It took Nick another two hours to cross the southern coast and start walking north. He decided to explore the eastern shore for a while before finding a place to camp along the beach. He could check out the northern coastline after the sun rose the next morning.
He had another three hours before he started losing the light, then maybe thirty minutes more to complete his preparations before it would be too dark to see. On the way, he picked a runty little coconut, enough to keep his stomach from grumbling and supplement the fluid sloshing around in the bottom of his canteen.
Nick had been smelling smoke for a while now. When he came to a stop at the top of a tall dune, he discovered the reason why. All along the northeastern shore, rivers of lava formed an incandescent network of molten stone, flowing out toward the sea like the island was bleeding.
Vast clouds of steam billowed along the surf, where the streams of superheated minerals met the ocean’s frigid embrace. It seems that I won’t be exploring the northern coast after all, at least not anytime soon. But as a consolation prize, I can grill this meat while it’s still fresh.
After making sure that nothing more menacing than a few scattered swordclaws was lurking nearby, who seemed to have a territory bigger than the lemurs’ and komos’ combined, Nick moved closer so that he could analyze the terrain bordering the closest flows of lava.
The raw power of nature was fiercely beautiful to behold. Despite the gravity of his situation, he was grateful that he was able to witness such a magnificent sight with his own eyes. Something that he would never have experienced back in his old life.
He was mesmerized by the searing swaths of yellow, red, and orange, checkered with patches of black where the surface had cooled enough to resolidify. The lava’s living lightshow was even more captivating than embers burning in a fire. It created a unique, flowing pattern. A rippling river of neon radiance.
Although he couldn’t locate the origin of the lava, it didn’t seem to be pouring down the mountain. The trees were thick, and there wasn’t much smoke coming from the forest above. There must be channels running from the interior of the volcano to where the magma vents out along the shore. If I was left with no other choice, I could probably walk all the way around the island by moving deeper into the interior. Not that Nick had any intention of doing so for the time being.
While he pondered the intricacies of this unusual terrain, he took out his new spyglass and examined every bit of ground visible from this elevation and angle. He was trying to determine how extensive this lava-obstructed band of beach was, and if he could spot any beasts moving on the other side of the smoldering blockade. If there was a fourth species that had claimed a section of the northern coast, he wanted to know before he tried approaching from the other side.
What Nick didn’t expect to find was another reward chest sitting in plain sight. What appeared to be a copper jewelry box was sparkling in the sunlight from its perch atop a massive obsidian boulder, deep within the nexus formed by the twisting branches of lava. As with the shipwreck, the layout of the obstructed terrain reminded him of a platform puzzle. Although instead of being another low difficulty challenge, this route promised certain death with the slightest mistake.
While his view was obscured by smoke and air warped with heat displacement, he was able to make out a narrow path leading from where he stood over to the copper chest. Following it would entail leaping across the lava on a series of staggered stones, each resting on mounds of bedrock, like islands in a fluorescent sea.
This was the highest tier reward chest that Nick had found so far. Perhaps the best one that he would discover on the island. The ornate jewelry box presumably had something great inside, perhaps a powerful magical artifact. The sight of it called out to his greed in a siren’s song, beckoning him to take a chance and find out what treasure waited within.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
It was enticing enough that he started visualizing following the route that he’d discovered. If I hop over three narrow flows of lava, then leap across the scattered boulders to make it across the thickest part of the river… Yea… no. Fuck that.
He took one last lingering look at the treacherous path before abandoning his fantasy and returning to the task at hand. Nothing is worth taking a lava bath or getting splattered with searing droplets. Not to mention those rocks look hot enough to melt my brand-new boots, fire resistance or not.
Given my current capabilities, that looks a lot more like a greed trap than a viable opportunity to grow stronger. While now wasn't the right time, Nick had by no means given up on obtaining the chest. I’ll revisit the situation after I upgrade my attributes, but this is another valuable lesson in its own right. Trying to blindly seize every opportunity, no matter how poorly suited I am to tackle the challenge, will be a short road to an early grave.
Satisfied that his deliberations had led him to the proper course of action, he was ready to face the much smaller risk of using the lava to light a fire and get busy grilling. He licked his lips because it was finally time to prepare his long-anticipated all-meat dinner.
First, he picked out a spot on the beach that was free of lava and hostile critters. Then he went to work, building up a fire pit so that he could cook the meat he had stolen from the komo earlier in the day.
This would be the first hot meal that Nick had eaten in nearly a week—and better yet, the first meat that he had tasted since waking up on an alien planet. He wouldn’t have been willing to try it if he hadn’t received the okay from his Foraging skill. Eating the flesh of a creature that had evolved on a different world didn’t seem like the smartest idea, even if these animals were remarkably similar to the fauna of Earth.
But when he looked down at the severed appendages, he received a clear impression that the claw and tail were a viable source of sustenance—if he didn’t eat them raw. After a bit of consideration, he decided that he had to trust the tools he had been given by the System if he wanted to live through the tutorial, at least to this extent.
Nick sat the frond-wrapped morsels on the ground near the base of a palm. He covered them with rocks to keep any animals from stealing his dinner while he was busy. Then he scoured the shoreline until he found enough large stones to form a ring around the perimeter of his firepit, digging deep enough to shelter the bottom from the ever-present breeze.
When it was done, he went to work collecting pieces of sundried driftwood, setting them upright against one another in a shape like a tepee. To finish the job, he laid a bed of kindling beneath the firewood, formed from dried fronds he had shredded and a few smaller twigs.
By this point, Nick’s stomach was growling nonstop in anticipation of his feast. After using his scissors to shave the sides off a pair of sticks to serve as spits, all that was left was to light the fire and proceed with his beachside barbeque.
Around this time, he realized that he might not need to use the lava after all; that his new spyglass might do the trick. Figuring that it was worth a shot, he pulled it out of his pouch and held it up to the sunlight, pointing the other end at the kindling below.
Unfortunately, the focus wasn’t quite right when the tube was fully extended, and the lenses didn’t line up unless it was perfectly straight. Nick could probably tighten the beam and make it work if he took the device apart, but he was afraid that he would break it in the process. He put the idea back on the shelf as something that he could try in an emergency. Okay, Nick, lava it is.
Before making his way down to the closest flow, he picked up a long, dry branch and then walked over to where he had a good view of the churning flows of molten stone. He waited patiently until he found an area that looked relatively safe. A place where the ground seemed unlikely to collapse beneath his weight.
When he was ready, Nick carefully crept his way forward, awestricken by the mesmerizing bands of liquid flame. He ran his eyes across layers of intermingled amber, ruby, and gold, textured with a crust of dark rock where they had been kissed by the breeze. The air twisted in the rising heat, and he waited until the wind was blowing the searing clouds of steam out to sea instead of back in his direction.
He could smell the lava in the air. An earthy mixture of hot rocks, cooking plant matter, and the occasional wisp of sulfur. It released a constant chorus of crackles and pops, punctuated by the skittering cascades of rocks sliding to the side as they were dislodged by the flow.
There’s no time to be impressed; this place isn’t safe. Just get in, get a light, and get out. You can watch the show from a distance while you’re cooking. Whatever you do, Nick, don’t fall in.