However, just reaching half way down the steep hill, a piercing shriek that trampled the land they stood on erupted from the distance.

Noah flinched, and frowned. It was coming from the main island.

“That’s what I heard before,” Thraz said as he tightened his grip around his weapon. “Are we really heading over there?”

“We can fight on this small island for a while, gaining levels.” Noah ducked under a low hanging branch. “Then after a few days, we’ll check if the way back to the main landmass is safe.”

“If it’s not?” Thraz asked, severing a cluster of jungle vines that were in his way.

“Well, we can’t stay on this little island forever,” Noah continued. “We’ll have no other option but to risk it on the island ahead.”

Noah slid sideways down the hill, stopped by grabbing hold of a branch, then looked up at Thraz. “What? Afraid of a little monster?”

Although Noah said it, in reality, he was nervous. It was impossible to know what the monster was, or what it was capable of. If he was unlucky, perhaps it was capable of annihilating them the moment they stepped foot onto the island?

“There is nothing I’m afraid of!” Thraz stomped, his sword swiping through the air with increased power as it clanged against the hard, metal wood of the jungle trees. His blade vibrated and transferred through his arm, and clattered against his teeth.

“Nice one,” Noah said with a bemused smile.

After a few more minutes, Noah could smell something approaching fast.

Preparing himself, he mounted Gluttony, and reared his lance in front of his body.

Noticing Noah’s reaction, Thraz was quick to react. He summoned an extra layer of earthen armour, and a glint shone from his sword. Amongst two warriors who had spent days together, words weren’t needed for communication.

It wasn’t long before the smell transformed into sound. The sound of steps thudding against land, or the rustling, and crackling of leaves, and vines. Then a body broke out of the jungle, leaping straight for them with hallowed eyes.

The hallowed was a dark man with tattered rough clothing. Like hemp, or something course like it. Without a sheath, a durable string was tied around a curved blade, and fastened to his waist. Even after all this time, it refused to drop.

To Noah, the hallowed reminded him of a pirate.

Snarling, Noah snapped his lance to the hallowed’s skull. It shot through his eye, and into his fleshy brain. He fell to the ground, but the hallowed pirate wasn’t the only one.

Whether they had noticed the energy Noah and the others had, or were guided by Thraz clanging his sword against the jungle tree. It didn’t matter.

Rushing down the hill, they defended against the onslaught of hallowed. It was only after Noah had killed a fifth hallowed that he quickly realised where the inhabitants of the island had gone.

They were still here. Dead but alive.

It wasn’t long before they reached the cove. Noah had suffered a few wounds from the hallowed sharpened claws, and even one of them had learned how to use its sword. Slicing into Krall’s flesh, blood followed. However, it healed over in almost an instant thanks to Trollsblood.

“Into the water!” Thraz shouted.

Noah wanted to refuse. If they could make it into the cove, they could defend all attacks from the attackers. What they needed was a defensible position, but Thraz had already made his move.

Speed heightened from the secure footholds of his earth skill, he dove straight into the ocean.

Gritting his teeth, Noah followed. They had to be together, even if it was a bad move. Whatever reason Thraz had in aiming for the water, Noah had to trust it.

Noah followed the dragonborns lead and leapt in after him. The sound of sand being disturbed tickled Noah’s ears… then nothing.

Spinning around, Noah’s eyes widened as the hallowed refused to enter the water. But why? The golden armoured hallowed didn’t seem to care about the water. Instead, he chased them into the sea like an underworld hound that wanted to drag them back to hell.

“I knew it!” Thraz slapped the water. “They are scared! Not like me!”

“What do you mean?” Noah asked, confused. But something tugged at his mind, and it wasn’t good.

“On the way here, something coiled around my legs. When it happened, all the monstrous fish ran away like little cowards!”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

As if on cue, Noah felt something hug his legs. His heart dropped. One second turned into a minute, but whatever it was, wasn’t harming them.

Noah peered under the water. At the sight, goosebumps appeared on his flesh. Black and green tendrils had coiled themselves around his lower legs, yet they didn’t crawl any further.

He attempted to kick them off, thrashing his legs.

“What’s wrong with you?” Thraz asked as if Noah was stupid. “Can’t you swim?”

“Don’t you fucking see that? It’s around our legs man!” Noah shouted, his voice somewhat screeched in panic.

Thraz frowned and dipped his head under the water. In the next second, he lifted his head out of the water. “See what?” He shook his head.

He can’t see it?

“But you can feel it, right?” Noah asked as he finally stopped thrashing in the water. The tentacles weren’t letting go, but neither did they seem to want to harm him. Yet.

“Oh yes I can feel it,” Thraz said. “It feels like a gentle massage. It’s quite nice actually.”

“Do you have no danger senses in that head of yours?”

“Yes, I do in fact.” Thraz pointed at the hallowed.

Noah ignored the useless dragonborn. With nothing else to do, Noah summoned his Thrust Shard, and began quickly throwing powerful lances at the hallowed on the beach.

Some missed because of the unstable nature of floating in the water, but most hit their mark. After a good fifteen minutes or so, Noah, and Gluttony, had killed them all.

With them dead, Noah swam as hard, and as fast as he could back to shore. Thankfully, the black, and green tentacles didn’t pull him under. Instead, the moment he was about to touch the beach, they retracted back into the deep abyss of the waters.

Thraz followed right behind him.

Dragging his feet in the sand, glancing back at the water, Noah said with exasperation, “Let’s not go back into the water.”

“What about the main island?” Thraz asked.

“We can try using one of the ships here,” Noah said, looking at the beached ships. They were the kind with sails, but they had long tattered, eroded by the sea air.

“Do you know anything about sailing?” Thraz asked, shaking his head.

Scoffing, Noah said, “Surely it can’t be that difficult.”

“Without a sail?”

“Alright then.” Noah frowned. “Since you’re not afraid of the damned lovecraftian tentacles, you can push it while I steer.”

“Do you really think I can push it–”

Noah raised his hand, glancing deeper into the cove.

Thraz neared, weapon at the ready. “Where?”

“Nowhere.” Noah chuckled. “I just wanted you quiet for a second.”

“That is betrayal.”

“Yeah, well, so is not being able to see the tentacles.”

“That is not fair.”

Noah ignored his comment, then added, “And if that doesn’t work, I have another method to reach the island, or the mainland.”

Thraz’s brows perked up, but Noah didn’t bother explaining to the dragonborn.

Of course, it had something to do with the tunnels granted by his house, and the title he obtained within the castle dungeon. It wasn’t his first choice to create the house here, as he was hoping to have it on the main island, but it was better than risking it against whatever lay in the depths of the sea.

So, Noah carefully got to work the first plan. The boat. But after trying for a couple of hours, it was clear the dragonborn was right.

Noah knew nothing of sailing, and he definitely didn’t feel comfortable having Thraz swim in the ocean; even if he could push an entire ship while in the water.

That left him with the second plan which he quickly got to work on. Scouting the island for the perfect place to plant his house.

Krall and Gluttony stood apart from each other, acting like an array for Noah so that he could tell whenever any hallowed approached. If they did, Noah would stop what he was doing, and swiftly take care of the problem before returning.

In the end, Noah decided that the cove was actually the best place for his new home. Most of the cove was underground, and to his knowledge, there was at least one escape tunnel if they needed it. While having the open cove would allow him to see whatever would attack.

Of course, once he got his defences up and running, the cave would make the perfect defensible position for his needs while he worked on the tunnel system.

Thankfully, the caved cove was the perfect size for his house. It was big enough for expansion. Before that however, Noah made the trek back to the waters where they had first arrived.

Noah gazed out at the rough seas, and his decision was only cemented once he witnessed the primal beasts belonging to the waters. Like guardians of the island, they remained. Watching his every move.

Returning to the cove, Noah wasted no more time as he placed down the border of his house once more. In an instant, the same purple borders appeared like a star in the night sky. It glowed in his vision, but it was clear that he had lost the materials from before.

The walls were gone, and any furniture within had vanished. He did keep the upgraded taming rooms which he was thankful for. But that just meant he had to do all of the resource gathering himself.

It was going to be a pain…

I better get started. Time is of the essence. Noah thought as he recruited the help of Thraz’s sword to chop down the trees. It wasn’t as effective as an axe, or someone that had the Woodcutting profession, but Noah had to make do with what he had.

Hours turned to days.

What was once a highlighted border was now a fully fledged house once more. It looked exactly the same as it once did, but Noah wasn’t finished.

He had a wall to build. Defences to create, and tunnels to carve out.

This was only the beginning.