Well, not everything was completely grim and hopeless at least.

First off, the memories finally stopped. Okay, maybe not stopped, but were more or less tolerable - I still was able to remember shit I definitely did not should, but at least it no longer was giving me a headache, so I could focus on something else.

By something else I mean inspecting the landslide and the rubble that was blocking my way out of here.

It was similar to the pile that I dug myself from. Or rather one I was pulled out from. Although it was a bit taller, covering most of the entryway, there was still a small opening just about the ceiling level. Not sure if it was big enough for me to pass through, nor if I was able to reach it anyway, but something like that was not going to stop me. I survived being crushed and buried alive, what’s a pile of rocks?

Even then, I was not going to try and climb onto that thing.

I thought about using earth magic just as I did back in the caves near Melle’s house, to create makeshift steps or at least a climbing wall, but I was not sure if this unstable wall was able to support my weight. I also was not sure if using earth magic while being surrounded by rocks and under the influence of an unknown mana surge was a good idea - who the hell knows if I was not just going to create another landslide. I decided to start small, and try a bit less invasive magic to meld the rocks together before trying to climb up.

Taking the inspiration from my earlier attempts at escaping, I wanted to use a bit of ice magic to freeze the rocks together. I stepped towards the wall and touched the landslide.

-Elwu etos hmedou lek gmyo.

It was a good idea to start slow. As I feared, the spell instantly went haywire.

Instead of bits of ice slowly forming between rocks as I intended, the spell was, let’s say about ten times stronger and faster.

The ice formed almost instantly, spreading like it was no tomorrow, pushing the rocks away and, yep, creating another landslide, just as I was fearing, falling right on top of my head.

I barely managed to dodge in time. Well, I say dodge, but some falling stones clocked me right in the head anyway, creating a mass of sparks, but, luckily, not burying me alive again, instead just pushing me away and maybe giving a concussion or two.

I feel like I blacked out for a second there, because the next thing I knew was that I was lying at the base of the new blockage. As I looked up, I had to do a double take, because I could not believe my eyes.

The rocks were no longer blocking my path. Instead, the entryway was completely blocked by one giant iceberg, which I assume pushed all the rocks away and created the avalanche in the first place.

Shaking off the concussion I stood up.

The ice was so clear that it could’ve easily passed as glass. That is, if it was not melting right in front of my eyes. I could easily see the other side, into the corridor.

Meaning there was only one thing left to do - hasten the process a bit. I did hesitate at first - after all, my spell did just go wild a second ago.

-Ah fuck it, what, else I am going to do… - I muttered to myself. - Usc fi geksu.

Of course, this spell also went a bit overboard. “Bit” being relative. Instead of summoning a fire orb, I straight up summoned a small sun that, even while it was pretty far from the ice wall, started melting it so fast that the whole cave got instantly filled with steam.

-Son of a…

I thought I was resistant to fire thanks to my crystal, but thanks to this spell I had to think again. Even though I was the one that conjured it, I could feel the unpleasant heat on my skin, even pain, especially in the vicinity of my stomach.

The heat was definitely not getting weaker, even though I almost instantly cut off the mana supply to the spell, so I did one thing I could - tossed the orb right at the ice in front of me, while at the same time diving down and away from it, as far as I could.

What followed was another explosion of steam and a rumble.

Quickly jumping up, I readied myself for an avalanche I thought was immediately coming, but nothing of sorts came. As the steam somewhat cleared I finally could see the destruction that I caused.

The whole ice wall was gone. Along with it, some smaller rocks that were caught in the blast were now lying, red from the heat, and some even half-way melted into the ground. But, nevertheless, the passageway was open.

Taking a note to not use magic under any circumstances in the near future, I gathered myself from the ground and went towards the exit, leaving the destruction behind.

Surprisingly, the tunnel was not in bad shape. Right, the walls were somewhat cracked and every now and again there was a large pile of debris in the way, but nothing that would’ve blocked the path completely.

Even then, I was having some difficulty getting through - but that was just because the light that I was emitting all that time was slowly starting to vanish. On one hand, that was good news - I did not have to worry about yet another spell going haywire, or at least I hoped so. On the other hand, I was still in complete darkness, and if it was to get dark completely, I would be walking blind.

Just as predicted, about a few minutes later, the light was completely gone. Reflexively, I wanted to summon a light orb, but I bit my tongue half way through the first word, remembering what I just said to myself and instead slowed down, hoping that my eyes would get used to the dark at least a little bit.

I somewhat did, but that did not help much. I was traveling at snail’s speed, and if my earlier journey through this corridor was any indication, I still had a long time before I’d emerge in the village.

I took that time to try and understand what just happened and what should I do next, but soon came to realize that I can’t really plan on anything before successfully leaving the underground - for all I knew I was trapped here because of a certain someone blocking the way out. For some reason he believed that I was his enemy, and if I was him, I would definitely take the opportunity to at least make my life harder. On the other hand, he most likely did believe that I was dead. Well, any other person would be, and I was not so sure if I really did not die there for a second - if not for the crystal to take over for my missing crushed limbs, I’d be as dead as it gets.

Why the hell did he even do that though? Didn’t he say I was their God or whatever? Lost or something? Stupid cult. If not for Melle and her necklace I would’ve probably never met For, and by proxy Axelrod and…

Wait a second. For. The contract!

I quickly raised my hand to check my palm to look for the mark. It was dark, so I obviously could not see, but even then I could tell that it was not there - the skin, or rather the rock was as smooth as it was everywhere else.

That was problematic.

I really, really wanted to try and summon the contract, but I knew that was not a good idea.

If it was still there and it was just the wound that disappeared, I was risking two things. First off, I still was not sure about my own magic - while I was no longer glowing, who the hell knows how exactly would the contract react to my new form. Second, if it was to work as usual, that would’ve meant that Axelrod and whoever else was nearby would know that I was still alive and kicking - not something I wanted to announce at once.

In any case, that made me hasten my step. Even though I was still not seeing shit, I stopped caring and, even though I was constantly tripping on rubble under my feet. At least every time I tripped I produced a large amount of sparks, lighting up the way a bit, so after a while I started dragging my feet on purpose. Instead of a magical hazard now I became a fire hazard. I mean I never could really stop being a magical hazard, but you get it.

The rubble finally disappeared after a few minutes of walking, but then the corridor was already getting a bit brighter, meaning I was already close to the exit.

Surprisingly, the exit was not barred in any way. Hell, it was not even closed - the hatch was completely torn off.

I slowly emerged from the hole. I already did check the surroundings with my mana sense before, but still I expected to see a trap or something, yet found nothing of sorts. The house I found myself in was in the same state as we left it, well, maybe besides the front door being a bit more torn off.

I am not sure how long I was down there, but it was the middle of the day. Sun was shining, the weather was beautiful - like every day in this place it seemed like. It was quite a change from the darkness of the underground, so when I emerged from the house and the sunlight hit me, it blinded me, almost making me trip. Staggering, I had to grab onto the ruined door frame just not to fall down.

That was lucky of me. While I was losing balance, I took one step outside of the house, touching the grass with my bare foot, and at the same moment I felt a sudden burst of strength go from the ground spread all throughout my body.

A bit startled, I moved back, and noticed that in the ground, where just my foot was, the grass was completely gray, looking like it was burned out. I leaned forward to touch it, but just as I made contact with it, even more of it started darkening and dying out, and I felt yet another burst of strength. Just as if to confirm my suspicion, my hand started glowing again, in an undeniable proof that it was indeed the crystal that just drained it.

-Well shit.

That was an interesting development. I already knew about the ability of the crystal, but for it to work that quick and seemingly without my control… To say the least it brought more problems than it solved.

But let’s look at the bright side first. The lack of mana was no longer a problem. If I was able to drain everything I touched, I basically had an infinite source of power.

Sad that it was the only plus of this thing. If I was not able to control it, how the hell was I supposed to even get away from here without leaving a trail of decay behind me?

Just to test this out, I stepped out and took two steps away from the house.

Instantly, where I stepped, the grass died, turning gray and drying out. When I stopped, it spread maybe a few centimeters more, but then the decay stopped and the mana flow halted.

-Yeah, that’s going to be a problem - I muttered to myself, sitting down and involuntarily creating even more dead grass, just before quickly backing up to the house.

Instead of procrastinating and being generally amazed by, apparently everything, I started rummaging through the whole building, looking for anything that would be useful.

I did not find much, but I did discover a bunch of clothes. Not very clean ones, but were good enough for what I needed.

I wrapped my hand in some of the rags and went outside again, wanting to check if this was going to work and yep, sure enough. The thin layer of clothes was enough to block the “curse”. I quickly went back and wrapped both of my feet and hands in the cleanest rags I could get my hands on. Since I did not find anything that even remotely resembled shoes, I just torn the sleeves from some decently-looking shirt - the owner will definitely not miss them.

I must admit, I felt stupid-looking, wrapped like that, but I couldn’t just walk while leaving a trail of gray grass behind me, so I immediately started looking through other houses and rummaging through their wardrobes.

Thanks to our earlier “mission”, the ransacking was quick and after a third house I found myself a full set of new clothes, replacing my rags. This time it was a set of gray linen pants, a shirt tied with a string and shoes that looked almost like they were not just some oversized socks, along with a brown, open-front coat that I quickly closed, hiding the crystal body of mine. I was not able to find anything that would cover my head, nor did I find any gloves. For hands I just remade my hand wraps from a bit cleaner material, essentially bandaging them up.

Speaking of the crystal body, when I was changing clothes, I realized that it changed again. I don’t know for sure if it was when I drained the creature underground, or if it was thanks to the mana I sucked from grass, but my body turned a bit greener and I no longer had a weak spot anywhere - I was already completely turned to stone.

I was wondering if it was going to happen, or rather, after all the events in the caves, when, but I didn’t expect it would be so soon. From what I’ve noticed, the growth periods were happening after I absorbed large amounts of mana from somewhere - like the combined spell of Odar and Jacob - but this time I was running low on mana almost constantly. Well, I did drain the creature and a bit of mana from the ground just now, but that couldn’t be enough. There was the dagger though…

I finally remembered about it and inspected it closer. So far I only did so in the darkness, but even in the bright sun there I still couldn't find any inscription or anything like that. Besides it being old and nicely made, there was nothing that would explain the enchantment that there was on it - especially so powerful that draining it managed to turn yet another piece of my body into crystal, not to mention that it gave me enough mana to recover and escape.

Wondering about that, I was wandering around the village. I already knew that there was no one here besides me, but I still wanted to be sure, and maybe find something that would be useful. I was about half way through the whole town when I, for the first time, got closer to the side of the town where the old barn was - where we gathered people. Or rather the corpses. I did wonder what happened to them after everything that happened, so I decided to check that out.

I did not have to walk far to notice that something was absolutely wrong.

I realized that the emptiness that I got the feel of earlier was the barn.

The grass around it was completely gray, and the closer to the building, the darker it was, to the point when right next to it there was literally no grass nor any plant alive at all. The trees that were caught in whatever the hell happened there were also completely gray. Most of them did not have any leaves, and those that still had some remaining were at the very edge of this strange circle.

On the other hand, the building itself looked intact.

I slowly started approaching this strange anomaly, not sure what to think, although the coloration of the grass did not fill me with confidence. What I found inside was… bizarre to say the least.

Inside of the barn, right in the middle, there was growing a thick tree. Its roots were mostly above the ground and were snaking all around the floor of the building. They were also strangely regular, parallel to each other, like some kind of mat covering the floor. Each of them was also pretty thick - easily larger than a person.

On top of all that, the whole tree was also completely gray, similar to the others outside.

It also was apparently very delicate, because as soon as I opened the door and walked in to see this strange sight, I nudged one of the smaller roots accidentally, just for it to crumble into ash. The same ash was also covering the whole room.

At first glance I wanted to say that someone burned this place with some kind of magical flame, but I had a feeling that it was not the case. The color of the tree and the grass was very familiar, same with the overwhelming feeling of emptiness that was prevalent in the area - just like it was underground. And the ash…

Fearing that I might be right, I went outside to the border between where the grass was still alive and where the decay started, and unwrapped my hand.

I briefly touched the part where the grass was still alive, just for the decay to kick in - and sure enough - even this brief touch managed to drain the grass completely, making it indistinguishable from the dead patch that had the shed as its core.

Whatever destroyed this place had the exact same power as my crystal.

What in the hell would that be though? And how the hell would they even do that?

Walking back to the shed, I started thinking of the possibilities.

As far as I knew, there was only one crystal that was able to drain mana like this - and it was still safely a part of me. Even a similar one, the one that not so long ago I found underground, was sort of similar, but had quite opposite functionality - while mine was sucking all the life from the area, the crystal with the presence in it enriched its environment. In any case, it also was already gone, so even if I was wrong about that and it also had the same power as me, it was still out of the picture.

Was it someone in Axelrod’s party that had this kind of power? That was not out of the question. But why did they use it here though?

Back at the barn, I started thinking of possibilities, while carefully inspecting the ashen tree and its remains.

I wanted to think as Axelrod would think. What would be the first thing I would do while back with my party after an exhausting fight with some unknown entity? My first guess was to regain my mana. Would that mean that it was he who had the power to drain things? And just wanted to refresh after the fight? What was the tree about though? Well, his magic was plant-based, mostly that is, so I wouldn’t get past him if it was necessary for him to drain this place… or… wait, what exactly was here in the first place?

I came to the sudden realization. People. People were here, or at least the corpses of people that we gathered here. Would it be possible that he actually drained PEOPLE?

I shuddered.

That would explain the thickness of the roots - it seemed a bit over the top for any three to grow roots in that kind of shape. Wasn’t that the one custom of this place? A funeral that turns you into a tree?

Absorbed with this thinking, I accidentally touched one of the roots a bit too hard, making it crumble and reveal what was underneath.

To my relief it was not a corpse. Nor a skeleton. It was just a dagger.

My relief was very short lived, because I almost instantly recognized it. After all, I had the exact same with me. It was the second one from the pair that I knew belonged to Melle.

I sat down, not sure what to think of it. I did not want to believe it, but at the first glance it indeed looked dire.

The worst scenario. Axelrod brought Melle here, along with her belongings. Feeling that he won’t be able to make it out, he decided to drain the remaining mana from the environment, and the corpses that we gathered. Did she die during the cave-in? Nah, couldn’t be.

Or maybe, by some weird accident, the spell also caught Melle, who, unconscious, was not able to resist, and got caught by the roots that absorbed her, leaving just her belongings.

I really wanted to think that it was just my stupid brain thinking of the worst scenario, but it was indeed a possibility.

I honestly doubted that’s what happened, he probably just discarded the knife, or she lost it during the escape, there is no way that he’d kill her. Not after claiming that she was his family, and multiple times to boot.

But, I was wrong before, and he looked a bit unhinged during our fight, so…

No. I could not just assume the worst.

No matter what actually happened here, I still couldn’t shake the unpleasant feeling that this place was giving me, so I decided that I should leave as soon as possible. Just get away from this place and don’t look back.