New World Day 23

  I leaned there against a big oak tree just outside the Haunted Highway for a few minutes to catch my breath and savor the fact that I had escaped from that hellhole. I knew there was no way that I was getting through to Falmouth in that direction. I had walked for at least half an hour without encountering a single trace of the Old World trail. That made this area the largest increase in size that I knew of besides the new mountain range in the distance. I could try and get to the meadows by following along the creek, but it would be a winding path along a water source which would have a high likelihood of attracting all manner of creatures looking for a drink all while housing its own predators. Heh, I was willing to give it a try. It’s not like it could be any more dangerous than the Haunted Highway had proven to be, but I wanted to check something out first.

  As I started down the hill towards the creek, I kept my mana enhancement going at full strength in order to keep burning off the excess mana from my overflowing mana lake. I noticed that my scraps and bruises from the baseball slide healed along the way. On the other hand, the spiritual wounds from the ghosts, especially the fresh wounds on my back, still ached, but the ache lessened with each minute. I took a quick glance at my spiritual world as I meandered down the hill and saw that the injuries the ghosts had given me were different from the spiritual injuries that I suffered in the past. The wounds from the ghosts were great gashes in my spiritual world that looked like someone took a knife and carved out a chunk of my spiritual world. As that comparison crossed my mind, I was reminded of how the ghosts became clearer and gained a stronger presence with each attack and wondered if that thought had hit the mark. The gouge wounds, as I now thought of them, were larger than the cracks that I created during my training, but they also lacked the jagged edges of the cracks. I wondered if the cleaner nature of the wounds would allow them to heal quicker than the cracks.

  I spent less than a minute taking in my injuries before I shifted my full attention back to the outside world. Just because I didn’t encounter any danger going up the hill at this point didn’t mean that some predator hadn’t moved into the area while I was running for my life in the Haunted Highway. My wariness proved to be unwarranted, but it was a good habit to form for the future.

  I stopped at the creek and thought about if there was a better way across than just hopping across at full speed like I did before. I had tried tossing sticks into the creek before to trick the salamanders out from under the rocks, but that hadn’t lured them out. I thought that maybe this time I would aim for the rocks in the creek instead of the water. The impact on the rocks might better resemble prey crossing the creek. I was prepared to try it out when I thought better of it. What did I gain from luring it out anyways? The only way I had to kill it would be a gun, and that loud of a noise could attract more of them than I could handle. The goblin horde attracted over a dozen of the salamanders when they were mucking about in the creek earlier.

  No, the best way across really was just leaping across as quickly as I could. I plotted the shortest course this time and jumped from rock to rock like a deer bounding through the forest. Two salamanders wiggled out from under nearby rocks, but I was on the other side of the creek by the time they crawled all the way out from under the rocks. I made sure to put some distance between me and the shoreline just in case before I stopped for a moment to check if my mana lake was still overcapacity.

  A quick peek told me that the giant gulp of mana water had run its course so I switched back to using mana vision. I needed to be able to see those nasty vines lurking in the giant trees atop the hill for this next part. I trudged up the hill and kept moving until I reached the area filled with the enormous New World trees. I stood there at the edge of this area staring at the trees until I found one that was taller than the rest, had no vines wrapped around its trunk or branches, and had branches from other trees around it low enough for me to climb. I strode over to my chosen tree while keeping a safe distance from any trees with vines and switched back to my mana enhancement. I would need the extra physical ability for what came next. I was going to do what I should have done before this entire fiasco of an expedition spiraled out of control.

  I laid my backpack, rifle, and shotgun against the base of the tree and jumped up to grab the nearest and lowest hanging branch. I pulled myself up onto the branch and began climbing upwards. I shifted to my chosen tree once I was high enough to reach its lowest branches. The sheer size of the tree and the thickness of the branches meant I wasn’t worried about the branches breaking under my weight, but I worried about the vines and any New World creatures that might be roosting in the upper area of the tree. I stopped every few branches to survey the area for any danger with my mana vision before I pumped my body full of mana again and resumed climbing.

  The branches near the top of the tree had a few gashes in them from what I assumed to be the talons of some large bird, but none of them looked to be fresh. I climbed to the highest point branch and crouched down on it so that only my head was peeking out of the canopy of leaves. I surveyed the sky and looked at all of the nearby trees for any lurking predators before I grabbed a nearby branch to steady myself and stood all the way up.

  This hill was the highest hill in the immediate area, and this tree was the tallest that I could find. I had an unimpeded view of the entire region as a result. Looking to the west, I could see gentler hills covered by oceans of green and blue grass broken up by a few small stands of trees here and there. The hills rolled right into the Licking River which, as I expected, was at least twice the size it used to be. What concerned me was that when I looked to the northwest towards Falmouth and the new mountain range, I saw a thick line of gray and black trees extending all of the way to the river.

  I followed that line of trees to the north where the Haunted Highway lay and the site of what sat to the north took my breath away. There was an immense black and grey forest that covered at least six full sets of hills and valleys. The core of the forest had eight offshoots that extended out from it to the east and west. Looking at it from above, the forest of black and grey pine trees resembled a massive spider crawling across the hills. As I had seen first hand what lay in that forest, I had a hard time believing that shape was a coincidence. More disconcerting was that one of the legs of the forest cut off any chance of me traveling down the creek to the meadows and from there to the state route. My only remaining choice was to go east towards Williamstown until I went far enough to get around the Haunted Highway. I could then travel northeast towards the state route that connected Falmouth and Cincinnati.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  I twisted my body around to look towards the south which was a continuation of the same terrain I saw in the west before I turned my attention to the east. I could make out a few grassy hills in the east, but most of the terrain was rolling hills covered in thick forests. I was relieved to see that there weren’t any trees that resembled the ones that I encountered in the Haunted Highway. That was one less worry at least. As far as I was aware, it was just the potential goblin village that I had to worry about in that direction. I was sure there would be other creatures to keep an eye out for, but the goblins were my primary concern for any expedition in that direction. The region to the south was open enough that I was willing to bet that it was the territory of earth swimmers just like the west which meant the goblins almost had to be in the forests to the east. I would have to come up with a way to deal with them before I made any attempt to head in that direction.

  I took one last glance at the entire region, paying particular attention to what I now called the Haunted Spiderway, my pun loving grandpa would be proud, and the mountain range before I climbed down from the tree. I took out some ammo and reloaded the shotgun before I slipped the backpack and rifle back on and started the walk back to the house. It looked like I would be hiding out there for a while longer yet, and that meant that I needed to prepare a way to deal with the hobgoblin. It would only be a matter of time before he learned that I was back and had survived the Haunted Spiderway. I wasn’t a match for him and his entire force out in the open, but if I waited for him to attack me at the house I might just have a chance. A plan began to form in my head and a cruel smile split my lips as I worked my way back home. Yes, if he was foolish enough to come looking to finish me off, I would turn the tables on him and make it the last thing he ever did.

Minor Spirit Regen (Passive) © * leveled up!

Basic Mana Vision (Active) (B) * leveled up!

Name: Jason Silver

Job Name: N/A

LVL: 8 50%

Job LVL: N/A 0%

Job Points:

N/A

N/A

N/A

Titles:

Survivor © LVL 1 12%

Fool © LVL 1 82%

Swarm Killer (B) LVL 9 31%

Beast Killer (B) LVL 9 49%

Risk Taker (B) LVL 9 37%

Repeated Risk Taker © LVL 8 41%

Compassionate Fool © LVL 5 26%

Curious Fool © LVL 5 92%

Stupid Fool © LVL 7 96%

Extremely Stubborn Fool © LVL 5 22%

Greater Mana Wielder ® LVL N/A

Title Points:

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9

Stats:

HP:

MP:

Mana Regen:

Endurance:

Strength:

Speed:

Agility:

Spirit:

Bonus Points:

76/160

52/66

14.5 per min (-2.75)

19

15

17

9

10

28

Status Effects:

Regen, Spirit Regen, Disease Resist, Parasite Resist,

Poison Resist, Spiritual Wound x12

Skills:

Basic Axe Mastery (B) LVL 9 94%

Basic Gun Mastery (B) LVL 5 61%

Lesser Regen (Passive) (UC) LVL 1 31%

Minor Spirit Regen (Passive) © LVL 7 7%

Basic Disease Resist (Passive) (B) LVL 9 89%

Basic Parasite Resist (Passive) (B) LVL 9 95%

Basic Poison Resist (Passive) (B) LVL 9 11%

Minor Mana Control © LVL 9 92%

Greater Mana Vein (Passive) ( R ) LVL 1 0%

Flexible Mana Lake (Passive) (B) LVL 4 64%

Pain Control (B) LVL 4 71%

Fear Control (B) LVL 4 89%

Basic Close Combat Footwork (Active) (B) LVL 8 91%

Basic Ranged Combat Footwork (Active) (B) LVL 9 74%

Minor Barrier Runes (Active)© LVL 1 81%

Basic Mana Enhancement (Active) (B) LVL 8 26%

Basic Mana Vision (Active) (B) LVL 7 49%

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