First Hunt

The next day.... 

Shokal woke up after a long good sleep. He was feeling quite refreshed today. He sprayed out some big leaves he collected before to the floor of the white space last night . It was relatively better than sleeping on the floor. Maybe that's what helped him to have a good sleep.

He couldn't tell what time it was . But he was sure that he had slept for about 10 hours. He came out from Eden and saw it's late in the morning.

"So I really slept for a long time huh! I should start looking around and search for a water source."

Of course that was his initial plan now. The blue berries were not gonna save him for long. And water was needed more than food for now. Thinking that, he started walking to the direction where he found the blue berries. As he was sure,that there will be more blue berry bushes nearby... ...

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Shokal Walked for about an hour. He had looked around as he was walking all the time for eye catching things and for potential threats.! He was collecting whatever things he found useful in his storage as he was walking. He could see their status in his mind as soon as he touched them . Because whatever he touched, he registered it in Eden and summoned it in his hand in the split second.

Luckily ,he found some more blue berries, Some more sticks, some Salty leaves that he could eat, and some unfamiliar mushrooms that can give hallucinations if eaten. He had summoned a long stick and was using it as a makeshift weapon for now. He poked the nearby bushes or made vibration around him so that dangerous animals can go away if there's hiding any...

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Suddenly he heard some noise in one of the bushes Infront of him. A strange faint sound like 'criiick' ,'criiick ' can be heard from that bush. Shokal was alerted by that sound. He positioned the stick Infront of him like a sword stance and was ready to summon gate and hide. But the curiosity inside him was telling him to watch. He stood there silently and focused on the bush , watching its condition carefully...

After a while an ant like creature crawled out from that bush. It was the size of a cat. Two sharp splinters Infront of his mouth were carrying a green branch of the bush. 

Almost immediately it spotted Shokal and started to run with its 6 legs to the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, it was still in Shokal's area of strike.He swang the stick as fast he could but missed the first time. The ant then dropped the branch from his splinters and continued running. But on the 2nd time, with a strong swing, he easily broke the ants back 2 legs. The poor ant could not run fast anymore. And another strike of the long stick spilt the body of the ant in two.

The screen appeared almost immediately with the message.

" So I really got shards from killing."

Actually Shokal had no intention to kill the poor ant but he had to check if he could gain shards by killing it and also the information that would come with it.

He touched the body to store it in Eden and opened it's status window.

[ Description: Can release very mild acid from it's acid glands, located in its splinters.]

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"So the creatures have a rank too . And it's the same rank as me. And I got only 0.5 shard from killing something normal. Who knows how much time it would take to collect 1000 shard."

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He went a little further and found some other ants too.They were not that hard to kill when alone and with little struggle, shokal managed to kill 3 more ants. For now, Shokal's whole aim was to kill as many dormant creatures as he could. He did not care if he became a mindless slaughterer of little creatures but He needed the shards as he was curious what 'Edens' upgrade would bring. He was hoping to become stronger from that upgrade. The fear of the unknown was killing him mentally. He didn't want to become some creatures food. So to escape the forest and search for human civilization, he needed to be strong at any cost.

He started to follow one ant from afar , tracking the ants trails carefully. The ants were the size of a cat so, they also needed a large demand for food and water. Ants usually farm fungus inside their nest for food. But they definitely need water from outside for the large colony. So shokal was planning to use their trails to find water source. He was careful not to face the ant directly.He didn't want to scare it away, or suddenly find himself Infront of a large group of ants.. Because , even 5 of them together would be overwhelming for him. So he was super cautious and was following behind the ant very carefully.

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After some time shokal noticed that the ant Infront of him met some other ants in a line. It was a two way line stretching like a black strip in the forest. Some of the ants were carrying little branches, parts of flesh , large leaves in their splinter. There were some bigger ones in the line too. They were a little bigger than the regular ants with

strong splinters that could snap the stick shokal was carrying easily. Shokal understood that they were the guardian ants. Facing one of them now will guarantee a limb loss for him, he thought nervously.

Usually, ants carry their loot to their colony, so he followed the opposite direction from where the ants were coming . He was careful not to get the slightest attention of the ants. He would never be able to save himself from that many ants. And the thought of getting devoured alive was giving him goosebumps....

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After a long time, he could notice a wide clear area in the distance. The forest was getting thinner around this part. And the Giant trees were missing. As he got near the view became clearer.And he found himself in a grassy wide area with no trees. There was a big lake in that wide area. The water was calm. Gentle breeze was blowing over it. And the bluish surface of the water was creating a lot of tiny waves. Shokal was admiring the view. This was the first time he saw the sky clearly after coming to this world. It was light blue just like earth. White clouds were hovering over, the sun was shining like it used to on earth.

The area around the lake was so calm. It was surrounded by the thick forest,but at the same time was nothing like the forest at all. As if someone dug a hole in the middle of the thick forest to make a pasture. Shokal noticed some wooden gate like structure on the other side of the lake but wasn't so curious to check it out right then. He carefully rushed to the lake and took some water in his hand. Instantly, it got identified in his mind and he started drinking like crazy....