Kyle didn't move from his spot and simply stared at the source of the disturbance, his gaze sharp and focused. His hand slowly wrapped around the hilt of the jagged dagger as three figures took shape in the distance.
"He wasn't lying about coming from the Ashmark clan,"
Kyle muttered under his breath.
Three goblins emerged from the bushes, one dragging a stone club while the other two were equipped with rusted daggers. Just like the first goblin he had met, their eyes revealed a hint of fear before rage slipped in, twisting their facial expressions. Their attention quickly shifted to the corpse in the center of the clearing, covered in dried blood.
Seeing their brother on the ground, with a kobold sitting in his place and going through loot they clearly remembered earning, was infuriating. All three growled at the top of their lungs as they prepared to charge forward, but suddenly froze.
'What's going on?'
Kyle noticed the shift in the atmosphere and felt uneasy. Their expressions were now marred with fear as they slowly turned their attention toward the bugs that were nearly done feasting on bird corpses. Only then did Kyle truly pay them any mind, and his face twisted in disgust at the sight of fist-sized holes riddling the bird's body, its eyes frozen in agony from before death. These things had burrowed straight through the corpse, eating anything and everything in their path.
'They're afraid of those?'
Kyle suddenly felt deeply unsettled.
He had ignored the bugs before, not thinking much of them. But seeing three goblins react with fear made him realize how foolish that had been. As the goblins slowly backed away, Kyle decided it would be best to do the same. He had no desire to find out why those creatures inspired such terror.
Carefully, he placed the diary back into the leather bag and slung it over his shoulder before picking up the jagged dagger, abandoning his bone dagger where it lay. He and the goblins exchanged cold stares as they retreated in opposite directions, disappearing into the bed of flowers behind them.
'That was close,'
Kyle thought as he began moving in a direction he knew nothing about.
Unlike before, he didn't dare keep his head raised. Instead, he stayed low beneath the tall grasses and flowers, carefully navigating through the field without knowing where the journey would lead.
'Entering here without a clear plan on how to get back is the dumbest decision, but how far did I stray from the right path?'
At that moment, an idea crossed Kyle's mind. As long as he could find the hill, he would know which direction to go. All the regions revolved around the hill, and his home lay to the north of it, while the Ashmark clan controlled the northern region. While spotting the hill wouldn't give him an exact direction, it would narrow his options to either left or right.
'I didn't venture too far from my region, so I believe an hour's journey in any direction should be enough to give me a view of the regional borders. If I walk for an hour and see nothing, then it means I'm heading toward the Ashmark southern territory.'
Only then did Kyle feel embarrassed that he had so little to show for after living an entire lifetime on Earth. As someone who had read countless transmigration novels, he was certain he was the most unimpressive of the bunch.
With the hill's position decided, Kyle was left with two directions to choose from. As a Christian, he picked the right path for sentimental reasons.
'But hold on. Since I didn't go to heaven or hell, does that mean Christianity is a lie, or could this be God's plan? I reincarnated in a world with a system and my memories intact. Clearly, someone of godly status is involved in all this. So yeah, let's not judge yet, or I might find my ass in hell when I finally get killed in this world.'
Kyle let his thoughts wander as he navigated the chaotic battlefield. Several times, he came across those worms feeding on living creatures and the corpses of birds, goblins, rabbits, tiger bunnies, and just about anything else unfortunate enough to cross their path. To be fair, decapitated bug corpses were also common, proof that everyone was taking losses here. Thanks to his Predator's Awareness, Kyle managed to avoid danger while keeping his head low.
After an unknown amount of time, Kyle paused and cautiously lifted his head, peering beyond the reeds. His eyes lit up with excitement as a familiar wall of trees came into view in the distance, marking the border between the bed of reeds and the northern region.
'Thank you, Lord!'
He cried out in his heart.
Without hesitation, he pressed on, eager to escape this death field.
Unknown to him, several figures watched from afar. They were beyond the range of his Predator's Awareness, and he couldn't sense that the three goblins were trailing him. They had retreated earlier, but that didn't mean they had given up on avenging their brother's death.
By the time Kyle finally emerged from the bed of reeds and entered the northern forest, evening had already fallen. The sun dipped low, casting an amber hue across the sky. Because he had been forced to maneuver around dangerous areas, he hadn't traveled in a straight line. The detours drained his energy, costing him ten stamina points and leaving him thirsty by the time he crossed into safer territory.
He ventured deeper into the forest until night fully settled in, the thin rays of moonlight piercing through the canopy as his only source of illumination.
As usual, Kyle didn't dare sleep on the forest floor. He was strong, but not invincible. He climbed a tree and found a sturdy branch where he could lie down comfortably.
'Maybe I'll read a few pages in the morning before leaving. I'm curious to see this human's findings about power and the difference between mages and sorcerers in this world.'
Kyle let his thoughts drift as he clutched the bag like his life depended on it. He shut his eyes tightly, hoping morning would arrive quickly. With the cool night breeze and the sheltering leaves above him, he soon drifted into sleep, his body finally released from the stress and tension it had endured throughout the day.