Looking down at the lake, Lanek saw something disturbing. Despite it being the largest source of water he could see, there didn’t seem to be anything aside from trees in the vicinity.
Lanek could also just be paranoid considering the harshness of the city he had escaped. He decided to take a walk to the lake to take a closer look, hoping that he just wasn’t able to see signs of animal life from his position.
While descending the tree and asking Kazuma to release the chain for him, he considered the area. On the one hand, Lanek liked the idea of potentially setting up camp at the top of the hill for its line of sight but it did have the issue with making him a bit more exposed to the weather and detection.
On the other hand, he could set himself up in the cave at the foot of the hill. It would be secure and he could still climb the hill when he needed to scout while the thick forest around the hill would keep him hidden. The downside was that he could easily be trapped in the cave if something hostile found him.
Then there was the option to find somewhere else entirely, but he wasn’t sure he would find a better spot that was this close to the city. The lake was promising, but something still nagged at him about it.
After ten minutes of walking from the hill, he heard the sound of running water. Following the sound, he found himself standing before a small stream. With a grin, he leaned forward to stare into the clear water, spotting a few fish darting about. This will do, even if I can’t catch any fish, I’d much rather take my water from a running source than a still one like the lake. I don’t care what that purification flask claims, I’m not taking more chances than I need to.
Lanek proceeded along the river in the general direction of the lake, assuming that it connected at some point. Kazuma and Lanek were enjoying the stroll through the woods, listening to birdsong and insects going about their business when the sounds abruptly came to an end. While the two of them could still hear the leaves rustling in the wind and the sound of the river flowing, all sounds of life were gone.
Lanek immediately felt uncomfortable. Was there an apex predator about? Something worse? Not sure what else to do, he continued onward. He noticed Kazuma getting more nervous the closer they got to the lake, going so far as to bristle and growl when the lake became visible through the trees.
“What’s going on? Do you see something?” Lanek asked, but the cat only responded with a single pulse through their link. Lanek was still getting used to this method of communication, but he could still make out the general idea. Kazuma was warning him that there was something dangerous out there. Unfortunately, Lanek couldn’t tell if this was an animal, monster, or even the environment.
Erring on the side of caution, Lanek crept toward the lake slowly while making sure to move from tree to tree in order to remain in cover. Reaching the tree line, he still couldn’t see a threat, but his instincts were screaming at him to leave this place. Kazuma evidently agreed as he slunk backwards, eyes never leaving the lake.
Not willing to ignore both his and Kazuma’s instincts, he took a step back and heard a cracking sound as he stepped on a fallen twig. The next thing Lanek knew, he was flying backward through the air before crashing into another tree. He winced in pain while frantically looking for the threat.
He found no trace of what had attacked him. What he did see was the tree he had been standing behind, as well as the trees on either side of it, snapped in half, all three of them falling toward the lake. Holy shit, he thought, If that tree hadn’t been between me and the attack, I would just be a smear on the landscape.
Groggily, he stood up. He still saw no traces of the thing that attacked him, but he had no intention of getting closer to the lake. Lanek considered scouting out the lake from a different angle when he heard a deep rumbling noise and water sloshing about.
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Not only no, but hell no. Lanek thought as he turned away from the lake and bolted back the way he had come. While he was curious about what had attacked him, he decided it would be better to wait until he was stronger and better prepared to investigate.
At least the river should still be safe. Whatever had been strong enough to shear through those trees and make that deep of a noise was likely far too large to fit into the river. In fact, he’d be willing to bet that the creature lived in the lake and either couldn’t leave or chose not too come onto land. If it did come out regularly, there would be clear signs of something massive moving through the trees and leaving tracks. He shuddered as an alternative suggested itself. What if it could fly?
On the way back to the hill, he drank from his flask and refilled it at the river. During the walk he had come to a decision, he was going to set up in the cave. It would get him into shelter much faster than if he had to build something at the top of the hill. Not only that, but he also didn’t have any tools to cut the trees down to build a shelter.
By the time he had reached the cave, he was loaded down with dry branches and bark that he had harvested for a fire. As he set up a rudimentary fire in the mouth of the cave, he looked at Kazuma. The mist cat kept looking off into the woods.
“Kazuma, you can explore if you want to, I’m fine here on my own.” Hearing that, the cat stood up abruptly and dashed into the forest, dissipating into a fine mist as he went.
He must have been bored.
Lanek laughed at the cat’s behavior and set to work starting the fire. Unfortunately, starting a fire without a magnesium rod, matches, or even just flint was just as hard in this world as it was back home. Sure, his grandfather had made sure he could do it even without the aforementioned tools, but he hadn’t done it in years and it wasn’t a quick and easy process despite what movies and television shows implied.
An hour later, Lanek successfully lit the fire, although he suspected he just got lucky. He had expected that it would take even longer than it had. After ensuring that the fire wouldn’t go out, he proceeded into the cave to set his pack down and have a closer look at the interior. To his relief, there was relatively little in the way of debris in the cave. The floor was mostly bare rock with an occasional patches of dirt.
Returning to the fire, he sat down and glared at the trees surrounding him, once more lamenting the fact that he had no axe or even a hatchet at this point. If he had even one of those tools, he could set about making a real shelter using the cave as a starting point. Yes, he had the knife end of his whip, but he didn’t think it would be useful for more than cutting off branches or felling very small trees.
While he sat moping, he could feel Kazuma approaching the fire, radiating satisfaction. Lanek looked up to see the cat entering camp with a small and bloody bundle of fur in his teeth. The mist cat approached Lanek and dropped the carcass of an adult rabbit in front of him. Kazuma then proceed to push the body closer to Lanek with his nose, clearly offering it to him.
“Wow, thank you! I’m so hungry.” Lanek exclaimed while reaching for the carcass while drawing out the dagger portion of his whip. Finally, he had something that he could do with the sole tool he had on hand. “I’ll get this cooked up as fast as I can, bud. Or would you prefer yours raw?”
The cat shook its head, sending out a pulse of satisfaction. “Really? You already ate?” The cat nodded at him before settling down near the fire and began an intensive grooming session.
Smiling at his good fortune and the generosity of his companion, Lanek set to work field dressing the rabbit, once again saying a silent thank you to his grandfather. Within minutes, he had the rabbit spit on a sharpened branch and cooking over the fire.
While the meat cooked, Lanek finally used [Identify] on his chain whip and was staggered by what he saw. No wonder it was left behind!
Sanguineus [Unique][Growth][Cursed]
This weapon is the result of experimentation during the Age of Devastation. On the brink of extinction, the creators of this chain whip imbued Sanguineus with the ability to drain blood from those it slew while channeling the vitality into its wielder. However, instead of bolstering and healing its wielder, Sanguineus retained the vitality and mana of its victims.
This retained vitality will make Sanguineus more powerful over time but at a cost. The longer one wields Sanguineus the more likely they are to become addicted to the shedding of blood and be driven unto madness.