Editing Dark Elf:Volume1 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 7===

''Do whatever it takes to survive,'' Klaus told himself.

The first thing he did was collect a stick and the earring he could use to write on it.

The metal beartrap was tempting, but in his haste to escape Slender’s bow, he had lost track of where it was. Plus, he didn’t know how to remove the stake and chain attaching it to the ground.

…''Don’t get greedy. I need to find a small stone, a thorny plant, or anything else I can use as a weapon.

He spotted a stone nearby. It was about right for holding in the hand. He could attach it to the end of a thick branch as a makeshift hammer, or he could throw it as a projectile. He doubted that would accomplish much against an actual hunting bow, but he needed something to feel less helpless or he couldn’t keep going.

“…?”

Once he picked it up, he noticed the stone was oddly smooth. All the corners had been rounded down, like it had come from a riverbed.

That was strange for something found on the damp dirt of the forest.

''Didn’t I avoid some round stones before I triggered the beartrap?'' He ran his finger over the branch he used to take notes to confirm and then returned to where he had found the round stone. It formed the third corner of an equilateral triangle.

“There’s more to this,” he said, gulping and crouching down to take a closer look. He poked gently at the ground with his note-taking stick.

He found something solid in the grass. He carefully parted the grass and found two round rocks partially buried in the ground. Those had to be a hunting trap. If you unwittingly stepped between them, their position would shift and they would crush your foot down to the bone.

“These are a sign. A dark elf sign!!”

This told him more as well. The dark elves obviously wanted to avoid being caught in their own traps. They also had to avoid getting lost in the forest and they wanted to share information on unstable cliffs or caves. So they had a sign they used to warn their own of danger without human outsiders noticing.

There had to be more than just the three round stones. The dark elves managed this forest, so they would have signs for things other than warning about traps. They likely used other tools for those signs and they would all be designed so an amateur wouldn’t even notice them.

…''I need to find the artificial things that don’t belong in nature.

It could be a pile of dried leaves brought in from elsewhere or red clay that didn’t match the dark soil on the ground. It could be small marks on the tree trunks or poisonous fruits that no animals touched. He just had to find anything that didn’t belong.

Once he could read their sighs, he could travel safely. He still had to be careful since he was more likely to encounter a dark elf in the areas they had marked as safe, but whether he wanted to use those safe areas or avoid them, knowing where they were was far better than wandering without anything to guide him. They might even have signs to mark the human road or the exit from the forest. Of course, those would be marked as dangerous by the dark elves who lived in the Forest of No Return.

Would he search out the animal paths leading to the dark elf village?

Or would he search out the stone-paved road used by humans?

Either way, he would have more options to choose from once he knew the safe route through the forest. Then he could be the one to launch an arrow at Slender – the arrow of love.

“Camouflize.”

He gulped. The forest seemed to stretch on forever and he was surrounded by the damp wilderness where the sunlight couldn’t reach. But he still felt the world open up before his eyes.

“If I’m going to camouflage myself, I need to observe that lifeform first. That way I know what they look like, how they live, and any idiosyncrasies of their behavior. But that’s what I always do, so there’s nothing to worry about. I won’t be risking my life right away. I just have to continue observing them like I always do.”

There were no beautiful dark elves around at the moment. He was alone and had only one path forward, but he could sense their presence in the forest around him. He could not afford to overlook it. He had to find the small signs hidden there and use them to walk freely through this deep forest of death and terror.