The misty fog was so dense that Cairo couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him, not that he was even capable of considering what was in it. His mind was empty, as empty as the white void that encapsulated him. In a way, it was a peaceful respite from the worry and panic, a quiet solace.
Suddenly, a barely visible golden light shot out from the white void, latching itself onto the core of Cairo's self. The warmth it carried radiated through his soul, like a cup of hot tea in the midst of a snowy winter night, not that the Heartlands saw much snow. Its comforting warmth felt familiar, and not in any way foreign, like it had accompanied him for his whole life.
However, unlike what his study materials informed him of, the golden string of fate branched into two strings just before him. One rooted itself in his soul, while the other reached out for the sun pendant that had stopped swaying , dangling from his grip.
"This…"
Cairo's surprise broke through the immovable silence. At first he was completely baffled, but after processing the reaction, he felt much more hopeful.
'This must mean I've succeeded in following her path. As long as I keep pushing forward on this path, I should run into them. However, I have to be fast, I don't know how much time I will have before it becomes impossible to save them.'
It took roughly another half hour for the mist to begin to lighten, and inevitably disperse into the alternate world. Cairo's pace became steady as he worked up his courage and cleared his mind. Many of the Pathfinder Records stressed the ability to remain calm, a level head lets you make the best decisions in heated moments.
The light tore through the clouds like it was starving, feeding on the never-ending mist. Suddenly, a vibrant view painted Cairo's line of sight, he wondered if he had secretly found his way into one of the museum's famous paintings. Colors blossomed from the ground and intertwined into stems, leaves, and petals. A fantastical garden was revealed from behind the veil of the mist, a garden that felt so full of life, that one could feel it in the air. The dense atmosphere of life attacked Cairo's senses, shocking his mind awake.
Cairo's mind was racing a mile a minute, he felt increasingly enlightened with every breath. His ideas and inspirations felt like they could take form and spring out from his mind. His memories felt vivid and colorful, and his senses almost expanded past the bounds of his frame.
A sudden thought sobered his mind, he muttered solemnly: "A Stimulant? Airborne toxin? Is it an environmental reaction or a biochemical weapon?"
He didn't dare press forward, instead his eyes darted at abnormal speeds, taking controlled breaths. He monitored his senses, and analyzed himself thoroughly.
"There isn't a breeze." He deduced after stretching out his palm. "Seems mystical. It definitely is a stimulant of some sort, my sensitivity is significantly increased, my clothes are even becoming uncomfortable."
Despite the fact that he was immediately affected by an abnormal status, he knew that making a large fuss over things would only attract more attention. He considered the nature of the status effect, mulling over its nature and purpose. Normally, his mind wouldn't have been able to consider and comprehend information as fast as he currently was, which allowed him to think in a manner that he normally wouldn't.
"The stimulant is very good for enhancing cognitivity, which means it is likely intended to target less intelligent life forms. Intelligent creatures would seem to benefit from the stimulating effect. The question is, is it bait? Or is it a natural occurrence?" He stroked his chin, continuing to mumble in the middle of the grove like a crazy hermit. "Intelligent creatures… Perhaps it's a sign of civilization? Hm, I shouldn't approach recklessly, no matter how fast I need to go."
Regardless of the nature of the mystical stimulating effect, Cairo determined it to be dangerous to approach recklessly. His practice and preparations were predicated on preparing himself, then taking action. He did not have combat experience or training to force his way out of traps, so like a good engineer, he would plan before taking action.
He took measured steps in a single direction, trying to wait for a reaction. After a few minutes of walking what Cairo deemed south, he felt his mind sobering. He took deep breaths in the less contaminated air, slowly coming back to his normal self. Reflecting, Cairo felt relieved in his moment of composure. Paths were unpredictable, but the biggest mistake pathfinders made was being greedy. Many of the deaths recorded in the records were due to pathfinders misinterpreting danger as a chance to grasp supernatural power.
Afterall, each path was different, only some could progress through material means, others had to learn methods from the otherworlders or by undergoing specific rituals. There was absolutely no guarantee in what form their boon would come in, so assuming often came with the consequence of death.
Cairo went over his prepared mental checklist and began to run through his planned procedures. Bending down, still occasionally taking a look at his surroundings, he observed the vibrant plants in the grove just beyond the clearing he appeared in.
His first order of business was to check what possible otherworld he arrived in. Knowing which otherworld you were in was very important, because it differentiated which materials you could work with. Cairo knew far too few other worlds to make an accurate judgement, however he did know about the origins of specific mystical ingredients, so as long as he could find one he was familiar with he could make a narrow list.
After working his way further into the grove, taking time to harvest primitive materials like bark, branches, grasses, plant fibers, and a small variety of fruits and berries; He eventually began to hear the trickling of water in the distance. Cairo's concerns lessened, and he began to march towards the moving water while processing his collection, making grass ropes and wooden stick frames.
'Moving materials and resources is my second priority, I need to make sure I have the ability to collect things in order to make tools out of the best materials I have access to.'
After exiting the tree line, arriving at the bank of a modest stream that ran over the smooth stones and mud, Cairo scanned his surroundings a final time. Judging that he wasn't in immediate danger, he laid out his collected materials and got to work. Fashioning frames with bendable branches, he built baskets and fixed them to a carryable back frame. He cleared a spot and began to prepare a fire, using his primitive grass rope to twist the dried sticks with enough friction, providing a light gust with his breath to feed the embers. Finally, he rose from his spot and paced along the stream, staring at and feeling the mud.
Primitive pottery, using muds and clay, was one of the first lessons he practiced after processing and rope making. Storing and transporting water was important, especially for boiling it to consume safely. It took him a few hours to process the mud and clay and begin making containers to fill. It took until an hour before sunset for Cairo to speed through his prepared checklist, after having arrived early in the morning.
After deciding to make a return to the contaminated area the next day, Cairo searched the surrounding area with the remaining daylight, hoping for a single mystical ingredient to check off the task he had skipped for the moment.
While Cairo did not find a mystical ingredient, he did find interesting materials that could barely be considered mundane. Fallen tree branches made out of an unknown type of petrified wood, large deposits of hardened amber that seemed to become malleable at higher heats in up stream of his camp, vibrant flowers that emitted luminescent light and various smells, and glowing resin wells oozing out of massive coniferous trees. While none of the materials were recorded in the material compendiums he was familiar with, he knew their properties were abnormal compared to mundane materials found and farmed in the Heartlands.
Having failed to identify any mystical ingredients, he trudged back to his camp, lugging a full basket the size of his torso on his back. The sunlight quickly retreated behind the tree line, snuffing out the light from the sky, plunging the area into the darkness of light, stars beginning to peak out from the curtain of the sunset.
Relocating his fire, he set up his resting spot in the cover of a few protruding boulders, rolling a large fallen trunk to close off the space from the surrounding environment. Tiredly, he fished out his rope from underneath the log, lying on the cool and moist ground.
Deep, tired breaths interrupted the soft sounds of the crackling fire, as Cairo reflected on his first day. His nerves felt tempered, but not steeled. He was still worried about latent dangers in the area, which was why he went the extra step to close off the light from the area. The fear of failure still plagued him, and while he still was feeling confident, he knew that it wasn't likely to last. As he grew more tired and weathered by the wilderness, his confidence would inevitably wane.
His body that had felt overcharged in the early moments of the day was beginning to revolt. It demanded its rest time from its vicious manager, beginning to plot a labor strike. Had Cairo not made the decision to investigate the next day, he would have been willing to strike an agreement. He couldn't wait, he didn't know how much time he had.
Opening up his collection basket, he began to spread out his materials, he had formed a few more ideas during his sunset excursion. He decided to begin with the two most interesting materials he found, the petrified wood and the amber. The amber was abnormally tough, comparable to a material like bronze or iron, while still being easily malleable like a putty under high heat. Cairo had a few hypotheses, having seen the massive petrified trees that the branches came from, the amber formed from those trees' resin must have similar harness properties. Which meant Cairo had obtained a good material for low and room temperature tools.
The Moon danced across the sea of stars in the sky, shimmering the reflected light onto the grove. Smoke rising into the air, rising from the sound of scraping and sizzling. Cairo worked into the middle hours of the night, fashioning tools from amber and petrified wood, only having to make one additional night venture to his collection spots. To Cairo's benefit, the trees that the supplies originated from were ginormous, and so were its byproducts.
Amber blade fixed to a wooden handle by its molded amber tang and a few fiber lashings, a long amber spearhead fixed to a carved petrified wooden polearm, and small collection of amber tools fixed to wooden handles. It wasn't until after his second trip that Cairo had enough amber to upgrade from using small clay pots to larger amber canteens to store water, even fashioning some amber plates to fix onto his leather outerwear.
Because Cairo could really only bring clothes with him, he did not skimp out by wearing an extra layer of cloth, to use the threads and cloth for mending his clothes when needed. Fishing out his newly fashioned amber needle that he had just quenched in his clay pot, with his pair of petrified wood tongs, he began to fix amber plates into the lining of his leather coat and his pant legs.
"This amber is impressive. It's definitely not able to compete against a quality steel, but in terms of lightweight reinforcement, it might as well be a gift from the gods. I wish I could find a way to bring it back to the Heartlands… Perhaps a heat-resistance enchantment could take it to the next level…" Cairo was slightly annoyed that he could only work with the impressively flexible material in such a limited capacity. However, the speedy acquisition of tools, weapons, and armor had filled Cairo with extra confidence.
"There's no way that those two would have taken the time to find this gem. Lillia and Wrest trained to be adventurers, not craftsmen, despite how much our Elders tried to teach Lillia." He smirked as he finished packing up all his materials and tools into his carrying basket, fixing a lid on top and stashing the remnants into various pockets. He laid on the ground, glancing at the extinguished coals, while holding onto his newly made polearm. "Tomorrow we will investigate, then we can plan the next step. That mystical stimulant is my best lead, if I can find its source, I will feel much more at ease…"
It was only a matter of moments after closing his eyes that sleep had taken his consciousness.