Crawling out of the earthen hovel, Charlie set off into the tightly knit flora of the forest - taking in the last of the sun he'll be seeing for a while. There was some light that broke through the thick canopy, but far too little actually reached the floor. While hidden within, and darting between, dense bushes, Charlie was going to miss the soft light of the morning.
The forest had felt more alive today, as more creatures roused from their dangerous slumber the more time Charlie spent traveling towards the human cave. It wasn't quite at the level of the days he had spent traveling towards the mysterious pull, but it was not too far off either.
Their numbers were concerning, but if Charlie kept vigilant with his use of [Mana Sense] then there was little to worry about. He had found that he didn't actually need to ever turn off [Mana Sense], even while Charlie slept he had it continuously going. The Mana drain was small enough to almost entirely dismiss it.
Though, with a bit more experience under his belt in using [Mana Sense], Charlie had noticed a small pitfall in the ability. Being able to sense the presence of other creatures was certainly an incredible power, but his brain could not parse the new influx of information effectively - meaning that if there is a dangerous creature approaching as he slept, he would be none the wiser and would not wake up to defend himself.
Maybe if he had even more time and even more experience, then there was a chance that Charlies brain would eventually be able to discern such important details - even while asleep. It would be a project for the future, as right now he had to focus on what was currently possible.
Throughout his travels, Charlie had started noticing a strange pattern - boulders were strewn in all directions, crushing trees under their titanic weight. The trees within the forest had been there for years, they were powerful and sturdy, yet these giant rocks crushed them like they were saplings.
The deeper into the forest Charlie traveled, the more chaotic the scenery became. Giant pits of crushed vegetation and uncovered earth, streaks of smashed wood and sand littered the floor. It was like a natural disaster had passed right through-
Then it dawned on Charlie, the walking sand calamity must have made its way towards the mountain.
It made perfect sense. The last that Charlie had seen of the wretched thing was it's fading silhouette as it leapt towards the direction of mountain, but he didn't quite see where exactly. It seems that wherever it goes, nothing but ruin awaits.
Charlie hadn't considered it, but this could prove to be the worst case scenario - the human cave could be destroyed. There was little chance that the human warriors would be able to fight back against that monster, but Charlie couldn't help but hope that the humans had somehow found a way.
If they were destroyed, and the human cave was unable to be accessed, then Charlie would have wasted all of this time. Worse, he would be forced to return to the forest, or even the nightmarish desert basin, and be cut off from the most dangerous, yet most rewarding, path to power.
Though Charlie had been traveling at a respectable pace, there now was sense of urgency pushing him forward, forcing him to hasten his journey. There was no point in worrying about the human cave without having seen it, but there was a foreboding feeling festering in his chest nonetheless.
Charlie had to take frequent breaks throughout the day, both because he had run his stamina dry and because there were times when the creatures had formed a near impassable wall - forcing him to simply let them pass. Great herds of Byson, numbering in the thousands, numerous packs of hundreds of Wolves and entire zones filled with the spindly Green Spiders blocked Charlies way more times than he could count.
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Though, they were not without their own merit. During the times that Charlie was forced to rest, wait or stay idle, he had used [Worm of Envy] on the flocking creatures.
Still unable to use his Will to cast the [Worm of Envy], Charlie was forced to rely on asking the questions in his mind. Charlie had confirmed that there really was no limit to the questions asked, but if he would be forced to verbalize them in his mind, then realistically he could only ask two to three questions in a quick succession.
He had learned their names, Levels, diets, habits and danger status. One random Byson that Charlie had cast [Worm of Envy] on had been Level 10, taking a large chunk of his Mana. It was hard to judge exactly how much, but it roughly felt like half of his pool had suddenly vanished.
If that was accurate, then that meant that it cost fifty Mana to cast, which then led Charlie to believe that the 10/Level requirement was referencing the difference between Charlie and his target. If Charlie would cast [Worm of Envy] on a target that was Level 12, then it should have cost around seventy Mana, for the seven Level difference.
Charlie had to be careful what his next target for [Worm of Envy] would be, but after spending a few hours waiting for the Byson to pass, he felt more comfortable in his slowly regenerating Mana reserves. It came back truly slowly, but as time went on, Charlie could feel its accumulating effects. It was not enough to rely on in battle, but it might be enough to get him over the edge in a dire situation.
The Wolves were next, and surprisingly, the Wolf that Charlie chose was actually the same Level as himself, Five. The Mana drain for [Worm of Envy] was also negligible, so in feeling confident, he cast it again on another Wolf - finding that it was an even lower Level at 4. The drain felt even lower than before, which only confirmed his theory further.
Using [Worm of Envy] on those of a lower Level than himself would cost a minute amount of Mana, yet those above him would quickly drain his reserves. It seemed that knowledge could have a dire cost if he were to be careless. Charlie wondered what would have happened if he had used it on the nightmarish sand calamity...
The third and final creature that Charlie cast the [Worm of Envy] on was the familiarly green spindly Spiders. Surprisingly, their name had a colour associated with it, which none of the creatures so far had. Granted, it was a prominent feature of the Spiders, but Charlie could have argued that the glossy black fur of the Wolves was just as striking.
The Green Spider was Level 11, which increased the drain on Charlies reserves, but it was not to the point where had run dry yet. It certainly was passed the point that he felt comfortable experimenting as such, but it would prove enough if there were to be a fight to occur.
The long and gangly limbs of the Green Spider were unnerving, especially when they twitched and moved at incredible speeds - albeit stiffly, like they were marionette dolls controlled by invisible string.
Charlie had spent the longest stretch of time circling around their webbed biome. He had yet to come across anything like it, but it was like the forest had suddenly been plunged into winter, yet instead of snow, there were these sticky and long strands of... something. Charlie had never seen this substance before, but he didn't have to approach it himself to witness its terrifying nature.
A young Byson had broken off from the main herd and gotten lost, deep in the forest and far away from safety. Charlie barely had a moment to see what had happened, but he was able to perceive the entire event using his [Mana Sense]. The young Byson had gotten stuck on the off-white substance, which somehow alerted the Green Spider. The movement of the Spider was smooth, swift and deadly. In a single breath, it had descended from the shadowy tree tops, bit down into the middle of the Bysons back with its grotesque fangs and retreated back into the canopy - with the limp body held in its clutches.
Still, even with large swathes of land blocked off from Charlie, he continued to make progress throughout the day, and just as night once again fell - Charlie had arrived.
Or, so he thought, at least.
Craters the size of buildings, deep gashes in the mountains face and a destroyed landscape stretching out everywhere Charlie turned to look.
The calamity... there's no mistaking it...
The forest had been turned upside down, large portions of the horizon were comprised of flat land - no trees or even loose wood remained. Dunes of sand and fine rock covered half of the human caves entrance. The rest had been destroyed by a boulder of truly epic proportions crashing through the fortified defense.
There were no survivors.