Hello, I'm writing a story called "Return of the Woodcutter." There are currently (at the time I wrote this post) 23 chapters available at https://www.webnovel.com/book/return-of-the-woodcutter_19721218806187705 Synopsis: Iris, a foreign world engulfed in war, direly needs help. To replenish their troops and fight off horrors from the worst nightmares, the gods resurrect and summon living beings from another world: Earth. Aito Walker, a broken man, is one such ordinary being amongst many others. Upon his revival, he will be put to the test during deadly trials. He will start with almost nothing. No overpowered magic, no cheat skills, no-nonsense divine armors, no godly weapons. Only a peculiar system, increased strength and his wits as the best weapon. Bearing a sin—he could not, cannot, and will not forget—haunting him to this day, Aito will strive to regain what little honor he has left. He will suffer. He will fail. Taking advantage of his weaknesses, pain, anguish, sorrow and fear will gnaw at his sanity. But a powerful yearning will keep him from falling apart. An ever-burning flame melting away the despair and welding back the broken pieces of courage. A single desire. “I will find redemption no matter the cost.” Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Transmigration, Romance (at a later date). Table of Contents (required) Chapter 1: Location Nowhere (part 1) Chapter 2: Location Nowhere (part 2) Chapter 3: Location Nowhere (part 3) Chapter 4: Jack (part 1) Chapter 5: Jack (part 2)
Chapter 1: Location Nowhere (part 1) In an empty grey boundless space, multiple flashes of light appeared, materializing thousands of puzzled human beings at the same time. FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! Amidst all of them stood a strict-looking man with shoulder-length shriveled dark hair, old brown trousers, and a shabby red lumberjack shirt that had almost turned black. It was barely holding back his burly build and beer belly. Aito Walker was confused. His last remaining memories were from visiting a local shop to buy his daily dose of alcohol before blacking out. He had been waiting for his death since a doctor declared that he had only a few months to live at best, but didn't expect it to strike when grocery shopping. He started to play with his long black hair out of habit. Something he did when thinking deeply. So deeply, in fact, that he could remain oblivious to his surroundings if it wasn't the focal point of his thoughts. 'Just where am I?' From his 1.80-meter-tall height, he could see a crowd of unfamiliar faces. Men and women alike wore expressions of worry which were progressively shifting to fear. Confusion spread as people expressed their concern amongst themselves. The sound of it expanded, resounded, amplified in the wide space, adding discomfort to the already frightened people. "Where am I?" "Who are you?" "Just what's happening here?" "Have you seen my baby?" Out of his reverie, Aito frowned. All those voices annoyed him. Pissed, the muscles under his fat stiffened. He was used to a calm environment. Having lived in the woods of Lac Saint-Jean for three years made him particularly sensitive to loud noises. 'Stay calm.' He thought. 'No points in panicking and making a fuss out of this. After all, I'm just dead.' Aito smiled. Thanks to his best friend Jack, he had developed a sense of humor, albeit a peculiar one. But now it came in handy and loosened the tension he felt. Next to him, an Asian man dressed like an entrepreneur turned towards him. "You! Why are you smiling?" The Asian man asked. "You know something, hun? Answer me! Do you know who I am?" Aito lazily eyed the man. He recognized him. Kai Tsubame, the CEO of Tsubame Fishing International. The Japanese man was so famous that even a reclusive person like Aito had heard about him. Kai was known for owning sixty percent of Earth's fishing industry. The fishes on Earth were becoming scarcer, making them a luxury product, and Kai one of the wealthiest humans. "Hey! I am talking to you!" Kai said, grabbing Aito by his long-sleeved brown shirt. This triggered Aito's savage impulse. He hated to be touched by strangers and couldn't handle being ordered around. Feeling the urge to punch the man raising, he steeled his resolve. He had vowed to himself to never let anger gain the upper on him ever again. "Let go." Aito finally managed to say, staring daggers at Kai. Feeling a murderous aura exuded from Aito, Kai stiffened and stepped back. "You, you'll regret talking to me like this! I, I—" A bright light flashed out of nowhere. People had to cover their eyes in fear of going blind. A feminine figure walked out of the beam. She was dressed in a charming white robe, highlighting her perfect curves. Her hair, of sunlight color, reminded Aito of a peaceful summer. "Shall we brighten this place up?" She said, before flicking her fingers. Clap! The grey place instantly turned sparkling white. "Much better." She declared, smiling. "I am Filona, the Goddess of Love. I—" "Are you the one who kidnapped us! Explain yourself!" Kai shouted. That sentence created a chained reaction from the already panicked crowd. Anxiety spread like wildfire. "Where are we!" "My daughter, what did you do with her!" "Yes, explain yourself!" Filona kept her radiant smile, as if deaf to all those rude remarks, then clasped her finger once again. Instantly, all of those who were shouting were forced to stop. Their lips stuck together, making it impossible for them to voice out their discontent. "Children, you have all died." Gloomy expressions could be read on the crowd's faces. Aito looked down, his mind filled with regret. He smiled at the irony of it, recalling a quote from his father: "It is only when you lose something that you realize how important it was." He sighed. Regret gnawed at his consciousness and quickly spread to his entire body. He clenched his fist, his palms shone white trying to canalize his overflowing emotions of sorrow. However… "But fear not," Filona declared. "We, the gods of Iris, have given you an opportunity to live once again. Be grateful. In exchange, we only demand that you use your strength to help us fight off the evil plaguing our world." A long-forgotten feeling sparked in his chest, eclipsing all the others: Hope. The hope for a second chance he had thought would never come. The hope to... make amend to those who once considered him family. However, Aito found it fishy. That "demand" seemed more like an order to him. He didn't need superhuman senses to recognize a scam when it was so apparent. To begin with, why should he care about a world that wasn't his own? Also, who were the gods of Iris? What kind of evil was plaguing their world? How could a mere mortal help them? Questions he had no answers to piled up. "Of course. We will first have to put you through a test. And those of you who prove worthy will be granted powers beyond your imagination." Filona said, and flicked her fingers. Three portals appeared out of thin air. "You are free to choose your own trial's difficulty, which are the following. White for 'easy'. Blue for 'normal'. And red for 'hard'. Further details can be discussed after the trials. But beware, for dangers lurks at every corner." She said with an angelic smile. "As of now, you have five minutes to decide." Fear and incomprehension paralyzed the crowd. An uncomfortable silence loomed over them for a minute. Aito once again wrestled with his thoughts. "Ah, I forgot to tell you. If you stay here after the countdown is over, you will face certain death." Filona declared. Then a clock appeared, counting down the remaining time. Aito had been so focused on his decision-making that, unknown to him, he missed Filona's last sentence. 'Three portals. Three difficulties.' He thought. 'The goddess seems benevolent, but her words show quite the contrary. Apparently, the gods could care little about our opinion. Even if it wasn't formulated this way, we are forced to do as they wish. Furthermore, she didn't specify that we might die during those trials, but it was clearly implied. Which means Filona doesn't care much for our lives. Is that because they already have fighters? Or… am I overthinking this?' Deep in his thoughts, Aito didn't notice the crowd sprinting towards the portals. Most of them entered the easy difficulty. Some of them choose the normal difficulty. By the time the clock displayed "1 minute" everyone was gone apart from three people. A black-haired woman was standing in front of the red portal. She was wearing a black secretary attire, her skirt clearly highlighting her curves. Sheyla's slender fingers touched the weird ectoplasm substance the portal was made of to study it. Behind her, a tall, grey-haired man wearing a brown suit was glaring at her. "Little sis, you aren't thinking about picking this one, right?" Ogoro asked. "Yes, I am. You know why." Sheyla said before entering. Ogoro sighed. He turned around to take one last look at the white space, then saw a man standing there alone, touching his hair. Only thirty seconds remained. "Hey man! You better hurry up!" Ogoro shouted towards Aito. No response came. Ogoro shook his head before following his sister. 20 seconds. 'There are difficulties for a reason. Filona also said that gods would grant us powers if we prove worthy. In other words, if we pass their trials. Supposedly, the greater the difficulty, the greater the reward. And since I might need power later on…' Aito thought, 'wait a minute, why is there a clock hung up in the air?' 15 seconds. Filona stared at the human standing still in the middle of what used to be a populated area. His facial expression had no fear or anxiety. She found him interesting. "Is it bravery, madness or ignorance that pushes you to stay?" Filona asked. Aito gazed at her. "What are you talking about?" 10 seconds. Filona shook her head, her interest gone. Aito pieced the clues together and realized he had little time left to pick a portal. "Damn it!" he said, sprinting towards the red portal. 5 seconds. "Almost there!" Aito stretched his hand and tried to reach the portal, but within an inch from it, a black light engulfed him. 0 seconds. WOOSH! He disappeared. "Ignorance it is then," Filona said. *** Aito dropped into the sea, one kilometer away from an island. "What!? Where am I?" A blue ethereal window appeared before him. [Welcome to the tutorial] ————————————— [Quest received: A wet warm up] Objective: Swim to the island Time limit: 15 minutes Reward: Access to status window Failure: Death ————————————— [Remaining time: 14 minutes and 59 seconds] With no time to think and his life on the line, Aito swam like a madman towards the island. With each breath taken, a small amount of seawater entered his mouth, leaving a salty aftertaste. It reminded him of his frequent holidays in French Polynesia, where he had enjoyed spearfishing and surfing with his family and friends. Minus the enjoyable part, it matched his memories. Aito felt a strong current pulling him backward, signaling an incoming wave. He swam even faster, arms and legs frenetically moved to propel him forward. Soon enough, the wave reached him. Aito gathered his strength and sped up once more. 'Let's try that!' He body-surfed down the wave, using it as if it was a taxicab, and shortened the distance to his goal. After a short while, the current died down and so did the wave. Underwater, the countdown window was putting mental pressure on him. [Remaining time: 5 minutes] He clicked his tongue, wondering why that window wouldn't leave him alone. As if the stress of dying wasn't enough. Aito felt a painful stitch in the right side, going from the front of the chest to his back. 'Damn it, I should have quit alcohol sooner and do some cardio." Then, he spotted another wave to his left, quickly swam towards it, and once again body-surfed. It actually started to become enjoyable for him. The wave led Aito to approximately one hundred meters from the coast. [Remaining time: 3 minutes] "Come on!" He said, encouraging himself. His muscles ached from the efforts, but also from the lack of oxygen. Aito was no professional swimmer by any means, and it had been a while since he's done stamina training. [Remaining time: 2 minutes] He entered shallow waters, stood up, and ran for the beach. There, he gasped for breath before quickly sensing the burning feeling from the sand's accumulated sun's heat. "Hot!" Aito ran under a palm tree and leaned against it. An ethereal window popped up. [Quest completed! Congratulation!] "Congratulate my ass!" He shouted at the system. How dared that thing say "congratulation" like it was some kind of surprise party when he had just risked his life? [Access to status window granted] ———————— [Aito Walker] [I. General Info] Death: March 20th, 2030 Specie: Human Sex: Male Age: 25 Height: 180cm Weight: 110kg Emotional state: Angry Class: Lv0 (Undecided) Titles: Black Challenger [II. Attributes] 1. Gifts: - Instinct (Potential to sense danger slightly before it happens. Activation is random.) - Strength blessed (Boost strength by 1 level) - Mindless Fury (Boost strength by 1 level when furious) 2. Skills: None [III. Basic stats] - Strength: Lv2 - Body: Lv1 - Stamina: Lv1 - Agility: Lv1 - Mana: Lv1 - Destiny: Lv1 (cannot level up with Glory Points) ———————— "What is this?" Before he could read the status window, another notification appeared. BING! [Due to an outstanding performance, a bonus reward is granted] [Access to inventory granted] Inventory: - Bonus reward [Would you like to open it? Yes or No] ———————— Curious, Aito pressed "yes". [Scanning. Appropriate reward found. Materializing] An iron ax materialized in his right hand. Aito glared at the familiar weapon. He had been a woodcutter for three years and swinging an ax all day long was one of his favorite hobbies. It had prevented him from entirely going out of shape, but he had had such an unhealthy lifestyle that he couldn't get rid of the excessive fat and beer belly. Moreover, it had taken his mind off of a past he'd rather forget, until now. He took a few swings and smiled as if he was meeting an old friend. But that smile didn't last. BING! ———————— [Tutorial quest received: Evolve and evolve again!] Quest: survive three months on a deserted island while repelling the groups of evol monkeys. Enemies: evol monkeys (they will evolve with each passing week according to the strength their enemies display.) Difficulty: Normal to Hellish Rewards: - Access to the 2nd trial - Glorious points according to your performance - Tutorial points according to your performance ———————— Suddenly, four monkeys appeared in a beam of light behind him. They had brown furs and were fifty centimeters tall. Even if he was outnumbered, Aito felt like he could manage it against those small creatures. But stamina was the issue. He had not entirely recovered from the previous quest. Aito frowned as he understood how hard survival will be for the incoming weeks. Grabbing his newfound weapon with two hands, panting, he took a fighting stance and intently stared at his enemies.
Chapter 2: Location Nowhere (part 2) "Waaah!" Aito dashed towards the nearest monkey and swung his ax. The creature didn't react in time to dodge the blow, and its brain matter spread on the sand. Leaving no time for his enemies to react, Aito grabbed another by the neck and squeezed. CRACK! He paused in surprise at how easily he had broken that monkey's neck, but was reminded of the danger by the furry feeling on his broad back. The monkey bit into Aito's shoulder. A warm liquid ran down his white skin as a painful sensation seized him. He gritted his teeth and sped up backward, hitting a coconut tree. His enemy released its bite and uttered a painful cry. "Kyaaak!" Aito reached back, grabbed the evol monkey, and hurled it towards the other. BAM! Stunned by the impact, both creatures laid on the sand. Aito didn't leave them any time to recover and rushed towards them before bringing down his ax. Monkey blood splashed and dyed the sand red. "Damn monkeys," Aito said before sitting under a tree's shadow. He let out a painful groan as he examined the bite mark on his shoulder. Blood was pouring out of the wound and needed to be treated immediately. With nothing else to clean it, Aito headed for the sea. 'Better that than nothing.' He remembered that in French Polynesia it was common practice to dip a wound in sea water when injured on a beach. Apparently, it helps kill some bacteria that could infect the wound and thus speed up the healing process. However, it could also lead to infection. But it was a gamble he will take. Then Aito took off his shirt, revealing his perfectly round belly, and ripped a piece, which he used to bandage his shoulder. He tore another piece to cover his head in order to protect it from the sun and wore his now sleeveless shirt before taking a well-deserved break. If it wasn't for the monkeys, quest, lack of accommodation, the goddess and the need to survive, that island would have been a great place for a holiday—for him at least. However, he currently needed to find food, water and build a shelter. *** In the gods' council room, on the white side, seated at the four colored round table on her white fluffy chair, Filona was watching Ogoro and Sheila's progression with keen interest. They had challenged the red portal. Only a few had picked that path before them, even less survived. Their trial comprised surviving an undead apocalypse for two months. The siblings were currently hiding in a police station where they had found weapons to defend themselves. Thousands of zombies walked on the city's streets, their sheer number proving to be impossible to handle for two normal humans. Fortunately, they were slow and could be avoided. From the black side, Brutalina drew her black wooden chair next to Filona, her long red hair tied in a ponytail twitched as if to manifest her interest. She bent forward, accentuating her toned body curves, to look at what Filona was watching. "Ho, Red challengers? And two of them at that! Gahahaha! If they survive, I'll claim them!" Brutalina's ample chest moved up and down with her black leather armor, her guttural—but somewhat feminine—voice echoing in the four colored room. The goddess of pain favored those who challenged adversity even more than other gods and was more willing to take those two under her wings. Filona clicked her tongue, "Hands off, you sadistic masochist! They will become archers under my church and not some unrefined muscle-brain warrior!" The two goddesses bickered amongst themselves in an unsightly manner, unbefitting of their statuses. On the blue side, leaned against his blue leather armchair, Zalon pushed up his glasses. The god of wisdom wore a long blue robe, showing his status as a former mage. "Fighting over them is useless, and you both are aware of that. They may choose their own path. We might determine their classes according to their performances and stats, but the choice is theirs. Do not forget that, sisters. Hum?" Zalon said when something caught his attention. "Filona, why is there a black challenger? Didn't we agree it was too dangerous for mortals to venture there?" Filona pushed Brutalina away before regaining her previously dignified attitude. "I've warned the candidates as we agreed upon, however, the foolish mortal stood still until the end." On the red side of the round table, lying in his red bed, the god of sloth, Belmand yawned, readjusted his red pajama and pillow before comfortably leaning against it. "So be it. If he dies, *yawn* which will probably be the case, we lose nothing. However, *yawn* if he survives…" Belmand said, before emitting snoring sounds. The three other gods shook their heads. *** Walking along the beach, Aito found a river flowing into the ocean and drank from it. He could not care less about bacteria at the moment, since he needed to ease his thirst. Aito knew it might cost him later on, but he seriously doubted he would die from it. He followed the river upstream, hoping it would bring him to a safe place where he could build a shelter. It led him near the island's only mountain where the river seemed to flow from underneath it, which looked weird. Near it, he found a cave. It will be of great help since he wouldn't need to waste stamina on building a shelter, though it was far from being a welcoming home. The inside was dump and gloomy. He walked deeper into the cave and, unable to peer into the pitch blackness, stopped. Aito decided to stay near the entrance. Who knew how deep that cave really was? His water and shelter problem solved, he now needed to arrange some food. His stomach sent him a reminder by letting out a loud rumble. Aito opened his inventory and took out the body of an evol monkey he had picked up before leaving the beach. Thankfully, he had learned to gut the preys he hunted from time to time in Lac St Jean. With his ax, he first pelted the monkey, but the blade wasn't made for that purpose and he damaged the hide. He placed the tattered hide in his inventory to dry it later on since it might come in handy and gutted out the creature. Once done, he found a branch and skewered his soon-to-be dinner before realizing he had no fire. Aito never had learned to make one out of nothing. Movies depicted it as a simple task but… he seriously doubted that it was the case. On the horizon, the sun moved down to progressively be replaced by night. "I have no time to try my hand at making a fire." Soon it would be nighttime, and moving in the dark was a bad idea. He wanted to fortify his shelter before that happened. Aito walked out of the cave to the nearest coconut tree and drew his ax. The ax's blade viciously bit into the wood, already reaching a quarter of the tree's girth. With that single hit, he was now certain that his strength wasn't comparable to before. It took him only three other swings to bring down the tree. "Is that because of my strength stat? Interesting." He already had an impressive strength before, other woodcutters had been jealous of him because he could swiftly cut down a tree. Aito separated the coconut tree into five different parts and used them to cover the cave entrance. With his newfound strength, it had been easier than expected. The last section had tree leaves and coconuts on it. He stored the coconuts in his inventory and brought the leaves inside the cave before closing the entrance behind him. He had made a crude fortification, but he judged that it should be enough for the first day. Aito weaved the coconut tree leaves together, placed them on the rocky ground and laid down on his improvised bed. "A bit itchy but it's better than nothing." By then the sky had already darkened. Aito peeled a coconut with his weapon before breaking the shell, drank the coconut water inside, and scrapped the meat to eat it. Coconut meat had been one of his favorite treats back in French Polynesia. Add to it some coconut water and it made for a delicious snack. He really didn't want to eat evol monkey meat raw. Who knew what kind of germs lurked in that? Having eaten his fill of coconut meat, Aito placed his ax next to him and, tired from his first day on the island, quickly shut his eyes. His last thoughts went to his current goal. 'I will find redemption, no matter the cost.' As the tears ran down his cheeks, his consciousness quickly faded, soon to be replaced by nothingness. *** The next morning, Aito woke up to find that his wound was healed. He formed two hypotheses: either the coconut had a miraculous healing effect or the trial stage did it. Either way, he will be able to ascertain it in the coming days. "Whatever, it's not like a blue ethereal window will appear in front of me to give me the answer." BING! [Congratulation! Your wounds have been healed due to a good night sleep!] "Never mind what I said." He chuckled.
Chapter 3: Location Nowhere (part 3) For the next six days, Aito fortified his base. He built multiple traps made of wood and coconut tree leaves, such as small pitfalls and snares. Evol monkeys appeared every day around the same time, meaning when the sun was at its zenith, which made it predictable enough for Aito to prepare. The challenge, however, didn't lie in their attacks but his lack of fire. Aito had tried to make one like it was shown in movies and documentaries with two pieces of wood but each time he broke them with his current strength. Added to the equation was his yearning for alcohol. With no way to supply himself on that godforsaken island, he couldn't quench his thirst leading to alcohol withdrawal symptoms: headache, clammy hands, shakiness, fatigue, appetite loss and difficulty thinking clearly. Alcohol had been an answer to the pain he felt from his past memories. However, now that it was gone, those same memories he had tried to forget came back to haunt him every day. He had to tire himself out to sleep at night. At first Aito thought he would rapidly overcome this personal trial. However, the frustration grew with each passing day as he failed to make a fire. Furthermore, his current diet had a serious drawback. Coconut was a natural laxative and taking a dump thrice a day annoyed him. But thanks to this diet and his loss of appetite, he had lost around ten kilograms in a time record. His beer belly started to shrink and muscle toned up. However, he was tired of eating coconut. So today, he was particularly set on making a fire. Aito sat in front of his cave, he settled the dry coconut fibers he had prepared previously on dry grass. Those fibers were highly flammable and should be able to replace tinder. Next, he took his fireboard, made of a tree trunk he had sun-dried for six days, cut a small V-shaped notch in the center, and placed small pieces of dried coconut fibers in it. Finally, he took his spindle stick, placed it in the notch, and rolled it back and forth with his shaky hands while praying. "Please ignite, please ignite, please ignite." At this point, he didn't care if he seemed crazy when talking to himself. One week alone and the lack of alcohol started to mess with his head. Sure, he had lived alone before but at work, he also interacted with other woodcutters and his best friend, Jack. Now, however, no humans could socialize with him. He felt truly lonely for the first time in his life. "Please ignite, please ignite, please ignite." He continued to roll his spindle stick. Days of failure taught him the exact amount of strength to apply on the stick. Ironically, it had been a great way to familiarize himself with his strength. Aito's eyes shone brighter than ever before when something he had been waiting for what felt like an eternity happened. Smoke rose from the notch. 'Careful now. Don't drop sweat on it.' Aito stopped rolling and started blowing on it. He carefully transferred the ember to the stack of coconut fibers and blew. The amber quickly spread from fiber to fiber, igniting them. He delicately placed dried woods on it and, finally, made a fire. He towered over his creation, a sense of achievement running by his every muscle, bones, and organs before eventually reaching his brain. His joy overruled his ailments as he felt an uncontrollable need to shout out his victory over nature to the world. Though there was no one here. "Ha… haha… hahaha! I made a fire! Did you see that you scammer of a goddess! I, Aito Walker, made a fire! Hahaha!" He said, thinking that the goddess might be watching him. At that moment. BING! [Congratulation! You made your first fire.] [A reward has been granted] Aito opened his inventory to find two flints. Annoyed, he wondered why it wasn't sent to him beforehand. It surely would have prevented one week of frustration. Soon after, four evol monkeys appeared next to him. Aito's black eyebrow twitched. Was it some kind of coincidence or the goddess was truly watching him? Nevertheless, he smirked while eyeing the monkeys hungrily. "Come, let me invite you for lunch! On the menu, evol monkey à la broche!" Feeling Aito's predatory glare, an instinctual fear struck the monkeys. "Kyaaak?" *** Just before Aito made a fire. In the gods' council room, the Four were still monitoring the trials. To their surprise, Sheyla and Ogoro were doing better than expected. They had established a secure perimeter around the police station while keeping a low profile to avoid attracting too many zombies' attention. Filona and Brutalina were enthusiastically watching the red challengers, still bickering about who's church they will join. Meanwhile, a bored Zalon monitored the white and blue challengers. White challengers only had to survive for two months in a modern city by cooperating together with no monsters to watch out for. The challenge came from the limited resources available to them, which caused discord because of the sheer number of challengers. The same applied to the Blue challengers apart from the fact that they needed to pay attention from time to time to some wondering goblin-like creatures that appeared once a week. As for Belmand, he was 'monitoring' the hell difficulty, if snoring could be called monitoring. It should have been Brutalina's task, but the muscle head was too busy drooling on her future potential recruits. At some point, he opened his sleepy eyes and caught Aito laughing like a madman while insulting Filona. He couldn't help but grin. "Ah… typical reaction." *** Aito was resting under a tree's shadow after eating his fill of monkey meat. It had been one of the most delicious meals he ever ate. He still remembered the juicy after-taste of well-cooked meat. The fat had melted in his mouth, giving him a sense of pure joy and well-needed comfort. Who knew that a warm meal could be so comforting? However, amidst this joyful moment, Aito noticed an irregularity. The monkeys had grown ten centimeters taller and their fangs seemed sharper. Thinking back to his current quest, the notification window did say they would evolve with each passing week. That worried him, because if they grew this much in one week, he did not dare imagine what kind of trial awaited him after two months. And that was just the physical growth. If those creatures developed intelligence… survival will become even more troublesome. "I need to prepare." First thing first, Aito had to familiarize himself with the island's geography. His gaze turned towards the mountain's summit and, with a goal in mind, began his climb. One hour later, he finally reached the summit. The ascension had been quite likable and took his mind off of the loneliness. Mountain climbing wasn't one of his hobbies, but his strength offset the lack of experience. However, his stamina could use some improvement. From up there, he could see that the reef was unusually close to the island. Waves made it difficult to escape the reef and would push anybody towards the shore, so any idea of leaving was erased from his mind. His cave was located at the mountain's foot. To its left, Aito discovered some sort of pond. Too small to call a lake and too big to be a natural pool. Surrounding the pond were bamboos. Bamboos were flexible and durable, which made them great building materials. He could certainly make traps and furniture with those. Also, it wasn't far from his lair. Aito could probably catch some fish there since, for some unknown reason, the river didn't contain any kind of life form. He had looked for traces of fishes to no avail. Though he did notice that the further he went upstream, the colder the water got. He planned to investigate the peculiar phenomenon later on but, right now, he needed to tend to more urgent matters. To the opposite side of the mountain, a waterfall could be seen. It was probably where the river led up to. Which was weird in its own right since the river flowed down in the other direction. A sense of dread emanated from that place. He didn't know yet that it was his gift, Intuition, warning him of a potential danger lurking there. Aito decided to stay away from that place, at least until he finished his preparation. Before leaving the mountain top, he sketched a crude map of the island on a piece of wood he had brought with him. *** 2nd week of survival. Noticeable physical changes could be seen on Aito's body. Due to the constant exposure to the sun, Aito's skin turned brown. He grew a small black beard, and muscles finally started to show behind his remaining fat. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms disappeared. However, loneliness and surging past memories lurked in the shadows of his mind, awaiting the opportune moment to strike. To chase away those taxing psychological issues, he constantly kept himself busy. Aito made stone tools to avoid using his iron ax. Its frequent usage started to dull the weapon's edge and if he didn't pay attention to it, the ax could be badly damaged or break. But for that, he needed ropes. Then he remembered the movie about a guy who survived on an uncharted island for years. The main character had used straps of tree barks to make ropes. To Aito's surprise, once dried, the tree barks weaved together, made for solid ropes. Furthermore, it was fairly easy to make. Using ropes, woods, and stones, Aito crafted a stone ax, knife, and other useful tools. It took him a while to figure this out and do it properly. Thanks to the bamboos, he could also experiment on building fish traps and furnitures but failed miserably. Using those trials and failures, he kept away the loneliness that he knew would catch up sooner or later. 3rd week of survival. The evol monkeys grew taller and more aggressive; gone was their passiveness. Now, they attacked Aito on sight with more vigor than before. But his traps proved effective when some of them fell prey to pitfalls and snares. He also built human-shaped bamboo dummies to the locations he frequently visited, named them after his best friend, Jack, and often talk to them. The lack of an answer was frustrating at first, but he quickly made up for it with… imagination. 4th week of survival. Aito had completely acclimated himself to the island's geography and could, so to speak, walk around blindfolded, and still find his way home. Evol monkeys now no longer appeared at noon but at a random time once a day out of nowhere. The flash of light that summoned them was gone, making it trickier to detect their presence. Fortunately, they never attacked at night. In his growing madness, Aito built more traps, so many in fact that it became a danger to himself since he started to forget where he had placed them. Feeling stupid, he piled up rocks next to those he remembered the location to mark them down. *** One month passed. Bamboo neatly weaved together with ropes surrounded the cave entrance. Bamboo spikes directed outward were placed near the wall to deny the monkeys' entry. A hole created an entrance that Aito blocked at night with logs. Aito stood outside the entrance, seated on the ground crossed leg, while sewing monkey skin together using a sharp bone and improvised rope to make shoulder pads. Monkeys started to become an actual threat, and he realized soon enough that armor would help. His wounds could heal at night, but if he could prevent walking around all day covered with bleeding bite marks, he'd gladly avoid that. Plus, he needed a new pair of clothes. His lumberjack shirt was shredded, revealing his now flat belly. He had lost so much fat that he needed to use a belt he had crafted from monkey skin to tie his tattered trousers. Thus came the idea of using monkey skin to craft armor. He had previously dried them to toughen the hide. He weaved multiple layers of skin together to enhance the armor's defensive abilities. With no previous sewing experience, the armor he crafted was a mess, but at least it offered some protection. The shoulder pads finished, he worked on making cuff bracelets. Last week, he had noticed that monkeys liked to target his wrists to make him drop his weapon. At first, he thought it was just a coincidence but quickly realize it was intentional. "Well, what do you think?" He said, show his two pieces of crude monkey skin bracelets he had equipped to a Jack, "Yeah, right. Ugly as Filona. But it should do the trick." The name Filona had become a word often used to define ugliness. With no actual target to his current misery, he held the goddess responsible for what was happening to him, which made Belmand who was monitoring him laugh from time to time since Filona could be considered the incarnation of beauty itself. "I know, I know. The fish traps. Stop ordering me around like that, you know I don't like it." With his bracelets done, Aito headed towards the pond to check out the new fish traps. He was certain that this time he could catch one or two. Before leaving, he turned towards the bamboo dummy. "Won't you walk there with me for a change?" He asked, staring at Jack with sorrowful eyes. "Whatever, see you there Jack." However, before he could even take ten steps, four evol monkeys burst out from the woods. They were as tall as one meter with lean and flexible muscles, but what stroke Aito the most were the stone weapons they held. Two of them were equipped with a knife, another held a spear, and the last one an ax. Aito frowned when he realized they had copied his tools. "Great, now they have weapons."
Chapter 4: Jack (part 1) Aito dodged aside, stepped on his enemy's tail, and brutally sent it flying with a kick. A tingling feeling crept up his spine as if signaling him of an imminent death threat. He rapidly turned and barely had time to see something that never happened before: the evol monkeys attacking simultaneously. He shifted his waist to avoid a spear thrust and luckily blocked a strike with his iron ax. However, he felt a stinging pain in his right lower rib. "Kyak! Kyak! Kyak!" The dagger monkey retreated backward and expressed his enthusiasm by puffing his chest as if to say "See? I did it!". His 'colleagues' jovially replied in kind. 'Bastards,' Aito thought, eyeing the dagger stuck in his lower rib. No medical knowledge was needed to guess that removing it will cause the blood to pour out and kill him in a matter of minutes. So he gritted his teeth through the pain and left it there. However, he needed to treat this wound, and fast. But first… "I need to take care of those apes." He said with rising killing intent. Taking advantage of their diverted attention, Aito brought down his ax on the spear monkey before they regained their focus and split its skull in half, then grabbed the spear. It alarmed the two remaining monkeys, who eyed Aito viciously before running, weapons in hand, towards him. He waited until they got close enough, aimed for the dagger monkey, and flung his ax. BAM! The dagger monkey violently hit the ground, never to move again. Before Aito's last enemy could reach him, he quickly took a step back, grabbed the spear with two hands, and impaled the ax monkey. Panicked and choking on its own blood, the ax monkey frenetically moved around, desperately clawed on air before drawing its last breath. "Damn monkey," Aito said, dropping the weapon. With the adrenaline from the fight dying down, the pain from his gaping wound progressively amplified, and the fact that he might die struck him like a truck. The past month had relatively been easy to survive, and he had never sustained any kind of life-threatening injury. Now, however, was different. Aito assumed it would just get worse with each passing day, and that demoralized him. Added to it was one month of loneliness that had gnawed at his sanity, breaking down his mental defenses that… finally… crumbled. He felt weak, powerless, useless. A primal feeling seized him: FEAR. Fear of failing the trial. Fear of never going back to Earth. And most of all, the fear of being unable to atone for his sin. Paralyzed, his vital fluid dripping down his wound, he found himself thinking back to when he was a small, feeble boy in his room. Back then he had had a nightmare. Cold sweat had poured down his back, and, like now, fear overwhelmed him. Somehow, his father had sensed it, or he had kept an eye on him. He couldn't recall. But what he did remember, however, was that his father had given him a hug filled with warmth and parental love before saying those words: "Fear defines your limits, but don't let it define yourself. Because courage stems from fear, and in it lays the potential to overcome your limits." A child couldn't understand the meaning behind those words, but who could blame him? Only later on did Aito figure out that meant 'to overcome oneself, to go beyond one's own limits'. "Don't let it define yourself." He muttered, his courage slightly rising with each word spoken, gluing back his still fragile sanity. "Thanks, dad." Aito opened his inventory, took out dried coconut fibers, wood, two flints, and started a fire. He laid his ax on it and waited until it glowed red. Then, he placed a piece of wood in his mouth, bit hard, and with a swift motion removed the dagger to cauterize the wound. "Pssssssshhhh!" The acrid smell of charred human meat entered his nostrils. His skin and flesh burnt, bubbled, smoked. Like a plague, pain spread to his body, intensifying with each passing micro-second that felt like hours to him. The piece of wood cracked, hardly holding out against Aito's gritting teeth. Fighting off the urge to faint with pure will, his mind repeatedly blurred before awakening again to a world of pain. Aito dropped the ax and sat to rest. He had never felt this kind of pain before and would prefer to receive ten punches on the ring than go through this again. But he had a feeling that this kind of situation will repeat itself more than once. He had underestimated evol monkeys too much. More variables added to the equation with the passing weeks. First, they no longer appeared in a flash of light and at noon. So it was more difficult to prepare. Soon, they might attack at night. Second, evol monkeys now used weapons, which increased the potential harm they could cause him. They were still clumsy at using those, but he expected their proficiency to snowball. Third, those creatures drastically grew stronger and smarter with each passing week. Furthermore, now that he thought about it, there was a barely noticeable increase in their intelligence each day. He noted that some of them started to avoid traps. Probably because of the marks he had placed. Though risky, he made a mental note to erase them later on. There might be other unpredictable variables. For example, where did those things come from? He had explored the entire island and found no traces of evol monkeys. Another variable could be the increase of attacks' frequency. Or another species of monkey could be added to the fray. Or some sort of monkey army could attack him. Or— "What's that?" He said, smirking. "Not such a bad day after all." *** "Kyaak!" The monkey tried to free himself from the bamboo cage. Confused, he looked around to assert the situation and quickly understood what was happening. It was that damn man-thing that had sent him flying with a kick! There it was, looking at him from the outside. The monkey hated it; he didn't know why, but he hated it, nonetheless. It was sitting crossed leg, gazing at him. Was it mocking him? Stupid man-thing. The monkey felt an urge to kill it. Yes, killing it would ease the hatred. "Kyaak!" He redoubled his effort to break down the cage, but it was too sturdy. However, he could see his attacks slightly weakened his prison. Given time, he could break out and kill the man-thing that humiliated him. Yes, yes, it was a good… he heard his stomach rumble and so did the man-thing. Wait… It was giggling! That fatty moving piece of meat was ridiculing him! How dared it! Then, something alarmed the monkey. IT took out a piece of meat from thin air. What was that trick? He needed to learn it so that he could brag about it with his comrades. Then the man-thing started a fire. What kind of power was that? It could use stones to ignite wood? What if it used those stones on him? He dared not imagine the result. It then impaled the meat on a stick and hung it on top of the fire. NOOO! It was ruining the meat! The juicy, chewy, gummy, tasty, flavourful meat! He will never forgive it for this sacrilege. Never! *** Aito skewered the monkey meat and cooked it on the fire. Monkeys were supposed to be herbivores, but he wondered if that creature would eat its own species. After all, it clearly didn't come from Earth. "So, what should I call you? I can't keep calling you monkey, now, can't I? How about…" Aito said, smiling. "Jack. Let's go with that." Jack disapprovingly looked away. It stared at a tree, seemingly angry for some reason. "What's the deal with you? Jack's the name of my best friend, you should be honored. Hey! If you continue to ignore me, I won't feed you." Jack was the monkey he had sent flying in his previous fight. He had found it unconscious and imprisoned it since it could prove useful to study Jack's behavior. Which made him think about a certain guy… "What was that Chinese's guy quote again? Do you know it, Jack?" He said, while entirely aware of the futility of it. But for the first time in a month, he could finally talk to "a living being". So, right now, he didn't care about how stupid that might look like to others. Not that there was anybody else on that island. "I think it was something like 'Know yourself, know your enemy and you will be victorious in a thousand battles.' Hum… it doesn't sound right, but you got the meaning behind it." He said before something else drew his attention. The meat's fat was dripping on the fire, evaporating as soon as it touched a flame, its savory aroma spread in the air, tingling at Aito's nostrils. He turned his gaze towards Jack that was still staring at the tree and smirked when he saw dribble pouring down its chin. He then cut a piece of meat, fixed it on a stick, and slowly brought it within Jack's reach. After a few seconds, the monkey finally couldn't hold it in anymore and snatched the meat. *** 'What a divine taste!' The monkey was chewing on the meat, his eyes sparkling with delight and wonder. Each bite magnified the taste twofold, or so he thought. He had never eaten anything like that before. Or had he ever eaten anything? He had memories of eating, but it felt… wrong… false. Whatever, it didn't matter. Right now, he wanted another piece of divine food. However, his pride forbade him from asking for more meat to that man-thing. The man-thing was smiling. It then cut down another piece of meat, and like last time, presented it to him. Was it thinking of corrupting him? Make him its comrade? Never! He will never betray his own. Although he had to admit that the food it provided was delicious. Maybe if it became his personal chef, the monkey will acknowledge it as his subordinate, or so he thought while swallowing the divine food.
Chapter 5: Jack (part 2) After his meal, tired and wounded, Aito avoided physical tasks. His wound had been cauterized, but any sudden movement could reopen it. So it was best to rest for now, instead of going around building traps or whatever other nonsense he presumed important to do. Aito laid on his sunbed next to his cave entrance, something he had crafted using bamboo. He thought that if he had to stay on that island for three months, he might as well make it comfy. After all, comfort played a huge part in his survival by decreasing the risk of a mental breakdown. There, under the shadow of a tree, Aito wondered, in between groans, how he could better prepare and realized that he didn't fully take some variables into account. First, his armor. In the previous fight, the monkeys had changed their target from wrists and shoulders to literally anywhere else on his body. Meaning he should craft body armor. The sooner, the better. Second, the inventory. Until now, he had taken it for a useful and all purposes infinite storage system. But he never experimented with the limits of it. Could it really store an infinite amount of items? Furthermore, the inventory could be a great support item during battles. With it, Aito could instantly summon any kind of item. And he was certain that monkeys would never be able to copy that. At least he hoped so. Third, armor might not be enough to protect him. Dodges were efficient, but if he was ganged up upon like in the previous fight unless he was as nimble as a cat, the only thing waiting for him was a cauterized wound or, worse, death. Aito struggled with this thought. How could he protect himself on top of wearing armor and stay mobile enough to attack? He wrestled with the problem while staring at a tree when… "Hum… that could work." *** During the meal, the man-thing had kept voicing out unknown noises to him. The monkey had been curious about the seemingly incessant stream of complex sounds. Did it mean anything? Why couldn't it stick to one sound like he did? It truly was a stupid moving meat thing. And the monkey hated stupid moving meat things. However, he did pick up a sound the man-thing kept repeating while staring at him, "Jack". What was that? Was it supposed to be him? Judging by how it reacted, that must have been the case. Jack… he liked how that sounded. It was simple, neat and, most of all resembled "Kyaak". Yes, he decided to tolerate that sound and started to refer to himself as Jack. For once, Jack found that the man-thing wasn't as stupid as it appeared, since it could make up such a cool sound. Well… it could also make divine food! Maybe it was a BIT smart. But not as smart as Jack! Because soon, he will be free and he was certain the man-thing wouldn't see that coming. *** The next day. [Congratulations! Your wounds have been partially healed due to sleep difficulty!] "Don't congratulate me for sleep difficulty!" Aito said, his dark-ringed eyes betraying his lack of sleep. Last night had been—literally—one hell of a night. Pained by his wound, the Sandman couldn't visit him on his bamboo bed. He could barely catch three or four hours of sleep before he woke up grumpily. At least it was still dark, which meant the monkeys shouldn't attack him for now. He slowly got out of bed, ate a piece of dried meat for breakfast, walked out of his cave, and went to see Jack. Aito found the cage broken. It appeared that Jack had cut down the ropes tying the bamboo bars together and… well… fled. Aito quickly drew his iron ax and surveyed his surroundings. Surprisingly, he quickly found the object of his worries sleeping on a tree branch. He summoned a stone ax from his inventory and took aim, intending to shoot the monkey down. But… dropped the weapon at the last second. Somehow, it felt wrong. Jack could have attacked him in his sleep last night, but it didn't. He felt like he owed him at least a good night's sleep. A thought bludgeoned, 'Maybe there is a way to coexist with that creature.' It was probably the stupidest idea he ever had since coming to this island. Evol monkeys were his enemies. They had attacked him every day without rest. Clawing, biting, stabbing. He had had it all. But he did not hate them. They were the only living beings he had interacted with and, as naïve as it sounded, Aito felt grateful for that. Another experiment of his came to mind. What if he could tame it? It wasn't the original purpose, but it got him curious. After all, Jack's aggressive behavior had lessened after the meal, and that gave him hope. Of course, he would still lookout for an eventual attack from Jack. Having decided, Aito settled a piece of meat on the broken cage before striding away, a clear goal in mind. *** A few moments later, he had finally found what he was looking for, a tropical tree that bared his name. In the Polynesian language, "aito" had several meanings, including the name of this tree which translated to "the iron tree". There were rumors that even a chainsaw could break before cutting it down. He delicately placed his hand on the brown bark, his eyes contemplating the tree of his childhood memories. Aito remembered climbing the long branches of an iron tree, much like this one, to hide in its long stick-like leaves. At that time, he had been playing "hide and seek" with his family. His little sister, Haley, was hiding beneath him, behind the tree. He had thrown leaves at her, who responded with a scream, giving out her location. Shortly after, his father, Tevari, caught Haley, who pouted while mumbling, "it's unfair." Tevari had quickly found him afterward because of his mischievous laugh. Then came the delicious meal that his mother, Olivia, had prepared. Aito smiled tenderly at the fond memory. It felt… so… warm. He had almost forgotten what it was like to have a… "Family…" He muttered, still unaware of the tears running down his cheeks. "Why… did I have to ruin everything?" If only he had restrained himself. If only he had quit alcohol sooner. If only he had learned to control his rage sooner. If only... His insides boiled up with fury. Tears poured out, clogging his vision. Aito trembled as he drew his ax, eager to unleash the raging storm building up inside him. —Gift: Mindless Fury— "WAAAAAH!" Pieces of barks flew by his face as he mindlessly butchered the tree. The ax blade viciously bit into the wood, each consecutive strike decimating the iron tree's remaining life span. However, to Aito, what he was bringing down wasn't the tree. BAM! It was the suffering. BAM! The pain. BAM! The sorrow. BAM! And, the regret. BOOM! The earth shattered under the iron tree's weight. Pebbles flew away, closely followed by clouds of dust. A storm still raged inside Aito's body, but with nothing else to bring down, it brought him to his knees. He clawed the earth, searching within it the salvation he so desperately needed but was denied. "I'm sorry, mom, Haley." He wailed, teardrops wetting the ground. "I'm so sorry… dad." *** "WAAAAAH!" Jack jolted awake by the sound of what appeared like a cornered beast. His five senses rapidly sharpened, ready for any potential danger. What was happening? He jumped down, got on two feet, and turned his gaze towards the sound's location. His nostrils, however, wondered in another direction. Jack walked to the cage, looked around to see if that wasn't a trap, snatched the meat, and eagerly bit into it. What was that? It wasn't bad but tasted different. A bit more chewy, salty, and… dry? It wasn't that bad that he would spit it out, but he'd rather eat divine food. Maybe the man-thing could give him more of it? Jack shook his head. No, today he would kill it. Yes, because… because… because he hated it. That's it. The monkey headed towards the noise, thinking that he might find his personal che… target there. On the way, he armed himself with a stone to use it against the man-thing. He nimbly jumped from tree to tree and quickly reached the man-thing's location, but he didn't find what he had expected. It was faced against the ground, crying and completely defenseless. Jack's eyes sparkled at the free kill. He sneaked his way to his target and soundlessly prepared to strike. But… "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry." Somehow, those sounds made him stop. Something tugged at his heartstrings. What… was the meaning of those sounds? What power was that! Jack couldn't comprehend the situation, but he did know one thing, the man-thing was a pitiful moving piece of meat, and killing as it was now wouldn't ease his hatred. It felt too easy. He needed a glorious victory! His pride didn't allow him to step down to the level of backstabbing. Jack could kill it whenever he wanted, anyway. He was that strong! However, he decided to leave it alone for now and maybe eat one or two more divine food from the man-thing before killing it.