The Traveler: Martial Druid

Chapter 4

Katsuo looked around him. He was in the middle of a lush forest. The leaves of the trees were wide and he could see wines creeping up on the trees. This didn't feel like one of the forests he would see back home. It felt more like one of those rainforests he would see on TV. 

After he got up Katsuo made sure there wasn't anything dangerous in the vicinity. Once he confirmed he was safe he uttered the words he only said in his dreams.

"Status Panel"

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[Name]: Kazama Katsuo

[Age]: 16

[Job]:  Civilian

[Rank]: 0

[Title]: The Traveler

[Background]: None

[Strength]: 1

[Agility]: 1

[Willpower]: 5

[Vitality]: 4

[Charisma]: 4

[Mana]: 0

[Active Skills]: Appraisal (Max)

[Passive Skills]: Heavenly Body (Max), Polyglot (Max)

---

Katsuo looked at his status panel but he didn't know what to make of it. He could see his stats but the problem was he didn't know if they were good or bad. Though there were two that he knew were definitely the worst. His agility and strength were both at 1 which was obviously the lowest number the system could give. Actually, he was suspecting that if it could give lower than 1 it would have done so.

Well, it wasn't hard to imagine why those two stats were like that. He spent his life making sure he didn't strain his heart so it shouldn't come off as a surprise that he was weaker than his peers.

Next, he checked the description of his skills. There was one more than expected but he wasn't going to refuse it.

---

[Heavenly Body(Max)]: The power of nature pulses through your heart

---

Hmm, it was quite a vague description but at least his heart shouldn't have problems in this life. The part that piqued his interest was where it said the power of nature. Did this have anything to do with the fact that Aeternitas threw him into a jungle? He needed to research this fact more but he didn't know how to go about it so Katsuo just threw it at the back of his head.

---

[Appraisal(Max)]: You can appraise the target. This stat is affected by the Willpower stat. The higher the Willpower, the more information you can glean from the target. For targets with higher Willpower than the user, it will only show partial information. If the difference in Willpower is too big the skill will fail to activate. It costs 10 mana to activate it once.

---

Katsuo wasn't expecting much but this was the trademark skill of the transmigrators' Appraisal! So he should be able to use it to make a killing at auctions and other events. This was definitely a treasure. He didn't know why Aeternitas gave this skill to him, maybe she thought it was included in the system package? Which would make sense since in every game checking the stats of monsters was a basic ability.

Though it was kinda annoying that he needed mana to use the skill. It's still okay. He only needed to find a way to gather mana in his body and he should be able to use it easily. Then again seeing his other stats Katsuo wasn't sure if 10 was really a low number.

---

[Polyglot(Max)]: You can speak and understand every language in existence.

---

The last skill had a simple and clear description. It basically meant that no matter where he went he could speak their language. This was good. He didn't know how many languages there were in this world but the more he knew the better. Especially since he remembered that in the books he read there were stupid idiots who spoke a foreign language in front of the MC because they thought s/he couldn't understand them. Then MC would use this fact to make them spill hidden information and their plans.

He could do something similar in the future.

Now that he checked his skills Katsuo started to think about his situation.

He was in the middle of a jungle and he didn't know where to go. But he thought there should be a settlement somewhere nearby as he didn't think Aeternitas would throw him in the middle of nowhere.

So his mission was clear, he needed to get out of the jungle and meet with whoever was nearby. Afterwards? Well, he didn't give it much thought as he was thrown into a different world suddenly but now that he was in a fantasy world there was definitely a job he wanted to try his hands on; Adventurer!

As a Japanese how could Katsuo not become an adventurer? If he decided to become a farmer with his potential all his ancestors would curse him from beyond the grave. Well, even if there wasn't an Adventurer profession, he could also become a mercenary since it should be the closest thing to an adventurer in this world.

"Okay!"

Katsuo hit his own cheeks and got up from the grass he was sitting on. 

Though he became dully aware of one fact. He didn't know anything about wilderness survival. How was he supposed to get out of this jungle?

He lifted his head to see the sun but he couldn't see it as the trees covered the sky obstructing his vision.

He remembered something about moss but that was it. He didn't know what mosses were supposed to say about his location. What else?

...Nothing.

He didn't know anything.

Katsuo's hands started to tremble under this realization. 

What if he couldn't get out of the jungle?

Also now that he paid attention he noticed something he didn't before.

The jungle was quiet. 

Too quiet!

He couldn't hear the sound of any bugs or birds.

This place was eerie. Almost as if it was a haunted jungle that ate the souls of whoever wandered into it.

No way!

The goddess shouldn't have sent him to such a dangerous. She wouldn't. After all, she was the one who accepted Katsuo as her believer. Also, why would she revive him in this world if she wanted to kill him? She would just not revive him at all!

This must be his imagination.

It was natural. After everything, he went through today no wonder his nerves were a little strained. He must be imagining things.

Yes, that was it!

*Crack*

"WHO IS THERE!!"

Katsuo turned back and shouted to see that it was only a deer that stepped on a branch. When it heard Katsuo shouting it ran away without a second thought.

He took a breath to calm his nerves.

*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

His heart was beating faster than when Aeternitas teased him but unlike back then he didn't like this sensation.

He felt like his face was hot and he could hear a tiny shrill in his ears, his hands were trembling more than ever. It was getting harder to breathe.

Katsuo thought he was about to have another heart attack but that was supposed to be impossible. His heart was healthier than ever so how could he even have a heart attack?

He leaned on a tree and tried to calm himself down. 

Yes, everything was fine. He was just overreacting...

Wait!

He was in a jungle right? And there was a deer here? If so...!

Katsuo rolled on the ground to just barely dodge the claws of a black beast!!

Seeing that its sneak attack had failed the beast roared.

*ROAR*

That was when Katsuo realized he had forgotten the most basic rule of nature, the Circle of life. Every being in existence coexisted with nature. So if there was a prey there was a predator and that predator had its own predator. Everything had a natural enemy. But as a human who came from a world where they conquered nature, Katsuo had long forgotten it. The fact that he had to be afraid of nature and that he was just a weakling without his civilization's weapons.

"Soooo, Uhm, I know this is out of the left field but would you consider letting me go?"

Katsuo begged the beast. He knew that it was a futile attempt as there was no way a beast could understand him. 

While slithering away he observed the beast. It looked like a panther but it was bigger. 

Much MUCH bigger.

Just by standing it easily towered over 4 meters in height. Most importantly, it was silent. After that roar, Katsuo couldn't even hear its breathing and that was despite the fact that Katsuo could see it walk towards him.

The Beast also had white lightning-like patterns in his fur. They gave him a sort of noble air. If this jungle had a king Katsuo could bet his own existence that this beast in front of him would be it.

"You can speak our tongue? Are you a druid, boy?"

...What?

The beast looked at Katsuo in surprise as it could understand him. 

Katsuo himself was surprised as well due to the same reason.

The beast pranced around him and sniffed the air.

"Weird, I can't smell the aura of a druid from you but you definitely smell like nature. What are you, boy?"

This was good. At least the beast wasn't going to kill him immediately. He needed to think of a way to run away as fast as possible.