Dawn crawled over the immense cliff and carried on down the slope, bringing a silvery light and a chorus of morning birds to wash over the small village of Surn.
I had spent what remained of the night, after long festivities of food and drink, in Edvars home. A small single bed in a spare room was of great comfort to me after the chaotic day that had passed. On rising, i glanced out the window that looked outside the village and down the slope. A small trail snaked its way into the slowly thinning forest below. This must be the main trail between the secluded mountain village and the outside world.
I felt well rested despite the late hour in which i retired, and the hangover i had fully expected to awaken with seemed to evade me to both my surprise and gratefulness. When i had closed my eyes, at first, felt no different to how i believe i slept as a human. Then suddenly, i was no longer just me. My consciousness had drifted outside the house and i had become a part of the very forest itself. Like the surrounding nature had shared its existence with me and i with it. I was unsure if it was all just a strange dream, but regardless i felt a sense of belonging here on the mountain side.
After some brief contemplation. I left the comfort of the bed and stepped outside into the sunlight and felt its warmth slowly growing.
[Photosynthesis activated]
The robotic voice of The System chimed in to let me know that i was absorbing sunlight and generating food for my body. This really is going to be a handy body.
Taking in the cool morning air, i stood and contemplated my next move. Do i leave the village now? Do i wait to say goodbye?
I didn't feel like i was the sort of person to enjoy the pageantry of farewells so i made up my mind and headed off down the path i had spotted earlier and in high spirits left the sleeping village behind me with a small wave and "thank you", spoken to myself and the trees.
Walking along the track was far easier going then the untamed slopes above. As the sun rose forty-five degrees to a mid-morning position, i broke from the tree line to find myself on a much clearer road with a spectacular view out into a valley that glistened from the Lake that wound through its centre. The lake was massive and seemed to disappear off into the horizon and was surrounded and dotted by small farms and villages lining the sides of the valley periodically, cutting into the nature around them.
"Where do i go from here?" I said out loud, more to myself than anything however the Voice answered me anyway.
"Our guidance was meant to be for using the system and your skills but i guess we can navigate for you as well."
"Mighty sassy today aren't we?"
The Voice laughed in response then proceeded to provide a verbal map of the region.
"If you take the road left, you will find yourself at the town of Castle Holm after a couple of days walk. You can almost see it from the cliff. Castle Holm is the capital of this whole region which is under its protectorate.
"What's to the right?"
A small town called Livin, a trading stop off for those looking to head on further to the region of Syndar.
"So away from those soldiers. Sounds good to me"
The region is full of open planes and agriculture and is rather prosperous. You should know that heading right is leaving Castle Holm's region and crossing into untamed lands controlled mostly by Elven people.
"Elves huh?"
Or you could head straight on down from here and set up a nice little place for yourself on
the lake. Perhaps take up fishing. Assuming one of the locals don't report you as a monster to the Lords of Castle Holm and they come to dispatch you.
"Right, so if i head left there are a bunch of Lords who might try to kill me. If i Head right there is hundreds of miles of travel with Elven Lords who might try to kill me, and if i stay here, someone will likely try to kill me?"
I think that about sums up the situation.
This was beginning to sound like a rather brutal time to be alive. I wanted to avoid battle the as much as possible, but hiding in the forest and living out my days as a scared little hermit also seemed like torture to me. I wanted to explore a little more but judging on how the soldiers last night reacted to me i figured it best i keep off the roads at least till i had a better feel for the people and customs of this time. I decided to continue on down towards the lake in the valley. At the very least i figured i still need water as a plant and finding a nice, secluded place to do a bit of training with my body and get use to my movements would be beneficial.
The remaining climb down was uneventful and before the sun had reached its peak directly above i found myself at the closest shore of the lake. It was larger up close. Even the shores of each side could barely be made out. There didn't seem to be any humans or settlements in my immediate vicinity so i stretched out and dipped my feet in the water. A strange sensation rose and subsided within me rapidly, and i had the instinctual inclination that i may have just drank with my feet.
After a breief soak, I walked back up from the water and decided to continue along the shoreline a little further in hopes of finding a little larger clearing that i could set up a rudimentary shelter.
A perfect spot presented itself only a few hundred meters along. Set back into the tree line slightly, a secluded clearing held just enough space for one of the huts of Surn.
"Perfect"
Concentrating now i started to repeat the visualisation process for forming my limbs into shapes and in few moments time had constructed a large wooden axe for an arm. It felt odd that i would try to cut trees as a plant myself but i needed a shelter. I pulled back my arm and swung with all my force. The large tree as thick as a man cracked and split, tipping over from the single strike. Damn, that was easy.
I lent down and using my basic knowledge of shelter building i must have obtained in my previous life, began the process of stripping the bark from the felled tree. I couldn't help but feel offput by this process.
"Sorry friend" i said as i patted the tree trunk.
Life and death is the way of the world, it always has been. This tree's life force has been transferred to you just like before. Though it was barely perceivable without a consciousness, it has still transferred on to you.
"Yeah, I'm not sure what came over me."
I really wasn't sure. I know i have killed before and seen immeasurable death in my past life. For some reason this first premeditated kill as a plant on another plant had taken me by surprise. After a short break i continued with my work, resolute and in a few more hours' time had constructed a reasonable lean-to shelter and stepped back to admire my work quite satisfied. That satisfaction only lasted a brief moment however as The Voice chimed in again.
I found your rudimentary carpentry somewhat interesting so didn't speak up but for future reference, you could have just grown a shelter.
"Huh?"
Why didn't you use your Body Control skill and simply grow a home?
I was baffled. The thought never even occurred to me and yet the skill itself clearly stated it was limited only by energy and imagination.
"For fuck sake" i yelled and some nearby birds scattered from the treetops.
Looking at my shelter and regretting the two hours wasted, i began to concentrate on my body control skill while picturing Edvars house. At first my body began to grow and limbs I'd never had before extruded from other limbs until a tangle of timber spread across the clearing and collided with my shelter. Then to my surprise, my body began to meld with the trees i had cut previously. They became a part of my body and took shape in along with my imagination.
In only a few minutes, what remained was a near perfect replica of a village house. Of course there was nothing inside, but the structure was sound and i had simply grown a house out of nothing. Well not nothing, i used some trees as well.
Now that is very interesting. Merging with those other trees was beyond even our initial ideation. What a fascinating turn of events. You have just melded with plant matter on a molecular level simply by accident. I'm starting to wonder if there isn't something more to your existence that seems to defy probability.
I wasn't too sure what had happened either. I disconnected my arm from the house and stepped back once more to inspect it.
"Now this is one hell of a handy body."
I sat down back on the shoreline of the lake and bathed in the warm afternoon sunlight that was glistening and dancing across the lake surface. Staring across the water in the tree line a few miles away i could just make out something in the trees that seemed odd. After pondering for a moment i realised that what i was looking at wasn't just trees, it seemed to be a vertical log wall for some kind of compound. I'd set up home far closer to company than i had realised. This is going to call for some scout work. Concealed compounds are never good.