Chapter 15

The jungle was just as dense and foreboding as he left it. The weather might be fantastic, but that meant little right now.

Remy was not out on a hike but on a literal quest for survival. Now that he somehow managed to leave the dungeon with his life intact he needed to get back to his original plan.

Get to Xander's camp. Secure some means of living. Use the system to get stronger and guarantee his safety. Figure out a way out of the Nest….

'First I have to get back on the road. Walking randomly through the jungle is just asking for trouble.' Remy mused.

He began retracing his steps. It was quite a difficult thing to do since he just ran randomly and didn't care for direction. His mad rush might have saved his sorry behind from being eaten, but now it made getting back troublesome.

As he was thinking of the chase he remembered the other guy he was with. Remy's mood instantly plummeted as lingering embers of anger still burned at his heart.

At least he came out better for it out of that whole debacle. He was stronger, better armed, and had actual footwear.

'God, this is so much better…' He thought with each step he took through the foliage. The pointy sticks and sharp rocks were no longer capable of reaching his poor feet. He was also relieved he didn't have to worry about anything easily sinking their fangs into him. Who knew how many snakes lurked through the thick grass?

As he walked, Remy kept his eyes peeled in case anything tried to get the jump on him. He might not be in the dungeon anymore, but who knows what lived around here? The last time he wondered around casually a pack of dinosaurs got latched onto him. He would rather that not happen again.

Still, as fate would have it, that won't be Remy's last encounter with the reptiles.

A shrill hiss rang out. Remy froze where he was and looked around, his dagger already drawn. Alone and surrounded by the jungle, he might have been scared a few days ago.

Now though? He was just pissed. He already went through so much bull in the dungeon that his mentality changed somewhat. The hiss was familiar and Remy instantly attributed it to those blasted Sigilians. He wondered why he had to deal with them again.

He didn't have to wait long as his instincts screamed at him to duck. The moment he did his eyes went wide as a Sigilian flew above him.

'Those things can fly now!?' He disbelievingly thought.

Fortunately, the Sigilian was not flying out of its own will. Especially since it impacted a rather sturdy tree. A soft crunch signaled that a few of its bones did not withstand the impact. Remy snapped out of his shock and hurriedly stood up.

Instead of running away like he would have done before, he rushed the reptile before it got the chance to stabilize. The Sigilian was on its side, in great pain, but very much alive. That didn't last long as Remy's dagger swiftly pierced its head.

The creature instantly died. However, unlike the rat-men he killed before, this was not a monster but an animal. Its body did not begin to decompose into mana particles. Instead, it just bled out normally. Remy didn't know what to do with it and just shoved it into his inventory.

The reason he chose to kill it instead of instantly running away was practicality. If it was alone then he saved himself the trouble. If it was part of a pack then there were fewer of them coming after him.

Just as he was about to continue moving he realized something. Something had thrown the Sigilian through the trees. Now Remy began worrying. The reptile would easily weigh around two hundred kilograms. What had the power to throw it around like a volleyball?

'Nothing good for my health, that's for sure.' He thought as the various sounds coming from the jungle seemed to have gotten louder. He squinted a bit in the direction the reptile came from, but other than broken branches and fallen leaves there was not much to see.

Now Remy had a choice to make. Specifically, he had to choose which direction he should go. He already gave up on backtracking the way he came to reach the road. His run through the forest was desperate enough that he didn't give much thought to direction.

The problem was that foreign, fantastical jungles seem to have a habit of housing very dangerous fauna. Getting lost by walking randomly was something Remy wished to avoid. So with that thought in mind, he decided to make the seemingly stupid decision and go towards the direction the Sigilian flew from.

Getting close to something that could chuck a two hundred kilogram reptile? Not the sanest decision, Remy would be the first to admit. But, personally, if he were to chose between certain danger and the uncertain danger he would pick the former. At least this way he somewhat knew what he was getting into.

And who knows, maybe he's lucky and stumbles upon the road anyway.

Remy cleaned his dagger, adjusted the small knife he had in his boot, and set off. Slowly and methodically he made his way through the thick vegetation. A machete would have been great to have, but stealth was much more important right now than comfort.

Daylight was still plenty. Unfortunately, it was hard to accurately tell the sun's position because of the jungle's canopy. Remy hoped he would either find the road or a suitable place to camp before nighttime arrived.

Remy's head snapped to his left as a rhythmical sound entered his ears. He stuck his back to a tree and pulled out his weapon. He ignored the drop of sweat running down the side of his face and focused.

'It sounds like...breathing?' He thought.

Full of tension, Remy inspected his surroundings, but nothing seemed amiss until a patch of brown entered his vision.

He swallowed in anxiety, realizing at the same time how dry his mouth and throat were. Whatever that was it was not moving, but it was definitely alive.

Remy moved around a few trees to get a better look and to, preferably, find a way around it.

Fortunately, a fallen tree allowed him to get somewhat of a vantage point. His eyes widened as he got the full image of his new nightmare fuel.

The beast was leisurely sprawled on its back, its muscular limbs, thicker than some of the trees Remy had seen were covered in dense fur. Its face reminded one of a gorilla, but its jaw was far too large and the tusks coming out of it detracted further from the image.

The vegetation around it was crumbled to pieces almost making up a bed for the ten-meter tall monster. Around it were leftover pieces from a Sigilian pack. A lot of blood was smeared here and there, but the small puddles were nothing compared to the red stains around the beast's mouth.

Remy was thankful he was holding on to some breaches as he took in the full form of the creature. His legs felt like jelly and his jaw was clenched so hard he might have snapped a tooth.

Fortunately, whatever it was, it was asleep, snoring away without a care in the world.

'Observe'

[Troll]

'Helpful as always….' he thought with a scowl. His eyes never left the troll's figure as he carefully made his way around and away from it. His memory didn't have anything worthwhile about trolls except that they were living creatures and not monsters.

He wanted to regret his decision of actively seeking danger, but he couldn't deny that in the end, it worked out to his advantage. Now he knew more of the dangers that lurked around these parts and he was pretty sure we won't encounter another Sigilian pack for some time.

The troll scared the life out of him, don't get him wrong, but at least he now knew something like that was out there. If he had picked another direction he would have remained blind to the danger. Having only his imagination as a reference was bound to stress him out even more in the long run.

In any case, Remy managed to distance himself from the troll without waking it up. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he continued to make his way into the jungle.

Not even half an hour had passed until something caught his attention again. A group made their way through the foliage, Remy being right in front of them. Fortunately or unfortunately these were human beings.

They were a dozen in number and seemed to have a much easier time navigating the jungle than Remy did. Normally, he may have been glad to meet a fellow man, but several factors made him uneasy.

They were armed to the teeth and their outfit made out of a combination of furs struck an unpleasantly familiar image.