He walked aimlessly.
Without any direction in mind, he let his legs take him somewhere.
His mind wandered.
Without any goal, his thoughts lingered in the past.
The summoning, his encounter with Emilia, the battle against Elsa, the onis of the mansion, wolgarm attack, humiliation and beating at the palace, the White Whale, Petelgeuss and the Witch Cult, Rem's sleeping beauty state, the sanctuary events, the Sizable Rabbit, battle in Priestella, his betrayal, his imprisonment and torture.
Now this.
A sound of running water entered Subaru's ears.
He was so into his thoughts that he didn't notice he was heading towards a small creak.
"Oh." Voice rusty and low, as if not having spoken for years.
He kneeled down in front of the creak as he fiddled on his helmet.
Letting out a hiss, the helmet clicked and let go of it's hold on Subaru's head.
Subaru set it aside then proceeded to scope some water on his hands, only to find it dilute the dried blood on his hands.
Sighing, he washed his hand, coloring the stream with some red. And as soon as it's clean, Subaru scoped water once more.
"...haaahh." he let out a satisfied exhale as he felt the cold water wash down his throat.
Subaru put on his helmet then disengaged his entire armor, leaving him only on his shirt, tracksuit pants and rubber shoes.
He then looked for a deeper part of the creak, and surely enough he did.
A deep part where he can soak his lower half.
He took off his clothes and slowly dipped himself, hissing at the cold water.
Looking at his body, he couldn't help but cringe.
2 full meals of deer meat from 3 days ago didn't have any effect it seems, he looked like a skeleton. How he even managed to fend off Corin, he didn't know.
He was pale, and his scars and bruises from the recent incidents were still as present as ever.
He rubbed his body, scoping water to wash down any grime, dried blood and sweat.
When his hand landed on his left hip, that's when he noticed the lack of pain.
"Why was- oh, I did drink a small HV a while ago." He uttered, checking if he isn't just numb.
He kept washing his body, until he saw his face on the water.
Despite it's ripple, he managed to grasp his current state.
He froze, unable to fully accept what he was looking at.
Sunken eyes, boney face, sick pale white skin, and his eyes, looked very dull. As if there was no life in it.
Subaru gasped backed away.
"W-W-Who is-...no! No no no no!"
That wasn't his face, right? It was just the ripple right?
Still shaking, he put his hands on his face...and looked down on his reflection.
That face, was still there, being touched by his hands.
Subaru started breathing heavily, then it evolved into sobs, and inevitably, cries.
...
...
...
It took him almost an hour to gather himself, to fully understand what he needed to do.
That moment, when he saw what became of him...part of him broke.
Was it his sanity? His heart? His mind?
No. It's his innocence, the sole reason why he couldn't even stomach the idea of killing.
His overview of life, was cracked.
He had so many questions, ever since his Isekai fantasy was crushed to the bits.
He could understand, the reality that he's just a normal kid. But all his misfortunes, his fails and his betrayals. Though the latter was only twice, it did a number on him.
He couldn't help but feel like the world was against him, his time on Earth can't compare to this.
He felt, like suffering was all his life will be, and he can't do anything about it.
So, what should he do? Simple.
Become stronger, better and colder.
The first one was something he needs to do ASAP, the second pertains to finding his flaws and correcting them, and the last one, involves his hesitant naive mindset.
He was chastised about it by Clind, who inadvertently told him how disgusting it was.
He was grateful to that butler, despite who he is. For his passive aggressive statements actually made Subaru understand the logic behind his self-hatred.
It's not truly all of it, but it's a start for Subaru.
"If you truly believe that everyone would pity you because you hated yourself, isn't it a little too conceited of you?"
Clind's words echoed, and Subaru hated that he was right.
"Nothing will be lost if you change, you yourself should know that."
Annerose's nonchalant words struck deeply in his soul, and Subaru annoyingly agreed to it's reality.
"What an insufferable man you are I suppose."
Subaru froze, why did Beatrice's first words to him flashed on his mind.
Remembering the Great Spirit who broke the contract in front of him sent waves of pain within his heart.
"The fact that I don't feel hatred towards her, says a lot." He mumbled.
Now on his suit, Subaru trekked the forest.
It wasn't because was walking without a goal in mind, he actually does.
Find a shelter.
Eliminate any Mabeasts for exp.
Find food, whether foraging or hunting.
For now, those are his objective. He decided to do things step by step. Not exactly different from what he was doing before but it was the only logical thing he could come up with.
Another note, he decided to upgrade his suit twice. A little expensive but it is worth it.
Currently at level 5, as an added protection. He also noticed that the number of EF points increased every level.
His credits are enough to upgrade it 2 more levels, but he is saving up for the next weapon --a submachine gun.
The pistol is good, but increasing his arsenal is better.
Subaru walked and walked, until--
"An abandoned house?"
Calling it a house seemed to not fit the description.
It looked more like an abandoned shack. Left untouched for months.
But for Subaru, this could be a sign of completion of finding a shelter. Now he only has to check if it's livable.
Before he went inside, he walked around it.
Seeing no sign of damages, he went in. As expected though, it was dusty and cobwebs were all over.
Subaru looked at the door frame.
Before he opened it, he noticed multiple claw marks on it. Each claw marks aren't wide enough, but it's a sign that there was something that tried to go inside.
It is suspicious that a lone cabin in the woods was still in condition, but seeing this made sense.
'No wonder why it was left behind.' he thought.
Whoever lived in here, was being hunted and probably stalked by whatever was in the forest.
But again, for Subaru, this could mean a potential grinding place for exp.
...
...
...
It took 3 hours to give the cabin a little cleaning.
The problem however, was the cabin is empty. No kitchen utensils, no chairs, not even a table. There is a bed frame so he only needs to lay something on top to make it sleep-able.
Now the problem now, is food. And water.
He could go back to that creek, but not only will it will take him almost an hour, he also could be lost as he didn't memorize the path he took.
Not to mention, it is already dawn. He could lose this shelter once he gets lost in the forest in the middle of the night.
He could camp out again, but having a roof above and walls surrounding him felt safer.
The reality however, is that he's hungry and thirsty.
With a sigh, he took out a small HV. While his health is at 70% due to hunger and thirst, it couldn't be healed by HV vials. But the HV does sate his thirst, even for a bit.
With no more choice but to sleep, Subaru layed on the cushionless bed.
His suit along with his shirt and pants provide enough heat for him to not freeze in the cold of the night.
He has no choice but to sleep in his suit, as it's also a means for protection. He may have locked the door and the wooden windows but it's better safe than sorry.
But to his dismay, there was that feeling.
The same feeling he felt before he escaped Priestella via a boat.
Something bad is gonna happen.
But despite that, he's too tired to care. And even if something did happen.
He needed all the rest he can get.
That night, he had a little goodnight sleep. Unaware of the creatures that were attracted to his scent.
The scent of the Witch.
...
...
...
The head of a lion, the torso of a horse or goat, a snake-like tail, and a large body capable of blocking a wide passageway.
Known as the Jet Black King of the forest and/or the Shadow Lion, the Guiltylowe trekked through the forest gracefully.
It's face scrunched up, as the wafting scent of the Witch invaded it's nose.
It let out a growl when the scent got stronger and stronger.
One would think that this large majestic beast informs every creature of it's existence with each step.
But contrary to it's heavy frame, it masterfully tread without a sound.
They are creatures of stealth after all. As they lightly move around, silently killing their prey with one blow to their vitals, and are skilled at ambush and assassination like hunting.
As it moved towards it's target, it heard an echoing sound.
Like thunder, this booming sound made vibrations that rippled through the air.
I did not deter the Shadow Lion however, as the sound it heard only masks it's presence more.
The sound was consistent, sometimes once every second, sometimes twice a second.
As the Guiltylowe got closer, the sound started to get less and less frequent. And the smell of blood got more and more present.
The Guiltylowe's blood boiled, instinct to hunt flared.
As a hunter, it was built to find, stalk and kill it's prey. And that prey, is close, very close.
—less than 20 minutes ago, with Subaru.
The sound of scratching and familiar howling of wolgarms woke up the raven haired boy in a suit.
Having less than three hours of sleep, he's understandably pissed.
"Tsk! Can't even have a good night rest?" He whispered with frustration.
It was a miracle that he didn't get attacked at night until now by Mabeasts during his time alone in the forest.
But it was also a bad time as he felt weak and hungry. Though he knew the Mabeasts won't care.
They are out for his blood and he has no choice but to fight back.
Taking out his pistol, he made sure to count how many bullets it had.
"6 rounds."
He has more than 25 clips left, and if needed , he could use his grenade.
But he using the grenade inside the house is not a choice he has to make, unless he absolutely has no choice.
He aimed his gun at the door frame, where he hears the scratches.
These Mabeasts knew the entrance, they could be the one's that stalked the former owner of the cabin.
There was a decision he can make that has less consequences.
Taking a deep breath, he focused the Cross Hair, and pulled the trigger.
The result was expected. There now was a small hole on the door, but there also was a howling of pain.
Thinking fast, Subaru dashed towards the door and activated his Cloaking.
He opened the door, but didn't go out.
His plan was to use his Cloak to deceive the wolgarms' vision, confusing them and he's gonna take advantage of that and shoot them while they can't see him.
He doesn't need to move his entire body, just his hands when he aims and reloads.
Not even 3 seconds in, the wolgarms started coming in.
One wolgarms after another, Subaru shot them all, though he has to shoot 1 wolgarm twice as he missed it's head.
After the sixth shot, he immediately ejected the empty mag and slotted the full one, then continued shooting.
The wolgarms were so excited by the scent that they didn't care that they were becoming more and more feral. Ignoring everything around them only to get to their target.
The wolgarms got closer, but failed in attacking as they couldn't see the exact position of Subaru.
But Subaru knew it was a matter of time, so he racked his brain for a solution.
After the 15 round, he reloaded while ignoring his numbing hands. As expected, he still isn't used to the recoil.
But he had to dodge while reloading as one of the wolgarms that just came coincidentally pounced where his position was.
Subaru took out a Flash grenade, pulled it's ring and threw it at the incoming wolgarms, and also turned his head around and covering his ears.
The wolgarms were suddenly attacked by a multiple strong yet instantaneous light that blinded their eyes.
Subaru jumped back to gain distance, also ignoring his now ringing ears as he aimed his gun.
There were 11 wolgarms that are still standing. They whined and growled as they used their paws to scratch their stinging eyes.
Wasting no more time, Subaru aimed
—and fired.