Charlie's body ached deeply, overcome with an exhaustion like no other before. Even with the return to consciousness, his vision was slow to clear the lingering shadows. If he had eyelids, Charlie was certain they would have felt like lead.

Wiggling his stubby tail with great effort, Charlie took account of his body and was pleasantly surprised to know he was still in one piece. It was still difficult to move around and sit up, but any victory, no matter how minor, was still a victory.

Charlie sighed. Sure, he had survived this time, but it felt like he had taken a step backwards.

Once again, Charlie lay battered and bruised, barely clinging on to life after a nearly fatal exchange with another creature that, by no means, he had any business in dealing with.

Charlie could make excuses for himself, and he certainly did, but no matter how reasonable they were, no matter how much sense they made, an excuse wasn't going to be enough to keep him alive next time.

Charlie had to be more careful, slower, and hold on to his wits - and even if he was taking his dying breath. If Charlie had stopped to think about it for even a second, he could have turned around and left the canyons scorching basin - avoiding a likely heatstroke.

Charlie was no newbie when it came to dealing with the sun, having survived the harsh and unforgiving ball of fire back on earth, he should have been able to see the signs earlier.

If Charlie thought about it for even a brief second, he should have realised that there would certainly be creatures preying on the primal desire for shade and survival like he had been. The lizard should have been an obvious enemy to expect, especially when he already found it so difficult to smell anything in the first place.

Charlie was blind without his enhanced sense of smell, and he knew it, yet Charlie didn't make any adjustments to his strategy - nor did he actually have a strategy. The heat was insidious, and Charlie should have known better than to descend down the rocky canyon wall without even a simple plan.

He was a fool, but at least he was alive to learn from his mistakes.

Whether or not he would continue to stay a fool was yet to be seen, so instead, Charlie decided to gather as much of his strength as he could, and get out of here.

But, where exactly, was here?

Putting in all of his effort, Charlie was just about able to manage sitting up. What greeted him was the same view as before, albeit without the hundreds of eerie eyes peeking over at him. A sparkling river that emitted a faint light of its own, mossy and wet rocks lining the sandy shore, and the walls of a natural cave in all directions.

Unlike the cave that the humans guarded, this felt much more natural in origin. It's floor was uneven, smooth round stone strewn in all directions and plenty of rocky formations on the ceiling. There were little droplets of water falling off the ceiling and onto the floor, sending soft echoes across that caves interior and filling it with a certain, natural ambience.

Strangely, the caves domed wall and ceiling did not emit any light, yet it's darkness did not feel like the True Darkness in the den of worms. It felt empty.

There was no connection to be made with the ambient Mana, nor was there the sudden disconnect Charlie would normally feel from the world around him. It was, just simple darkness.

It was almost strange to come across something so mundane in a world as mystifying as this.

Charlie moved his body forward, ignoring it's dull protest, and approached the lizards gored body. Curiously, the translucent gem was still in its chest, exposed to the world.

Strangely, the body was further away than Charlie remembered, and in an even weirder turn of events, none of the creatures inhabiting the cave came down for an easy feast while he was down for the count . Was there something different about the shadowy inhabitants that dwelled deep in this pocket of darkness?

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Were they different to those that descended the human cave? Somehow detached from the world of Magic, isolated in a pocket outside of its reach?

Was there a simpler answer? It was likely, but Charlie didn't have much more energy to spend on idle thoughts. Instead, Charlie approached the exposed gem and sat down to regain some of his energy.

Charlie wasn't quite hungry or thirsty, but he knew that he was running on nothing but fumes, and would run dry sooner than later.

After chowing down on some of the drying meat, Charlie returned to the river and got a quick drink. The blood of the lizard would have probably been enough, but Charlie wasn't willing to expend more energy on rooting through the stale corpse for a meager reward.

Somewhat re-energised, Charlie decided to check his body out by the light of the river - and to no shock of his own, Charlie's lower half was in shambles.

The stubby tail had withered down to where it was hard to tell what was muscle and what was bone. In fact, most of his body had seemingly withered away - he could even count his own ribs with how thin he had become.

At least I'm alive.

Undettered by the outcome of brushing with death once again, Charlie pushed the thoughts of his physical well-being to the wayside. He would recover with time, but the truth of the matter remained, he was in no shape to make any crazy decisions - safety was paramount right now.

With his stomach filled and his thirst quenched, Charlie had only one thing left to do - [Devour] the translucent gem.

It was his only way to recovering quickly, but in that lay an issue of its own. Charlie had no idea how much Mana he had right now, as he knew that he had passed out, but for how long - that, he could not answer. Hoping for the best, Charlie attempted to bring the hungry power of [Devour] out of its slumber.

Mentally following the path that [Devour] took inside of him, memorising each feeling and change inside, Charlie tried to cast it, but failed. The itch that blossomed inside of him was still strong, but not quite at the level before unleashing [Hollow Fang] into himself.

Which, was quite ingenious, if he were to say so himself. Charlie almost didn't believe he had succeeded due to the passing words of an old acquaintance. Maybe, just maybe, there was truth to her inane babble.

Charlie, unable to do much else, laid himself down near the corpse and made sure to keep the river close behind. The creatures in the cave might not have attacked yet, but Charlie didn't believe that his luck would last for much longer. So instead he opted to keep an exit within, metaphorically, arms reach.

Yet, as time passed, Charlie started to think that there was simply nothing else down here with him. At least until there was finally a hint of movement in the shadows, a pair of glowing blue eyes opened right above a distant stone boulder.

Charlie immediately was set on guard, but didn't make it outwardly obvious. His muscles tightened and Charlie slowly coiled his body into position, but did not attempt to make any sudden movements.

Still weakened, Charlie had to reserve his energy for when it would attack. Sudden movements might also signal as aggression, and enraged the hidden creature - which was not what he needed right now.

The pair of glowing blue eyes moved with eerie grace, shifting behind the stone without a trace of hindrance from the uneven ground. It carefully approached, crossing the distance under the dark veil of shadows, and eventually stepped into the light.

It's body was a bit like the overgrown lizards, large and stocky, but it's skin was much more... Smooth. It was hard to tell in this light, but from where Charlie laid, it looked almost slimy.

Even the colour of its skin looked off, a discoloured beige erring on the side of gray. It had large beady eyes and seaweed-like protrusions sticking out the side of its oval head, and all along it's back - thinning and shrinking in size the closer to the tip of its tail it reached.

Assessing the level of danger this creature posed, Charlie could see no outward weapons nor anything that would even remotely look dangerous. No sharp claws to slice Charlie in half, no great horns to gore his fragile body, but Charlie would not underestimate his opponent.

Though lacking in weaponry, Charlie didn't feel better about facing off against this particular creature. It's head was almost as wide as its body, and with that came it's mouth. It's size gave Charlie pause.

The creature faced Charlie directly, so it was impossible to tell where it's mouth stopped exactly - seemingly wrapping around from one side to the other entirely.

And when the creature opened its mouth, Charlie felt validated in his worry.

Large, numerous and sharp teeth lined the impossibly sized maw of the approaching creature. A disgusting pink tongue hung loosely from its side, dripping an unknown liquid on the floor.

It was hungry, and Charlie guarded the easy meal, so of course, Charlie had to go.

Quickly looking back behind him and into the river, Charlie had to make a decision. Should he jump with his weakened body into the water and risk being pulled under by an aquatic beast, or duke it out with the aggressive creature on the surface - and hope for the best.

Before Charlie could even make his decision, the creature leapt.

Wh.. What?