Contrary to the tower's portal, the one I left to fulfil my Mattugr was protected by both knights and slaves.

I felt out of place. My gear was better than that of any slave, while also being poor compared to what the knights used. I could already see some of the slaves looking at my gear with envy. It was a matter of time until they tried to kill me to take it.

The destroyed building was once a temple judging by the details still intact and the drawings on the wall. Most were now blurry or covered by moss, but one, in particular, was still almost perfect, which couldn't be a coincidence.

A black figure was drawn in a way that made it look dangerous. It was eating a ball with little people around and inside it. I could only guess that the figure was eating a planet or a bowl of people. This was a crazy world, so both could happen.

Who knows?

Adjusting my chest plate, I went off from the temple and observed the world around me. After a grass field, a dense forest surrounded the temple. I knew the direction I had come in from our escape, so I decided to explore another place. I could see a mountain to my left, which would probably be filled with caves and tunnels, but looked too far away and I was not sure what kind of enemy would live there.

In the worst case, I would be stuck in a maze of tunnels, fighting for my life. There was also the chance of it being the home of the cannibals.

That made me realize I had no idea of what they were. Alana's explanation, if right, dungeons monsters from a game, but made out from the memories of this world. I didn't know if they were alive or even if they had needed some sort of home. Maybe they just wandered killing people.

On the other hand, the aberrant woman said something about their return, so they probably had some sort of goal, which I would bet my life, meant they could revive their world. Which by itself brought up way more questions.

I sighed. My options were a deadly forest, a deadly mountain, and a more deadly forest. I knew I would have to make a blind choice, which I hate.

Being realistic my goals were finding a water source; securing some food and a safe place to sleep. And as far as possible from the other slaves. I decided to enter the forest to my right, making sure that everyone saw me going there.

I had to be extra careful of my surroundings, trying to notice if anyone was following me or if there was danger lurking nearby. All while searching for the sounds of running water, or an animal to kill. When I felt like no one had followed me, and that I was deep enough, I found a stone was sharp enough to put my plan into motion.

First, I moved stones and broke some branches. Then I cut the palm of my left hand and passed some blood over a tree, the floor and at a stone. When I had created a fight scene realistic enough. Most people wouldn’t notice the scene was fake and that there were too few footsteps there. They would think I have fought with a cannibal, lost, and been captured.

With a branch, I changed directions and wiped out my footsteps on the ground, until I was far enough off my trap. I stopped for a moment, trying to focus my attention on the sound of running water, but couldn’t hear it. After that, I kept walking, wondering why this place was quieter than the tower until I realized It was probably due to the cannibals planning a raid there.

It kind of made sense that I wouldn’t stumble at enemies at each step, or this place would be impossible to loot, especially when cannibals reappeared each new day. There was probably a more or less fixed number of them stationed at various points in the world.

At least, I hoped for it.

Some hours later, I noticed the faint scent of meat being cooked. The strong and nauseating smell was different from any I had ever seen, which was probably because the cannibals were cooking a person or some animal I haven't seen. Fighting them now wouldn't be worth it for me, but if they were cooking, it meant they had some sort of facility that could have things I could use, or at least water to clench my thirst.

I was so focused on the mattugr that I had forgotten to take my breakfast, which would eventually hinder me.

The smell led me to a couple of wooden and leather huts. Most were made of animal fur, but some had the agonizing face of humans and other parts of their bodies. Tall piles displayed skulls of dead enemies. The floor was full of bones, and carcasses of animals.

Snicking inside the tents would be a fool's work. My best option was to backtrack and resume my search, which I was about to do when a woman scream got my attention.

A tall, naked and muscular man covered in tribal tattoos came out from a hunt, dragging a naked woman by her hair. He threw her at a stone table and punched her in the face when she tried to get off it, breaking her nose. He tied her arms and legs with rust and bloodied chains, leaving her there while he inspected a butcher's knife.

The rational part of me wanted to turn away. There would be others there and I didn't know If I could face them alone. The emotional part of me screamed inside my mind to save her. I pictured Vanessa in her place, and could almost feel the despair she would suffer knowing someone would butch her alive.

I closed my eyes and strengthened the grip on my mace. The cannibal was naked, his only weapon was a simple butcher's knife. He also didn't have a [Mana Core] like me, so unless he had a [Spell Rune] shoved inside his ass, he would feel a world of pain in my hand.

As soon as he raised his knife to cut her. I aimed at a spot behind him and used [Shadow Blink]. My shadow shot out toward me, wrapped itself around my body and pulled me inside itself. The world became pit dark until a second later I was expelled behind the cannibal. The process of disappearing and reaping in another place gave me vertigo. Because of that, I missed the chance to strike him, which cost the woman's right leg.

She let out a deep and loud scream of pain. The world was still dizzy, but I had no time to lose, so I hit the back right side of his face with my face. A bluish mana shield blocked the attack, ending my sneak attack.

It had been the first time I had seen one of them having a [Mana Shield] and without even having a [Mana Core]. Despite blocking the damage from my attack, the impact still made him fall to the side, holding the table to not fall over the floor.

He got up faster than I expected, punching me in the chin. I almost fell back, but held on, striking him back with an attack aimed at his right shoulder. I was hoping that even if his shield blocked it, the impact would be enough to break the bone.

Of course, it didn't work.

He slash aiming at my neck, with enough speed that it would be almost impossible to avoid the attack. Using [Shadow Blink] again, I teleported 3 meters away from him, getting some distance between us to rethink my strategy.

"Help!" The woman screamed.

He beheaded her with a clear cut, making my effort useless. Hitting his chest with a close fist, he snarled at me. "Human scum! I will feast on your meat."

"Sorry, but no."

His taunt made others of his people come out from the huts. I counted at least eight of them, surrounding me, all armed and ready to kill me, making me regret my choice. I was being too sentimental and this was about to be my downfall.

Fleeing was my best bet. In the worst case, I could lead them to the portal and let the knights and the other slaves deal with them.

"Ha! Look what we found here fucker!"

I cursed myself. It was like the world was trying to kill me.

The tattooed man and ten slaves appeared from inside the forest. He stood at the front of the group, all sharing similar tattoos that he had. Pointing a spear at me, he smiles. "Me and my boys will fuck you this time."

Did he have a crew?

I blocked that useless thought. And focused my attention on the cannibals around me. They seemed confused by the sudden development, but now that they had more enemies to deal with, I had a better chance of escaping because of the confusion.

But then, why did I need to? This was the perfect chance to kill him and edging one of my problems. He also had to pay for trying to rape the woman I loved. A sin, that shouldn't be punished lightly.

"Ok guys, come and get me!" I shouted and took my fight stance.

The two groups clashed with each other. The sound of the [Mana Shield] from the slaves being hit by the cannibals echoed like drums, followed by the shouts and the sound of metal against metal.

The butcher rushed toward me, with his knife in one hand and one of the woman's legs in the other. He waved it like a club, but I blocked the attack with my shield. I noticed a flash in the corner of my vision, and duck low. An arrow made of fire burned some of my hair but avoiding it gave the butcher a chance to strike me with his knife.

It hit my head. Both my shield and the weapon's blade broke into pieces. What was left from his blade still managed to cut me from my right eye to my chin.

I looked to my left and teleported again. My eye was a painful blood mess and vertigo only made it worse. A cannibal ran toward me, I got up and hit his groins with my shield, then smashed his head with my mace.

The butcher laughed, pointing his blade at me.

The tattooed man pointed his spear at me, shooting a second fire arrow. This time I blocked it, and the butcher took the opportunity to close the distance between us again. He rushed like a mad bull, so I gave him a spartan kick in the belly.

You have lent a critical strike!

His [Mana Shield] shattered. He looked impressed, let out a single hoar, and rushed for the kill once more.

I got down, broke his knee with the mace and landed a second attack with the shield at his throat. He fell, coughing blood, which probably meant he would die alone. O got up, meeting the attack of one of the slaves. The mace broke his hand; his sword fell, and he screamed while holding the broken hand. He ran, trying to escape from me, but a cannibal hit his belly with an axe.

Despite their fewer numbers and having lost their leader, the cannibals had managed to turn the tide and won the battle. Only two of them remained now, to face me.

One had lost an arm and was bleeding enough that he would die of blood loss before reaching me. The other was in perfect shape; he looked at me and hit his shield with a sword, snarling like it was some sort of challenge.

"Just come already, I don't have all day."

He was more cautious than the other opponents I had faced, moving slowly toward me, with his guard high to protect his head. I waited for him to be close enough then attacked. His shield shattered, followed by his arm's bone. Yet he tried to strike back, but I managed to hold his arm before his weapon hit me and headbutted him in the face.

With a hit at the upper part of his head, I killed him.

The thrill of battle left me. I cut a piece of my cloth, and tied it over my cut eye, then looked at the death around me. The tattooed man was nowhere to be seen, so I mentally cursed him for escaping my grasp.

That brief confrontation had already cost me 30 points of mana and an eye, and I knew I was the only one blamed for that.

Having no time to waste debating my actions with my councioness, I searched the huts for food and supplies. The first one was packed with meat, some were even starting to root. Unfortunately, there was no way to know what kind of meat it was, so I left it.

The second and the third were full of mattresses and blankets made of animal fur. Since the night was coming, I found a rope and packed one of each for myself. The fourth was a warehouse, where I found a crude leather bag, and three water flasks also covered by leather.

I also found a crude knife made of stone that could be useful in the wilderness.

The last things I had to check were the weapons and runes, which would be too time-consuming. There was the risk of someone having heard the battle, and I was in no shape to survive another encounter.

With pain in my heart, I started to take all the runes I could find and shoved them inside my bag. One of the slaves surprised me by holding my leg.

"Help me please." He said, coughing some blood. I freed myself from him, got down and cut his throat.

Charon is pleased by your willingness to kill and your thirst for battle.

Charon has given you 30 death coins.

Charon is eager for your visit to a god's forge.

Packet and with a heavier purse, I left hoping I would survive the night.