Salt of the ocean, the stench of coppery blood, and the wet grains of the beach that had stuck to his flesh were what he had woken up to.

Mind hazy, Noah spun his head in every direction in an attempt to get the lay of the land. He was on an island, that much was certain, and by the looks of the enormous landmass in the distance, he was far away from home.

Noah winced in pain, stroking the wounds still recovering from his body. Chunks of flesh had been chewed out of his arm and legs. It would be a while until he recovered.

Krall was worse, but thanks to his [Trollblood] Skill, his wounds were being restored at breakneck pace. Skin attached together, then new polished scales formed in between the hair that was growing. It was marvellous. The regenerative properties of a troll were a godsend.

And yet he didn’t have them. His tamed monster had it. sighing, he glanced at the dragonborn who was laying flat with his back on the sand.

“What happened?” Noah asked as everyone seemed to be utterly spent.

Without looking at Noah, Thraz said with a lack of energy, “brought you here.”

“Brought me here?” Noah could hear the savage beastly cries echoing from the ocean behind the wall of fog. Judging by the wounds everyone had, Noah could only imagine how difficult the swim was to reach this island. “You could have taken us to the bigger island?”

Thraz tilted his neck, eyes ferocious.

“Kidding.” Noah chuckled, then sat up. “Have you heard anything coming from inland?”

“A very loud, monstrous roar,” Thraz said as he straightened his neck again, looking straight up into the sky. “Nothing has come to bother us yet.”

“Yet,” Noah repeated, then stood up. He flexed his muscles, ignoring the searing pain from the missing flesh from his left arm, and right leg. He moved. Testing the movability in his limbs. It was painful, but he could still fight if need be. “Stay here and focus on recovery, I’ll go check those ruins.”

“Be careful Noah, there is a reason the monsters refuse to enter this domain,” Thraz warned.

Noah approached Krall who was guarding him just a few feet from his body. Running his hand across Kralls’s head, he then patted it.

You saved my life, big guy. Noah smiled. He may have been unconscious from that strange sonic wave attack, but he was still connected to Krall, and Gluttony mentally. He could feel their pain, understand their intentions, and desires.

Krall had ignored the risk to his own body to save his master. To save his friend. Noticing that Noah wanted to move, Krall attempted to get up to his feet, but he collapsed.

“Stay there Krall. Recover well. I need you.” Noah smiled, patted his head to calm his companions' nerves, then walked over to the ruins.

Thankfully Gluttony’s wounds weren’t too bad so he bounded next to Noah, nuzzling his head against Noah’s waist. Rubbing Gluttony’s soft fur, he was only ten feet away from the strange ruins when a system notification appeared.

Your house has been removed from its previous location and added into your soul sea. Please replace your house's borders before time runs out.

| You have one month left to set your house’s boundary.

One month, right. Noah thought it would be best to wait until he could get back to where he was before. But honestly, he had no idea how difficult that would be.

From his recollection, the sea monsters that his companions had faced weren’t too strong. With a few more levels under his belt, he should be able to carve a path of blood, and flesh. However, that was under the impression that the monsters also stayed at that level.

Noah didn’t know if stronger monsters would arrive, or maybe they just got incredibly lucky getting to this island in the first place?

Whatever it was, it was thoughts for later. Now, he had to make sure there was nothing in the vicinity that would wander onto the beach, and kill them.

He was forced to start from the beginning once more. Find shelter so that he could defend himself from predators, and only then could he think about settling his house somewhere. Right now, Noah needed to understand where he was if he wanted to survive through the night.

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Using his spear, he swiped it against the long vines that had long reclaimed the ancient ruins. Falling to the floor, Noah’s eyes widened as the structure was revealed. It was a pyramid. Or at least once upon a time it was. Now, the rocks were strewn over the floor, but it was clear that they lead upward.

Noah continued to clear out the area. First, pillars appeared, then stairs, then statues of a man wearing an ornamental crown.

It led up a hill, into a tunnel that seemed to travel deep within the hillside. Noah hesitated on entering. Instead, he returned back to the beach with his findings.

“Shelter sounds good,” Thraz said.

“Yeah, but I don’t really know what’s in there,” Noah said as he took out some canned food from his backpack. Krall roused, sniffing the air. He had already tasted it before, and now he had the taste buds for cooked beef… or whatever the meat was.

Due to the high density of the meat, half a tin was more than enough for Noah, even with his increased Constitution, and Strength. It was obviously some high quality stuff.

He didn’t want to keep his companion waiting, so he gave the first tin to Krall, while Noah shared one with Thraz, and Gluttony. As per his name, a quarter of a tin wasn’t enough for his new bat-wolf friend, so he was forced to open up another one.

Despite Gluttony’s small frame compared to Krall, his hunger was no less. In a second, he devoured the entire thing. Which led Noah to a question.

Why hadn’t Gluttony evolved after reaching level fifty? Was it because he was still growing, or did rare bloodlines have different level requirements?

Noah was aware he could purchase a manual all about taming, but it cost ten-thousand Grace Coins. Since he had to worry about repairing his house, and fixing up proper defensive measures, he had to save all he could for now.

Besides, it wasn’t a pressing matter. Gluttony would evolve when he was ready.

“Sounds like a fight to me!” Thraz finally sat up, a couple hours had passed since Noah had left, so his wounds were now healed for the most part.

Noah thought for a moment. It was now far into the night with the only light provided from high above. But Thraz was right. It was better fighting in a tight corridor than it was trying to fight monsters out in the open. Of course, Noah could handle that thanks to his class, but Thraz was different.

He didn’t have the speed required to fight in an open field. The proud dragonborn would be flanked and slaughtered.

“Alright, let’s go,” Noah said and took Thraz into the tunnels.

The lizard had a keen sight in the dark, but it wasn’t as perfect as Noah’s. Sometimes Thraz would stumble over a partially shaded area, so Noah took the lead, kicking any object that was in their path against the wall.

And then there was a hiss. Krall was at the back because of how narrow the tunnel was, so Noah didn’t have his stalwart warrior beside him.

Thankfully though, Gluttony was more adept in the shadows than Noah was. With Noah on his back, Gluttony swiped the air, sending a phantom blade through the tunnel, striking something with a thud.

The hissing shrieked. Whatever it was, it was in pain.

Noah couldn’t really make out the image, but when it struck, it was apparent why that was. It was camouflaged, like a chameleon absorbing the material that it stood on.

Striking with his spear, the tip of his weapon met head to head with the snake. Its bones were tough, but it couldn’t withstand the impact. With just a single strike, the snake was killed.

Continuing on, the same result happened two times, four times, six… It was clear that the beasts in the vicinity had the same idea as Noah did. They were using the tunnels not only as a place of shelter, but a source of food.

Each beast had its own way of mounting an ambush, but thanks to the beastly senses provided by Gluttony, and Krall, Noah was able to sniff out anything that wished him harm. Of course, [Hunting Instincts] also helped him in that regard.

Together, there weren't many monsters around his level that could sneak up on him.

The tunnel continued on for around thirty minutes before they breached the other side. Noah’s eyes widened as he looked down upon a port town that was situated on the biggest island in the distance.

It was a stark difference to the tunnel, and the steps he had uncovered at the beach. The town didn’t have the same construction, in fact, it was built from the surrounding trees, and carved stone.

Noah thought it was clear that it was once a popular area filled with trade based on the size of the port itself, and the hundreds of broken ships abandoned on the harbour.

It was a strange sight. Why would there be so many ships just sitting there? Where did the people go, and why didn’t they use them to travel to different areas?

However, as he was thinking, his mind turned to the System, and the village he had uncovered within the jungle. The people there had gone to the island. Possibly for treasure, or maybe it was for their own safety.

But what happened to the people on the island? Something bad must have happened if they weren’t given a chance of escape.

Noah just hoped that the system abducted them. It would suck for the people that lived here, but that would mean that the island was considerably less dangerous than he was suspecting.

Now that he had a good look around, the island he was on seemed to be the smallest of the three. However, that didn’t mean it was small. The distance to the largest island was vast, and if he had to take a guess as to how long it would take to swim there, then it would be at least greater than five.

It was just as far as the mainland, to the island he was standing on now.

Just as he was about to move, he spotted a few ships down in a small cove not far from where he was.

Might as well go to the bigger island. Noah thought, and so he began the trek down to the cove.