The Tricksters Way Book 1: The Mortal Universe

Chapter 8 - Survival 101

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Lux stretches and feels a tugging sensation on his chest.
He takes his shirt off and notices a bandage around his chest which is stained with dry blood.
Lux takes the bandage off and notices a scar over his heart in the shape of a jaggy cross.

"How did that get there?" ponders Lux.
Lux then remembers getting stabbed in the chest by a stick.
Lux starts to probe the area with his power, suddenly a massive pain attacks his chest.
Lux feels a constriction around his lungs as a blackness overtakes his vision.
Lux then starts to pull on his Druid power and tries to heal himself which slowly starts to relieve the pain.

"What... The... Hell... Is... Happening." whimpered Lux.

Once the pain is gone, Lux starts to observe his powers.
Lux notices that his power is now split into two groups.
One is large with moving chains made with golden light and the other was a small ball with a mixture of green and grey flecked blackness.

"My powers seem to have merged together. Lets try to use them to see how much weaker i am." says Lux.

Lux begins to push his power into the ground and he feels plants outside in a 15m area around him.

"I can barely feel any plants. Nevermind controlling them. Looks like i need to train harder.
Now lets gather my bed roll and a change of clothing."

Lux then gets up and gets dressed.
He gathers his bedroll from his chest at the foot of his bed and takes his neatly folded spare clothing from his chair beside his bed.

Lux then leaves the dorm and starts to walk towards the kitchen area.
He walks up to a cook and asks "i have been told to prepare for a 3 month trip. Would i be able to get dry foods for 1 month please."

The cook says "smart choice. You don't want to be too heavy on a journey. I have some rice and salted beef and pork which will be able to keep you fed for about a month. Wait here."

About 15mins later the cook returns and hand packages to Lux then says "here you go, use it in soups to make it go further."

Lux says "thank you. Need to go, have a nice day."
Lux puts the packages into his bag and then runs out of Power Hall.
As he makes his way through the Slums to the city gates where he notices Master Snow sitting under a tree on a bench.

"Master!" yells Lux while waving.

"Come over here you fool. Your drawing attention" Master Snow wearily says.

Lux runs over and says "when do we leave master. I have never left the city before. This is going to be so much fun."

"Calm down boy. This training trip will be dangerous. You could die as i will only step in if you have no way of killing a demon. If you have the power to kill it but can't then you will die as mercy is weakness in Black Leaf Forest." explains Master Snow.

"But Master i thought you would protect me?" says Lux.

"Only from beasts which you have no way to kill. Anything else then you are on your own. This method is called Life or Death training. This training is normally use by Mages and above. It is a easy way to quickly gain power and battle experience." says Master Snow.

"You seem to have faith that i can survive Master." Lux happily says.

"I think you have the potential to survive. Now lets leave without drawing attention from criminals shall we. Lets not make life hard for ourselves." says master snow.

Master Snow and Lux start to walk down the road in silence.

After the sun sets master snow says "lets camp for the night. Make your shelter using the surrounding plants."

Lux then moves towards a group of trees near the road and starts to manipulate them to make a tree house in the branches.

Master Snow makes the surrounding grass and some twigs turn into a small hut about 7 foot tall and 6 foot wide.
Inside he makes the natural grass grow into a long pile of soft grass which serves as a bed.
Master Snow makes the grass covering the hut harden into steel like cloth.

Lux sees what master snow creates and says "i didn't know we could do that. Make me one master, it would be better than the tree house i made."

" No. You will sleep in a shelter that you make. You need to learn how to control your power in the most energy efficient way. Controlling trees is more work than growing grass and twigs to shapes you can use. I used less energy than you did to make that tree house." says Master Snow.

"Fine then master. I will sleep in my shelter but i bet you get bitten by insects in your sleep." huffs Lux.

"We will see. Hahaha" laughs master snow.

Master snow scans the environment and then walks towards a small flower and then places his hand on it.
Suddenly the flower starts to grow till it is a meter tall.
He then pulls the flower from the ground and a massive purple carrot is drawn from the ground.

"This is something only Nature Alchemists can do. The normal carrot is only the size of small carrot but if we focus most of the growth on the carrot then we get a meal from a single carrot. Soldiers normally eat the normal carrots raw after cleaning. It has enough energy to keep you fed for several hours. With these we can remain full all day. Now go find one for yourself." teaches Master Snow.

Lux then goes looking for the same flower. He remembers that it was a orange coloured flower with a pale green stem.
Lux concentrates and notices one growing near the truck of a blackcurrent bush.

Lux walks over an picks some berries. He then touches the flower and pushes his power into the plant.
He feels a bulb like shape under surface of the ground.
Lux then starts to fill the shape with his power which starts to stretch like a water balloon fill with water.
Once it is the size of a cabbage he digs it out the ground.
While holding the giant carrot suddenly a understanding fills Lux's mind about how the carrot can be used to treat fatigue and infections.
The carrot is called Fire-Root.

Lux starts to walk back to master snow and says "master i learned the name of this carrot. It is Fire-Root. How do i know that."

"Every Druid has this ability. When you make contact with a plant you instinctively understand it and how to use it. Everything has a purpose, nothing is meaningless." states Master Snow.

Master Snow starts a fire which he had been building while Lux was gathering his food.

Master Snow then skewers his carrot and places it near the fire.
Master Snow then says "cooking it this way means that it gets a constant heat rather than fluctuating heat from the direct flame. This makes it taste like sweet mashed potatoes with a small amount of honey mixed in. We need to turn it when the skin turns black and then wait till that side turns black. Then we remove the skin and eat."

"I didn't know that about cooking with open fire. Normally my food just burns so my mother told me to just leave the cooking to her." says Lux.

"Well you better learn fast as i will only show you how to cook once so if you miss it then you are screwed for surviving in Black Leaf Forest. Because on the last month you will survive on your own for the whole month to see if you have gotten stronger. Now lets see how you fight against wolves because there is one right behind you." states Master Snow.

Lux jumps up and yells in fright when he sees the 5 foot tall grey tailed wolf that was creeping up on him.

"Fight like a man, boy. Don't scream like a girl. Kill it before it kills you." says Master Snow.

Lux then begins gather Chaotic Fire on his fists and then sends out a jet of flames which pushes him onto his back.
The chaotic flames burn right into the wolfs head which starts to howl in pain.
Lux then gets up and sends a fire jet boosted kick right into the side of the wolfs head which then explodes from the force of the kick.
Lux then hears a snapping sound and then a massive pain surges through Lux's entire body.
Lux falls towards the ground and then his power covers his broken foot and it feels like his foot is dipped in ice water. Lux hears a snapping noise and when Lux checks his foot it has repaired itself.
Lux stands up and then walks towards Master Snow and says "Master i did it, i killed it."
Suddenly a darkness covers Lux's sight and then a falling sensation takes over his body.