A sleepless night. As night fell, she was about to fall asleep. Slipping in and out of awareness, as her body prepared itself for sleep. There was thumbing and roaring. As if a switch had been flipped.

The once silence, not even the sounds of insects. It was now becoming filled with so much life, it became overwhelming.

Once or twice she saw the shadows shifting as things moved below. Holding her breath, not knowing when it was even safe to breath. With clouds covering the sky, not even a single ray of light descended the entire night.

Making matters worse were the vibrations. Normal sounds that were hard to listen to, as pouncing and roars filled in between with death rattles. Nothing visible, as death lingered around her at unfathomable distances.

Every once in a while a creature of considerable size moved nearby, causing the tree to tremble as if it would fall the next second. While having a warning system did little to calm her. Sometime at night, something got caught. Without hesitation, she jolted to the side as she quickly released the string.

When morning finally came, she ended up finding the string. Half buried in the wet dirt. Seeing patches of what looked to be blood, a sense of dread stopped her from retrieving it.

Jessica was finally given the reason for the previous day’s peaceful atmosphere. It wasn't that she got lucky. No, she was truly unlucky.

Having heard of locations like this. Nightless grounds. Places predominantly occupied by creatures of the night.

Most ecosystems were only possible with both a night and day life cycle. As for nightless grounds, they were, at the very best, highways.

The worst were complete nightless grounds. And judging by the peaceful previous day. This was a complete nightless ground. A complete ecosystem that exists with a small, if not nonexistent, daytime activities.

The danger here were that creatures operating during the day can't properly function at night. The same couldn't be said about creatures of the night.

Very few functioned at full capacity. However, these silent creatures that dominate the night have little trouble fighting during the day.

Therefore, she needed to not only escape this area. Jessica couldn't afford to provoke anything here. Animals and beasts were always more efficient with their abilities. As if by nature they knew how to do things well.

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Since this was a forbidden zone, the number of weak creatures would be limited. This was a literal breeding ground for the most dangerous creatures she could even imagine.

Everything went well again. After waking up from at best, a nap, she had a bit more confidence. A mixture of fear and adrenaline pushed her senses to the limit.

After hours of trekking, she believed she had reached the edge of the nightless ground. It was then.

Frowning, she was stuck without a way forward. A hill with a single tree. In between was a complete empty field of view.

To the sides of the hill were just empty plains. In the distance was a mountain to the left. To the right was what looked to be a swamp.

Swamps were always the highest restricted, hazard zones. With absolutely no interest to even travel next to it. Many times, a person could die without knowing why.

Just a slight misstep and it was a serious possibility. Swamps in general were places one could even keep their eyes peeled, and still die without knowing why. Now this wasn’t just a swamp. This was a swamp in a forbidden zone where one didn’t just think there was a chance at finding something abnormal.

Here it was basically guaranteed. Especially, after the night previously. As far as she was concerned, going right was a complete death sentence. If not for the way back being occupied by a nightless ground. The thought of turning around would overcome any thought of going forward.

Mountains were also up there. While powerful four-legged creatures that were generally herbivores could often be found here. So, too, were birds of prey, wolves, and leopards.

Many of these creatures could be avoided with the lack of cover. Birds of prey often showed mutations that caused things from abnormal growths to intermittent explosive disorder.

If one was extremely unlikely, you might find yourself being hunted. A giant bird with a mouth so large it could swallow you whole in just a single bite. This bird would chase you for days without rest. And it was unlikely for you to know how you provoked it.

Strange growths could result in multiple sizes from two to three folds. All the way to very rarely once in a thousand years colossal birds the size of an adult dragon.

These bird mutations were dangerous but short-lived. Collapsing due to their own mutation, starving them of the needed nutrients necessary to survive. Energy needed to hunt would outweigh the reward at a successful hunt at a certain point.

The real problem was the intermittent explosive disorder. Birds with this could be birds that feed on seeds, bugs, and nuts. Or they could be birds of prey.

So much as being in the area could provoke a bird that is a dot in the sky. Possibly for startling their prey, a prevention to such, or just a failure in a previous hunt.

It became dangerous with their speedy drops. If you realized too late. All one would see is a blur before darkness. If they noticed anything at all.

Thus, left her with a hill with a single tree in front of her. The hill was around fifty feet tall. While the tree was at least two times that.

This also meant that even though the tree had shed layers of leaves. The meat was still hidden by the sheer number of sparingly loose leaves.

Jessica couldn't feel anything from the tree. Combined with the waning sun, left her a bit impatient.

Left with a possible bad choice, or a worse choice. Not willing to test her luck anymore. She had to leave the nightless grounds. One helpless experience was enough. At least if she was attacked now, there would be a way to fight back.