Bent World: Chapter 40 Twenty-Nine (Part I)

Chapter 40

Twenty-Nine (Part I)

The next day I awaken early, how early? I don’t know. I just know that it is still dark out when I first awaken to full mental clarity. A quick cursory glance tells me that my body still needs time to rest, but I don’t want to waste these moments of full clarity.

Often, I’ve gotten to the point where if I don’t  stay up during these times and try to go back to sleep until a more optimal time, I feel tired and sluggish all day. I might need more iron in my diet, but then again practically all I eat is meat from different rift beasts. Sad that my current idea of being a vegetarian is eating the larger mutated insects that come through the rift, but they too are deliciously flavorful. Not like anything I find outside the rifts.

I’ve found that for whatever reason, even animals that are outside of the naturally energy concentrated rift zones are bland by comparison. Not that I can’t survive by eating those monsters, but they have practically no flavor, and their texture seems tepid at best to my tongue.

Rift corruption is a concern that I have, and could explain the change in my dietary needs. I have never heard of such a condition before, but then again I have never heard of people living out in rifts for an extended period of time. There are other factors to consider as well, namely the changed ‘P’ marker on the back of my hand. I also wonder if my need for heartier rift meats is a complication brought on by whatever changes that are occurring to me internally.

I’m already moving, years of keeping my needs light, makes moving even at night simple. And while I should have a harder time knowing that my eyes are best during the daytime, I have adapted over the years. My eyes can now function with just a bit of focus, meaning that when my mind is awake, I can sort of force my eyes to adapt to the minimal light of moonlight that is present.

Quick check, pillow that is actually a rolled up pack of my spare clothes, check. My chipped sword, check. My food pouch of dried rift meat, check.

Slosh.

My self-made waterskin from the intestine of a particularly tough rift beast, check.

With the essentials taken care of and strapped to me so they don’t move around and impact me while I try to move around stealthily at night I begin moving.

Crackle.

A twig snaps a few hundred feet behind me in the forest. Hearing it, I can sense why my mind alerted me and woke me up. This is good, as it shows my years of this very act have paid off. I give a mental test to see the level of rift energy present. It’s low, meaning that most meat I find here won’t be as filling. With that thought covered, I mentally sigh, knowing that I will either need to break into my dried rations for tasty foods. Or likely settle for bland meat of this lower tier predator if I stay.

Ultimately, I move. Not wanting to waste either my time on the would be predator, and instead continue on to waystone number 29. I move silently, not my stalking a predator for the best area to strike movements, as those are long slow and taxing. Instead, I use my its still dark out and I want to make sure I don’t trip in the dark.

It has been a few weeks since my last twisted ankle by moving in the dark, and years since my last major injury. Still those times to remind us of the need for patience.

That is why I move at a fairly sedate pace. Well sedate for my current status, by contrast this would have been sprinting as a kid. A mixture of longer steps and more economic use of my energy. These are the types of minimal thoughts that fill my mind in the morning. While all of my senses are up and operating, I know my brain won’t truly kick in until the sun is out. Making this time of day perfect for it feels like I am stealing the time back from my day. Every moment used now is a moment I regain on the back end to work on a different project or understanding. At least, this is what I tell myself as motivation for moving forward.

Kind of nice not having a true boss, with only yourself to hold you accountable.

Sudden onset tiredness.

I almost stumble, as I feel my mind’s last warning to take shelter and pass out. It is of course my body’s method of saying the sun will be out shortly and this is the last time I can sleep if I so choose. It hits like a bolt, but if I can focus through for a moment and continue to move, the feeling dissipates quickly. Or at least it used to dissipate quickly, but it has been lingering more and more recently. Again, why I think I need more iron in my diet.

I’ve tried fruits and vegetables, but even rift tempered fruits and vegetables still taste bland to me. Worse, the last few times I have tried such ingredients into my diet, were the last few times I got food poisoning. It wasn’t just a one time, or one world, or one type of fruit or vegetable either. As I have had the chance to partake in many different types of fruits and vegetables, but the older I get, the more my body rejects them.

This thought too will pass, as I often think the most about food in the morning. To accentuate this point, or maybe just to put my mind out of its misery as it desperately tries to remain conscious, I see it.

Golden light glowing.

Just seeing the rays of light filtering through the forest canopy causes me to wait, as I let the gentle rays dance across and caress my body for a moment. Then as if getting some minimum quota for my body, I feel my mind fully awaken once more. I feel the lethargy that had been gradually building within my body leave, and I feel fully rested and ready to move.

Aided by the rays of the sun, I find my steps moving faster, as I am easily able to find solid footing and easy paths. Paths that I begin taking quickly, aided by a relentless desire to move forward.

I can see the impact of the upcoming waystone before I even enter its range. The forest goes from a thin and manageable foliage to a dense impenetrable field. Brambles and thick unwelcoming thorned bushes stand low, while massively imposing trees form the anchor points making entry almost impossible. Just seeing the change and effect that the waystone has, I realize this is an effect of a life type waystone.

From the dense foliage and robust health of the plants, I can assume that any monsters found in this section will also be more durable, likely having advanced healing characteristics, and above all be able to provide some sustenance. Particularly the closer I get to the waystone.

Grumble.

Just having this thought causes my stomach that has been existing to this point to suddenly come alive with hunger.

Taking a moment, I untie my waterskin get a quick sip, and immediately follow it up by placing a few pieces of jerky into my mouth. From the moment I got up and finished packing my gear until now, this is my first chance I gave my body to rest. Having a moment to rest and prepare, I take mental inventory. My feet that had been in a make shift form of moccasins are removed and put in my pack as well. For this next part, I am going to need full range of my feet, as I intend to climb up and use the large trees to get over the piercing brambles.

Looking at the trees, I’d almost swear that they were baobabs, or at least similar. These trees are tall, with a squat base, and only possessing branches and leaves at the top of its massive frame. Still, I can tell that there is almost a connection of branches once you get to the top. While the baobab-like trees exist at the perimeter, the inner trees are larger and have longer fuller branches that take up much of the sky beyond.

One thing I have learned about going into such situations, it is always easier to go from high than it is to force your way down low. Up high you only have to deal with climbers and fliers. On the ground you have to deal with ambush predators, stealth experts, fliers who dive, climbers who attack from ambush, and all sorts of other predators.

That is why after I finish chewing and give my body a few seconds to fully digest my breakfast, I begin the arduous journey of climbing upwards. Fortunately, these trees are also like the baobab in that they have thick rough bark with fissures, allowing for plenty of hand and foot holes to grab into and use on my way up.

I know that there would likely be a clear path to this waystone, that if I took long enough to go around the circumference of the waystone’s range of affect, I would eventually find natural roads and pathways. But again these pathways are a double edge sword, as they offer an easier path to follow, but those paths are often filled with predators trying to take advantage of the easier entry. Also, I don’t have the patience of youth like I once did, where I could take my time and look around to find such paths. Now it is just as energy consuming to climb upwards, as it would be to choose a random direction in the hopes of finding an entry path. The only difference really is that I get my time back, which is more important, as I intend to find this waystone before nightfall. At least, that is the current goal.

My calloused hands and feet make quick work of the climb. Even on smooth surfaces my fingers would be able to grip tight enough to puncture most bark. I even do so here on this baobab-adjacent tree, but I try to avoid doing so whenever possible.

In seemingly no time I am up to the top of the tree. By now the sun has only changed its position by a few degrees and I can only see it due to my newfound position over the surrounding trees. Balancing on the branch, I do something that would have sent shivers of fear down my spine in my last life.

Gentle breeze.

The wind blows, a calming reminder showing me how much I sweat from my climb. I didn’t think I sweat that much, but apparently the wind would disagree as I feel the beads of sweat instantly help cool me off by releasing their energy into the wind. My body instantly reacts to both the sudden appearance of the wind and its push against my body, then stops reacting the moment the burst of wind moves on.

To anyone watching I would look like I was completely unfazed by the ordeal, that at most my clothes were rumpled while I stood perfectly still. Yet, that was far from the truth, I had reacted, but rather than resisting I flowed with the wind. Even the gentle vibrations that the branch I am on has are easily handled by me.

In this moment, I realize why it is great to be free. I am here enjoying this moment because I have pushed myself to where I can be here and not feel the overwhelming fear that might have afflicted me in my past life. For that alone, I find myself grateful for the teachings of Auntie. Without her I would have never been able to even dream of such events.

I stay there, watching until the sun finally crests over the treetops of the lower trees that are not impacted by the growth effects of the waystone. This is my reward to myself for taking the hard way that would save me time. I then spend that time on enjoying this moment, a moment that is impossible to describe, but one I would gladly do again.

Exhale.

Of course, I haven’t been idle during this time. While I did watch the shimmering rays of golden light slowly rise up over the lower canopy of trees below, I was also taking the time to plot out a path towards the central waystone.

While there was a dense patch of foliage surrounding the waystone, it’s direction stood out to me easily due to my Pathfinder senses. Then after knowing which direction to take, I began plotting out a road map of tree branches I could take to get from here to my intended destination.

Ca-caw.

Death shrieks of flying predators call out, letting me know that there will be issues going forward. I am protected here, having chosen a branch that can easily support my weight, while also being protected by a layer of higher branches overhead. The end result is that I am in a minor cage of branch protection. Looking around, I don’t see any monsters immediately, kind of makes sense as this is the outer edge of the waystone. Most true predators would want to be closer to the center, where animals eating from naturally enhanced food would also be dwelling. Making the monsters here those that were too strong to stay in the lower energy dense areas, and too weak to make it any further. Perfect for me, as I am now far more capable than I ever was before.

Nodding to myself, I take a step away from the trunk of the tree and begin moving gracefully along the thickest of the branches leading towards the waystone.

Bobble.

The branch begins to tremble slightly with each step, but I chance my foot pace to match the cadence of the vibrations in the branch, while also lengthening my strides. I step, the branch goes down, while my foot rises, then my foot lands a split second before the branch comes back up. This process took time to learn and master, but I then use the upward momentum of the branch to rise even higher and step even further.

That is another thing I’ve noticed about my body, is that I am lighter while being more durable. If I focus, I can be almost weightless, not actually weightless, but I can drastically reduce my impact to the world. Everything from not leaving tracks to not breaking large branches once I run to the end. Again, my movements are aided by my practiced bounce step, before I learned to use the natural momentum of the branches to help with my steps, I would end up breaking many branches. But now it is a pattern as simple as breathing to me.

Step, branch flows down, while I rise up, I drop and land just as the branch’s natural momentum pushes it back up. Then I use the momentum of the branch to springboard forward, kicking extra hard as I am now jumping from one tree to another.

Crack.

I land and instantly feel that my impact was too much for the great branch. The trick in such cases is to avoid your instincts. My instincts in such cases used to tell me to pause, to stay still and wait, this only caused the problems to increase and all but ensure that I would break the branch and fall. Instead, I go with my training and continue my pace forward. Realizing that the cracked branch no longer bounces, I give up on being gentle to the branch and instead hurry forward. Until I am near another branch that goes at a slightly different angle towards the trunk of the tree. That’s when I jump again, landing on the adjacent branch at a meatier portion of its branch than the one I landed on.

Gentle sway.

Landing on this second branch, I feel it gently swaying with my motion a sign that it was able to withstand my landing. Pausing, I now take a moment to look back and see the damage I did to the first branch. It is still up, still standing, but there is a clear dip at the end. I imagine the process being similar to breaking a bone in the arm, maybe the branch can heal and be even stronger than before, but most likely the branch will be shed for a new limb to take its place.

Regardless, it survived and I am now one tree closer to my end goal of finding the 29th waystone.

“Sorry,” I whisper to the branch, not really sure why I would but I do feel slightly guilty about the damage done to an otherwise amazing specimen of a tree. Hopefully the regenerative effects of the waystone can help cure this tree. I hope that is the case, then I continue my trek forward.

Scatter.

Now that I am a little further in, I can hear the movement and surprise my sudden appearance is causing to creatures that have taken to living in this massive tree. Giant squirrel-like creatures seem to come out an glance at me, before scurrying away at my sight.

Looking at them, I am once again reminded of my hunger, and that I could easily grab them with my Telekinesis, snap their necks, and prepare them. But I hold off, knowing that the monsters and creatures out here would be a bit too gamey for my tastes.

That’s when I get to the trunk of the tree, climb around until I am once again facing the right direction, and then once gain take the largest branch that will get me closer to my goal. By the second and third tree, there isn’t even a crack at my appearance on the new branch, just a slight wabbling that I mentally adjust to easily.

By the fifth tree, the branches or so thick and powerful that they don’t even sway at my sudden landing. Things are going easy, which is why I pause and look around, trying to find why everything is both quiet and surprisingly easy to accomplish.

Looking around, I finally see why it has been so easy, as I now seem to have a hitchhiker. There at the end of the branch I just landed on, having silently followed me, I see a tiny fist sized creature that instantly sets every one of my instincts on alert.

Seeing the beast, I realize I am likely on its sacred tree. I am close enough to the trunk that I can just continue going and leave the bird behind as I go to my next tree, but something tells me not to turn my back on this creature.

Every instinct lets me know, that this creature that is no larger than an exotic African Grey is an apex predator.

We stare at each other, locking eyes.

Then seeing my stare as an apparent challenge, it opens its massive magical wings and I realize I am about to see why my instincts tell me that this little guy is the king of this area.

“CA-CAW!”