The Traveler: Martial Druid

Chapter 5

As he looked at the beast Katsuo's head started to work as it had never done before.

First of all, why could he talk with the beast?

Answer; because of his skill [Polyglot(Max)]. Now that he thought about it, in the description it said he could speak any language in existence. That didn't just apply to humanoids. It meant as long as beasts had language he could speak with them. Normally this would be something joyous but right now the situation was too tense for him to stop and start celebrating.

Second of all, why didn't the beast immediately attack him?

Answer; because he smelled of 'nature'. Again it was because of his passive skill [Heavenly Body(Max)]. The power of nature pulsed through his heart and this was the reason why the beast smelled nature from him. Good. 

Wait this wasn't everything. The first question it asked was if Katsuo was related to Druids. It meant this beast had some sort of relationship with druids. He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing but at least this was something he could hold on to.

"I- I am not a druid yet. But I will be"

The beast looked into Katsuo's eyes. If it had a human face He could see the sceptical expression on it.

*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

He could hear his heart beat almost as if it would burst out of his chest in the next second. This certainly wasn't a good feeling. He jokingly thought that at this point he wanted his old heart back because if it beat this fast he would have already passed out.

"Explain"

The beast crouched on its feet. It looked like it was sitting but Katsuo knew, this was the position cats would take before jumping so it was ready to pounce on Katsuo at any moment.

"Exactly as it sounds, I will become a druid in the future"

He would have loved to lie but he couldn't. Actually, it would be better to spew off some names like I am so and so's disciple but he didn't know any druids so how could he give a name? Most importantly if he said a false name the beast would catch his lie and eat him alive. It was better to speak vaguely and let the beast fill in the details by itself. This way it would be easier to deceive it.

Ptui! What do you mean by deceiving? He can become a druid for real in the future! After all, his heart had something to do with nature and he could speak to animals so he would make a great druid. Actually, since he spent most of his life in the confines of hospitals nature was something he yearned for so he certainly wouldn't look down on the profession of a druid. He might even like it. 

*Flinch*

As the black beast got up Katsuo flinched thinking his life was done for. But the beast turned back.

"I don't want to deal with those freaks from Circle of Riv'shae so I will let you go this time. But if we meet again I will gobble you up. Don't let me see you in my territory for the second time and don't even think of screaming again. Because of you, I woke up from my sleep"

The black beast said as it spared Katsuo and left.

*Drip*

As his strained nerves finally relaxed Katsuo felt something warm and when he looked down he noticed that he emptied his bladder.

He didn't think he would wet himself at this age but he couldn't find any fault in himself either. Anyone in his place would have pissed their pants. Most importantly there wasn't anyone around so no one would know.

He wasn't going to tell anyone himself either.

In the future when he told this story he would depict how he outsmarted the king of the jungle by his wits alone. It would be a heroic story, not one where he pissed his pants.

Katsuo wanted to laugh aloud but he stopped since he remembered the warning from the beast. It woke up because of his loud noise. That was when he remembered how he had screamed when he saw the deer. That was his mistake.

How could he shout in the middle of a jungle like this? He should have known better and kept his mouth shut.

He was in a foreign and hostile environment. He needed to get out of his 21st-century mindset and start to think like his ancestors.

That meant he needed to find a place to sleep first. Possibly one as far away from here as possible. Secondly, he needed to find a river to wash his sweatpants. 

He was still wearing his tracksuit from when he was going to the drugstore so this was a plus. After all, weren't they made for strenuous exercise? So they had good heat insulation and probably stronger fabric. Most importantly it was way better than wearing his pyjamas or school uniform.

Still, he didn't know where to go. If the beast was gonna let him go anyway couldn't it have I don't know tell Katsuo the way out of this jungle?

Anyway, he started to go in the opposite direction from where the beast left. This way he should be able to leave the beast's territory.

Though what if he encountered a different beast?

Ugh, it was scary just imagining it but this was the best action that he could take.

He wasn't Bear Grylls so he couldn't thrive in a jungle such as this one.

Actually, it was a question of whether Bear could conquer this jungle either. I mean, wasn't this jungle supposed to house magical animals? What if Bear caught a rabbit and it turned out to be a polymorphed dragon?

Imagining that scenario put a smile on his face.

As he moved forward Katsuo finally heard a welcome sound.

*Splash*

It was the sound of water. 

Since he saw a deer he knew that there had to be a water source somewhere nearby. Also as he left the beast's territory sounded returned to the jungle. That meant he was really close to its lair. Even if he had one hundred lives Katsuo swore that he would never make the slightest sound in a quiet environment again.

When he arrived at the water source he was pleasantly surprised that it was actually a river, a wide one at that. It was probably deep as well. But before rushing he checked his surroundings first. If there are rivers there might be bears around.

Well, he didn't find one this time but he didn't want to risk it.

Actually, he can take this opportunity to wash his clothes and catch some fish as well. Since this was a jungle he assumed it wouldn't be cold at night and he could catch some fish by diving... but he didn't know how to swim.

Well, he could also gish by using his tracksuit as a net. He just needed to tie the arms so that the fish couldn't escape by swimming through them.

Yes, this looked to be a great plan so Katsuo jumped in the river.

***

Katsuo didn't know how long he spent trying to catch a fish but he had finally caught one!

The sun was already setting and his stomach was grumbling so this fish should do fine as a dinner.

But how was he going to cook it?

He didn't know how to light a fire. He didn't have a lighter or a lens he could use as a focus. He knew that he could make fire by rubbing two sticks against each other but that would take too long and he didn't know how to set it up properly. Yes, you couldn't randomly make a fire by just rubbing two sticks together. That also had its proper method.

Actually, he could just eat it raw...

Nah, that wasn't a good idea. Who knew what kind of parasites this fish had inside it? Just because the Japanese ate sushi doesn't mean that they can eat any fish raw randomly.

To make sushi you needed to cut fish in a particular way. You can't just randomly cut a fish put it on top of rice and call it sushi. You also need to wrap it in norimaki but that was beside the point.

One of the most notorious examples of this was the infamous puffer fish. It tasted incredible but if you weren't careful while preparing it you could burst its poison sac and it would ruin the whole meat. In fact, you could even die from it.

So what to do?

*Snatch*

As he was deep in thought Katsuo's dinner was stolen from his hands! He didn't even know what it was. Katsuo just saw a grey blur and his dinner was gone instantly!