The bush held the reddest berries Mike had ever seen, and his intuition told him that they were tasty. He staggered to them, his immense hunger already affecting his motor abilities, and then slumped just before he could get to it, merely a couple of inches away.
He held out his arm to the bush, and it momentarily froze in the air before falling and slamming the ground as he lost consciousness.
In his short moment of sleep, his body began to recuperate its lost energy, and after about an hour— after a significant amount of radiance was channeled through him, he was able to get up having awoken.
His eyes didn't feel like they were filled with lead any longer nor did moving feel as contrived. It was strange. He had deduced that he merely had to feed himself to feel as strong, and those fruits had not been particularly filling nor did he recall having gotten a lot of energy from eating them.
His fatigue had felt so deep, so profound that it simply being absent after a short nap was quite the surprise.
"I suppose I should take naps more often," He said with a yawn as he stretched. Walking to the bush, he sought the berries and there, he could see subtle miniscule energy swirling about them. He had not seen them before the nap, and he supposed the fatigue had caused that.
The berries contained radiance just like every fruit in the Talcaf forest, and it was responsible for its invigorating effect. He took a few into his hands and then threw them in his mouth, and chewed. Flavor released into his mouth accompanied with the refreshing feeling of radiance.
This was his life now, trapped, confused in a place he had no idea of, and feeding on fruits with strange energies. It could have been worse.
After filling his belly with a bountiful amount, Mike continued his slow walk across the forest.
Memories of last night flashed in his mind once again, of the beast appearing to save him. Mike had expected some more dwarves to have arrived over the course of the night, but it appeared that they had been greatly discouraged.
He stopped, a crunch sounded as he stepped on a dead branch.
"If I must survive this place, I would have to master my powers. Powers… if I can call them that."
His chains, though powerful and handy, have proved to be somewhat unreliable. He needed power he could will, could control and make his own. The dwarves had been impressive with their control over various elements, and Mike was sure he could emulate them, at least some of them.
His face creased with a look of seriousness in them. Survival was a serious gamble. He threw both his hands in a straight thrust, and gusts of wind materialized from them and speared into nearby tree trunks.
"Wohoo!" he had not expected that. A large gash appeared on the surface of the trees telling of the potency of the move.
"Alright, again, again." He said to himself with excitement, rubbing his hands together. He thrust but one arm this time, and again, seamlessly, wind lanced from his hand and disappeared down the path.
"This better not be a glitch or something." The wind was heeding his call, a sudden change from earlier.
Once again, he lunged, and lunged, and lunged. Each time, wind sprouted from his palms with immense velocity.
He spun around, building momentum, careful not to trip, and then swiped his right arm, and from the heel of his palm came a wind slash.
It sank into a tree branch, cutting it, and traveled even further, until Mike could not see it anymore.
All this delighted him, though far from a master, he could at least defend or rather try to with this newfound ability, and his red stained lips curved into a smile at this prospect.
With practice, he reckoned that he could be as good as those dwarves, and that was an encouraging thought to hold on to as he walked.
He held up his hands, stretched his fingers apart and then squinted his eyes on them.
"No, nothing." He said coarsely, like his voice had been stifled. He had been holding his breath in concentration, yet nothing had happened. Little wisps up his fingers was what he was hoping for, but that had not happened, he still lacked the needed control.
It was at this time when he sensed an oddity, not from him however, but the forest, it was turbulent for some reason, and Mike was stunned by how he could sense such from it.
Though he could not see anything with his enhanced vision, he could tell that walking down the path he was on was a bad idea, and that he needed to make a turn.
If he was to describe the turbulent feeling he felt, it would be like the clash of opposing radiance the other night in his fight against the dwarves. The flare of radiant colors, the spill of emotions through the energies, and the feel of the wind. It was like this, but magnified a hundred times over.
Mike's guess was that a battle between two powerful beasts like the one he had subjugated occured down the path. Little did he know that he was responsible for this turbulent feeling, and that it was directed at him.
Suddenly, he felt another presence, one more potent than that of the dwarves, rageful and fierce, and he froze. He could feel that he was being watched. He was the target. He swallowed, clenching his fists. With the radiance he felt, he knew that he was no match. It was incredible how such a potent aura had eluded him until it got close.
He struggled to move a foot forward but once he did, that was all he needed to begin making a run for it.
A howl, and then a loud thud as the creature leaped. A wave of earth trailed Mike.