After freshening up, Kieron decided to rest. He doubted that he would find rest after this until this nightmare would be over.
After setting up a makeshift camp, camp was a generous word for what it was, Kieron laid down. He was genuinely tired. Going grom a easy going, averagely athletic seventeen-year-old to a person in constant danger and threat of death was very tiring, and quite frankly, unhealthy for the mind. Kieron had no doubt that he'd have ended up with some sort of mental issues, if not for the aspect he was given.
Calming the mind was exactly what he needed. But it was exactly enough to not be useful enough to escape this place. It was as if the difficulty was just a little above what he was capable of.
Soon after, Kieron closed his eyes to finally get a proper rest. That night, Kieron had a dream. In it, he was floating in the thundering sky, when suddenly the sky broke apart bringing down stars on earth, or the exact opposite. It was as if something was opposing something. But he didn't know what the 'something' was.
Now that he had woken up, he darted his eyes around the cave, looking for threats, he had deduced that there would be few or perhaps no threats since the entrance of the aperture wasn't very big, and the creatures he saw so far were pretty big, apart from that wolf, which was still too big to fit.
What an abstract dream it was. I wonder what it means… if it even means something.
Sitting up straight, and leaning onto a rock, Kieron looked up and started thinking a lot of stuff. Stuff like "What happened to the real world", "Do my parents think I killed myself", "will I have a way to return home?", "why am I motivated."
This was the first time he had time to think of something like this. So far everything was a 'must' for him, after getting transmigrated. A must for survival.
Kinda like sunny... heh. But yeah, what exactly are my goals? I know that going to the forgotten shore won't do me any good but it's not up to me where I get transported to. Actually, it would probably be the same as caster. Put right in the middle of the forgotten shore, brutally.
After contemplating for a bit, he came to a realization:
I'm not doing this for some grand reason; I just straight up have no choice. No one wants to die after all.
Kieron quietly stared at the flowing water motionlessly. The place was oddly calming.
But… say I did. What would I do then? Living for the sake surviving doesn't seem very pleasant. What do I want?
Without much hesitation Kieron softly spoke out loud: "I want to return." The voice was devoid of hope. He had no one to talk to this situation about. He had no one to comfort. He was all alone. Even the world around him wasn't exactly real, was it?
Or perhaps what makes a world real is just the perception around it. Perhaps saying 'something is real' is relative and subjective. Is this what they call cope? Sigh… I don't know if I'll be able to return but for now, I'd at least want to get strong. These supernatural powers are cool. And the stronger I am the higher the chance of survival. I'll just have to be grounded and not get out of bounds now. I know that I probably won't be able to compare to the divine trio, unless I get a divine aspect myself… which I very well might, seeing the difficulty of this nightmare.
With a grim face Kieron sighed, looking down on the floor. His eyes nearly watering up despite his aspect. The reality was setting in stone. It was all finally feeling real and all this was too much for a poor young lad like him.
I'll need to survive this nightmare first for that, haha.
Soon enough, he lays down, darting his eyes around on the ceiling, cause he could.
I'll also have to learn to be satisfied. I can't get greedy for power. I'll need to be patient. Even if this limits my growth, its better than dying.
Hurriedly sitting back up, Kieron unhurriedly threw a nearby rock to the water stream, it bounced on it twice before sinking.
Another goal I'd like to have is, to give sunny a better life. If it's within my capabilities. He has suffered way too much. I'll be his plot armor.
Shifting lightly in his position he cupped his face slightly.
Phew, I think it's time I leave. It should probably be noon outside. Hmm… maybe it's better to explore this cave first. It seems massive.
Getting up from his makeshift camp, he moved along the water stream which seemed to widen and shrink every few meters.
The cave was as beautiful as it looked at the time of enter, and massive too, contrary to the opening it had. It was oddly enough filled with lots of flora, even where the water stream didn't touch. The cave was filled to the brim with lushes and some sort of berry vines, which Kieron didn't dare eat.
Who knows if it is poisonous or not.
After a while of following the stream, it seemed to split up into two parts, both leading to a seemingly different place. Trusting in his intuition, Kieron went through the path where more wind came from.
As the hours passed, Kieron felt worse with each passing second. The path was eerily silent. And there seemed to be no nightmare creatures.
Soon enough, the minerals ran out causing the cave to darken, not enough to blind him but enough to disorient him. Suddenly, a part of the cave collapsed behind him, closing the path off from the back.
Startled, Kieron slightly ducked down in a defensive position. He turned to face the collapse and slowly and quietly took steps backwards. One… two… three…
In the surprise he had seemed to have forgotten to summon his sword, realizing his mistake he cursed inwardly as he summoned his green jade Jian.
He didn't know what caused the collapse, it could be coincidental, or it could be a beast. He didn't want to take his chances.
Only after a few minutes of not noticing something, did he finally let down his guard and calmly, but attentively started striding forward.
Eventually he noticed light come out of it the other end of the cave. Which seemed to brighten his mood up for a short while, which caused him to move faster.
However, he soon realized another error in his judgment. What if there are beasts over there? I need to be careful. I've made way too many mistakes so far.
Slowing his speed down and carefully, he silently strode towards the opening. His heart was beating fast. He didn't want to come across dozens of nightmare creatures obviously.
Soon, minutes passed, and he reached the entrance. He looked the other side of the opening where the light seemed to cover everything deeply. It was bright. But the scene also shocked him.
You've gotta be shitting me.