Charlie was so tired.
There had been no time to rest, no time to think. His struggle had started the moment he was born into this world; every day was a fight for survival. Every waking moment had been filled with nothing but new wonders and mysteries that revealed themselves like blooming flowers, but those mysteries were accompanied by perilous horrors.
Both from the past and the present, the nightmares kept digging their claws into Charlies mind and soul. Refusing to let go and threatened his very life.
There was no time to heal. Charlie's mind had been reduced to nothing. The inescapable past tormented his every thought, and the nightmares he had to wade through to get anywhere had burnt him from within. In their wake they left only ash and cold char.
There was no time to sleep. His body desperately held on to the nourishing embrace of sleep, refusing to let it go out of its clutches now that it had finally arrived.
Charlies body and mind were like ashes that scattered in the face of a powerful wind, yet they refused to be put out. Charlie weathered the storm with the power of his sheer will, refusing to fall. The fire could never be truly snuffed out if Charlie continued to breathe, continue to fight and survive.
And from these ashes, an ember flickered into life. The treacherous and powerful gales stoked the lone ember, the winds of peril would become the fuel for the vengeful flame that would burn the world down.
Charlie woke up with a gasp, like a newborn babe taking its first succulent breath of air, throwing himself into a coughing fit. His chest struggled to keep up with Charlies demand for air, his wildly beating heart struggled to calm.
Charlie looked around in a daze; he was back in the mushroom cove but had only fragmented images of what had happened. It was simple to recount the knife-clawed predator and how he had survived the impossible encounter, but it all turned hazy when Charlie tried to recall the journey back.
It was fragmented and blurry, his memory still difficult to parse through. Charlie could recall the pain and anger that coursed through his body right before... He might have hit his head now that he thought about it. It might have been multiple times, the depth of his throes coming back to him in waves of vibrant memories.
Then it dawned on him, his memory had fully returned and a cooling sensation washed over Charlie. Recalling the fact that he had killed one of the Lizards and the strange absence of the neighbouring creatures came back clearly, the strange fog had fully lifted from Charlies mind.
It explained why his stomach was quiet, but not why [Devour] had yet to wake up. He was certain that the Lizard had finished digesting in his stomach, yet [Devour] had not called him to wake up.
Had it?
It was hard to completely discount, but there was a possibility that it did wake up and tried to bring Charlie out of his comatose state, but it simply failed to reach him. That could well mean that the translucent gems were digested and [Devour] had missed its chance.
If [Devour] didn't get activated, that would mean that Charlie had never felt its nourishing power while he slept. He simply hoped that there was nothing to heal.
Charlie found that it was easy to fall into a false sense of security, he had been doing it every chance he's got and so far it's only worked against him. Charlie needed to first make sure he was safe before allowing himself to spend any time thinking. Charlie then promptly made his way to the exit and had a quick look around, checked if there are any predators lurking outside and could only see a few small Sklites scurring around in the distance.
After making his way back inside, Charlie finally allowed himself to think. There were many things to review about his failure, many ways to improve his planning and, interestingly, plenty of secrets of the System to mull over.
There was one other thing Charlie wanted to explore, his new sense of self. There was a subtle shift in his thoughts, and it was hard to truly call it a benefit, or label it a curse. His mind was calm, utterly tranquil, as if nothing in the world could disturb it. There were no stray thoughts, no erratic emotion coursing through his body nor was there any lack of focus. It felt peaceful, but foreign, so entirely alien to everything Charlie had come to know about existing.
But was he still human?
Charlie could still vividly recall his human life, his wife and all of the relationships he had ever had before arriving to this world, yet they felt hollow and easily dismissed. Like their existence barely mattered to Charlie, even though factually he knew they were the most important things in the world. The memories couldn't bring out any happiness, nor could they illicit any sadness either, almost as if there were no more emotions that still resided within Charlie.
All except for the unfathomable anger that burned in the core of his soul, the fire that promised to break everything and become the fuel for utter annihilation.
Was that still a human?
Charlie felt like this question should matter more, like there was a sadness trying to reach him and bridge the infinite gap. Yet Charlie couldn't find it in him to care, what did it matter to be human if you died? Was it selfish to want to live? Is it wrong for Charlie to be alive?
Then I will be selfish, I will be greedy...
And I will live defiantly, against all those that stand in my way...
Casting his humanity to the side, Charlie could feel the Serpent ooze with pride and joy from the strange connection between them from within. It was almost like it spoke a different language, but even through the barriers in communication, Charlie understood the underlying meaning.
Charlie closed the connection between the Serpent and himself, willing the stupid worm to shut up and returned his focus back to what needed to be done.
Charlie found that it was easier to recall the layout of the cave, easier to decide on where to scout for the day and the plan had felt complete before any intrusive thoughts wormed their way in. There were a lot of gaps in the plan, but that was by design, Charlie wanted to allow himself room to become more adaptable.
Charlie decided that his plans needed to be created with flexibility in mind, no longer could they be restricted by misguided fear and allow himself to be led astray. If Charlie wanted flexibility, he first needed to take some time to understand what secrets the System had unveiled.
Charlie had leveled up, that much was certain, and with it came understanding of so much more. His ability to make connections between concepts had reached a new level and his understanding of his own {Epitaph}, [Hollow Fang], deepened with it.
Charlie wished to return to the dream realm to confirm what he had learned, but unfortunately, it would have to wait. There will be a time for it after he'd return from today's mission; Scout, kill and, most importantly, return alive.
With the mission solidified in his mind, Charlie set out of the cave and purposely didn't wash his body of the slime that accumulated on his scales. Charlie wanted to test out their ability of warding off creatures, and if it affected any creature larger than the Sklites.
Right now, his repertoire was lacking and Charlie required as many tools as possible to aid in his survival. If the slime proved to be useful in any capacity, Charlie would try and figure out a way to use it more optimally. The slimes warding capacity worked on him just as well as the creatures he hoped to avoid.
The shadows welcomed Charlie back and cloaked him in their embrace, the unnatural chill nipped at his scales and cooled his body. The shadows were a mystery of their own, their existence and effect made little sense to Charlie, even with his deepened understanding of the world around him.
Charlie took in the strange sensation as the shadows wrapped around him, and felt like a connection had formed, when a curious thought struck Charlie. The Systems whispers were not words, but feelings and sensations, like pieces of a puzzle coming together, making their role and importance obvious.
The pieces that had come together posed that there must be some sort of power, or mysterious force that Charlie was missing. What it could be still eluded Charlie, but his certainty in the strange force only grew the more his mind worked to unravel the mystery.
How could Charlie use [Hollow Fang], was it a natural part of him as a serpent, or was it something beyond him like the System? The fact that Charlie had already reached its limit, the draining sensation that accompanied the burning itch, could only point to its unnatural origin. That same draining sensation that occurred after using [Devour], that same drain Charlie felt when he willed the lightless door to open.
The System allowed Charlie to see and connect these links, allowing Charlie to once again understand another foundational mystery. Of course, the knowledge the System provided was nothing more than simply opening his eyes to possibilities, but it was enough for Charlie.
He could now see when he was blind, he knew when he didn't and it was what would help him traverse his path to power.
Charlie was using something, some sort of fuel or power, originating to this world by instinct, yet it was completely imperceptible to all of his senses. Yet, his senses were not everything and could not be fully trusted, they lied and were easily fooled by even stupid creatures like the Lizards. There was something else, something that Charlie felt couldn't lie to him.
His soul.
The golden seed that resided atop a pool of sacred water and radiated its peaceful aura. Though it may not be the soul itself that Charlie felt a connection with, but the brilliant water below. To find answers for his hypotheses, Charlie would have to return to the dream realm and lay his own eyes on the pool, and confirm it for himself. Until then, Charlie would have to continue onward and leave all irrelevant thought out from the ensuing mission.
Charlie continued his journey and thoroughly scouted out the caves many shadowy corners. There were deep and dark crevices that held promise of safety in case of a lethal predator, and coves that were full of life to buy him time at the cost of their lives. Charlie especially made a note of remembering where these weaker creatures resided, it might make for an easy meal if his initial observations were correct. There was a hidden danger within every creature, and until Charlie was confident, he would never underestimate his opponent.
The dark corners of rocky outcroppings were becoming more frequent the further Charlie went. He had yet to explore this side of the cave and had come across many new sights.
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One such creature was like a small human, it walked on two legs and was permanently hunched, plagued with hideously yellow skin. While it resembled a human from a distance, it didn't look human up close. Its face was nothing more than a pointed beak with eyes, that moved separately from one another, on the sides of its head.
After approaching closer, Charlie could tell that it wasn't skin, but thick yellow scales that covered this creature. It's humanoid shape faded with the sharpening of Charlies vision. The creature, in some small way, reminded Charlie of the leathery bird he had previously fought to the death with.
Though unlike its winged counterpart, it looked utterly pathetic. Slow and clunky movement, disproportionate body parts and a lack of any outward weapons. They would be perfect prey if not for their size. Charlie could swallow one whole, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to return home with the added weight.
Outward appearances are deceiving though, so while it looked pathetic, Charlie wouldn't dare an approach until he understood a bit more about it. Instead, he decided to return later and left to continue exploring the cave.
There were great rocky structures that pierced the ground and jutted out of the ceiling, sometimes touching each others very tips. There was water dripping from the ceiling and the further Charlie explored, the more humid everything became. The surrounding rocks and walls were lined with a heavy dew, until eventually they turned into pools of crystal clear water.
There was a bit of tension in the air, the constant drip of water echoed across the slippery surfaces, though not a single creature could be seen or heard. Even if Charlie had just arrived, there was no chance he would stay here and explore without knowing what he was getting himself into.
Charlie turned back around and was about to make his way back to the unnamed creature from before, but not before he caught sight of a shadow from the corner of his eye. Something had moved, and he saw it, no, it was more accurate to say that Charlie felt something move.
Charlie quickly spun on his stubby body and faced the direction of the sensation, finding nothing but the echoes of water dripping in the distance. His eyes scanned the surroundings and failed to find any movement. Unwilling to show his back to the potential threat, Charlie slithered backwards until he collided with a wall. Charlie then used the wall against his back to circle around and place himself out of view.
Charlie was unwilling to chalk it up to his senses playing tricks on him, and was willing to take unnecessary precaution than to die. Yet the more time that passed, the more it looked like Charlie had indeed overreacted.
That was right up until the wall beside Charlie had crumbled, shooting out rocks in all directions. There was a flash of a shadowy figure sticking through the wall and quickly retracting to somewhere unseen. Charlie had made the right decision, he was right to listen to his instincts.
Keeping his body low and hidden within the blindspot the wall provided, Charlie slithered away with all that he had. It didn't matter what creature hid inside the damp cavern, it could crush rock walls without being exposed, and that, was the clearest sign to leave that Charlie could ever receive.
Charlie navigated through the damp floor and dewy walls with practiced ease, the new clarity in his mind helped in keeping track of where Charlie had been and created a mental map of sorts.
Utilising the map, Charlie had quickly made his escape and made his way out and onto dry stone. Charlie had successfully fled watery cavern, yet strangely, nothing suddenly shattered nor did he feel anything following him. Whatever had lashed out, did so as a warning, or less likely, Charlie got lucky.
Charlie refused to believe his luck to be so all encompassing, there must be greater reason for his survival. It was easier to believe that the creature simply was not bothered to deal with a pesky serpent prowling in their territory than to entertain the idea of his luck once again saving his hide.
Charlie marked that location off his mental map and would explore it at a much later time, after he had become powerful enough to deal with something that could do that. On reflection, it was pleasant to treat this brush with death with such ease, having once again put his life on the line, and yet finding no anxiety nor fear in his heart.
There were plenty of options to choose from on what Charlies next steps should be. He could simply mosey on down to the river, wash himself of the filth and slime, and lay in wait for the Sklites. Charlie could also make his way back home, update his map and lexicon with the new areas he had scouted out, or the third and the most interesting option.
Charlie decided to leave the Sklites for another day and spend a bit of time learning about the strange and pathetic scaly creature he had seen earlier. It was a wonderfully strange new being that didn't even come close to resembling anything within the cave, so far. There were similarities of course, but it was closer to some failed offspring between different creatures.
Knowing the way around the stone cavern really helped in traversing the land and Charlie found himself arriving at his destination within a reasonable amount of time. The more Charlie slithered around, the more the layout of the cave started to click in his mind, the narrow stone pathways no longer felt so confusing and foreign. Within a few minutes, Charlie had already arrived back to where he last sighted the strange creature.
There was no shade in the opening, so Charlie had to leave the comforting shadows and put himself out into the open. Without the shadows that were always there, Charlie felt a bit naked. Which was even stranger, since he couldn't wear any clothing in this body.
Sadly, there was not a single creature in sight, nor could he see anything to provide any direction. Undeterred, Charlie thought back to when he followed the tantilising scent all the way to the injured Lizard and tried to emulate that same feeling.
There was something in the air, it was weak and strange but Charlie had sensed it. He couldn't be sure that it belonged to the weird creature, but Charlie had already decided to see this through. Charlie followed the weak and strange scent, almost like salty water that was mixed with wet dog, wanting to at least find the source. It wasn't particularly pleasant, but Charlie couldn't say he disliked it, it belonged to potential prey after all.
The scent led Charlie through previously unexplored caves and curious landscape, shaped erratically by the sheer abundance of coves. As interesting as the landscape became, and even with the numerous places Charlie could hide within, Charlie decided that the scent was no longer worth it.
The trip back to the mushroom cove would take an hour at this point, and Charlie no longer felt confident in keeping himself hidden well enough while tracking the scent. The landscape was becoming too claustrophobic to not lose track of a creature and get ambushed by another. Annoyingly, the scent had only barely gotten stronger after all the time he spent chasing its fading tail, completely wasting his time.
With a final scan of his surroundings, and failing to spot the source of the scent, Charlie turned back around and made his way to the mushroom cove. It was going to be a long trek back, the path was still new and foreign to Charlie.
Disgruntled by the failure in tracking down the scaly creature, Charlie kept to the shadows, keeping a safe distance away from any roaming creatures. Charlie was only an hour away from his home, and yet, he had already spotted an abundance of new forms and shapes. These creatures looked meaner, stronger and had far deadlier weapons at their disposal.
The deeper Charlie went, there was a perceptible sharp edge to everything. The creatures teeth looked like they could bisect him with ease, and the horns could tear through him like wet paper, yet as terrifying as they were, none had reached Charlie. He couldn't tell if he was apathetic, or if he had become simply selfish, and could only view them as future prey.
They looked grisly and they looked like they could kill him, but what in this damnable place didn't?
Only a few hundred meters away from his home, Charlie came across a curious sight. The very creature he had went out to find was pecking away at a rotting corpse of some unfortunate creature, it far too mutilated to tell what it had once been.
It felt strange. He had searched high and low for this thing, and now that he finally turned back around, it just appeared again. Was it coincidence, or...?
Charlie discarded the thought and found himself a suitable vantage point, slightly above the scaly creature and cloaked within the shadows. It was still annoyingly difficult to scale up a surface without Charlies tail, but he was finding it increasingly more doable, already having more experience than anyone rightfully should, the longer he lived with a missing limb.
The rest of his body had started to adapt to the abrupt change, his now healed stub provided the heavy lifting and stability when ascending, while his chest and head were in charge of finding grip and leverage.
Having a clear view of his target, Charlie lay in wait for what felt like an eternity. The pathetic creature even ate slowly, as if it were savouring every single bite it ripped off the mushy corpse. It displayed an aura of complete incompetence and weakness, but Charlie could only think back to the slimy creatures he had seen dissolve that pack of deformed dogs.
They, who looked so weak and pathetic, had an insidious ability. What stopped this creature from having something similar, or worse? That very question had opened up many branching theories that swirled in Charlies mind. Though he had spent a considerable amount of time observing this mysterious creature, Charlie refused to lose focus and let his mind wander during crucial moments. Never again.
Instead of wasting precious processing power, Charlie focused his mind to the sole purpose of keeping track of his surroundings and scanning any disturbance in the surrounding scent. He had been far too slow last time, costing him his tail and nearly his life.
Charlies intense focus was rewarded when there was a sudden change in the scent, a new and a powerful smell wafted over the rotting corpse, replacing its rancid stench completely. It didn't belong to the knife-clawed predator, but to a pack of six legged creatures with lithe and strange bodies.
The new creatures that had made their debut looked like an unholy mix between the spindly legged creature he saw in the forest and the silver creature that nearly drowned him in the river. They had long but horizontally flat bodies with six thick legs coming out from below. Almost like a some inhuman version of a table.
They emitted a... unique scent. It was like the salty water he tasted in the air back in the wet caverns, but with a pungent twist.
Their face made just as little sense. Charlie could only see two eyes on top of this flesh table, and couldn't make out any mouth-like shape nor a nose of any kind. Even when they approached closer and Charlie had a clearer view, their hidden features didn't suddenly manifest.
Charlie couldn't be happier to see these strange creatures though, as they looked to be interested by the rotting corpse that Charlies target had been idly nibbling away on.
The pack of flesh tables had noticed the oblivious creature eating their meal, with the larger ones stepping out to the front and approaching aggressively, growling as they neared. They didn't quite growl, but Charlie didn't have the words to name whatever that thing just screeched out. It was shrill and grated against Charlies ears, like the rusty scrapings of sheet metal.
The largest creature of the pack leapt forward, pushed by the surprisingly powerful hind legs, all four of them. While in the air, Charlie saw the monstrous mouth that had been just below its flat head. The head of the creature split open horizontally and its jaw lowered towards the floor as it opened up.
Though Charlie didn't fear it, he would be lying if he said it didn't make him pause for a moment. It's maw looked like something out of a nightmare, with hundreds of teeth seemingly placed at random.
Mere moments after the largest creature lunged, the rest followed after their leader with a frenzied speed. They quickly closed the gap and were fast upon the still oblivious creature, their mighty maws closing on the awkward body. The razor sharp teeth tore into its scaly body, drawing yellowed blood and chunks of red flesh.
The scaled creature recoiled with a shriek and finally reacted to the assault, but by that point it had already been far too late. The pack was upon it now and they looked ravenous. The vicious teeth tore through scale like it was nothing, even the cubs munched on the corpse as if it were softer than clouds.
Charlie couldn't help but be disappointed, the strange creature proved to be just as weak as it looked. Even though his own personal outlook had been marred by this pitiful creature, Charlie still refused to believe anything that survived here was truly that powerless. He wouldn't allow himself to underestimate anything, he couldn't.
Charlie watched the entire pack eat the fresh corpse of the scaly creature and set their sights on the rotting corpse, and with little left to do here, decided to make his way back home.
Though before Charlie could pull his gaze away, he noticed something strange. One of the flat creatures, that he decided to call Touth, an abbreviation of table and mouth, had swayed before slumping down on to the floor into a laboured breathing.
Charlie recognised the symptoms immediately.
Then another collapsed, followed by another, until the whole pack was on their knees and struggling to breathe. Their shrill noises were filled with pain and confusion, but Charlie understood from a single glance what had happened.
The scaly creature had some sort of poison or venom on its skin, or in its flesh. An insane defense mechanism, that completely failed to keep it alive. Yet, its toxin also proved to be just as deadly as his own.
Charlie felt satisfaction as he took in the scene below, the littered corpses of foolish Touths that dotted the stony clearing felt like re-assurance. He had been right once again to not underestimate even the smallest creature, for they might be just as, if not more, dangerous than their much larger opponents.
The corpses of the Touth looked like they were easy meals, but Charlie didn't want to gamble his life on whether or not there was enough of that toxin to kill him as well. There was no guarantee that he wouldn't simply die from the toxin that still remained within the corpses if he were to eat them. There was no guarantee that [Devour] neutralized any of the toxin either, which was an annoying loss.
Today, Charlie would return home empty handed, but there was still one last place to visit before he could conclude it.
It was time to return to the dream realm.