Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos

Vespes Prince (Part 4)

'I simply wish to heal your wound, our blades are special and a cut made by them will not heal for hours or days.' Ilvisar said before trying to touch Edvard's neck again. 'I am truly sorry about the confusion.'

Upon Ilvisar's touch, Edvard felt the stinging pain disappear. In disbelief, he felt his neck up and down, the cut gone and all that remained blood staining his neck and lab coat. Somehow his body now also contained much more energy than before.

This act confirmed to him that at the very least Ilvisar was not done with him yet.

'I will not try to get all your memories; they are far too… Complex and controversial for me. I feel I already got far more than I had thought possible.' Ilvisar said after giving Edvard some time to recover, his words causing the latter to be confounded.

'Here, these are the first promised rewards.' Ilvisar said as he took a pair of clothes out of nowhere, placing them on the table. The clothes were a dark brown traveler's set, followed by a beautiful sword with a dark silver blade placed atop it.

'Now prepare yourselves for the language.'

Before Edvard could react, he fell unconscious by the barrage of words, sentences, grammar, spelling, writing, and more entering his mind.

...

Complaining as he woke up with a massive headache, Edvard felt like the world was spinning. It certainly felt how it should feel when an entire language was suddenly pushed into his head.

'Where am I now?' Edvard wondered as he looked around, finding that he was alone in a different part of the forest. "Where is the sword? Wait! Where are my clothes!?"

Feeling scammed, Edvard wished he could kill that prince right now. The only thing he had seemingly kept was his word of not killing Edvard. Having robbed him of even his underwear.

Before Edvard's mind could come to accept this new reality he heard the roar of a lion, sending shivers down his spine.

"The fuck? A lion in a forest, and on this planet?" He wondered as he stood up with difficulty. A sharp headache causing him to stumble

'Wait, why does it sound like it is getting closer?' Edvard asked as he heard its growls nearing him. To his utter shock and confusion he found a teenage lion right in front of him when he finally lifted his head.

He only managed to curse once more before the lion went for his neck.

...

Numb, from both the discharge and the emotional toll the scene had caused her, Ven lifted her hands and looked at the blood and dirt mixing together. Pain not having registered as she had pummeled the ground in frustration.

Her thin layer of makeup was ruined by the sweat and tears, her hair clinging to her and her general appearance just a mess. Naturally, she gave this not one thought, instead she stared at her hands hoping that this would not lead to an infection.

"That was dumb…" She mumbled as she started calming down. The pain from her hands helped keep her mind clear but also reaffirmed how dumb her actions had been.

Taking deep breaths she wondered just what she was supposed to do now. She did not wish to end up like those from the carriage, who even had had guards.

'I still need to get further away. Those bandits must have a camp nearby.' She thought, standing up and forcing herself to continue walking. This time away from where the moss indicated.

She believed that the bandits would have set up around a water source, and she most certainly did not want to encounter them. As time passed and night fell, she felt ready to just collapse.

Her feet were numb, her legs burned, her back ached. As she was ready to just fall and close her eyes, energy flooded her body as she heard the soft splashing of water.

'A river!' Without a second thought she started running towards the sound. The plants brushing and even cutting her exposed skin due to her haste.

Falling onto her knees at the small stream, she quickly washed her hands and then hastily drank to sate her thirst. Calming as the water entered her empty stomach, giving her a sense of fullness.

As she calmed she felt the burning stings on her cheeks, hands, and neck. "Ven, you need to get your emotions under control."

She sighed as she looked at her hands, still dirty and certain to get an infection. Painfully, and slowly, she did her best to clean the wounds. Using her nails to dig in and get all the dirt removed. Gritting her teeth to stop herself from screaming aloud.

Again it reaffirmed how dumb her actions had been, but it also made her realize that this was not a dream. That what she had witnessed was something that truly could happen, something she feared most of all.

The stream she was currently at was not large at all, thus she doubted that the bandits would have made their base here. It was also well hidden by all the plants, even as she was cleaning her hands, no one would be able to spot her if they were more than a couple of meters from her.

'There should be some edible plants here. Come on Ven, recall what you read.' She talked with herself, not quite willing to speak aloud for fear that there might be someone nearby.

As she finished her hands and started moving on to her arms and face, she recalled what she had read. Glad that she had always been fascinated by all types of plants and animals.

On Earth, most forests had been destroyed, and gardens were now technology mixed in with plants. She had always thought of visiting the old earth, and in fact, it was why when she was younger she had gone to Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.

However, compared to the forest she was in, those on Titan could not compare. Those had been humanly constructed, with a clear goal to terraform Titan.

After finally managing to clean all her wounds, she slowly started exploring the area. Finding that the source of the stream was a spring, water flowing from a nearby rockface.

'That is a relief,' She thought, looking at the small pond forming beneath the spring. 'Wait, is that?'

Rushing into the pond, the fish scattered upon her arrival. Ven lauged in joy as her last worry was sorted, at least for a while.

Wet and cold, night set. Again she became upset about her idiocy of wetting her clothes before nightfall. Grumbling, she took them off, a little apprehensive about the local bugs. However, she did not wish to get a cold.

She dared not start a fire, not that she had the skill set to do so in such damp conditions without a lighter. Instead, she used the larger ferns to make a mat to sleep on. Using a few others to at least somewhat cover her while her clothes hung in the branches of one of the trees.

Trying to fall asleep, her stomach grumbled in complaint. 'Be quiet, I will get you something tomorrow.' She scolded internally, and this somehow worked. After a few more minutes she managed to fall asleep.

However, her sleep was not peaceful. She was haunted by what she had witnessed happening to her colleagues and friends. When that was not enough, she then had a nightmare of her being found by the bandits.

If she had managed to get two hours of sleep, it would have been considered a good amount.