself as Leo, the archer's name was Trevis, the spearwoman was Jenny, and the woman with the pouch was Aria. The man with the broadsword was Lincoln.
"What about the one you left in the forest?"
Trevis looked at Brion and asked.
"What makes you think that we left someone in the forest?"
"Well, let me explain. First of all, I don't think you could have spotted me from the position you were at and shot the arrow at me. The only way you could have spotted me is if I did something to draw attention to myself, and I only did that once when I was running from that huge snake. The snake breaking those trees down is probably what made you come into this forest, right?"
"Right."
"To make me explaining easier what's the name of the unstable energy in the air?"
The four looked at each other before Leo answered.
"Solara."
"The only thing that I have done so far after that was using Solara to scale the tree and to get that fruit. For me to get noticed would mean that there is someone with high Solara perception. Typically, mages or sorcerers have this trait. But I didn't see anyone suited to be a mage in this group, no offence.Leo is probably the tank of the group. Lincoln and Jenny are the damage dealers. I would have added Aria if it was not for the fact that your pouch would slow you down and that unlike the others, you didn't have your weapon drawn. You're probably a healer and the bag contains potions and stuff.Trevis is self-explanatory, a long-range damage dealer. The only damage dealer remaining is one in area-of-effect attacks, and that's what most mages specialise in.Also, you guys lowered your weapons a bit too quickly for people that could have been ambushed, meaning you had someone that could take me out if things started getting hairy. So who is it?"
After a few seconds, Aria smiled and looked at Brion.
"Great deductions. Although there are some problems with it, it separates you from the dumb ones. Like Leo, for example."
Leo turned his face towards Aria, his brows furrowed.
"Hey! You didn't have to attack me right in front of the new guy."
Lincoln released a chuckle before speaking up.
"She isn't wrong though. Anyway, Calasanz, come out. He already knows you're here."