Lucas thought where to move next. The waterfall is not too far. I may as well go and explore the gorge in that direction completely. Then I can follow it in the opposite direction for as long as I have to, without worrying that I have missed something.

He picked up his stick and started walking. I should move near the walls of the ravine, because there may be other artificial or natural caverns. At this point he was convinced that a cave would be his best bet for shelter.

Lucas started moving near the vertical rocks of the gorge and soon came back to the glowing cloud of the dungeon entrance. He circled around it and continued on.

The terrain was flat. There were more bushes than trees, but the vegetation was not dense enough to obstruct his progress significantly

While striding he saw an animal for the first time. It was a small bird perched on a tree branch several meters away from him. After watching him for a few seconds, it flew away.

Lucas was somewhat relieved that his first encounter outside the dungeon was not with another monstrous creature. It looked like a normal bird. The vegetation I have seen until now also seems ordinary. Maybe this world is not that different than Earth and monsters exist only in the dungeon?

No, it is still too early to make conclusions and I should not be careless.

After dozen or more minutes of walking, the gorge started narrowing and he could hear distant booming. A mountain stream came into view and soon he was before the waterfall itself.

It was a magnificent sight. Lucas stopped and watched for a few moments. The waterfall was probably forty to fifty meters high with a pool beneath it. He came to the bank of the stream, crouched and touched the water with his free hand. It was ice cold.

I wonder if this water is suitable for drinking. Probably I would be forced to find out soon unless some miracle happens.

Lucas stood up and decided to go back. This time he crossed the stream and moved along the other wall of the gorge.

His exploration was uneventful for the next half hour. By now I should have passed the dungeon. The vegetation was enough to obstruct his view of the opposite side of the gorge so he couldn’t tell for sure.

He looked up at the foreign Sun in the sky. It was early or mid afternoon. It would be unwise to continue to go forward after late afternoon. If there are no results until then, I should move to the dungeon side of the gorge and explore it on the way back.

If no good location is found, there is the option of sleeping in the chamber with the unknown device, but I would like to avoid that if possible. Maybe sleep on a tree? That is probably not feasible.

While walking Lucas saw something through the bushes, which resembled a stone structure. He slowly moved towards it to investigate.

It was a stone wall several meters long and more than two meters high. He went around it and discovered another two wall remnants, which were in a lot worse condition than the first one. No roof was present and instead of a floor there was soil and vegetation.

An old ruin? Was it build by the ones who left the mysterious device? If so that means they have been absent from this place since long time ago. These remains look quite dilapidated, they may be hundreds of years old or even more.

Lucas searched around, but didn’t find anything interesting. Even if there was once something of importance time has apparently erased it.

He resumed his journey and after moving for more than half an hour heard an all too familiar booming sound in the distance.

Another waterfall? Does that mean there is also an impassable cliff? This is bad. He increased his speed and shortly after his fears were realized. He came to an open space and was able to see that the entire bottom of the gorge ended with a vertical cliff. A few tens of meters away from him the stream flowed beyond the edge and produced another waterfall.

The cliff turned out to be around dozen meters high. Below and in front of it there was a forest composed of mostly normal looking trees and a few unusually big ones. None of the trees were close enough to allow safe passage down. Lucas could see a lot of hills and a few mountain tops in the distance.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

This cliff is not very high, but trying to climb down will probably end very badly for me. It seems I am trapped in this gorge.

But it is strange. How was the mysterious artefact transported here?

Lucas observed the bottom of the cliff. There was no sign of any artificial constructs.

Maybe there was once some structure for moving up and down, but it was destroyed over time?

He came near the waterfall and looked at the pool below. Jumping into the pool may be a valid idea, but if it is not deep enough the consequences will be disastrous and I cannot tell the depth from here.

He dismissed the crazy thought and considered the current situation.

Being trapped in this gorge may not be all bad. Dangerous predators should not be present in such an isolated and relatively small place. There is good chance the water from the stream will be safe to drink. In this way the only immediate problem will be food.

There were a lot of snacks, which I was not able to grab during my escape in the dungeon. The spider monster was fragile and even with a weapon as primitive as a stick I should have good chances against it. This may be an option if I can enter the dungeon. Long term solution for food will still be needed, but I can worry about that later.

Lucas wanted to make sure the gorge was completely inaccessible so he walked along the edge of the entire cliff two times. There was indeed no suitable place to climb down.

He decided to rest for a while, so he sat down and put his stick on the ground near him. While looking at the distant mountains his thoughts gradually wondered back to Earth and his loved ones. They probably still don’t know what happened to me. I wonder if the process which brought me here left any traces or if they will be forever in the dark about my fate.

The more he thought about recent events, the worse his mood became.

He sighed and tried to banish the negative images from his mind. In this world magic probably exists. Going back is not out of the question if I can become stronger, but I will need to survive first.

Few more minutes passed and Lucas decided it is time to go back. He stood up, took his makeshift weapon and started moving near the unexplored side of the gorge.

After walking for a dozen minutes, he saw the familiar shape of a rectangular cave opening in the rocks ahead. This time however there was a smaller square hole near it.

Another artificial cavern? Seems different than the first. Judging from the previous clues this one should also be abandoned. Will there be more mysteries inside? Lucas slowed down his pace and carefully approached. From the outside this also appeared to be an empty chamber.

He stopped near the entrance and waited for a few minutes. There weren’t any signs of danger so he entered. The room turned out to be smaller than the one containing the artefact. Due to the additional square hole it was better illuminated too. There were no passages leading to other places.

Lucas looked around and saw it was completely empty. He inspected the floor, walls and the ceiling more thoroughly, but didn’t find any anomaly. Finally I have some luck. This place can serve as a long term shelter. I should move my meager water supplies here and prepare for the night. Maybe I can gather some leaves to make the stone floor more comfortable and some sticks and branches to block the entrance.

First however it would be better to complete my exploration of this side of the gorge. He exited the room and started his return toward the dungeon with long strides.

Shortly after he had to stop his energetic pace, because there was another entrance in the stone wall of the gorge. This one was also accompanied by a smaller square opening.

A second room like my newly claimed base? What could have been the purpose of these chambers?

Lucas performed his already routine observation and went inside. Immediately after entering he froze and gripped his stick tightly.

There were bones on the floor. It was an entire skeleton. A human shaped skeleton. He felt his heart pounding and quickly scanned the room for threats, but did not find any. He breathed out and decided to approach the remains.

As far as I can tell this is a human skeleton or something very close to it.

Near one of the femur bones there was an old looking, decrepit sword and a group of crystal-like objects.

Lucas noticed a hole in the upper right part of the ribcage of the skeleton. That doesn’t look to be the result of decay and decomposition. If it is an injury sustained during life, it may very well be a mortal one. Such an injury would probably be the result of violence.

Was this one of the artifact builders? Why was the body left here and not buried? Too many questions without answers.

I guess the existence of humans in this world is good news for me.

Lucas poked the sword and then the crystals. There was no reaction. Probably no danger. The sword maybe old and decayed, but it will be infinitely more useful than a stick.

When he crouched and reached for the weapon, he felt a peculiar sensation. Strangely he could discern the source was the adjacent group of crystals. He focused his full attention on them. There were three different types differing by color – white, grey and black. Suddenly information appeared in his mind unbidden.

[Mana Crystal]

Maybe those things are valuable. If I ever get to civilization I will need money or something which can be sold for money. He touched one crystal briefly with his finger and nothing happened. Then he took all the crystals and put them in one of the pockets of his jacket.

Lucas proceeded to pick the sword and noticed there was some kind of unfamiliar symbol near the base of the blade. Probably a mark indicating the owner or the maker.

He stood up and decided to bury the skeleton after finishing the preparations of his new base for the coming night.