When Rowan first smelled the roasted wolf leg, something in him recoiled. He didn’t know what it was, but his body rejected it. He thought it was just him imagining it at first.

  When Rowan took a bite of the wolf leg, a mixture of flavors hit his mouth. Flavors so rich that it made him want to puke. It felt that his taste buds had been hit by a whirlpool of fiery leather when the meat entered his mouth.

  The feeling that he thought he imagined, Rowan instantly knew what it was.

  Rejection.

  Why?

  Was it because he hadn’t eaten anything for so long? Rowan could understand if the wolf leg tasted bad since he didn’t prepare it in any special way, but this was the complete opposite. The problem was it tasted too strong.

  Rowan couldn’t wrap his head around what was happening. He tentatively attempted another bite, but the same feeling of disgust rose up in his stomach. It merely confirmed that the first time was not a mistake.

  Had his taste buds rotted since he didn’t eat anything for so long? That didn’t make sense. If they went bad, then he shouldn't be able to taste anything.

  Maybe it was the opposite, since he didn't eat anything for so long his taste bud have become more sensitive? That seem like an actual possibility. The only problem is that his mouth had become too sensitive. If a badly cook meal tasted so bad right now, how would he eat other meals in the future?

  After thinking it over, Rowan gave up thinking in the end. It wasn’t a major problem as he could continue his current diet of just mana from the Mother Tree. The life mana from the Mother Tree kept his body satisfied enough to help him continue growing. It was probably better for his body than actual food. He would worry about the food issue once he actually left the forest, which was a long time from happening.

  Rowan could only sigh at the thought. This new discovery only left him feeling more and more less human. He had gotten used to the fact that his arms were not going to return to normal, but finding out you can’t enjoy food as you wish anymore? That was a major blow.

  Seeing as there was nothing Rowan could do with the rest of the wolf that had taken up a good hour or so to prepare, he could only use the rest of the meat as fertilizer for the Mother Tree.

  The sun was still up in the sky so there was still a lot of time left for the day, but Rowan didn’t want to go for another outing. Mana Pulse training could use some more practice, but Rowan wasn't in the mood.

  Right, there was something else he could do. He had been so occupied with the discovery of the mana pulse technique that he forgot the one who showed it to him, the Mother Tree. He could just study the technique through her.

  Which was how Rowan found himself sitting in front of the Mother tree, carrying out the mana exchange. Just by studying how the Mother tree sent out mana pulses already seems to help improve his own technique.

  There was also something else that he wanted to see through the Mother tree’s mana pulse.

  He had been so absorbed the first time that he didn’t realize an important fact.

  Rowan could essentially map out the Forest of Death through the Mother Tree. While he couldn’t map out the entire forest since his senses couldn’t follow through all the mana that the Mother Tree was sending out to the end, just being able to map out the surrounding area was a boon. Granted he didn’t know which direction was the exit, so he had to amp out the whole area anyways.

  There was the added bonus that he could notice different organisms through the connected mana. Rowan saw different packs of wolves wandering the forest, each one of different kinds and numbers. There were also other monsters that he found that lived in large gatherings such as squirrels. Fortunately they seem to congregate on one spot. There were also solitary animals such as deer. Rowan found that most deers tend to live on their own and there were never more than three if they did group together.

  It was understandable as Rowan recalled how a deer easily killed the goblins before. A single deer was enough to match two or three wolves. If they couldn’t, then the deer could always just run away.

  There were other surprising things he discovered.

  One of them being a goblin village in the forest depths.

  The fact that there was one surprised him as the goblins weren’t the strongest or smartest creatures around. The only thing they had going was numbers as Rowan estimated that there were about fifty goblins in the village based on their mana signatures.

  A clear vision of the forest surroundings came into Rowan’s mind as he observed more of the Forest. There were dozens of different mana signatures he had not seen yet, monsters that he may have to deal with in the future. Not to mention there were also lots of special plants based on how much mana they had. He had no idea what properties the plants had, but the amount of mana in a single one showed that there was something different from ordinary plants.

  Just take the killer tree as an example.

  Rowan didn't know if the killer tree was classified as a monster or a plant, but it did have a lot of mana.

  Observing all these features made Rowan realize something, he needed something to write down all this information. While he could create a mental map from everything he saw, it was best to have it written down for good. That way he could have something to reference to when he wasn't sure.The mental map was based off his memory and wouldn’t always be there.

  The first thing that came to mind was that he jot write it on the ground, but that was immediately turned down. One rainfall could instantly wipe out all the information he wrote down.

  It took a while to think of the second possibility since Rowan never thought he needed a way to record information. He had thought improving skills was all he needed to do to leave. Rowan thought he could try writing down on wooden plates that he would grow from his arms. This would take some tinkering as he never tried it before, but he was sure he could do it. Rowan would just use his fingers to scratch information on the plates. The only problem would be mana and time consumption.

  There was another alternative that came to mind when Rowan saw the wolf pelt hanging on the rack. He could use the skin of animals to write on. While hunting different animals them would be a time consuming process, it could easily be done with the help of the Mother Tree. A skin map would be easier to carry around when compared to a wooden plate.

  Besides, Rowan felt he needed to hunt a few more monsters, just for their pelts anyways.

  That was how Rowan found himself, three days later hiding up on a tree, waiting to ambush a pack of wolves.