Berries

Farrel walked through the unfamiliar forest with a half-dying body, an empty stomach, and no knowledge about anything at all.

He didn't know what kind of fruits exist in the forest, where to find them, and heck, he didn't even know if fruits even exist in the forest he was currently in.

Farrel wasn't someone who was an expert in forestry.

He did live in a forest, and there were some tricks that he learned about how to navigate a forest and which fruit, berries, or mushrooms he could eat.

However, that was only on the very surface level and it would barely help in an entirely different forest that he didn't know before.

Fortunately though, he was a shaman.

And in an eerie, silent forest where it practically screamed 'I'm A Haunted Forest!' Ghosts weren't something that was lacking in it.

In fact, Farrel had walked past several of them on his way.

However, he knew quite a lot about ghosts and those ghosts he met weren't the type you can talk to and have a conversation with.

Hence why, Farrel didn't try to establish a conversation with them.

Until now that was.

"Excuse me… do you know where I can find something to eat…? I'm starving…"

A boy, one that wore similar clothes to the one Farrel currently had on his body, was floating right in front of him.

With his head upside down, and his feet pointing towards the tree branches, the boy's upside-down face was directly right in front of Farrel.

The boy had been doing that for quite some time now, and Farrel was trying his best to ignore it first before he assessed the nature of the ghost.

He was half-dying, and the word 'half' would be easily erased if he ever had to fend off a vengeful spirit or a spirit attack on his mind.

And after feeling the boy's aura for a while, he knew that the boy was not the type to hurt him. Hence why he started the conversation.

Hearing Farrel's voice and seeing his eyes that looked straight into his own, the startled boy couldn't help but slip down.

His floating leg was now properly pointed at the ground and Farrel didn't have to see an upside-down face anymore staring right in front of his own.

"AAH! You can see me!?"

"Yes… I can see you…" Farrel's body was on the verge of losing the last bits of energy it had left. And it had become a chore for him to even speak properly.

"Wow… I never knew someone else who wasn't a ghost that could see me…"

The boy then went silent for a few seconds before he started speaking again, cutting Farrel's words from coming out of his mouth.

"I…"

"How did you do it!? Can you also make other people see me? If you can, please! I need your help!"

Hearing the barrage of questions, Farrel could only sigh in his heart as he already expected the ghost to be talkative from the aura that it gave off.

He already knew it, but the condition of his starved body really turned down his patience level.

Think about the hangriest person you know.

Farrel would be several levels above them in terms of trying to keep himself sane and from bursting out in anger when he felt like his stomach acid was eating his own body.

With his utmost effort in trying to curb his annoyance and anger, Farrel replied as softly as he could.

"Yes… But I'm currently dying… If I don't get anything to eat soon, then I will really die…"

"And if I die… I wouldn't be able to help you do that…"

Upon hearing that, the boy instantly reacted.

"Oh! You can't die! You must not die!"

The boy then scurried into the deeper part of the forest, going through bushes, trunks, and branches with his ethereal body with ease.

"Hurry up! Follow me!"

For the starved body, walking was a task that needed full, conscious, effort, And keeping up with a flying ghost that could pass through objects was simply impossible.

"Come on! You said you're almost dead, don't go too slow! You need to eat as soon as possible!"

"I… Can't…"

"Hurry! Hurry!"

The scene where the ghost boy flew in and out of Farrel's vision, telling him to hurry and catch up with his battered body repeated about a dozen times before the boy finally stopped moving and Farrel caught up successfully.

Farrel was worried about what kind of food the ghost would bring him, because if it was a fruit that hung on the top branches of a tree, then he was as good as dead.

He didn't even know if the malnourished body could climb the tree if it wasn't starved, but now it had practically nothing in its stomach, there was no way he would be able to climb a tree.

Fortunately, his fears were for naught.

When he arrived, there were bushes filled with all kinds of berries.

Some of them were brightly colorful.

Red, sky blue, yellow plump berries that looked full of fresh, sweet juices that would soothe your thirst and cool down your body on a hot sunny day, were hung on the branches of the bushes.

While the few others were dark-colored.

Blood red, eggplant purple, and straight-up blackberries, looking less plump compared to their light-colored counterparts seemingly as if they would melt your throat if you consume them.

"Hurry up and eat the bright colorful ones! Don't eat the darker-colored ones, they will make your whole body itch!"

Farrel stood in place, his eyes staring closely at the floating boy not too far away from him.

His body was on the verge of breaking, but his stare didn't falter when he observed the boy from top to bottom as if he was checking something.

"Come on! You'll die soon if you don't eat right?"

Farrel finally stepped forward closer to the berries. His eyes still observed the boy closely, not wanting to miss a single moment that passed.

His left leg moved forward, getting one step closer to the bright colorful berries that the boy told him to eat.

Then his right took another. And now, he was only one step away from the colorful, tasty-looking berries.

Just another step and his hand would be able to grasp them and shove them into his mouth.

However, just at the last second, Farrel's eyes finally saw the changes that he was expecting.

The boy's aura that he had been observing very closely fluctuated and changed from the one he had before.

In the last moment, Farrel pivoted his feet and instead went after the dark-colored berries.

"What are you doing?"

Farrel walked closer to the dark-colored berries. His hand reached out forward towards the pitch-black berry that hung nearest to him.

"No! Don't go near those ones!"

Without an ounce of hesitation, Farrel plucked the berry from the bush. And in one swift movement, plopped the pitch-black berry right into his mouth and started chewing.

The floating boy tried to pull Farrel's hand out of his mouth, but due to his ethereal body, it stopped nothing as his own hand passed through Farrel's.

"Spit it out! You will die!!!"