The Smiling Death-Chapter 291: He forgot something important again!

Amon stood still for a few more seconds, carefully confirming that the sound was not his imagination.

Drip... drip...

It was slow, steady, repeating. It was like the sound of water dripping.

A faint sense of relief spread through his tired mind. A smile crept over his face. His luck was really good. He was finding this more easily than ever.

He adjusted his grip on the sword and slowly moved toward the direction of the sound, making sure not to rush.

In the black forest, rushing was equal to inviting death.

Amon tried to think like some normal protagonist.

The trees grew denser as he walked. The darkness thickened, shadows overlapping each other like layers. The ground beneath his feet became slightly damp, the soil softer than before.

Drip... drip...

The sound grew clearer. Amon stopped behind a large, twisted tree and peeked around it. A few steps ahead, he saw it.

A small depression in the ground.

Between broken rocks and thick roots, water slowly seeped out from a crack in a stone wall. It wasn’t a stream or a pond. Just a small natural spring. Clear drops of water gathered and fell into a shallow pool below.

It was small, but it was enough. Something that could be enough for Amon.

Amon exhaled quietly. "Thank goddess..."

Then he frowned. Why should he thank the goddess? He had been in such a hard situation. How could he thank her?

But again, every time something good happened, Amon actually wondered if the goddess was watching over him.

Despite going through all of this, one thing was clear. He was alive. He was stronger than before.

He could not deny that. So, in a way, he was lucky.

He scanned the surroundings first, his eyes moving slowly from left to right. No movement. There was no presence. No monsters nearby. At least for now.

He walked forward and crouched beside the pool.

The water was clean, clear. No strange color. No foul smell, indicating it was drinkable. Not like Amon had any other choice if it was not clean.

Amon dipped his fingers in. The sensation was cold.

He nodded. "This will do."

He pulled out his bottle and carefully filled it. Drop by drop, he made sure not to spill anything. When the bottle was full, he tightened the cap and placed it back inside his storage ring.

His water had nearly finished. Now he had it again.

After that, he took out all the bloodied meat. He took all of it and started to clean it with water, then put it back into the storage ring. Next came the another important part.

It was Fire.

Amon looked around. The area was slightly more open than before, with fewer trees clustered together. A large rock stood nearby, and thick roots curved around it, forming something like a half-wall.

"This spot should work," he muttered.

He gathered dry branches and broken wood scattered on the ground. Thankfully, the weird looking dark forest. Here there was no shortage of dead wood. He piled them near the rock, forming a small fire pit.

Then he reached into his storage ring and pulled out a lighter.

"Oh goddess! This thing is really a lifesaver. It has helped me for so long."

The lighter was still usable since it wasn’t like Amon used it every day multiple times. That didn’t mean he couldn’t make fire without this lighter, but it was easier this way.

Click.

A small flame appeared. Amon leaned forward and carefully lit the dry wood. At first, nothing happened. Then.

Crackle.

The fire caught on slowly.

Orange flames flickered softly, pushing back the darkness around him. Shadows danced on the surrounding trees, stretching and shrinking with the fire’s movement.

Warmth spread near Amon.

Amon sat down near the fire, letting out a long breath. "I really needed this..."

He pulled out some of the butchered meat from his storage ring. The meat that had looked black before because of the black blood now looked grey in color. It was still unpleasant, but hunger didn’t allow him to complain.

And he had eaten this kind of meat before as well. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He skewered the pieces using a sharpened stick and held them over the fire.

The smell was... strange. Not exactly bad, but not good either. Still, it was food.

While the meat roasted, Amon leaned his back against the rock and looked around.

This would be his shelter for the night.

The rock blocked one side. The thick roots covered another. Behind him was solid stone. Only the front remained open, and the firelight would help keep weaker monsters away.

It wasn’t perfect, since it could attract the attention of some monsters.

But it was safe enough.

Amon stared into the fire quietly. So much had happened in such a short time.

Traveling alone in the forest. Then meeting human soldiers. Fighting demons. Getting captured. Running away. The Celestial Tree. The abyss. The darkness.

He clenched his fist slightly.

"...I’m still alive," he murmured. "That’s enough for today."

The meat finished roasting. Amon took a bite.

It was chewy. The taste was bland. Slightly bitter.

He grimaced. "...Still terrible."

But he kept eating. As the fire crackled and the black forest remained silent around him, Amon ate his meal slowly, regaining strength.

Tonight, he would rest. Tomorrow, he would move again.

Amon looked up at the sky. It was getting darker. Maybe in half an hour, darkness would cover the sky. Night would come again. But this time, he wouldn’t be afraid. Now Amon could see even in darkness.

Such amazing power he got from something unknown.

He had pushed those thoughts aside for a while now, but as he rested slowly, they started to come back again.

He could see clearly in darkness. That was weird. He felt far stronger than before. That was another thing.

All his wounds were healed after waking up. How? He had no idea. He had felt something entering his body while falling down. Was that the thing that made him like this?

"It must be connected to that... something did change my body."

He couldn’t find any reason. Then his eyes widened. He nearly forgot the most important thing.

He could check his own stats. His status window, to know about his own powers.

"Damn! How could I forget this again."

"Status window," he muttered.