He felt like absolute shit. If there was a doubt before there was no doubt now, he had been poisoned by the blue blooded creatures that he killed yesterday. After killing them he was able to climb down to get water for his canteen and clean himself off along with cleaning his wound and then he was able to climb back up. But he was not able to hunt, when he got back to his tree he felt lethargic so he climbed up and fell right asleep.
Now as he was waking up felt pain blooming throughout his entire chest but with the worst of it centered around the injury he had sustained before. Unfortunately he could not go to anyone for help and trying to find a remedy without any knowledge would do more harm than good. So he had to hope his body either fought it off or managed to hold out until the last day.
But as stomach growled he realized he would not be able to hold out without food. So he pulled himself out of his hammock, noticing for the first time that it was already the afternoon. Jace began climbing down the hammock with his bag of things. He pulled on his helmet before he began descending the branches.
Each time he moved he felt pain. Each time he grabbed the rough bark of the tree branches he felt prickles of pain throughout his hands. The sensitivity was worse than the pain if he was honest. Because he could tune out pain, sensitivity on the other hand was far too distracting.
Which is what happened as he became distracted and missed a step down. Slipping off a branch. He tried to grab a branch as he slipped between them but it was no good. His hand bounced off and then it was just pain as he fell.
He slammed into branches, bouncing off them as he went. Eventually he was falling fast enough that he slammed right through one branch and then another. Then he was out.
He knew he had gone unconscious but at this moment all he could see was a table in front of him. It was him in this room with a low level light so everything looked like a murky dark green. He was sitting in a wooden chair that looked more like one of those royal thrones from those children books and movies. The table in front of him was a large rounded one that was intricate in design but he could not see past a foot in front of him. While the images on the edge of the table looked like warriors in armor like that Accer he fought on Waterswan and the Tacole General he fought on Oculus but there was also a human Infantry armor.
{What do you mean not yet?} Jace asked but could not hear his own voice. He tried to raise a hand to his throat but could not feel anything. He could not even move his hand or body.
[You are not ready yet, go back!]
After the ethereal voice spoke he felt like he was being shoved then he opened his eyes as he awoke at the base of his tree. His orbital drop suit helmet had a broken screen, it had probably taken a heavy blow while he was falling. It had probably saved his life.
As he sat up his whole body began hurting. He took stock of himself and noticed nothing else had been broken. He only sustained a few scratches and bruises from his fall. He pulled off his helmet with a grunt and then leaned up against the tree. His clothes were torn up and heavily damaged.
Jace contemplated how he was going to hunt something down in this condition. Everything hurt and he could feel his reaction time slowing down. Then there was sensitivity again. It was like his nerves were on overdrive after his whole body fell asleep. He could even feel the wind against his skin.
Jace closed his eyes and ignored his hunger for the moment as he took deep breaths. Each one was measured and controlled as he focused all of his senses on his breathing. As he breathed he could feel his lungs expand and then he exhaled and his lungs shrunk while the exiting air caused a prickling sensation along his throat.
He continued the exercise, finding and controlling his breathing in a specific manner. Alternating it multiple times to see if he could change how efficient he was. After a few minutes he felt lighter as he breathed. Then he felt a nudge and heard a distinct purring noise.
Opening his eyes he was surprised at what he saw. Lying near the unlit fireplace was the corpse of an illusion-wolf. While nudging him and giving him what he believed was a pleading expression was the tiger.
Jace chuckled as he stood up and almost immediately lost his balance as he staggered to stay up straight. He still felt sore but he felt less like he was a walking corpse. He pulled out the knife and stepped toward the wolf to butcher it for dinner.
—---------------------------------
Salem nodded as she double checked everyone's positions one last time. Near the entrance were the group carrying logs. On the other side were the ones that had lit open flame torches in hand. The next which she was among had crossbows and bows in hand, ready to fire at the designated targets. The last ones had their knives and makeshift weapons at the ready to cut the vines.
"Let's begin." Salem declared before her crossbow jolted as she let loose a bolt into the cave. Piercing one of the bulbs inside causing it to explode. The others around her hit similar targets. Acid covered the inside of the cave causing the vines to sizzle and making them squirm.
"Torches!" Salem called out and the group with torches tossed them into the cave. The acid lit up and spread the flames throughout the entire cave, just as she planned. "Logs!" Salem yelled and this time the group logs started tossing them in front of the cave entrance blocking it off.
The vines began whipping around crazily trying to dislodge the logs and disperse the nearby people. "Cut the vines!" Salem called out as some of them were already slicing and cutting into the vines.
"Put up the supports!" was her next command as the vines were all cut apart and unable to interrupt their work now. The group with logs had a few people move over with specific logs and started setting them up as supports for the bulwark that was made out of the logs.
After a few minutes they could hear muffled shrieking from the other side. "I think that did it. Now we wait until they are completely smoked out." Salem nodded, confident her plan to kill whatever life form was inside that cave would be taking effect.
"Yes ma'am. Should we head back for today?" One of them asked.
"Might as well. Gear up and prepare to move." Salem's group marched back to their camp that had been left empty since they went to the cave. Prowling around in the center was a group of small furry creatures they had often encountered.
They look small, cute and furry almost like a squirrel but their unassuming face splits open to a set of jagged teeth that can bite through hard materials like stone. Salem crouched near the edge of the camp and nodded to the others as she readied her crossbow.
They took up position and the bolts and arrows flew killing the six of the furry critters that were moving around their camp. Salem waited a minute before stepping forward now that there were no other hostile entities in their camp.
"Hey look, we have dinner!" Someone joked, getting a set of groans from the others.
"Please, I do not want to eat vicious squirrel meat again. They are way too bitter to be considered edible." Another person complained, causing the others to begin laughing.
"Boil the meat, make a stew." Salem answered, getting a bunch of groans in response. "Or you can use a ration pack. We only have a single day left after all." Salem chuckled. Her words managed to get laughs from others.
Salem moved to get ready for watch and to set up watch for the rest of the night. They would probably be attacked by those flying creatures again tonight. "Hey let's get a few spears up. Since we killed those vicious squirrels we will likely be attacked by blind bats again." Blind bats were the massive nocturnal winged creatures that kept attacking them at night. It was the nickname they had given the creatures that fly around at night.
A bit of a side note, they were much tastier than the vicious squirrels that she would be eating tonight. Because unlike the people with B-rank and lower survival kits she did not have rations in her pack. So she has been eating the various creatures they have been killing, aside from the Kitinol that were inedible and too toxic to eat.