Edward took advantage of the morning to continue practicing his new powers. It was a good way to familiarize himself with what they could do and how to use them, and he had to admit that teleporting around was fun. His childish side only regretted that there was no one around to spook, it would have been so easy to spook someone when you could teleport.

　　Probably too easy now that I think about it. It would remove some of the fun, it would be like cheating in a way. Though just the face some of my friends would make would be worth it. Damn! It feels good to take some time for yourself once in a while. It has been a long time since I had this much fun.

　　He looked above him. The sun was already high up in the sky.

　　It should be around noon. I don`t even feel hungry though. Is that because of my breakthrough too? I would have to observe myself for a few days to be sure of all the changes.

　　The number of changes is a little concerning actually. Before I broke through, I was having that craving for more power. I don`t feel it anymore, but it means that even though I`m getting huge boons like an increase in strength and new powers, absorbing monster blood affects me in other ways too.

　　Once I go back to the village, I will have to ask more questions. I don`t want to be controlled by urges or to turn into a monster. Having powers is good, being controlled by your own powers&I don`t even want to think about it.

　　I will continue to explore the forest, and once I feel ready, I will go back to Agripin. I wanted to slaughter all of those monsters left in the ruins to avenge Adrien, but if killing them can affect me I should wait to have more information before doing it.

　　Their number is a problem as well. Engaging in a fight would only draw more of them towards me. I guess I don`t have any other choice but to sneak past them and avoid fights. The priority will be to go back to Agripin instead of slaughtering them.

　　Look at me, it`s my day off and I`m already thinking about "work", getting all serious. Let`s think about something better instead. What can I do in my free time apart from killing monsters? There are not many distractions in this world. No phone to listen to music, no video games, no silly videos on the internet&I`m starting to miss all of that&I know I hated my life on Earth but I guess that in the end you only remember the good sides.

　　I could write a guide about all the monsters that I will meet during my travels. That would be cool. It would be like Pokemon in a way, Gotta catch them all`.

　　I could make the first page with a description of the monster and his characteristics, and the page next to it would have the monster`s drawing on it. I`m not a good drawer but I could pick up the skill, I have time.

　　I`m sure it would help me pick up all the chicks with something like that. I would just have to show off all the monsters that I courageously killed. I would be the coolest guy around.

　　More seriously, it could prove useful if people have never met those monsters before, knowing what their characteristics are could save their life. I would kill two birds with one stone. Looking cool and helping people.

　　Which monsters have I met until now? The Teleportcrows, those monsters in the ruins in Oshle Tirion, the dark wolves, and that Regal wolf.

　　I should give a name to those monsters in Oshle Tirion.

　　With the mere mention of them Edward immediately pictured their bloody maws ripping apart the expedition members.

　　I would call them Bloodhounds but that would be unfair to the dogs. I will just call them Bloodmaws instead. It is not the most imaginative name but it is fitting.

　　Though, I don`t have anything to draw or write in this place. I guess this project will have to wait until I can get some supplies. I really need to go back to Agripin. But for that, I need to get used to my new powers first. Especially my teleportation power and my aura perception. They work in tandem, I will need to rely on both if I want to teleport in rooms where I don`t have direct visibility. It is a must if I want to avoid the Bloodmaws.

　　After teleporting around during the whole morning Edward felt a bit dizzy. During the afternoon he took some rest simply lazing on the rocks and enjoying the warmth of the sun, sunbathing just like a lizard would.

　　It has been a while since the last time I sunbathed like that, I may even manage to get a bit of tanned skin. I can`t remember the last time I was tanned.

　　In a way I feel like I`m coming back to life. I`m not doing anything special, and yet I never used to spend time doing this kind of simple things back on Earth. I guess I was too caught up in the day-to-day life.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

　　Edward enjoyed his day off and slept soundly this night.

　　*****

　　He woke up feeling refreshed the next morning.

　　I feel better than ever, a good night of sleep makes wonders. Now, let`s get back on business. Before I wanted to hunt the Teleportcrows so I was only leaving for the forest during the night. Now that I want to explore the area a little more, it makes more sense to travel during the day. Especially if I wander in areas that I haven`t been to before. Facing an unknown monster in its natural habitat is dangerous.

　　The only problem is how to avoid getting lost. If I have to fight or if I am surprised by a plant similar to those poisonous flowers` trees, I could easily lose my sense of direction. My aura perception is good, but it can only reach up to fifty meters at most. It won`t help me if I am already deep in the forest. Last time, I managed to find back my directions by climbing a tree, but it is not the ideal situation and it takes time as well.

　　A more practical thing I could do is to leave some marks behind me. It will be exactly like Hansel and Gretel, except I will need to use something better than breadcrumbs. On my way I can grave on the trees an arrow pointing toward my camp. I feel a little bad for the trees but that should prevent me from getting lost.

　　Edward got ready quickly, preparing his backpack to avoid losing time. He would have at most a day of exploration. It was still too dangerous to spend the whole night in the forest. He could survive it, but he wouldn`t get any rest. If any monster managed to find him while he was asleep, he would be dead before knowing it. And the monsters could vary in strength too, the Teleportcrows that he had encountered in the borders were quite weak, but the other ones he had met deeper in, were a lot more aggressive.

　　Edward walked quickly, already used to the rocky landslide leading to the forest. He slowed down to a normal pace only when he entered the woods themselves. He activated his aura perception, slowly expanding its range until he got saturated by the amount of information. He then decreased the range a little so that it stayed bearable. The range of his perception was now thirty meters instead of the fifty outside of the forest.

　　I see, due to the number of living beings here, I can`t manage to expand my aura perception to its full range. With practice, I should be able to get used to it and slowly extend my perception until it reaches its maximal range. I should train my aura perception here during the day, it would be more effective than doing it in the middle of rocks, where there is not much to sense in the first place.

　　Edward was able to feel the majestic aura of each and every tree, the small leafy aura of the ferns and the jerky aura of the tiny but very vivid animals. It was a lot to take in.

　　When you are able to feel all of that, you really see the forest in a new light. There is so much life in there.

　　Edward decided to move straight forward until late afternoon, afterward, he would go back on his tracks. He probably wouldn`t be fully outside the forest before the night fell, but he would be in a familiar area at least.

　　Edward walked while sensing the auras around him, he was also able to see them faintly with his naked eyes.

　　This really makes you understand that you are only a small part of nature. There is so much life surrounding me, and it is quite diverse as well.

　　Edward slowly got used to it and walked for several hours, only stopping either to sustain himself briefly with some mushrooms and berries, or to mark his way, engraving arrows on the trees` trunk. He noticed that the small arrows he was graving in the trees weren`t disturbing the trees` aura. The trees were just too massive to be hurt by such small cuts. It made him feel slightly better about it.

　　As he was walking, Edward noticed that the environment around him was slowly changing. Among other things, the soil was turning mushier. He also hadn`t seen any flower trees for quite some time now. Instead, the trees were more spaced out and growing smaller. Edward even noticed some dead trees laying on the floor, with moss and mushrooms growing on them. Before long, there were some green ponds on his path, this part of the forest had turned into a marsh.

　　That`s when he heard some noise, the cracking of rotting wood being torn apart. He stopped to identify the direction of the noise, it was still farther than thirty meters, and so out of his aura perception. The noise was coming from his left, from behind a dead tree fallen on the ground. Edward approached quietly to discern what was the source of this sound.

　　The thing making this racket was of small height causing Edward to still not be able to see it even after coming this close. So instead of relying on his sight, Edward counted on his aura perception. The thing was around one meter and a half long with a height of only fifty centimeters and roughly the same width, and it had six legs.

　　Six legs... I have a bad feeling about it&

　　Edward skirted around the tree so that he could see the creature without being too close to it. He saw a humongous rove beetle, this thing more than one meter long was indeed a giant insect. Edward suppressed a feeling of disgust, imagining what kind of other giant insects or arachnids could possibly be residing in this world. A beetle was still ok, but a meter-size spider was a hard no.

　　Okay, it`s just a beetle, everything is fine, no need to panic. Just take a big breath.

　　Edward watched as the rove beetle tore another chunk of rotten wood. It seems herbivorous. See it is nice. The beetle threw the piece of wood away before grasping in its mandibles a twenty-centimeter-long larva that had been hidden inside the tree. Ew, that is disgusting.

　　The beetle ate the larva in a few gulps before reporting its attention on Edward. Edward waved an awkward hello while talking to the creature "Hello, see I am not a larva. I have arms and legs. I am not edible, go back to your tree."

　　The rove beetle turned to face him and straightened its rear just like a scorpion would.

　　"Okay&this is not what I was expecting."

　　The beetle threw something at him from its rear, Edward teleported a few meters on the side to avoid it. The projectile splashed on the ground with a sizzling noise, forming a puddle at the emplacement where Edward had been but a moment ago. He watched dismayed as the leaves on the floor dissolved in the puddle while forming a few bubbles with smoke coming out of them. He slowly turned his head back to the beetle

　　"How the hell do you take me for a larva!!" he shouted angrily.