Chapter 7: Into the Jungle

I spared no time and carried the Amea on my back. It didn’t matter if she left stuff behind, she can nag at me later. After following the long hallway and maze-like chasms, I arrived outside. It was pitch black. Cold gusts of wind blew and the footing was worse at night. Amea was supposed to be my navigator but she was offline.

In the meantime, I activated [Eyes of the Hunter(Master)] . Oh boy there were a lot of monsters and they were very active. Most of the creatures were jaguar-shaped, and most of the big ones were asleep. Gladly none of them hunted very close.

I headed westward where the hut was located. If not for the marks I carved on the trees “out of boredom,” I would’ve gotten totally lost.

After arriving at the hut, I let Amea rest while I prepared my stuff. I would stay here if this wasn't the first place they'd check. Once I got my stuff, I topped my ragged outfit with a thick robe, carried Amea and my stuff then left. But then I went back and grabbed the malevol ward. It would’ve been much heavier than a bowling ball if not for my current strength.

So far the stone hadn't fail me. I also activated [Camouflage(Apprentice)] just in case. Nothing approached us yet, so I presumed the stone was truly effective. I had to be more careful though, sacrificing a lot of the speed.

It was an hour of walk and I hadn’t seen or heard the river Amea told me about. I took a break for a bit once I felt the soreness of my back and legs. After ten minutes, I resumed my journey.

After another hour I finally heard the sound of rushing water. I followed the source and found the river. The dawn light reflected upon it, and I could see the rocky bed from its clarity. I placed Amea in a safe spot to wash myself. The water was clear enough to create a mirror-like surface.

My eyes were gold. Like gold gold. Almost glowing, in fact. And I looked pretty handsome, too, with that chiseled facial bones and a long, sharp nose. Damn. Paired with my tan skin, I did look the typical fantasy desert man.

The river's cold water refreshed my hot, sweaty body, so I took a bath. My first damn bath since I came to this world. And boy it was rejuvenating. I washed my greasy hair and scrubbed my body full of gunk with stone. Once I was over, I felt like I just ascended.

I didn't bother eating since I spent so much time bathing. So I continued following the river.

After a few hours of safe travel, I finally believed in the power of this stone. Not a single creature was alerted by our presence. It was a smooth journey so far until the sun was up when Amea woke up.

"Where the hell are we?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Far from the lair, for sure. How are you feeling?"

I put her down a glade beside the river. I could finally eat.

"My… crotch hurts."

It was her fault for being drunk and horny.

"We have to eat fast. I don't want to give them time to catch up to us."

She nodded, then caught sight of the river. "I see you already found it. We just have to follow it northward until we see a fork."

I'd been walking for hours. It must have been that far, then.

After breakfast, I offered to carry her. She insisted on walking, but her legs shook after a few steps and she kept complaining about her sore crotch.

"You've been carrying me and that stone since dawn?"

"Since before dawn, actually. You'll be amazed how great my physical endurance is."

"Yeah, I noticed."

She spent the whole time in silence, probably resting. The sun had reached its zenith, but I was yet to reach the fork. Instead, the river widened, its path became jagged. The grasses grew thicker and greener, and the trees shot taller with gnarlier barks and bigger leaves. It felt like transitioning into a tropical jungle – correction, a gigantic tropical jungle.

"Hey Amea, how far is this fork?"

She yawned. "Not too far. We should reach it before the mountains.”

"Well, the river hasn't forked yet."

She was quiet. Then, she dropped down to look at our environment. The jungle just grew more lush and overwhelming. The soft, mossy ground was replaced by creepy wooden roots.

"How far from the cabin did you find the river?"

"About three hours walk."

She looked at me in disbelief, then sighing in disappointment.

"You've probably followed the rightmost path."

"Is it bad?"

"It leads to Talak. It's the worst route of the three."

Well, I might have led myself into a worse situation than being a sex slave.

Amea sat by the river. She already sighed for the ninth time. But it wasn’t entirely my fault! I was a foreigner – an amnesiac foreigner – and Amea was supposed to be the navigator.

"I know what you're thinking and yes, I’m partly to blame, so just shut it.”

I sighed. Not like we could retrace our steps. Imna and the others might be tracking us already.

"In escaping the maw, we walked into the stomach," she said before standing up, brushing dirt off her palms. "Talak is crawling with lizard hunters and that stone won’t save us."

I imagined 14 th century Mayan hunters but as lizards armed with spears and blowpipes. If they caught us, they’d either sacrifice us to their gods or follow the cannibal route… or both.

Even if I activated [Camouflage(Apprentice)] , it would only hide me and leave Amea exposed.

"We can just move north from here so we arrive at the middle river."

"And cross the mountains? We’ll encounter trolls and they’re worse than lizards."

Things just seemed to get worse. Maybe it was best to just go back? But then I could imagine what they'd do to me after betraying their trust. I wouldn't wanna have to kill them.

"Let's just cross the beast’s digestive system all the way to the anus, then."

Amea stared at me with a puzzled expression.

"A reference to the maw-stomach metaphor… Whatever. Let's go. You lead this time."

We had no choice but to follow the river. It didn't take long for the grasses to grow about half my height. It was almost at Amea's neck so I had to carry her on my back again. The trees seemed to grow even taller, rivaling skyscrapers with its bright-green canopy mimicking the clouds. The gaps between the leaves allowed enough light to illuminate the ground.

The insects grew bigger, too. Grasshoppers were the size of my finger, moths spread wings as wide as my forearm. Massive spiders weaved thick white webs, netting across the jungle directly above the river. Seeing those spiders in clusters made my skin crawl.

It was a nightmare, but I had no choice. Amea had gone silent, but I could feel her wariness oozing as she stared at the spiders above. I didn’t mind the trees growing taller than Burj Khalifa, but massive, wriggling spider balls? A hornet bigger than me happened to fly close to the web and got caught in it. It was instantly feasted on.

Yup, that’s it. No more following the river.

"Maybe let's just lay low somewhere then retrace our steps?"

I could no longer tolerate it. The insects alone looked so goddamn ridiculously creepy, but the heat signatures I was detecting morphed into weirder shapes. One took the shape of a goddamn tree with spider-like limbs. This jungle sure loved spiders.

Amea audibly swallowed. "Yeah... let's find a cave."

As soon as we turned around, a sharp whistle flew past us. A finger-long dart struck a grasshopper that coincidentally hopped on the trajectory. I searched for the source and discovered a faint signature across the river. Three of them, and they all had tails.

"I think those lizards found us."

I sprinted. They began their pursuit. They were fast and agile, and very silent, too.

A red-scaled lizardwoman dressed similar to a Mayan hunter leapt across the river and landed in front of us, thrusting her spear. I activated [Blink Dodge(Adept)] and the spear missed, but Amea was tossed several meters ahead from the sudden movement.

"Amea are you okay?" I yelled, maintaining my sight on the lizard woman.

Lizards were reptiles so they weren’t suppose to have breasts, but this one had two. Apparently that logic applied only to Earth. Her nipples bulged on the white strap she wore. Her body was slim, but her hips were big and round. I wouldn’t mind sleeping with her if she didn’t have a murderous intent.

"Whats ‘okay’ supposed to mean?"

Yup, Amea was okay.

I raised my arms slowly. "We're just passing by. We don't want any trouble."

She hissed. "Outsiders only know trouble.”

I parried two darts that shot at me. The lizard woman dashed forward, her spear aimed at my chest. I dodged, caught her arms and launched her into the river. Two more of these lizardwomen appeared.

"Peace is off the table, then.”

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