With the gentle breeze of the morning dew, along with the smell of nature as the trees danced around, soon enough, Quagmire was nearing where the river was—the very same river where he fought and got knocked down yesterday.
Thankfully, he had not been bitten in this spot, as that would have been very difficult since there were no places to take position and hide, and due to the fact that when he had been here, it was still early night. He felt that an hour or more had definitely passed when he reached the cave entrance.
He leaned over and glanced at the crystal-clear water and was shocked by what he saw. He was back to his younger self, but he did not know the precise age he was. Confused, he suddenly remembered that there were cloning facilities, so he might be able to use them to determine his precise age. After all, nobody likes to forget or not know how old they are; who knows, he might actually be over a hundred years old, but he looked like he was in his twenties.
If that were the case, old people would riot over it. With that thought in mind, he chuckled. Such things were not possible, right? After all, there were a lot of technologies that were presented to him by the system under the name Adjutant. It certainly sounded militaristic; not only was artificial intelligence such a thing, but he was also baffled at the prospect of its existence. Like the ones in his original world, such things were just science fiction concepts.
Who would have thought that those things would be a reality? That they could really exist in the world; many theories that had not yet been proven were now proven, and their numerous applications in the world and society were boundless and never-ending.
With a single thought, he pushed those other things to the back of his mind and once again glanced at the water of the river—this time not to look at himself. It was crystal clear, but it would definitely be more apparent if he saw it while in the water, as the sky was almost making a perfect disguise at the top of the water. Nevertheless, he could make out what was at the bottom.
There were rocks indeed, and it could be several meters deep, as far as he went into the middle. If he had to bathe himself, he must stay near the land and not venture far off. He could swim, yes. However, he was in an unknown world, so he did not know what was in the water, what things existed in this world, or if there were any ghouls in the water.
If it weren't for the fact that he was filled with grime and the blood of ghouls—not only that, its stench continued to assault his poor nose—even if it had already dried, it was still so bad. It smelled like marinated meat that had been left for a century to decay into a complete horror called the ghoul.
Anyhow, with a firm mind to remove the stench, he brought his hands upon himself and started to undress, starting from the tunic to his tee shirt, trousers, and before all of that, the support equipment, which included the sacks, ammo pouch webbings, bags, and other miscellaneous stuff like the canteen and such, which were all battered and destroyed. After this, there were the gaiters, the boots, and the socks.
Now he was fully exposed. He glanced from right to left and from the front to the back. He made sure there were no ghouls within a few hundred meters. Concurrently, he was naked, with his Excalibur too fully exposed.
With that in mind, he moved closer—a mere inch from the water—and dipped his toes, trying to get a feel of the water's temperature. It was definitely cold, as it was early morning, but considering his status and what he went through earlier, it would definitely feel very refreshing.
Slowly but surely, he stepped on the riverbank and gradually submerged himself. The water was cold but not at freezing temperature. He felt refreshed as he brought his hands with a handful of water to wash away the grime and blood off him.
The water started to get murky as the grime and blood were washed away. Fortunately, the river was a flowing body of water, so it carried the grime further away as clean water once again settled around him.
Unfortunately, as he was washing away the grime and blood, a distinctive shadow sensed the blood of the ghouls as it passed through it. Delighted by its taste, it tracked where the blood was coming from, and after a few moments of moving about, it arrived at the front, where there was a living being that was half-submerged in the river.
Delighted by the prospect of a lunch, it extended its arms and pulled the animal down.
Quagmire was washing his body and face when suddenly something tugged on his foot, dragging him further into the depths. He felt fear and shock. However, he must not let it get to him. Concurrently, the body of water was clear, so it was much easier to see below.
Glancing below, he saw a pair of what seemed to be vines tugging down his foot. He resisted and grabbed onto nearby roots. He tracked where it came from and saw what seemed like a giant fish there.
Thankfully, that fish was near the shore and almost at the top of the river water. If it had been much further below, it would be dangerous, and he would not be able to use what he was about to summon. With that, he summoned his pistol into his hand, while the other was grabbing the roots, barely hanging on.
Aiming down the sights, he felt the increase in his focus as his Eagle's Eyes activated. He could feel it magnifying whenever he wanted to, even though he only had iron sights. With a clear mind, he pulled the trigger multiple times.
Only when it stopped tugging did he stop firing. Along with a notification sound at his vision periphery—thankfully, if such things occurred again, it would not block his vision. With that, he brought it out and was shocked but delighted, as he now confirmed something.
[Lower Rank Living Algae Slain, Granted 100 Gold Coins]
Now he knew that he could earn money as long as he killed ghouls or creatures of this world, which meant there was no limit. All the while he was dreaming of the prospect, the sound of a branch breaking resounded through his ears.
Right, he had fired a gun, and that meant there were ghouls coming toward him.