Escape from Hell 3 (High School DxD SI)

There are a lot of things I have come to learn about the monster forest.

One, trees that are still full of fruit are a trap. Those ones are the trees that can move and extend their branches to entrap and kill you. It's the trees that have some or most of their fruit plucked, that tend to be the safest. Problem is the competition on the leftovers.

Two, never drink from the river, or any river you find, directly. Use some sort of cup, non-conductive preferably. The power-grid gorilla has a habit of hiding near the river banks, and electrocute the water whenever a creatures comes to drink, shocking them into fainting or paralyzing them. Either way, it makes it easier for him get his prey and beat them to death afterwards.

Three, monsters that are larger than you are not likely to chase you if you run into them. If you find yourself next to a lion (those are stupidly huge here...and fire laser beams, because of course), they will put some effort into eating you, but if you successfully escape, they will ignore you for larger monster, unless they are particularly hungry. Or you personally pissed them off.

On the other hand though, any monster close in size or smaller than you? Those are the fuckers that you need to worry about.

"Fuck you, Sparky!" I shouted, trying to pull the pomegranate out of the critter's nibble hands.

"Krrreeeeeekkk!" The giant (well, he was as tall as I am) ferret with a wolf-like face, and spiked fur buzzing with electricity screeched back at me, digging its nails into the fruit. Sparky, as I've come to name this particular electric ferret, was one of the many monsters that lived in the general area I inhabited in the forest.

Originally I tried leaving the forest, but the more I walked the more it seemed like there was no treeline to exit from. When I learned which trees where safe, and managed to climb the highest one I could find, I realized that leaving the forest would be a journey all on it's own. The forest extended for miles as far as my eyes could see. The other problem however was that if I travel far enough regardless of direction, I will inevitably land in an area populated by the giant, or terrifyingly dangerous creatures.

Of those dangerous creatures where those of the poisonous variety. One of them was a moss covered bird that could disguise itself as a tree. The moment I was near it, it tried to gobble me. While it missed, it's peak scratched me, and while I managed to ran away, it's poison kept me in pain for days even with Critical Heal working in overdrive. Thankfully I found a hole to hide in, let Critical Heal draw on my magic sparingly after the Sacred Gear's the initial charges were done, withstand the pain for as long as I could, so that Critical Heal would eventually overcome the poison rather than run out of juice.

Other areas would either have creatures that use illusions, or there is the mountain side. All I know about the last area was that if I walked up the river, I will eventually reach the base of the mountain nearby. That area is deadly abandoned, all the usual monsters seem to try and stay away from the mountain. So, I took that as a warning sign to just not go there, because if even hydras avoid the place, I don't think squishy me will have a better shot.

The reason why the territory I lived in was the one with mid-to-small sized creatures, was that while all the big or scary monsters stuck to their areas, on occasion they would come to have a snack from the critters' area.

Yeah, for the past five months, I was stuck in the luxury hunting ground for monsters. Naturally I made...acquaintances.

"Kreeekt!" Even if it shouldn't be physically possible, I swear there was a grin on the ferret-wolf's face. I prepared my Sacred Gear's charge and braced myself.

Blue electricity danced across Sparky's back, before flying up and slamming into us. I swear if I ever survive the monster forest and go back home, I'm suing Sparky on behalf of Nintendo for copyright infringement.

I gritted my teeth, as the shocking magic energy slammed into to, and felt some drool fall from my mouth. It was fine though, Sparky usually expects me to leave the meal we're competing for right about now.

"Heal!"

At that moment, all the pain from Sparky's taser shots was gone, and my hold on the fruit strengthened. I pulled again on the fruit between my hands, but the devious little electric ferret wasn't done.

"Kreeek!" As usual, he shot a stronger electric shock, since I wasn't fast enough to pull the fruit away. At this point I would usually let go and start running, or risk losing the feel in my limbs. "Kreek?" The ferret-wolf creaked in confusion.

That was before though.

The thing is, one of the major benefits of Critical Heal that I noticed near instantly was that, it increased my ability to adapt. A sharp claw that could cut through the skin, after using Critical Heal and suffering that experience a few more times, now left only a line of blood. Food that nearly killed me, would just give me a stomachache. And in this case, electricity that would spaz my muscles into not freezing...well it still hurt like fuck but I could still move. The more I healed from something that injured or hurt me, the more I gained resistance to it.

And all of that's without actively Healing while experiencing those events. One Heal took care of almost all the normal damage I would accumulate throughout the day. From cuts and scrapes, to dizziness and light mental fatigue. If I focus it, then I could heal from a cut to the bone, or food poisoning. Two Heals can deal with broken bones and internal damages. Three and I could probably come back from a life threatening injury.

Three Heals was the normal charge my Sacred Gear had on its own. After that I could use more Heals by using my magic as a fuel source. The thing is, I can layer my Heal charges to recover myself from a lot of damage in one go. Given that Sacred Gears, beyond their basic function, can give more output based on the user's desires, it is possible to use more charges from the Sacred Gear itself without needing to use magical energy. I think in theory if I layered enough Heals with desire alone, I could refill my magic tank from empty to full in one go. However I haven't felt that same intense emotions from the time the Sacred Gear evolved, nor can I summon that mental state again. So I that's one idea I can't put to the test.

The most consistent benefit of Critical Heal though, is that every time I pushed my body to the limit, every time I tore my muscles, or exhausted my stamina from sprinting away from monsters, I grew stronger. Torn muscle rebuild stronger, I could run for longer at full sprint before tiring, and I could take more hits and keep going. Naturally, every time I emptied my magic tank to zero, like an exercised muscle, it increased just that bit more. And as my magic increased, due to the physical activity I focused on (not like I could focus on anything else), I felt the aura sweep into my bones, muscles and nerves, making me just that extra bit stronger, faster and more reactive.

"Heal!"

While the pain was gone, and pulled on the pomegranate, while trying to pull Sparky with the momentum, and the spinning. He ended up getting pulled into my spin, surprised that I could move as well as I did than he usually expected. This trick won't work on him next time, but for now as I felt his nail drag and then fall off the fruit while giving me some scratches on my hand, I knew victory was mine.

"Kreeeeekt!" He screeched as he fell on the ground, by the time he got up, I was already sprinting away.

"Haha, screw you, Sparky! Better luck next time, you taser rat!" I said as I climbed some branches, jumping from one tree to another.

I could hear Sparky screaming at me, as he knew where I was headed and so stopped chasing me. Given that he fell for that trick before, he wasn't willing to try again for now.

It took a lot of practice, but I learned how to hit fast moving objects with palm-sized rocks a few weeks back. The learned that trick, all so I could lead any creature that chased me, to the one killer tree in this territory that had one branch. I would lead them to that tree have it attack me, and deflect it with a stone, and leave them in its path to be captured.

Today I got my meal for the week. The biggest blessing I gain from my Sacred Gear was that I technically didn't need to eat, drink or sleep. Critical Heal would just return my body to a healthy state mentally and physically if I use a big enough charge. Hell, if I was extra cautious (it ain't paranoia if everything is out to get you), I would even forgo the need to pee or poop, because I could just burn the waste from inside my body with Heals.

The problem is that doing the Heal to remove needing to eat, drink or sleep (and other needs) for a few days would completely drain my magic tank, along with the natural charges of the Sacred Gear. At that time, I would be as vulnerable as a baby in this place.

Yes, I was now far more than a normal ten year old. Hell I'm pretty sure I was as tough as most adult and just as fast, but it meant nothing in this place. Being as strong as the average human isn't enough in the monster forest.

The week I spent running from hiding place to hiding place, showed me that it was pointless to just Heal away hunger, thirst and sleep, if I would just ending experiencing those things without being able to survive getting them, anyways.

So I would mix it up, food, water, sleep. I would use Critical Heal to remove the need for one of those for a while, and try to gain the other two. Hopefully if I get strong enough I could Heal away two of those for a time, that would really make it safer to move about in the forest.

Either way, today I had food, which out of the three requirements was the toughest. Water should be easier since I carved that wooden cup. That's one more week before I need to hunt for anything else.

However, beyond necessities to survive, I also need some place to train. I can't afford to just luck out on the monsters I'm forced to fight so I could escape, being just that little bit tough, but still within the possibility for me to beat. Or even worse, needing luck to manage to survive, like jump in the river and power-grid gorilla not being there.

Either I find a place I could use for training, or...I'll have to start hunting for monsters just strong enough for me to fight.

...The fact that that's a normal thought for me now disturbs me.