Nico startled awake to swallow a load of heavy air. It burned his throat. In a fit of panic he snapped his eyes open. He looked directly into the sun, and the sun looked directly back into him, burning his eyes. He closed them shut and groaned.

Shitty sun. He’d been holed up in one corner for so long he’d forgotten how bright it was. It hung way up in the clear blue sky, turning the world yellow and warming it into a crisp. Wait, what?

He sat up, groaning as the nausea disoriented him. His back gave out and he dropped to the dirt.

Dirt? It was brown, warm, and mushy. He tilted his head around. He was in some type of swamp with tall metal trees surrounding him. Their gorgeous silver glimmered in yellow, reflecting the sun’s light as if they were mirrors. The first half of the trunk went straight up, while the second took left or right angles. The trunk then split off into different sharp rods. The sunlight poked through the openings, painting the ground with its pattern. When the trees swayed the pattern crawled on the ground as if it were alive.

Around each tree thick lines of tall green grass stuck out. The space between each tree was around 10 meters with flat open ground in between. There was a clear symmetry to it because it was man-made. The trees of old couldn’t live in their toxic atmosphere.

Nico found himself in a small crater. Foul-smelling smoke seeped out from it. The same smoke reeked from his left arm too.

Nico looked at his side, not quite believing what he was seeing. The same emerald arm Devi had stabbed him with was now smoothly attached to his shoulder. A thin hot vapor floated out of it. It was numb, but he could somewhat flex his fingers. Its wrist was horribly inflexible. He could make a fist, but precise movement was difficult. It weighed at least twice his right arm. It tilted him to the side slightly.

He stared at it for far longer than he should have. He brushed it softly with his hands. The etchings of the clouds stuck out to him.

He sat up again, this time much slower. The dirt stuck to his naked back, leaving an uncomfortable itch. Fortunately, he still had his most prized possession—his self-regenerating boxers. They were more vital to him than his axe, which he realized he did not have.

He looked around again, still not fully in tune with the sudden shift. A moment ago he was in the 3rd City. Now he was in the Wilds.

As for how he got over or under it, he had no clue. Something happened when Devi stabbed him, he just couldn’t remember what.

If the crater was from his landing, then he should have been mushed flat, brain and bone. There was no coming back from something like that, at least not for a few years, and without his brain.

Maybe there is a faster way, like if I used my Heal. Devi made him Heal before he lost consciousness. She checked that it would work with a delay if something prevented his body from actually healing. But if that was the case, then Nico should have lost his memories.

I don’t get it. Nico held his head, hoping it would get his thoughts together. So she wants me to deliver it, but she gave me no information.

Nico struggled to his feet, coughing, and wheezing as the nausea and disorientation doubled. The blanket of heat weighing him down made thinking harder than it already was. He wove his hands in front of him. It was so stuffy he could almost grab it.

Staying on his feet was all he could manage, and only briefly at that. His stomach sent him back to the ground with a single squeeze.

Acid. There was acid inside his stomach. Dirty tasting blood dripped from his cracked lips as he panted in the rotten air, hoping to at least stay conscious. Only now did Nico realize he was feeling pain. He tried using a Heal but nothing happened. He had no Energy inside him.

Nico dropped to the ground, huffing. “Yeah. Just like that. Keep it coming.”

A pale-yellow mist floated from Nico’s left arm and gathered into bold yellow letters above an empty space in front of him.

3rd City, Zone III—Twisted Bogs

Average Monster Rank: III

I’m so dead it’s not even funny anymore. Their maps were separated into Zones and Areas. These Zones stretched around the city in a rough circle, encompassing a land with monsters that were roughly equal to the Zone number. The Area’s referred which part of the Zone you were in. Generally, monsters were higher star level the further away from the city someone went.

At least, that was before the 4th Fall. Now there was always the chance of meeting something far beyond the Zone’s average. Either way, monsters this far away from the city were so strong and numerous nobody bothered to hunt here. Even if he jogged it would take him a few days to get back, and he couldn’t just ‘jog,’ because there were at least a couple thousand monsters in between here and there.

Nico glanced at his arm. Is this thing an Augmenter? It would be the last nail in the coffin if it was.

Before Nico checked his ID, something entered his range. He looked back at the two purple eyeballs staring at him from behind the cover of the nearby tree.

Fairy Of The Twisted Bogs ★★

Energy: ?

Class: ?

Body Trait: ?

1st Skill: ?

2nd Skill: ?

It was small, less than five feet, and skinny as a child. Its purple skin turned transparent when it entered the light. The bones and even its beating heart were open to view, and its teeth. Its god damn teeth. It had more teeth than face. Hundreds of them stretched from one ear to the other, each clacking against each other as it hissed at Nico. Its mouth was wide enough for the top portion of its head to seem like it was barely attached to the spine, which it seemed it was.

It stepped out from cover, revealing its blue butterfly wings. Thick blood vessels extended from its heart and separated towards each four quadrants of its wings. The vessels swirled towards a glowing black smudge at each center. The four quadrants pulsed a pale yellow at even intervals, almost like the rhythm of a beating heart.

All the black veins began to pump with a bright yellow liquid that flowed towards the center of the quadrants. Only when it flashed did Nico remember he was supposed to dodge.

He threw himself towards the side. He struck the mud, and for the first time in a long time, he felt pain. Real pain. He cried out, winced, and choked on his own yelling. He kicked the soft ground and scratched the smooth balk of the tree.

His poor ribs were dented. He held them tenderly and breathed softly, wheezing and sniffling, until footsteps and promise of more pain jolted him straight up. I’m fine. Every movement was pain, but he was going to get a lot more of it if he doesn’t get his act together.

The swirls lit up again. After a few seconds, four more beams came his way. Two sent vibrations through his tree and the rest missed. Nico left cover as he half jogged, half limped towards a further tree. As he did, more words appeared in front of his face. They glided along with him as he moved.

Ranger Fairy Of The Twisted Bogs ★★

Energy: 3/4 (+1/Minute)

Monster Trait: ?

Class: Emitter

1st Skill: ?

2nd Skill: Multiple-Charged Projectiles (Uncommon II)

Consumes 1 Energy to unleash multiple projectiles.

Cast-Time: Charges for 1-3 seconds with each second increasing accuracy and range.

Cooldown: 6 Seconds

Definitely an Augmenter. They were special equipment that identified skills of targets when used in the wielder’s sensing range.

He spared a single glance for the bone showing on his side. Humans and their soft limbs were never meant to feel something like this. Warmongering creatures my ass. No wonder most Hunters drank their lives away.

The fairy didn’t let him catch a breath. It hooked around the tree with fully charged wings, forcing Nico to do the only thing that he could—he circled the tree, staying behind its cover as the fairy struggled to reach him. That thing it was doing, with the wings and beams, that crap was not cheap. Monsters had limited Energy just like people did. 2 more barrages and it’ll run empty for a while.

The real problem began with its claws and ended with his dull hands. His new arm was sharp but unresponsive. It slacked behind him as if he slept on it. That meant he had no real way of hurting the fairy, and it very much did.

Nico decided he was going to let the fairy exhaust itself, charge it down, tear its wings, and figure out a way to kill it. Until the dizziness and pain went away that was the most he could do.

As Nico ducked below another barrage, he caught a glimpse of something white and tall through the tree line. It rose to the sky and extended for miles. The Deep. At least that was good news. It must have been a few Zones away.

He didn’t think this war of attrition would last long, though only a couple seconds later Nico discovered that his impeccable first plan had a major flaw in its design—or rather, the flaw faced him head on, with fully charged wings and a hungry smile.