Nathan

Year 2849 | Month 10 | Day 23

After a day of searching, I manage to find a nice place to settle in. For now, at least.

It’s a small forest several dozen kilometers away from the Dark Forest, and has a rather low degree of miasma. Just enough to make someone a touch sick from staying here for too long.

But in my case? That’s not a problem. After all, that’s only after it builds up a bit in their body. And it can’t build up in mine.

My original plan of searching for a village to take over was put on hold by the problem of not being able to find a village. So I’m left staying here for the time being.

I can’t help but drool at all of the fruit I have placed in front of me though.

Despite having eaten the fruits still growing here a couple of times since reaching this place, I can’t get enough. After all, I was starving for over a month. And even if that didn’t cause any actual problems in my body, it’s still a huge mental strain.

Not to mention that the fact that I can eat this fruit at all means I can still eat regular food and stuff that’s not just meat. So that’s a plus.

I scarf down the various types of fruit – most of which I’m not familiar with – before turning my attention to the cave I found next to the river. It’s located dead center in the small forest, and since it has the river, I’ll have a nice and mostly fresh – considering the miasma – source of water. As for the fruits, I’m pretty sure the only reason they’re still growing is because they’re growing too high on the trees here to be affected by the low amounts of miasma. And the river water is helping keep the trees alive by countering parts of the miasma.

After a few seconds of looking around, I decide to try making a new spell through adjusting my barrier spell, just to end up reaching for my terminal and finding nothing there.

Oops.

I narrow my eyes at that before shrugging, walking into the cave, and stopping right inside of the entrance.

Doesn’t mean I can’t still experiment. Although I should probably take off my armor first.

I look around for a second before going further into the cave.

Yeah, I would rather not end up burning the only clothes and armor I have or blowing it up by accident.

So I continue walking further and further into the cave, just to end up finding something rather surprising.

Is this… a village? Inside of a cave?

An abandoned one at that.

Why is this place abandoned?

The village – if I can really call it that – is set up in a really large cavern, with several different huts spread out around the cavern along with a few other tunnels, some of which seem to lead to other rooms inside of other caverns. But the entire place is barren of any people and looks like it’s been this way for quite a while.

I proceed to walk through the abandoned village for several minutes, just checking out each hut one by one before finally focusing on the large tunnel at the back of the village.

By the looks of it, whoever left did it in a rush. Considering that all of the huts are still filled with belongings. Although no food for some reason.

Maybe the villagers took it due to the scarcity of food in the miasmic areas?

I look down at the floor, which has even less miasma in it than outside of the cave, before starting down the tunnel.

The tunnel doesn’t really have many discerning features at this point. Just the faint miasma on the floor, which is such a small coating that it’s less than a tiny puddle, and the occasional lantern hanging down from the ceiling. But even those stop showing up at a certain point in the cave, where I notice a strange green gas in the air. It’s so thin that I can only barely notice it thanks to my new and improved vision.

At some point the only reason I can see at all is thanks to my night vision, which is making everything appear to have a slightly red hue to them.

I continue walking for who knows how long before I realize something’s off.

Why does this spot look familiar…?

Then my eyes suddenly narrow as a realization hits me.

Another illusion.

I look around for a second before raising my hand, raising a spell circle and sending a fireball spell flying forward. A loud shriek then echoes through the tunnel as the illusion begins to fade to show me a burning plant just a few meters in front of me with its maw open and ready.

A shiver runs down my spine at the realization that I almost walked into that thing’s waiting mouth.

The plant continues shrieking for a little while before eventually burning out and dying. But despite that, the green gas doesn’t dissipate. Which means that whatever it is wasn’t the thing causing the illusion.

I am definitely starting to understand why the villagers abandoned that perfectly nice village. Which makes things easy for me, since all I have to do is deal with the monsters in this place and I’ll be peachy.

Although I wonder who created these monsters? Since monsters aren’t naturally born. They have to be created through magic and science, and are generally used as weapons in wars.

Why would someone just create monsters and abandon them here?

Could they have been an accident? Or maybe the monsters’ creator was killed?

Either way, if I want to live here then I’ll have to deal with them one way or another.

With that thought in mind, I continue making my way through the tunnel, which only continues to expand into a large cavern with various different levels. And various of those plant monsters as well.

Wait a second.

My eyes narrow in on a bone. A human bone.

Could the villagers not have abandoned the place as I’d thought, but instead been killed by the monsters entirely? And maybe something came and ate their food?

I blink at that thought before a loud roar echoes through the cavern.

That hypothesis is sounding more and more likely by the moment.