Part of me was ready to immediately start the climb down the side of the cliff then and there. If night wasn’t drawing near, I may have done just that.
Even though I knew it was probably just a false hope, I desperately needed to see. The chance to meet an entirely new set of people was exactly what I had dreamed of for years. The chance to start anew seemed so close that I could barely restrain myself.
I shook my head. If there was one thing I had learned from experience, it was that if something seemed too good to be true, it probably was. I was even still worried that I would one day discover some form of hideous cost for using the system.
It didn’t pay to get my hopes up over something that could easily have been my wishful thinking making me see things that weren’t even there.
Reluctantly, I walked back through the ruined village towards my repossessed dwelling. Before heading inside, I looked over my runes. Though a little degraded, I was reasonably sure that they would still suffice.
Not one to leave things to chance, I carved out another two runes.
Despite my more comfortable surroundings, it still took me a while to finally fall asleep. My mind was awhirl with possibilities. Perhaps the spot by the large lake was a village founded by the descendants of those who fled from the other two mountains before the titan could attack? Maybe it was a group of people from the far off land I saw painted on the back of the town hall?
Even more fanciful notions also freely darted through my mind as I drew closer to sleep. Perhaps it wasn’t even a human encampment? Maybe something else was living in houses and using fires to cook their food? I imagined everything from sapient monkeys to fish people as I drifted off to sleep.
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I was wandering through a village full of all kinds of strange people. Everything from talking lizards to giant bird people roamed the street. At first I was overjoyed, and eagerly ran up to a fox woman selling vegetables. She took one look at my face before refusing to acknowledge my existence further. The same happened when I tried to talk to a snake wearing clothes and a grune with a hat.
No matter where I went or the people I talked to, the result was the same. I was dejected but still tried to enjoy the novelty of the strange village for the remainder of the dream.
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Despite the fact that it hadn’t been a particularly bad nightmare, the dream left me in a dark mood. It wasn’t as frightening or disturbing as most of my other dreams were. Instead, it struck painfully close to home.
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Eating breakfast, I turned my thoughts to other matters. Running off into the jungle after finally finding a relatively safe place would have been foolish. As much as I wanted to go see what was in the clearing, I needed to be reasonable.
I had nearly died several times on my trek to the three sisters. Considering the sheer number of monstrous beasts and other horrors lurking in the jungle, I had probably even gotten quite lucky. It would have been foolish to assume that my luck would hold.
The clearing was even further away than the Three Sisters had been. Did I really want to risk my life for something that could easily have just been my imagination?
Looking at the ruins around me, I considered just staying. I had plenty of resources and security to live at least somewhat comfortably for a while. If I hadn’t seen the clearing, I likely would have been content for quite some time.
With the possibility of people on the horizon, I didn’t think I would be able to do it. The knowledge that there could be someone out there would eventually drive me crazy if I didn’t do anything.
I needed to go see.
That didn’t mean that I could afford to be reckless. I needed to make every preparation I could before resuming my journey through the jungle.
I didn’t have much time to repair or replace my equipment while moving through the jungle. A new spear, some stronger sigil paint, and more stable travel rations would all be extremely valuable.
Beyond that, I had a wealth of magical knowledge to dig through and practice with. Who knew what spell would one day make the difference between life and death?
If there really were people out in the jungle, a ten-day or two of preparation wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t like they were going anywhere.
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INTERLUDE 1: The Light
Four days earlier at an encampment by the sea, a man stood watch.
As an expedition leader, Martin could have easily foisted the task onto one of his men. That wasn’t his way however.
Loyalty wasn’t earned by making demands or strutting around like a decorated noble. If you wanted someone to willingly heed your commands, you had to be willing to get your hands dirty yourself.
That was why Martin sat alone atop the watchtower that evening. This was a fact that he had to continually remind himself of as he shifted about on the uncomfortable wooden chair and swatted at yet another large mosquito.
Glancing at the time on his interface, the man let out a sigh. He could tell it was going to be another long night.
Resigned to his fate, Martin settled in for a long, uncomfortable watch.
It wasn’t long before something extraordinary broke the monotony. A narrow beam of bright red light cut across the night sky.
“By the system…” Martin muttered in astonishment. “What sort of magic is that?”
The light seemed to be coming from somewhere directly past the three mountains to the south. In fact, it almost looked like it was coming from the top of the tallest one.
After a few moments, the brilliant beam of light faded away. Martin had no idea what caused such an impressive display of magic, but he wanted to find out.
It looked like a trip to the mountains was in order.