[ Day 5 ]

Tanuki spent most of the morning getting ready. He prepared his equipment, ate bread, and cried over the waterskin. Edgar gifted him with a rope he found in his house, about the length of five meters. Not much, but better than nothing. There was also a small shoulder bag made of leather, they filled that with apples and the last of the bread. Tanuki wanted to take the axe too, but Edgar argued it might be a bit too much. Instead, they sharpened a small rock he could use as a knife.

When there was nothing more to be done, Tanuki emptied his inventory, said his goodbyes and walked down the dirt path. At the edge where land met an infinite drop, he looked at the key in his hand; a large tool made of metal, its head shaped like a hexagon with a green crystal in the middle. Moss grew touching the stone, tiny mushrooms sticking out of it.

“Now, how do I use you?” he asked, and upon saying his intentions, the crystal of the key glowed. As if a hologram, it projected a small window above itself while shooting a small ray of light from its tip.

[ Name: --- ]

[ Difficulty: --- ]

[ Size: --- ]

[ Capacity: --- ]

The field where stats should have been remained empty. No door appeared, and he could not interact with the interface.

For a moment, he thought it was broken. He slapped it a few times, numbers and letters showed up for a second, then quickly disappeared as if the item had lost connection.

He waved it around a few more times, and after a while, he realised the signal was coming from the ground. When he pointed the key that way, something appeared on the interface.

[ Name: Yoshimura Grotto ]

[ Difficulty: 2 ]

[ Size: Medium ]

[ Capacity: 1 ]

He looked over the edge and there was nothing below the island. The signal was indeed coming from the ground.

Tanuki crouched down and put the key against the dirt. In that moment, the vision of a keyhole made itself known. When he put the key into it, it burst into green particles of light that drew the outlines of a door below his feet. Suddenly, it became real, and he burst through as wood gave way under his feet.

His body slammed against a hard surface that swung to the sides. He rubbed the dirt from his eyes and saw that he landed on a bridge. Above him was an overgrown marble portal growing from the side of a large dirt wall. On the other side, there was nothingness. Below him, the void.

His senses needed a second to readjust so he could understand, this was not a wall. What he looked at was indeed the ground of this realm. For some reason, gravity worked differently.

“No, that’s not it… There are trees around me, and they are growing as if everything was normal.”

He sat for a few seconds and observed his surroundings. The portal was part of a small clearing in the middle of a forest. There were steps leading up to it from the other side. He could see that as his only way home, the portal disappeared.

Bluntly speaking, he was trapped.

His patience was rewarded with a revelation. Indeed, he was the only one not affected by gravity. The leaves of trees fell towards the ground. Still, he did not panic, as the fact that there was even a bridge to catch him proved that he was not the only one affected by this phenomenon. There had to be some people out there, if only their remains.

He got up and walked the only way forward. A thin path of bridges led him through the forest, growing steeper over time.

The entire world seemed dead. Everything was overgrown, the land with trees, the trees with vines. There was something off about these plants that left a bad feeling in Tanuki’s stomach.

At one point, he passed by a creek. The water was crystal clear, he could see straight to the bottom where tiny pebbles burrowed into the mud. He considered drinking from it. After all, he had been wanting water for days now; this would be his chance to enjoy what was taken with the waterskin.

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He reached out to fill his hands but pulled back as something swam before him. A fish, but one infected by something green coloured. It was mossy and unlike any plants Tanuki had known. Stems grew out of it, sprouting tiny leaves.

As it swam by, its empty eyes met Tanuki’s. It looked to be in pain, but Tanuki was unsure whether it was even alive. Yet it watched, not just out of curiosity or as a desperate attempt to find a cure for its ailment.

It was sizing him up.

A rush of paranoia overcame Tanuki, he smashed his fist into the water and threw the fish outside. Instead of falling into the void, it landed back on the ground and continued to look at Tanuki. It did not flail around, nor attempt to get back into the creek. It just stared on with those empty eyes.

Tanuki felt the bridge quiver beneath his feet. Something was approaching.

He took the sword from his side and readied the staff to cast a spell. Though he knew dungeons would be dangerous, he did not expect them to birth terror in his heart.

The sound came from every direction, above, below, both sides. He was unsure if it was just his hearing playing tricks on him, or if more things were running towards him.

Then something clattered out from behind a tree. He turned just in time to see it before it could disappear.

The creature was about the size of a large dog, its entire surface coated with sickly yellow skin that looked uncomfortably undersized. From the waist down, it appeared as a spider with short thick legs. From the chest and up, it was a featureless human. It had no eyes, nor mouth, only holes that resembled them on what appeared to be something akin to a wasp nest.

With incredible speed, it disappeared behind the tree again. Tanuki nearly shat himself just from looking at it, but he grew even more terrified when all the clattering came to an unexpected stop. He turned around to see many more of the same creature hide as he looked their way.

“Pull yourself together!” his inner voice screamed before he would panic, “You got a weapon. Use it!”

Casting an acid spell combined with the ability of Staffbearer Gloves and the unique set ability, he shot two balls in rapid succession towards a creature hiding behind a bush. With the passive of the Staffbearer set, he was allowed to cast this spell for half its original mana cost, allowing him to cast another at a creature peeking from behind a tree.

Both attacks landed. The first creature got torn apart by the acid, while the last one burned to death. In addition to their disturbing appearance, they were also rather weak.

[ Nestman (Level 1) ]

[ HP: 3/3 ]

With two of their comrades killed, the pack attacked him all at once. The bridge hung a short distance away from the ground, but that did not stop them from jumping onto it. They planted their sharp feet into the wooden boards and turned towards Tanuki.

Two jumped ahead of him, while one tried to take him from behind. The rest were either trying to get onto the bridge or observing from below.

Tanuki flinched, but his inner voice kept pushing him. His instincts would not let him give in to his fears.

Thus, for the first time, he raised the blade for its intended purpose. To murder. His hands were shaking, but not in excitement.

The first of the nestmen made a horrible battle cry that sounded like someone choking on their saliva. It then broke into a mad dash that surprised Tanuki with its speed, so much so that he panicked and slashed blindly. Despite being pessimistic about the wooden sword for its material, it cut straight through the monster’s side, immediately draining two of its health points. In a blank state of fear, Tanuki screamed and drained the last of its health by stomping on its head.

He could not see that while the first went in for the attack, the one behind him did so too. It jumped onto his back and tightly hugged Tanuki’s face to cover his eyes. Immediately, the one in front of him went in for an attack and another jumped up to the bridge.

Tanuki turned the sword in his hand and stabbed under his shoulder, impaling the monster onto the blade. As soon as it let go of his face, he grabbed it by the head and threw its entire weight in front of himself, hitting the one that was running at him. Once again, he stomped one of the monsters, then stabbed through the other’s head. They were surprisingly easy to destroy, almost like withered leaves.

The one to jump onto the bridge kept its distance and made that awful sound. Two more followed it, but they did not initiate the attack. Like animals that found out they were dealing with another predator, their motivation disappeared and attempts at intimidation took its place. Their plan worked, for a second, then Tanuki realised what this was all about.

“Huh? And what are you guys gonna’ do if I don’t listen to your warnings?” He stomped and the monsters flinched. For once, he had the upper hand to dictate how the situation would go. And by God, he was having fun with it. “Come on now! Have a go at it!”

Another one of the creatures jumped onto the bridge to assault Tanuki. He pushed away its arm with the staff then sliced off two of its legs as it failed to evade. The creature gave up immediately and fled, killing the last of the pack’s will to fight.

The other monsters followed their mate into the forest, leaving Tanuki all alone. He listened as they ran, this time hiding somewhere far away.

A quiet snicker left his mouth. He was just about to continue his journey when he remembered something. The fish was still there, watching him. By now, he was sure it was not alive, but rather it was a tool for something to observe him. Whatever it was, he wanted to send it a message.

He leaned close to the animal. A grin grew wrinkles on his face as he whispered, “I’m coming for you,” before punching through the fish’s face.