Despite my misgivings about the system meddling with my mind, an escape from my nightmares was too good to pass up. I willed the system to activate the disabled feature.
I still felt abysmal. Aches and pains lined my entire body, but not quite as badly as the night before. Stretching out, I brushed the large leaves off of myself.
I froze upon glancing at where the corpse of the crimson monkey had lain that night before. All that remained was a puddle of bloodstained water.
I shuddered, and not just because of the lingering rain.
Once again, my sigil of concealment had proven its worth. Even as poorly drawn as this one was, it had protected me from whatever had come for the monkey’s corpse.
I dearly wished I could have used a more permanent sigil, but I couldn’t make one with just clay. The paints that were used to make the warding sigils on the walls of Sanctuary Valley had used a complex mix of ingredients to better hold mana.
Glancing at the bloodstained water, I recalled that one such ingredient was the blood of magical beings. Dumping out the waterlogged contents of my bag, I picked up my now empty jar. It wouldn’t be particularly potent, but I was hopeful that the blood in the water would be able to enhance my sigils at least a little bit.
Suppressing a pained groan, I once more started walking.
As I plodded along, I opened up my interface.
Name: Kyo —-----
Class: System Initiate
(7/10, 100%)
Mana Pool: 100/100
Codex: 99.98%
Boons: 7
New boon available
Environmental Conditions: life threatening injury no longer detected
MR:237
TPEL:10
I realized that I had never looked at my map. At that thought another rectangle appeared before me.
[https://i.ibb.co/8MrjMfk/Map1.png]
This one held a vague image of a path through the jungle. As I focused on a portion of it, a much more detailed version flashed through my mind of the stretch of the jungle I had just walked through. I found that I could easily move the view of my map further back down my path. After a point, I could no longer draw upon the exact images of the path, only vague impressions.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
It didn’t take me long to realize that the point where my map no longer showed details was the spot where I had first selected the Codex Map boon. Apparently, boons could still offer some benefits before they were fully functional.
Curious, I tried expanding the scale of my map.
Worldmap1 [https://i.ibb.co/jTWR2S7/Worldmap1.png]
The resulting map didn’t show me many details. It showed me roughly where I knew various things to be. To the south, it marked the Myriad Cliffs with the ruins of Sanctuary Valley in the middle. To the north, it showed the relative positions of the three sisters.
I wasn’t sure about how the map knew where they were until a memory flashed before my eyes. It was simply the view from the top of Lookout’s Peak. It only lasted a moment, but it was enough to make it clear where the system had pulled that information from. Once again, the complex magical construct had gone rummaging through my mind.
With a shudder, I turned back to my map. There was a small trail through the jungle. At one end of the trail was my current location. The other end was only about a day’s journey away from Sanctuary Valley. I guessed that to be the point where I first picked up the system, but without more details, I couldn’t be sure.
Dismissing my map for the moment, I looked at my list of available boons.
Codex Link
Allows the user to draw information from the codexes of other nearby system users.
Codex Identification
Allows the user to rapidly draw information from the codex about viewed objects and entities. Functionality may be limited without Codex Link.
Once again, I didn’t have any new choice to pick from. I didn’t even hesitate for a moment before selecting Codex Identification.
I didn’t know what to expect from it, but I was hopeful. Most of my boons had proved unexpectedly useful.
Looking back at my map, I realized that I had managed to stay on track fairly well. I was a little further to the east than I intended to be, but that was fine.
Adjusting my course, I continued onward. Around midday, I heard the sound of flowing water in the distance. A wide river came into view before long. The gently flowing water looked perfectly peaceful and serene.
I didn’t trust it.
Casting mana sight, I peered into the depths of the sunlit waters. The fact that there was a magical creature lurking towards the middle of the river didn't surprise me. The size of it did.
I couldn’t make out the exact details of the creature, but it was massive. Were the long, slender being to rise to its full height directly upwards, it would easily be able to peer over the tops of even the tallest the knotwood trees around.
Cautiously, I crept towards the riverbank. The monster didn’t seem to notice my approach, letting me draw close enough to fill my waterskin. Glancing away from the water, I noticed a patch of ground that lit up before my mana sight.
I let out a sigh of relief. I had used up the last of my usable supply of mana rich clay the night before. Backing away slowly from the water’s edge, I hoped to collect a few large handfuls from this new deposit.
The top layer was fairly magically inert, so I had to dig down a bit. Periodically, I looked back towards the entity lurking at the bottom of the river. Whatever it was, it seemed content to lay where it was.
After digging down far enough, I quickly started scooping clay into my bag. When it dried out, it wouldn’t be quite as useful, but it was much better than nothing.
Distracted as I was by the clay and the thing in the water, I didn’t pay quite as much attention to the surrounding foliage as I should have. It wasn’t until I heard a large twig snap behind me that I realized my mistake.
The monster in the water wasn’t the only one I should have been worried about.