"Ouch..."
"My head."
My consciousness returned along with a pain that felt as if something were stabbing my head.
Then I remembered everything that had happened to me before: Falling from a height of about thirty meters and then being tossed around by the branches of a large tree.
I sat up while touching my dizzy head. 'Damn, why did it turn out like this?'
I saw that the rock that hit my head earlier had bloodstains on it. Then I lowered my right hand and found that my palm—which I just realized was severely scraped—was covered in blood coming from my temple.
The scrapes on my hand were indeed severe, but it was worth the effect; if I hadn't gripped the rattan vines tightly, I might have been more seriously injured.
Without a second thought, I took the first-aid kit from the bag not far from where I fell to clean my wounds.
I did this while looking around warily.
However, so far, I didn't feel anything.
In fact, I thought it wasn't bad here. The atmosphere was cold and damp because the tree leaves blocked the sunlight, and the ground I was sitting on had lush grass.
Also, there were many rocks covered in tree roots that seemed to be the remains of wall construction.
Honestly, the environment here was exactly as I described when the main protagonist did training outside the wall with his teacher, even though this was a different Safe Zone.
After finishing cleaning the wounds, I bandaged my palm and only put a plaster on my temple.
Now I sat leaning against my bag, resting for a moment to get rid of the dizziness in my head while drinking water.
'Luckily I didn't die, damn it.' I smiled bitterly. For some reason, there was an urge to laugh when remembering myself falling and thinking I would die.
'How long have I been unconscious?' I looked at my watch. When I went down, the watch showed 07:40; now it was 07:47.
So only seven minutes, huh? Thank goodness. Fortunately, in those seven minutes, no monsters came to me.
'Alright, I must hurry and find a suitable location for my training. I can't keep going like this.' I forced my body to stand up until my legs trembled.
Suddenly, I experienced symptoms of anemia where my vision turned dark, but it started returning to normal after a while.
Now I held my lab mask which had a funnel. Actually, I brought this to neutralize the oxygen out here which was supposed to put pressure on the lungs, but what I felt was instead my lungs being very fresh because of breathing this pure nature.
I remember when my novel's protagonist went outside the wall with his teacher, he was immediately hit by atmospheric pressure that made it difficult for him to breathe; that was the training.
'Well, maybe because I'm in a different Safe Zone with lower mana intensity.' Finally, I put the mask in my bag.
I took my sword and cleared the bushes and roots blocking my path.
'Hopefully no monsters. Hopefully no monsters.' I prayed in my heart. Right now I was truly very weak due to the fall; if there was a monster, I wouldn't be able to escape by flying or fighting it.
Also, the monsters out here are stronger than those in the Dungeon because they live under constant atmospheric pressure.
After a few minutes of trying to find an open space, I accidentally saw a slope that wasn't steep, which seemed to be the foot of the mountain I saw when I was on top of the wall.
I climbed it with the help of my sword as a stake and endured the pain in my palm.
This mountain, when I saw it from atop the wall, had a strange structure like a creature lying prone, covered in trees and rocks.
Or maybe this was just my feeling because I was too paranoid? Actually, what I'm worried about right now is that the mountain I'm climbing is actually a sleeping First Generation Monster!
Hehe, impossible, right?
Some First Generation Monsters are as large as mountains or even bigger. That's very common in my novel.
However, supposedly if I only climb part of its body, it won't wake it up.
Besides, actually, those First Generation Monsters are very neutral; they won't care about small creatures passing by unless they are disturbed or hungry.
If First Generation Monsters weren't neutral, humans would have definitely gone extinct from the earth.
How could they not?
When the Great Cataclysm arrived where large Gates appeared from all corners of the earth, humans were truly helpless even though they had magic because the monsters were very strong or because they were newly Awakened.
Most of the monsters that died were because they fought each other over territory, not because humans finished them off.
Those monsters were also innocent creatures from another world sent to earth along with others, which made each of them feel threatened and kill each other.
Don't ask me who sent them here, okay? This novel is half-finished; I haven't added that lore yet, so I also have to look for it.
Besides the monsters sent to this world, there should also be other races that resemble humans and built civilizations somewhere.
I'm completely blind because I'm not in the main plot!
Panting Panting
When I had only climbed halfway up this mountain, I heard the sound of flowing water not far to the side.
I ran toward it.
After passing through several bushes, I saw a river flowing calmly from the top of the mountain, but tens of meters from there, the water fell down. It was a waterfall!
For some reason, seeing this river flow made me calm.
I approached its side, then I used my Mana Sensing to check if there were monsters below.
'None.' After I was sure, I crouched down and washed my face and hair.
'This is really refreshing.'
I looked around; this place looked good for my training.
'Should I train here? But wouldn't it be better if I practiced at the edge of the waterfall below?' I touched my chin.
Then I stood up and walked to the place where the water fell down.
Below this waterfall, there was a very large pool of water and protruding rocks that I could use for meditation.
'Damn, so I have to go down again? Then why did I go up earlier?' I sighed.
Actually, there's another way besides descending slowly on foot: Jumping from a height.
But my legs are trembling.
To be honest, I'm afraid of heights; even when I was on top of the wall, my stomach was actually nauseous. If it weren't because I'm more afraid of losing my family, I wouldn't have gone this far.
In the end, I chose to just walk down.
Not because I wasn't brave! It's just that I didn't want to take risks; who knows if there are sharp rocks under the water? Besides, my bag could get wet later (it's actually waterproof).
The journey down was not easy; I had to cut through everything blocking my path.
You could say my enemies here were roots and bushes that could make my skin itchy.
After about twenty minutes passed, I finally reached the bottom, panting for breath and with aching shoulders from carrying this heavy bag!
"Come on, almost there, you can rest after this…" I said while panting, dragging my bag.
I cleared the last bush blocking me from the open ground ahead; this place was truly beautiful with the sound of the waterfall and the midday sun making the water emit rainbow light.
Tepat ketika aku mengambil satu langkah keluar dari semak, aku melihat seorang wanita di tengah sudut air terjun.
"Ehh…?"
I'm not lying! I swear I saw a woman whose half-body was submerged in the water. She had silver hair and a beautiful face; it seemed she was naked because I saw her white clothes placed on top of a rock.
I watched her for a long time, trying to identify whether this was a hallucination or not.
However, when I rubbed my eyes, the woman was still there, soaking peacefully, unaware of my presence.
Don't get me wrong! I wasn't peeking; I was just shocked why there was a woman here?!
I mean, what is this?! I had to prepare all day just to go outside the wall, even couldn't sleep because of overthinking, but here there's a woman soaking peacefully?!
'Who is she? Why is she here? My god, what should I do now?'
Then when the woman finished washing her hair and face, she opened her eyes.
Her eyes accidentally caught mine.
We stared at each other and froze for a long time because we were both confused. I also just realized that the woman's eyes were actually glowing gold.
Instantly, the woman's eyes widened along with her face turning red, then she raised her hand toward me very quickly.
"HUMAN!!!"
Suddenly, sharp thorns glowing golden appeared one by one around the woman.
I didn't have time to count how many thorns appeared because they immediately shot toward me so fast they beat my body's reaction.
My eyes widened.