The tunnels were obviously not made for any normal human. They were impossibly dark, and the terrain was rough. It was clear the tunnels weren’t made with a human in mind, but monsters.

Like Krall, Gluttony… and Noah.

As he was walking through the darkness, thoughts of concern flitted through his mind.

How am I going to deal with that… thing? Noah shook his head. For now, it wasn’t a concern. As long as he didn’t think about it, it wouldn’t attack them, right?

Moving his thoughts to the tunnels, they were a great way to travel from one area to another. But it was a two way path. What could lead him to a new area, could also take monsters straight to his home.

Unmasked, he wouldn’t be able to tell if someone, or something, entered the path Krall had formed.

I’ll need to build some defences in the tunnel. However, that was a thought for later.

If Noah wanted to make it out of this place alive, he had to obtain the strength to move the way he wanted to move. To be free, he had to have the power to back it up. If he didn’t, he would just be another lamb to the slaughter.

For that, there had to be some lost treasure on the main island.

It took four hours of brisk walking to reach the end of the tunnel. If Krall didn’t have the help of the System, it wouldn’t have taken a week to form the tunnels, but multiple.

Just like from the house side, the way up to the surface was a sharp drop. A wooden ladder led the way up, and hidden on the soil layer, was a secret hatch covered in thick jungle bushes. If any monster or beast walked by the side of it, they would never be able to tell there was a secret tunnel system just a few feet away.

Noah and the gang exited the hatch, and found themselves in a hilly region of the island. By his calculations, the town that he had spotted in the distance was a good hour's hike from the tunnel.

Of course, it wasn’t going to be a stroll in the park.

From watching the island over the week, he had managed to get a good grasp on what monsters were hiding here. And they weren’t the easy type.

For some reason or another, the monsters on this island resorted to ambushes. Whether it was spiders the size of a house, scorpions with a stinger bigger than any spear Noah had seen, or slithering snakes capable of eating a whale…

It wasn’t a lie to say that Noah was apprehensive about his time on the island. But if he remained scared of what could happen, then he would never amount to much.

To become strong… What was a little ambush now and then?

Besides, there was no telling who would become the prey, or who was the predator.

Grinning, Noah spread his shadows into the surrounding area. Because of the wall of fog that surrounded the island, it was already darker than usual.

For Noah, it was the perfect hunting ground for him.

Thraz did stand out like a sore thumb, however. But there was nothing he could do about that. The big, earthy armoured lizard would just have to be helpful in other ways.

And when a nearby bush twitched, Thraz was about to perform his new role perfectly.

From the bush arrived a thorned tendril about the thickness of Noah’s arm. It pierced the air in an instant, coiling around the unsuspecting Thraz before he could react.

The earthen armour around Thraz became thicker than before.

Was it the result of a Shard, or a Skill? Noah wondered, but he had no time to be curious.

Thraz was already aware what his plan would be on this island and he was prepared to suffer for it.

The thorned piece of nature dragged Thraz, or it attempted to. But the Dragonborn was stubborn. Gritting his fanged teeth, he created earth from the moist jungle floor, then pulled forward.

Thorned vine groaning, it was pulled taught. But in the end, the level difference was proven too great for Thraz.

The proud dragonborn was losing with his greatest boon. Strength. Not only that, but he was being dragged backwards despite his intense struggle.

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That was when Noah arrived.

He had taken longer than he had liked, but he had to make sure that he knew exactly where the monster's weakness was. And he had found it.

Moving forward in a blur, Noah used all the skills in his arsenal as he tore a hole through the vine creature. But when Noah didn’t receive a system notification of his kill, he frowned.

The monster had lived despite him putting his all into the attack. Even with the increased stats provided by Gluttony, he was still below the creature in front of him.

And with it stumbling out of the bush it was hiding in, its figure was made clear.

To no surprise to Noah, it was a monster he had never seen before. Body of a tree, the face of a human, it strangely bore sharpened fangs at him.

The long vines covered in razor-sharp vines were actually its arms. With four of them, the fight would prove to be exceedingly dangerous.

Level ?? - Thorned Dryad.

“My…Eyes…Don't look…at it,” it said in a scratched voice.

Despite the monster's words, Noah couldn’t help but look at them. You fool! Snatching his eyes away from its own, he waited for something to happen, but nothing did.

Or at least not what he expected.

The dryad flicked one of its vined arms in a wide arc as Noah quickly dodged under them. Air cracking from the pressure of the strike, it slammed into a nearby iron tree. The vines not only damaged the strong bark, but sliced them into jagged pieces.

Heart beating faster, Noah would have made another move, but there was one more beast unaccounted for.

Krall suddenly appeared from the darkness and just as it was about to slam into the dryad, Noah activated [Kill Command].

Noah’s trusty companion’s claws glowed a vicious gleam as they tore straight into the tree monster. Then came Noah’s next attack. His lance tore through the air and bored straight into its face. Right between its two red, dead, wooden eyes.

You defeated a - Level 92 Thorned Dryad.

You have Levelled up!

| Noah ( Phantom Lancer ) level 64 -> Noah ( Phantom Lancer ) level 69

Krall, the Scourge of the Jungle has levelled up.

| Krall level 64 -> Krall level 69

Gluttony has Levelled up.

| Gluttony level 55 -> Gluttony level 64

You are being watched…

Thraz huffed, breaking free from the natural restraints. Roaring, he split what was left of the dryad into two halves with a swing of his massive sword. A light green hue covered his blade.

The angry dragonborn had obviously made use of his new profession. Fitting, considering that the dryad was practically just a humanoid tree…

However, despite Thraz’s excitement at their victory, Noah wasn’t happy. He had warned the dragonborn three times already that he had to be quiet. But subterfuge obviously wasn’t in the lizard's blood.

Thanks to Thraz’s victory they had made too much noise, and Noah knew what happened when something made too much on this island.

Suddenly, the ground trembled.

Noah quickly ordered Krall to use his heightened mole senses to detect what was underneath, and what he relayed back to him was nothing short of breathtaking.

Something massive was fast approaching them from the far side of the island. Krall couldn’t detect exactly where it was, but that just made it worse. It could be at the other side of the island, or it could be five minutes away.

Grabbing the dragonborn, they rushed toward a mountainous area where a set of ruins remained. If his guess was correct, then just over the mountain was where the town resided.

Each minute that passed, the rumbling of earth only became louder, and louder.

Even the dense lizardman had released their perilous situation. His steps were like thunder as they pelted the jungle floor, which only seemed to anger whatever was chasing them further.

It’s like a damned elephant on steroids… Despite Thraz’s harsh steps, it did make one thing clear…

Noah sped up and hoisted the dragonborn straight onto Krall.

Thraz frowned, and was about to complain when Noah warned him.

“Your loud footsteps are bringing it straight for us.”

“A warrior doesn’t mask his steps–”

Noah ignored his words and picked up the pace, sprinting across the land with quiet steps. However, despite his agile movements, it was clear whatever was chasing them had keen hearing. Or worse, it had vision like Kralls.

Earth sense.

The rumbling was turning even more intense. Glancing over his shoulders, Noah watched as trees in the distance were felled with ease. They didn’t stop the monster for even half a second. It was like a tsunami was washing over the land, devouring everything in its path.

Oh just my damned luck!

Thankfully, they had made it to the ruins. If Noah was right, they were safe. If he was wrong, they were already dead.

Crossing under a tall archway made of giant, hand carved sandstone, Noah turned, and watched as the thing approached. Trees fell, rocks were split into fragments, and the earth was sundered as if it was not a solid, but a liquid.

Twenty metres in front of the archway the trees collapsed and then… silence. It remained like that for around five minutes, and then whatever was under the earth, turned back to where it came from.

Noah quickly tried to catch a glimpse of it, but what he saw turned his mind numb.

It didn’t have a form.

There was no head, arms, legs, or a body. Formless, like darkness itself.

And that… was the thing Noah was worried about.