I woke up at dawn, the barest hint of sunlight coming over the horizon. I would have been annoyed before I got to this world, but now I'm thankful for my internal alarm, as it lets me make the most of the day.
I rose from the bed, stretching my arms above my head and cracking my back while I yawned. I did some quick toe touches to stretch my legs before standing up and exiting the house.
What can I say, being a morning person has its perks. Especially when my survival depended on making use of every minute of daylight.
My plan was pretty simple. I didn't find a map while pillaging the village yesterday, so while I ate some fruit and bread, still fresh thanks to the spatial ring, I went to search for one.
After about an hour or two, my search for a map proved fruitless. I was able to scrounge up a few more pieces of food and containers of water, but nothing else.
I was pretty sure I had searched every house that was at least partially standing, even rummaging through the debris of a few collapsed houses, but I quickly gave up.
So, satisfied with the knowledge that I had gone through a thorough check of the town, I set off towards the wall that surrounded the town, intent on finding another gate.
The gate I went through yesterday was on the south end of town, so this time I traveled east before hitting the wall and following it along to the north.
Good news, there was another 'gate' I could use to exit the town. Bad news, the scenery was decidedly worse than the gate I visited yesterday.
The ash was so deep that it came up to my ankles, causing me to trip when I stepped in it. The worst part was that there were mounds of the stuff that were almost as tall as my waist.
The bits of molten metal had been upgraded to chunks, some were bigger than me and were melted directly onto the stone. The only way I knew where the houses once stood was the stone steps and foundations and even those were partially melted.
Stepping through the giant gaping hole in the wall, I saw that the stonework that once made up the arch had also melted and cooled, leaving what looked like a lava flow down the sides of the walls.
As I made it through the hole I found that, unlike the south end, the surrounding outside of the town hadn't been spared here. There was a notable black circle of death where nothing grew, and it extended a few dozen yards before ending with a layer of green grass and trees.
A path cut through the grass and trees that were more worn and defined than the one at the south gate.
I walked towards the green, stomping my feet as I walked to try and knock off some of the ash that clung to them. Looking down, I saw that I had failed.
I trudged forward, eventually stepping on grass for the first time since I came here. I slowly reached down and touched it, feeling the tall blades give way and tickle my skin.
'Well, I can see why everyone always says to touch grass on the internet,' I thought with some amusement though it quickly faded when I saw the destruction in my peripherals.
I got up and slowly began walking west, following the wall to make sure I didn't get lost. The forest grew thicker before I found myself back at the south gate and the path that ran through there.
I had two options to go look for water, the north or the south. From my limited knowledge of forests, I knew that the thicker the foliage the more water was around. Considering that the southern forest was denser I decided to search there.
My strategy was simple, follow the path and hope it would lead me to where I needed to go. My thinking is that since I didn't find any wells in town, there has to be a relatively close source of water, otherwise, the town wouldn't be able to exist.
Of course, there was always the chance that there were wells in the town and I just either missed them or they were destroyed in the dragon attack. But that doesn't help me at all, as I have no idea how to rebuild them if they were destroyed and would still need to find water from an outside source.
Hence, I decided to use my time to look around the land and find one. Even if I didn't find one today, I would still get a lay of the land, which would help me navigate my way back to the town when I inevitably wander off the path and into the forest to look for food.
I made my way down the path, occasionally wandering off a couple of yards to look for something while straining my ears for the sound of running water.
I continued like that for hours, stopping every once in a while to take breaks to eat and practice my breathing technique. Funnily enough, this was helping with training the skin on my feet because of the blisters I kept getting and then having to heal.
It was afternoon when I finally found, or rather heard, what I was looking for, the sound of rushing water.
I eagerly followed it through the forest before I arrived at a wide river, the sound coming from a small waterfall. I smiled as I made my way to it, cupping my hands under the rushing water before bringing the water to my lips for a drink.
It was the best water I had ever had in my life. Whether it was because I had spent so much time and effort trying to find it, or because it was another world, I didn't know, and I didn't care.
I drank about a dozen gulps before the realization set in that I probably should have boiled it to kill the germs, but too late for that now. Here's to hoping I don't get dysentery!
I backed away from the waterfall and, in doing so, saw my reflection for the first time since coming here. I blinked before raising my hand, the young man in the river copying the action perfectly.
It was weird to see myself in something that wasn't a mirror. The first thing I noticed was that I was covered in so much ash and soot that I'm surprised I hadn't paid attention to it until now.
But other than that, I looked the same. Medium-length blonde hair, green eyes that I've been told were pretty, and looking not a day older than twenty. Which was good considering I was twenty but still, I'm glad that nothing changed.
A common trope in these stories is that the main character finds themselves younger or in a completely different body. Nice to see that didn't happen, I'm not sure I could deal with being a kid again or waking up in someone else's body.
Throwing aside all those thoughts I look at my reflection and start to feel all the shit I have stuck to my skin. The ash, soot, sweat, and blood all made themselves known, and suddenly it was impossible to ignore how filthy I had been for the past two days.
I looked at the clear flowing water of the river before looking around for any signs of another person. Finding nothing, I quickly stripped down and jumped in the river before scrubbing myself clean with enough vigor that my skin turned red after I was done.
I quickly finished my bathing, wanting to avoid being naked in the forest for long, before filling up every container that I had in my spatial ring with water so that I could boil it later.
Afterward, I made my way back down the path and arrived back at the town. I started a fire using some not-completely-burnt wood and set a big pot filled with water over it to boil.
I boiled all the water I had collected in short order and decided to experiment with the ring. I put a hot pot of boiling water in there and left it for about an hour. I then brought it back out and confirmed that it was still boiling, meaning that I had the perfect food storage system.
At the thought of food, I felt my stomach growl so I decided to go out and see if I could find some dinner.
First, I decided to go back down to the river and try my hand at fishing. I found a fishing rod when I was rummaging through the remains of the village, and I'm going to put it to good use.
On my way to the river, I found a few worms to use as bait. I baited them on the hook and threw my line out into the widest part of the river I could find.
I stayed out there until dusk before making my way back to the town with my prizes in hand. A variety of berries I had picked along with two fish.
I had no idea what kind of berries they were, though. I did see a few birds eating them from the tree, so I'm sure they're safe enough to eat.
Still, I only had a few berries before eating some bread I stored in my spatial ring, just to be safe. As for the fish, I put one in my spatial ring for safekeeping and ate the other one after getting the fire going again.
If I don't puke my guts out in the middle of the night and am still alive tomorrow morning, then I'll eat more and see what happens.
With that solid plan of action, I drank some of my freshly boiled water before sitting on the bed I'd been sleeping in and writing a journal entry.
I found some pencils and a blank notebook when I went searching this morning, and decided that it would be helpful to keep a journal. I mostly did it so I could keep track of the days but also as something to do to cure my boredom.
I finished writing everything down, from waking up in this world and seeing the dragon to meeting the woman and getting the Nine Color Purifying Elemental Body Manual. Afterwards, I tossed it in my ring and lay down for bed.
Today was good. I got a steady supply of both water and food in the form of the river, had a bath for the first time, and got a lay of the land. Tomorrow I'll cultivate, go fishing, and bathe again. Maybe wash my clothes too, I could use something that's not covered in ash, sticking to my skin.
Unfortunately, now that I had a moment of downtime, the full reality of my situation hit me, and I couldn't hold back my tears.
Mom, Dad, my brother, my friends, they were gone. I was left here in a deserted ash filled village, not knowing when some jackass cultivator would come down and decided to kill me for the hell of it.
Or worse, the dragon could come back and finish me off.
I was alone. Completely alone in another world with fucking dragons, cultivators, and all other sorts of bullshit. My friends, my family, everyone I knew was gone, and I would probably never see them again.
I had kept it together so far, mostly out of desperate need to live and not starve to death, but now that I could relax, it felt like a weight was crushing my chest.
My stomach twisted in knots as I flashed back to the lady, broken, bloody, and burnt on the ground in front of me. Dying, as I could do nothing to help.
My one chance of human connection, snatched from me, slipped right through my fingertips, leaving me with one thought.
What if it were me next time?
The thought was treacherous, a worm that would not leave constantly gnawing at the back of my mind, but it remained despite my best efforts to purge it.
I let my tears flow, careful not to make any noise just in case the dragon came back. But eventually, my tears dried up, leaving me sniffing and hiccuping as I tried to calm down.
I was able to rip myself out of the depressing spiral I found my thoughts in after a few minutes, which left me with one feeling.
Fiery, unrelenting determination.
I'm not hopeless. I have the Nine Color Purifying Elemental Body Manual at my disposal and unrelenting will.
I will never feel that weak or useless again. I'm going to get strong, strong enough to kill anything that poses that threat to me, and strong enough to help anyone I come across.
I swear it.