2 The Forest

"Ugh!"

What happened?

Kazuma's head was splitting with pain. He tried to stand up, but there was no strength in his legs.

"My head 'ugh',"

"What... war...?"

"Dragon... last... Astroth"

"Who is Astroth? What are these memories? Whose memories are in my head? "

While feeling pain, Kazuma could feel some fragments of memories in his head. It was like someone put a new folder of information in his brain.

He did not know what these memories were, but he could tell with his instinct that these were his memories.

"This is me."

"Yes! I am Astroth."

But who gave me this name? Maybe my mother. However, what happened yesterday, oh yes!... the village.

The villagers were chasing me. Then I used some powerful skills to kill them and... And no, humans can not enter this forest.

Someone here called me "ah." This pain is killing me, but who called me here? I cannot remember that person or his face, but I know that person is close to me.

From the memories I gained today, there was some information about this forest. It appears the deeper I go, the stronger the monster I have to face.

In addition, I even learned some magic from my memories to fight enemies. "Well, I can't live with humans, so let's go deeper into the forest."

"I hope the rest of the village is safe."

Now Astroth could remember information about this world whenever there is a need. He was fascinated with this extraordinary phenomenon and considered it his skill with this new body.

He named it [Astrith] based on his name in this world.

Astroth went into the forest to start his journey without knowing what happened outside.

----

At the place where the village is located:-

Some knights came for patrol, but after looking at the state of the village, they rushed to report to their captain.

"Someone used magic on the border of the forest towards the village, annihilating everything in sight from the forest to the village."

The Captain reads the report of the knights. The squad could not believe how it could be possible to annihilate an entire village overnight.

"All the people who can use magic at this level are under the kingdom's service or enslavement." The Vice-Captain of the squad joins the conversation.

"Have you ever heard sightings of an elf that kills humans that go near the forest?" The Captain asks while twisting his mustache.

The Vice-Captain laughs, thinking it was a joke, and says, "Wasn't it just a folk tale to scare children?"

The captain glanced at the vice-captain with a serious look. The Vice-Captain composed himself and asked the Captain about the report they had to send to the higher-ups.

The captain replies, "Ask for a mage and a unit of knights to be stationed here and report that the whole village was destroyed."

"But sir, there are some survivors. What about them?" the knights inform the captain.

"Kill them!" The Captain orders and leaves with a sinister smile.

Everyone stood there in silence. The Vice-Captain hints at his knights, and the silence is broken by the screams of villagers.

----

Astroth was carefully moving through the forest, looking for clues about his origin. He was determined to become strong and never face the same situation as before. Making his path through the forest, he found some interesting small monsters.

He tried his skill [Astrith] to learn about these monsters but surprisingly [Astrith] worked on its own and passed the required knowledge to Astroth.

The first monster he found was somewhat cute. It resembled a rabbit on earth to some extent. However, it was ferocious, and to adapt to this forest, it developed some defensive and offensive characteristics.

It had a horn on its head and sharp teeth. Maybe that's why its name is "Horned Rabbit".

The horned rabbit's image astonished Astroth. Keeping its appearance aside, he only had a single thought in his mind:

"Looks like I found a source of food."

"I can even use them to try new magic that [Astrith] taught me."

I should try some low-level magic for now. He closed his eyes, prepared the magic formula in his head, and yelled, [Ice Spear].

Suddenly, a big spear appeared above his head and, on his order, pierced through the rabbit, leaving its meat scattered here and there.

"Next time, I would use something even smaller to attack.

However, I tried to copy the magical girls I used to watch as a child.

...Well, that was embarrassing. From now on, I will only whisper while casting. "

After killing some more horned rabbits, Astroth could feel something rising within him.

He could feel the increase in mana levels in his body. Every species has a distinct mana pool that grows until puberty, after which it becomes constant.

"I should develop as much as I can because I don't know when my species reaches puberty."

After obtaining enough food, he looked around for a source of water. He found a water stream faster than he had assumed.

He was more cautious around water sources because that is where most animals gather. He remembered this from the animal channels he used to watch on TV back on earth.

This time he used fire magic to grill meat; he was content with the dinner. However, the problem was finding a place to sleep.

This area is not like the forest border where monsters do not gather, Here some monster could kill him in sleep. He searched all over and found a tree trunk with a giant hole hidden by vines.

"Oh! A nice place to sleep after a good dinner, that's all a human needs! Sorry, that's what I needed (don't know about his species). "

----

The next morning, Astroth collects some fruit from the trees he found yesterday. The fruits were sour, but because of [Astrith] he knew they were edible.

"Umm, I can make wine from these. I'll try it sometime when I have a place to call home."

After having breakfast, Astroth starts his journey again. While wandering, he sensed something that he had never discerned before.

At that time, Astaroth didn't know what he was feeling was called danger. Monsters develop their instincts as they hunt strong prey.

He looked around only to find himself surrounded by some dog-like creatures. There must be five of them. Because of the red stripes on their black bodies, "Stripped Hounds" is the name given to them.

They conceal themselves while surrounding the prey slowly and attack together to give the prey no chance to counter them. Then they tear apart the prey with their sharp fangs.

Astroth realized his dangerous situation. Nevertheless, he was confident in killing them.

The hounds started growling together, indicating to each other the next course of action. Astroth is also set up with his preparations. Then one of the hounds jumped on Astroth, and after him, others followed.

Astroth whispered [Flash Light]; a bright light appeared, turning all the hounds blind for some seconds.

Taking his chance, Astroth casts another spell in succession [Area Ice Shards]. A clump of ice needles encircled the entire area, reflecting the sun's rays and creating a breathtaking sight.

By this time, the Hounds had become normal and were aware of the situation. They knew retreating was useless, so they charged straight into Astroth. He aimed his magic at them and released it.

By that time, anyone could sense something; the hounds were on the ground with holes in their bodies. Astroth collects a little of their meat for dinner and buries the rest to avoid other monsters.

On his way, he fought two more groups of these monsters and became tired from this entire scrimmage.

After the sunset, he found a body of water to relax and sate his thirst. All of a sudden, his instincts forced him to jump, dodging arrows coming straight at the place he was sitting.

He was bewildered by the presence of arrows because only someone intelligent could make them. He was confused because if humans could not enter the forest, then who came up with the idea of an arrow in this forest of monsters?

Before he could think it through, another batch of arrows was directed toward him. He dodges them and seeks to find the perpetrator. He could not pinpoint its location in the night among green trees and bushes.

The arrows were coming one after another. Astroth could sense someone firing from the branches and switching places after firing one batch of arrows. Astroth did not have much magic left because of all the brawls that day.

He tries to focus while dodging, and pointing the mana concentration of his enemy. He aimed his magic at the moment his enemy was going to switch its location. Astroth fired his remaining magic at that time while betting on that single shot.

Due to his sheer luck, he neutralized the enemy, but he also became unconscious because of mana deficiency.