Chapter 3 3 Encounter

After he had taken some rest in the shade of a herculean tree, he found himself full of energy and vigor.

[Your state has been updated from Shocked to Normal.]

The system too judged him to have returned to his normal state in this period of time.

Since he had found various similarities with the world of Nebula in this world, he wanted to gather information in order to compare it with the version that he was familiar with.

Zach took out the dagger that he had been provided with as a junior soldier and started to climb the tree that he had been sleeping under. It was difficult at first but the more he climbed the easier it became.

He forced himself to never look down with the increasing distance from the ground so as to not lose concentration. It took him some time but he was finally out of the humongous canopy of the forest. All around him was a sea of green and yellow spread around as far as he could see.

But in the sky, he was able to witness something that made him smile and at the same time reassured him.

There were currently 12 satellites in planetary orbit on the planet that he was currently on. Previously, he had been unable to see them all since his vision couldn't go past the forest canopy. As such he had missed this detail in his initial survey of the place.

The 12 satellites were in line with the world of Nebula and made him feel extremely comfortable, as if he had come to a familiar place that he had missed for a long time.

The knowledge that this world was similar to Nebula gave him immense relief and filled him with curiosity. He wanted to explore it without any further delay.

As such he started to move around the forest with precise and calculated movements. He looked for a long vine and tied it to some of the tree trunks in order to leave a mark. It was far too easy to lose the sense of direction in a place like this giant forest. He didn't want to climb a tree every time he lost direction.

Zach moved at a slow pace but never once lost direction. He ventured deeper and deeper as he began to come to terms with this new life that was like a dream come true.

Initially Zach had planned to hunt as a means to train himself and get used to the weapons that he had in his arsenal but that turned out to be a very difficult task since no matter how far he walked, there was nary a living creature in sight.

Therefore, he had to settle for some static targets. He picked up a jagged stone from the ground and etched the target onto the bark of a huge tree. He followed the same process and did the same to the trees in the vicinity.

Taking out his guns, he took a look at them to see if they were the same as he remembered. He was planning to rehearse his fighting abilities as if he were his avatar from the game.

He picked up a pistol and shot at one of the static targets. To his surprise, the bullet hit bulls-eye even though he had never actually held a weapon in real life.

"That must be one of the effects of either the ability Nebula Star or the skill Weapon Arsenal. Lucky, I don't actually have to train to be a marksman in order to utilize my weapons."

A barely suppressed grin and an excited chuckle later, Zach was excitedly shooting the various targets he had set up earlier. He would break into a roll and shoot. Sometimes he would jump using the tree barks as a foothold and would still manage to hit the mark.

At first his connecting movements were fidgety and awkward but soon he was able to repeat the same movements that he remembered from the game. All of it made it more exciting for him as he rediscovered the joy that he had only felt when he had started playing Nebula for the first time.

Despite the fact that he was already familiar with the whole world and its dynamics, there were still certain aspects that he wasn't entirely sure about. The Nebula that he had been familiar with didn't deal with different races. Therefore Zach didn't take any chances and kept on working on his techniques all the while trying to stay hidden in the forest.

At the same time he practiced his wilderness survival skills and tried to use the natural environment for camouflaging. Zach maintained the same routine for the next week as he got used to this new world and adjusted his mindset to the new normal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Currently, Zach was trying out the camouflaging equipment that he had received from the system. He was perched atop a tree and was keeping an eye on the surroundings scanning for any movement.

It had been more than a week since he had arrived in this new world. But he had never come across a living being that he could communicate with. He had been hoping to see someone but dreaded it at the same time.

Not knowing the social and cultural dynamics of the local inhabitants could be a severe handicap. Zach wanted to do some digging before taking the initiative to approach someone. So, he had been putting it off and had stayed in the dense forestry where not even animals traversed.

As it turned out, he had been practicing his camouflaging skills when he heard some loud explosions in the surroundings.

"What the hell was that? From the sound of it, the origin of the sound isn't very far from here." Zach was startled since this was the first time that he had heard any sound as loud as this in the silence of the forest; other than the sounds of his own guns that is.

The echoes of the explosions rang out one after the other with dampening amplitude so it was hard to determine how many explosions there were exactly.

Without wasting a second, Zach had taken the appropriate actions and had hidden himself in the trees in his camouflaged state.

"I should check it out. It might give me a chance to learn more about the situation in this world. After all there was no way that the explosion just now was natural." Zach thought curiously.

Based on his decisive personality, Zach didn't linger around in anticipation but started closing in on the source stealthily. He had been using the trees to traverse the distance so as to remain hidden and to give himself a way out in case the situation turned out to be something that he couldn't handle on his own.

Hidden in the canopy of the trees covered in tree branches and mud, Zach finally witnessed what he had set out to find.

He could make out a group of tall and burly men in the distance ganging up on what looked to be a short statured but petite and beautiful woman. Unable to hold back his curiosity, Zach decided to get close in order to monitor the situation and figure out his next course of action.

The woman had an uncanny beauty that was almost ethereal and could not be described in words. From his viewpoint, Zach could only see her back but even that was enough for him to grasp what a world toppling beauty that woman was.

Her luscious dark hair spread out over her shoulders and reached her lower back. She wasn't very tall but her high ponytail and her long legs gave the illusion of a tall and curvaceous woman. The strange thing that he had difficulty accepting was that the woman had two dark horns that looked like that of a little demon and there was a strange protrusion near her lower back that looked to be some kind of a thin black tail.

She was definitely not of human origin, especially considering the feral manner in which she glared at her enemies. It was bestial at the very least. But even that looked charming to Zach who was witnessing everything from a distance.

"I have to take a closer look. The beauty looks like she might need some help." Zach thought to himself as he flushed out a Bluetooth and a lens from his backpack.

<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>