Time in the forest moved in a strange way.

  For a human, a month could be full of changes, worries, routines. For him… it had been different. Simpler. Quieter.

  About one month had passed since he decided to settle in the cave.

  During that time, nothing particularly extraordinary had happened.

  The forest remained the same: humid, dense, and full of life. The vegetation was so thick that even in broad daylight much of the ground remained in shadow. The trees were tall and ancient, their trunks covered in moss, their roots rising from the soil like petrified serpents.

  And he… had been exploring.

  At first he didn’t go very far from the cave. Just a few meters, then a few dozen. Slowly, little by little, he began expanding the area he explored.

  Every day, a little farther.

  During that time he had learned several things.

  The first was that he could fly.

  Well… fly might have been a slightly generous word.

  At the beginning he could barely lift himself for a few seconds before losing balance and descending awkwardly. His wings still lacked the strength and coordination needed for sustained flight.

  But with practice, things improved.

  Now he could perform short flights, gliding between trees or rising above some of the canopies to observe the surroundings before descending again.

  He wasn’t fast.

  He wasn’t graceful.

  But it worked.

  And in a forest this dense, being able to rise a few meters to look around was incredibly useful.

  The second thing he had confirmed was something he had suspected from the beginning.

  He could heal.

  The idea had lingered in his mind for days.

  His lineage was strange: a Phoenix of Life combined with a Death Dragon lineage. Two concepts that, in theory, opposed each other.

  Life and death.

  Regeneration and decay.

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  It was logical to assume the phoenix part would grant some sort of healing ability… but he needed to test it.

  The problem was simple.

  To test it… he had to injure himself first.

  And that was not exactly pleasant.

  For several days he avoided the idea.

  Until eventually he decided to do it.

  He stood near the entrance of the cave, stared at his own foreleg for a few seconds… and mentally sighed.

  This is stupid…

  Then he raised one of his claws.

  The claws of his new body were sharp, made for tearing flesh and scales. Even using them carefully made it difficult to avoid causing damage.

  Still, he tried to do it as lightly as possible.

  The claw came down.

  A short cut.

  The pain came immediately.

  It wasn’t unbearable, but it was sharp, intense enough for his body to instinctively tense.

  …Ouch.

  The wound wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t superficial either.

  A clean, slightly deep cut, from which dark blood began to flow.

  But the most interesting thing happened almost immediately afterward.

  The blood barely had time to drip for a few seconds.

  A gentle warmth spread through his leg, flowing from deep within his body toward the wound.

  The flesh began to close.

  Not slowly.

  Not gradually.

  In seconds.

  Muscle fibers reconnected. Skin sealed itself. Even the trace of blood disappeared as if the body had simply reabsorbed it.

  In less than ten seconds… the wound was gone.

  No scar.

  No mark.

  Nothing.

  He stared at his own leg for several seconds.

  …Okay.

  That was impressive.

  It also confirmed something important.

  As long as the damage wasn’t too severe, his survivability would be absurd.

  Of course… the pain still existed.

  He had confirmed that too.

  And if one thing had become clear during that small experiment, it was that he had no intention of repeating it unnecessarily.

  Since then, he had continued exploring the forest.

  During that month he had encountered many creatures.

  Most of them were small.

  Some appeared herbivorous, others insectivorous. There were strange birds, small arboreal mammals, and several creatures he wasn’t even sure how to classify.

  But something curious was that most of them were peaceful.

  Or at least they didn’t consider him prey.

  Maybe his size, his flames, or simply the instinct of the forest’s creatures told them it was better not to approach him.

  Still, not everything was calm.

  From time to time a small predator would appear.

  Snakes.

  Large lizards.

  Carnivores roughly the size of a dog.

  Nothing particularly dangerous for him.

  Those… hadn’t been so lucky.

  Over the course of that month he had eliminated several.

  Not out of cruelty.

  Simply out of logic.

  A predator that started roaming too close to the cave could eventually become a problem.

  So he dealt with them.

  Quickly.

  Silently.

  Using his death flames when necessary.

  On the other hand…

  The peaceful creatures he left alone.

  He saw no reason to kill them.

  He didn’t need food constantly.

  And honestly, killing for the sake of killing wasn’t something he felt like doing.

  At the end of the day, even if his body now belonged to a mythical creature…

  His mind was still that of a human from the 21st century.

  Or at least something very close to it.

  Meanwhile, inside the cave…

  The grave-moles—those small creatures he had decided to enclose—had adapted surprisingly well.

  They had devoured the remains of the snake he had given them weeks ago without any problem.

  Even now they continued digging small tunnels within the area he had delimited with rocks.

  They were resilient.

  Omnivorous.

  Scavengers.

  And probably a good emergency food source if the situation ever required it.

  But for now…

  The forest was calm.

  The cave was safe.

  And with each passing day he was becoming a little stronger.

  A little more accustomed to his new body.