Chapter 4 - Bizarre Energy

"Gah...!"

A surge of violent ripples originated from Adam's body. Though he was oblivious to the sensation of pain, he felt an aggressive force trying to tear apart his body. The dizziness and numbing spasm followed by it overtook his body and his consciousness faded away.

Don't know how many hours have passed by, but when Adam opened his eyes, his sight was welcomed by a sea of twinkling stars. The moon with its tranquillity and magnificence showered its illumination through the leaves of the trees.

Raising his torso with the help of his elbows, Adam was embraced by a short moment of headache. When it subsided without notice, he felt something uncommon.

Intuitively turning his head to his right, Adam's eyes peered at a distance. Though his naked sight can't perceive anything, he could tell that there was something there, alive yet motionless.

Almost a minute later, his insight was proven right as a rabbit moved out of the depths of a bush. It had a matte black fur and was one with the darkness yet Adam was soundlessly startled at this revelation.

"What happened to me?"

Evaluating his actions, Adam stared at his hands and body and found that his wounds and scraped off skin was restored to perfection. Not only that, there was a sense of reinforcement running through his body.

Without bothering to dig deep into the situation, Adam planted his hands to the ground to raise his torso over his foot. But at once, he froze.

'What....what is this sensation?!'

A silent exclamation rang inside his head as his hands received a myriad of seismic vibrations. This unrefined bunch of information was fed into his brain and the Adam grabbed his head in an attempt to subside this deluge of data.

"What are these...figures...and shapes...?"

His brain mechanically processed the incoming facts and at the very instant, a precise and concise statement emerged in his mind and Adam was staggered by this development.

With perplexion brimming in his eyes, Adam turned around to stare in certain directions. Instantly, his perception caught the presence of about a dozen beasts hiding around him. The fact that his eyes cannot notice through the darkness amplified his bafflement.

"This...this..."

After a few seconds of intense observation and contemplation and Adam realised what was happening. His knits brows were navigated to glance at the torn-apart carcass of the snake and the reality was astounding.

'A snake's perception ability.' He couldn't derive any other conclusion.

Though Adam was a resident of Earth in its 1800's, he was well-versed in the danger of nature. As his 'peculiar' constitution bestowed him with manacles of trouble and misfortune, he was forced to flee the settlements of humans and watch from the shadows as he memorised the civilized world.

Simultaneously, he faced the harshness of nature.

Wild animals weren't plenty in number. But Adam somehow was 'fortunate' to cross his path with a lot of beasts.

These encounters pointed out his lack of systematic and refined knowledge regarding the wildlife and Adam would frequently sneak into the libraries and book stores under the veil of darkness.

Though the information wasn't top-notch and profound, Adam could deduce the basic characteristics and peculiar features of a distinct animal. And the facts about snakes weren't an exception.

After pondering for a few dozen seconds, Adam turned to where he sat. His sight fell on the Beast Core that laid peacefully on the ground.

Picking it up, there wasn't a tinge of hesitation in his eyes as his teeth dug out another shard of the crystal. Without any obstruction, it travelled down his oesophagus.

Crack.

A faint pop could be heard from the depths of his stomach when a ripple emerged from his ribcage. It wasn't hostile and had a soothing sensation.

Well... from what had happened till now, Adam didn't waste a second to delay stuffing his mouth with the crystal of unnatural origin.

"URGH...~"

A sudden sensation of explosion erupted as Adam staggered and fell on his face. The event was too swift that the numbness disabled almost all of his response systems. As his face neared the ground and embraced it with an inelegant expression, Adam's consciousness was knocked out.

***

Kyu...kyu...kyu...

The graceful chirping of a tiny bird penetrated the auditory senses as the aerial being landed on Adam's back and pecked as it strolled around.

And when a series of persistent tapping began to emerge from the behind of his head, Adam was pulled out of his slumber with a moan.

The tiny bird quickly flew off and Adam sought refuge under the nearby tree. Leaning onto the sturdy trunk, Adam rubbed his nose and face with a tint of wonder.

"It hurts..."

The astonishment that displayed on his face was accompanied by his raised brows. "This is... pain?"

After the resurrection, the lack of active pain receptors was a boon to Adam. This enabled him to maximise his endurance to new heights. Even if his hand were to be torn away, his disposition wouldn't falter while retreating.

But after consuming this weird crystal-like thingy, his disabled perception seems to be back on track.

The warm rays from the east basked nature in a blissful serenity as Adam continued to ponder on his recent experience.

"Yes, it hurts. But how? Is it because I ate the crystal?"

There wasn't any other plausible explanation for the phenomenon he was going through. According to his assumption, what he ate was a unique 'organ' exclusive to snakes.

"Well, I must prove this conjecture."

Rising on his feet, Adam was about to leave when he heard a deafening howl in a distance. A few seconds later, a chorus of relatively nonviolent howls rose into the air.

"Run."

One word emerged from Adam's mouth as he dashed from the site. He knew not where he was running to but within a few seconds, he realised that his speed has increased by a notch.

"Wow... What is this feeling?!"

While fleeing from the spot, Adam realised a strange sensation coursing through his body. This foreign energy seems to have an amplifing effect on his physical capabilities. At that moment, Adam felt as if he was soaring in the sky with brimming vigour.

But like all things, this augmenting experience came to an end after a while.

"Uh oh!"

When the surge disappeared from his body, it was as if all of his vitality sapped dry. The occurrence was instant and paralysis enveloped him. Without external support, Adam faceplanted again in the dirt. He came to a grinding halt and concluded that he doesn't even have the energy to raise his torso.

"..." The inability to perceive the surroundings troubled him. His unmoving figure lying face down amidst a deluge of trees was a bizarre sight to behold if any adventurers had come across.

Lassitude was pushing down his senses to slumber when his ears caught the rustling of leaves in the vicinity. A shiver went down his spine as he guessed the being to be a beast when communication in an unknown systematic dialect fell in his ears.

When his heart was elated from discovering a sliver of civilization in the strange new world, a powerful blow on the back of his neck stomped his consciousness into the abyss of blackout.

***