Several hours later, Zane was sitting beside the river, cooking one of the meals that he had taken from the dungeon. He wasn't sure how long he had run but was glad to take a break when he started to feel hungry. He didn't mind running; in fact, it was one of the main forms of exercise for him. However, the amount of time he was spending running and would continue to spend was horrendous. The worst thing was that he was bored.
Back on earth he had music to listen to while he ran or even a book if he felt like it. If he was taking a long trip in a car, as long as he wasn't driving, he could do something else. Even though there was a lot of impressive scenery around him, the amount of time he was going to have to travel was going to wear on him. He wasn't used to this much time with just his thoughts. Even in the dungeon, at least he had things to fight. The only thing to fight here was the boredom that settled in as you traveled.
He felt like he was on a road trip that had taken the best part out of it; friends. He remembered going on road trips with his group of friends and having a blast. It was an opportunity to get to know each other better and share experiences, which would often deepen your bond with each other. It was during one of these trips that his connection with Hailey had really started to grow, and his attraction to her turned into a full-blown crush.
Zane shook his head, trying to focus on something else. He did have a companion on this trip, but he wouldn't call her a friend. Not yet anyway. Gwen mainly slept while he ran. Of course, you couldn't really talk when you were running, and the wind was filling your ears because of how fast you were moving. Not that anything would be different if that wasn't the case. Gwen was a cat through and through. Give a cat a chance to laze around and they'll take it.
He needed to do something to keep his mind occupied. His mind kept drifting back to the things he was missing. The problem was, he had no idea what he could do. He could try to find ways to distract himself by what he was passing, but he was moving fast and he couldn't concentrate on one thing to study before it was long gone. With nothing really coming to mind, he decided he just had to grin and bear it. Sometimes the test of life was enduring the trial. With a sad little chuckle, he grabbed the food that he had prepared and started to eat.
Luckily, the food was actually very good. He had followed the instructions in preparing it, and it turned out to be a very tasty meal. A kind of meat, some bread, and some fruit. It was simple, but it was filling and tasted good. Once again, he was grateful to the God of this world for giving him something of value.
Once he was done eating, he cleaned up the area around where he had prepared his meal, making sure that the fire was out and the pit was buried. He then put his pack back on and made sure that the water bottle was full and in place. "Gwen, jump on. We're leaving now." The cat did not move at all and continued to lay there asleep, basking in the sun. He didn't feel like messing with problems right now, so he picked her up and placed her on the pack. She didn't even have the courtesy to open her eyes, merely curling up so that she fit on the pack better. He just shook his head then ran back on to the river.
As he ran, he started thinking about things from his old life. That was a different thing to think about; His old life. He was in a new world and had a new life. Everything would be different here, and he was worried about what he had lost. While he did have to deal with that empty feeling within him, he had an opportunity here for a whole new set of experiences. Maybe that was the key to enduring this trial. According to what Gzi'om said, he would have died of cancer. He was still dead in that world, but now he had a chance to experience new things in this world. He should be concentrating on the blessing it was that he had another chance. He could mope around and lament about what he was missing and how people would be sad and suffer because he was gone. Or he could acknowledge that those things happened and that any of those people we're grateful that he was a part of their lives for the short time he was there. They may be sad he was gone, but they enjoyed him and had memories of him. Here in this world, he could create new memories and new relationships. It was a great opportunity.
He smiled as he pushed forward, wanting to get through this region of mountains as fast as he could. There was a town at the end of this place, and it was there that this new life would really take off. Sure, there would be challenges and not everybody he met would connect with him. However, he knew that there were some people there that would. Who knows what their personalities would be like and what unique connection they would have? It was an adventure and it was something he should look forward to, not worried about what was in the past. In fact, he should treasure the memories of the past. That life had been good, and he needed to remember that. There were times in seasons for everything, and he was in a new phase. It was time that he fully embraced it.