Chapter 5: Set off!!
The light of dawn shined down on the forest, the morning dew drips to the earth, the animals awoke to hunt for food. The silence of the night was broken by the sounds of life.
Five days had passed since gildarts had decided to recuperate in the cavern.
*Swirl! Swirl!*
The calm lake waved around in silence, the gentle breeze carrying it along. The cavern was quiet, its silence resounding.
A lone figure could be seen sitting nearby the lake, taking long and stable breaths periodically.
*Inhale!….Exhale!*
With every breath, gildarts took in the ethernano found in the air.
The amount of ethernano present in the cavern had visibly declined. The glow surrounding the lake has dimmed and the shining crystals had become dull, gildarts had absorbed almost all the ethernano found in the area.
*Exhale!*
With a final exhale, he slowly opened his eyes after five days. He gets up and stretches to release the stiffness from his body that was a result of him sitting in the same posture for so long.
*Pop! Pop! Pop!*
"Hnnng…..that felt so good!!" He groans in satisfaction.
*Squeeze*
He clenches his fist and says, "That definitely helped….it had healed a good portion of my injury!".
"Now I can use around 25-30% of my strength without injuring myself.
Definitely an improvement!"
*GROWL!!*
A brutal sound like that of a dragon's roar was suddenly heard throughout the cavern, the noise instantly snapping him out of his thoughts.
He looks around in alarm and worry.…..before he suddenly clutches his stomach and says "Shit….so it was you HUH??!!"
"I haven't eaten in so long…..I thought for a second that Acnologia came back!!" He says in helplessness and embarrassment.
"It looks like I need to find some food ASAP, otherwise my stomach might just eat itself!" He says while shaking his head.
*GROWL! RUMBLE!*
"Alright! I get it…..keep it down will you?" He asks while rubbing his stomach and getting up to leave the cavern.
...…..
"I've got to say…..I can't express how glad I am about the memories!" Gildarts says to himself.
*Crackle!*
A small campfire could be seen before him, on top of which hung a dead boar that was being roasted.
"Gildarts memories helped me to hunt a boar in the forest, set up a fire and cook it!"
'Without it….I probably would have starved and died long before leaving the forest! Luckily, [Gildarts] knows quite a lot about living out in the wild.' He thinks to himself.
-Some time later-
*Burp!*
"Aaahh….That hit the spot." He sighed in satisfaction.
"Tsk! Tsk! That has got to be one of the best meals I've ever had! Do the animals here taste much better due to the presence of magic in the world?" He asks himself.
"Hmm…..A food for thought. I can look into it later." He shelves the idea to the back of his mind.
After filling his hungry stomach, Gildarts comes back to the lake and thinks.
'Now that I've got most of the important stuff done, I need a plan of action for the future. Firstly, I need information on where I am, what year it is and the general info around the places.'
Secondly, I need money, without it you really can't do much. Thirdly, I need a place to stay for a while. I'll decide what else to do after I get the above- mentioned things done.'
"Therefore...a village it is!!" He exclaims.
"But before that…..I need to train my magic properly." He says while preparing to practice.
Gildarts looks down at his hands and starts using his magic while trying to control its output, making sure that he doesn't use more than necessary.
*Swoosh!*
His body gets covered in the aura of his magic power, raising winds and pushing stones away.
"Let's begin!".
...…
Three days pass in the blink of an eye.
The cavern that used to be filled with chaos had gone silent.
"Haa…haa…haa"
The figure of gildarts could be seen panting while he laid on the ground.
After some time, he raises his right arm towards the ceiling and clenches it.
"Finally….I'm ready!" He says in determination.
Behind him, the view of the cavern could be seen. It was a scene of pure carnage and destruction. There were scar marks running along the walls, craters on the ground and many stones and boulders could be seen laying around in cube pieces.
-30 minutes later-
Gildarts starts preparing to leave the place where he had stayed for the past week. He gets some of the items he had made during his training using the hides of animals he hunted and the plants found in the forest.
He made a cloak from the hide of the boars he hunted, a sack from the barks and pieces of plants around as well as some dried food, fruits and water that he had acquired.
"Now which way should I go?" He asks confusedly.
"Well…..let's pick a random direction and hope it's the right one! Hahaha!" He says carelessly while picking a stick and dropping it.
*Drop!*
"East huh? Alright, let's go" he picks up his bag to leave.
Just as he was about to leave, Gildarts turned around to look at the place where he had stayed since coming to this world for one last time before leaving.
…..
He walked straight ahead, moving east for the next four hours. Stopping only once near a little creek to rest, eat some food and refill his water.
By the time evening came around, gildarts had left behind the primeval forest and reached the outskirts of it.
After walking some more, he reaches a clearing which he rushes towards.
"Well….what do you know, looks like Lady Luck has got my back!" He says while grinning broadly.
Before gildarts laid an empty grassland that sprawled across as far as the eyes can see. The gentle breeze ruffles the grass playfully and gets illuminated by the light of the setting sun, shrouding the beautiful image in shades of orange and yellow.
Gildarts stood enthralled by the beautiful view before him, gazing at it in wonder.
"Woah…." He whispers, before a wide grin overtakes his face.
"Get ready Earthland ... cause here I COME!!" He shouts in happiness before rushing forward.
"HAHAHAHA!!"
His joyful laughter could be still heard from a mile away.
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[A/N: Gildarts has finally taken his first step forward and has set off to the unknown. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far.]