Second Predator Encounter

Although even now, I never hit the distance I had set within the time I was aiming for, it was still exhilarating to see as I slowly got closer to the finish line.

Once my 'rest' days were over, I once again continued with my normal workout, and I had begun to notice that I began to talk to myself more and more as time went on.

I had always been a weird kid and seemed just randomly to start talking to myself when no one was listening; apparently, having nobody around and nothing to distract myself had led to me developing an even worse habit of talking to myself.

I was already aware that I was bound to start losing my mind without social interaction; I just didn't expect it to happen this quickly.

Plus, on top of talking to myself, I had begun to daydream basically all the time, mainly about a world where the war didn't start and one where I was actually enjoying my life.

Still, at the very least, daydreaming did not worsen my mental state, plus it also helped make the pain I felt when exercising a little more bearable.

As for food, I had actually begun to feed off mainly fruits and Suri. At the end of the day, although Suri was a bug, it was very nutritious and provided the necessary nutrients needed to help maintain my lifestyle.

Plus, after being cooked, eating them wasn't as bad as I had once thought it to be; then again, it could just be my tongue playing tricks on me.

After considering my options, I decided to make a hammer for my second weapon, as not only would it be faster to make, but it would also be easier to use as all I had to do would be to hit the threat without the need for much skill, at least when it comes to hunting animals.

Although I would like to think that all humans were civilized, they are currently still in the nomadic stage and would probably only see me as an enemy.

For the hammer, I just grabbed the biggest stone I could support using two branches (one on each side) tied together with vines.

With that settled, I grabbed my spear and the newly made hammer before going into the jungle to go hunting for food. This time though, I was better prepared than ever before.

Also, unlike the other times, I decided to search north in the hopes of finding Suri more easily (I had been searching south of the river before). Sadly I wasn't able to find any nearby, so I began going further north.

Eventually, I once again felt a now-familiar eerie feeling and immediately ran to the river.

While all predators and the giant green snake produced an eerie feeling, the giant green snake produced a more powerful eerie feeling than any other I had encountered so far.

Although slightly difficult, it was possible to differentiate them. I knew that I had encountered a jaguar, meaning that there was no reason for me to climb up a tree for safety, as they, much like pumas, could climb trees.

And although chances were that I would be able to hold it back from killing me on a tree, I didn't want to risk it, so it was better to run away to the river; that way, they were more likely to slip and be immobilized after landing from an attempt to attack me.

Plus, I was banking on the fact that as a four-legged animal, it would have a harder time moving partially underwater than me.

Once we made it to the river, the Jaguar began charging at me. Hence, I grabbed my spear and threw it at its neck before getting ready to jump away, I barely managed to avoid its attack as it had to shift to avoid the spear, and although the spear hadn't done any damage, it had just given me the perfect shot at the jaguar's head.

After shifting to avoid the spear, the jaguar had launched itself at me, and since it was already unbalanced, it slipped. When it fell onto the unstable ground, it created an opening for me to hit it straight in the head with my new hammer, so I took my shot.

Seeing this, the jaguar used its paws to push itself to the right making it so that the hammer hit its snout instead of its head.

This caused it to release an ear-shattering cry, and although I instinctively knew that the shout would attract other predators and that I should run, I froze up.

I had killed a Jaguar before, but this time things were different, all of the times before, as at the time the Jaguar died before it could even express its pain, this time through the jaguar's suffering was clear to see.

I had never been one to want to hurt animals; I viewed them as innocent beings that live purely on instinct and couldn't be blamed for their actions as they only killed when threatened or hungry, so seeing one suffering because of me caused me to feel remorse like I was unnecessarily cruel. Yet, I knew that if I didn't fight back, the jaguar wouldn't hesitate just to kill me.

I was thankfully able to snap out of reflecting on my actions before the jaguar was able to attack again. I had already dropped the hammer after hearing the jaguar scream, so I had to run to my spear.

By the time I turned around, the jaguar was charging at me again, albeit slower than before, so this time thinking that it would jump, I angled the spear so that it would hit the jaguar's stomach.

Unlike before, however, the jagua didn't jump and instead tried to attack me directly by opening its mouth right after trying to shift to the side to avoid the spear.

The pain prevented it from moving away, though, and unable to stop its momentum, the jaguar ran directly into the spear, having it go through its mouth and pierce its neck from the inside.

The jaguar stopped moving shortly after, followed by me putting it on my back after getting my hammer back and running south on the opposite side of the river in the hopes of avoiding any predator attracted by the jaguar's cries.

Although it was certainly risky to take the jaguar carcass with me, and it did slow me down, unlike before, now I actually had a way to defend myself if needed.