The air was thick with erratic sounds and a plethora of confusing scents, a blood-curdling screech enveloped by the sweet musk of blood could be heard coming from all directions. There were fights as far as the eye could see, there was enough action that one would never become complacent - Charlie was certainly back.

This time though, Charlie had much more experience under his belt, and was certainly ready for the challenges to come. Whether or not the creatures were ready for Charlie's return.

Safety came first, of course, as even if Charlie felt confident in his chances in dancing with the devilish creatures, accidents happened. It was up to him to create an opportunity for himself where if an accident did occur, he wouldn't be in mortal danger.

Charlie had already attempted to create opportunities in the past that would help him in saving his ass, with varying degrees of results, but he lacked some key components that would have turned his luck around. [Mana Sense] and, most importantly [Worm of Envy] would have been invaluable to have from the very beginning. Beggars couldn't be choosers, and he was happy that he survived long enough to receive such powerful tools.

Those two abilities were going to be the key to not only surviving this harrowing challenge, but also rising above it - high enough to conquer it. With [Mana Sense], Charlie essentially had eyes on the back of his head and could spot danger from even the darkest corners. Simply being able to avoid confrontations by not accidentally stumbling upon a hungry creature, Charlies chances had already skyrocketed.

Yet, when he combined [Mana Sense] and [Worm of Envy], Charlie became an elusive shadow. Being able to stay hidden even from the most acute senses, accurately knowing a creatures Level, their danger level and even potentially some of their abilities - it was like he was given the recipe for success.

Though it would prove wise to not become conceited in his own abilities. Even if he knew a creature was coming, or their danger level or whatever other piece of information that he would glean from [Worm of Envy], it did not mean that Charlie was suddenly stronger. Physically, he was still far below a lot of the creatures that inhabited even the upper layer of the cave.

If a creature was somehow able to get the drop on him, Charlie would have to resort to mutual destruction in the worst case scenario. Knowing that if he were to die in such a manner, that at least the darned creature would perish alongside Charlie. Not ideal, but Charlie had no plans on going down this route anyway.

After getting his own confidence in check and keeping it in place, Charlie felt ready to enter the battlefield. First order of operations were to find shelter, a place to return to and rest when needed. It would be an invaluable advantage over the straggling creatures, while they fought for shelter, Charlie would remain uncontested and hopefully safe.

Charlie ascended the tall walls of the stone coves with ease, expertly navigating the myriad of uneven surfaces and jutting sharp rocks. Before he knew it, Charlie was already overlooking a broken horizon filled to the brim with life and violence.

Charlie couldn't see too far into the distance however, as while the cave descended lower and lower, there was a slight curve to its descent that eventually split the horizon in half. It was difficult to fathom the exact size of this cave, but Charlie simply felt excited at the prospect of an unending experience.

In further examination of the underground horizon, Charlie could see the revitalising waters of the river on the left, still hugging the wall and bringing peace wherever it cut through the stone.

On the right side of the turbulent horizon, Charlie couldn't quite make out what it was exactly that he was seeing, but he could see some shimmering lights lining the walls. They were barely a glimmer at this distance, but the further down the cave Charlie traced with his eyes, the more prominent the shimmer became.

He would definitely check out the oddity in the distance - after he found shelter, much to the dismay of his budding curiosity.

After getting a good lay of the land, Charlie continued forward atop the stone coves and searched for a suitable place to call home. Charlie briefly considered taking the high ground as refuge, but unfortunately the pestilent Skullkers frequently made their nests atop the coves.

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The further down Charlie descended, the more common the carrion scavengers became. If there were only one of them, then Charlie wouldn't have thought them to be a problem, but unfortunately there were simply hundreds of them. There were so many, that Charlie was driven back down the way he came and forced to continue his search for shelter among the savage creatures.

Charlie had still remained unseen, but did not feel his chances were in his favour if he were to continue up atop the stone coves and into the territory of the Skullkers. Instead, the only other option was to descend onto the rocky ground, and face the horde.

After descending down a sharp slope, Charlie was able to take it all in and could feel a subtle difference in both his surroundings, and within himself. The winding paths, the tightly packed bodies of the vicious creatures - it all felt so much more real up close, so much more visceral.

[Mana Sense] had been sending Charlie so many signals that it was difficult to understand what was what, but he didn't dare turn it off. Too much information was far superior to not enough information, or none at all in his case - if he were to turn it off.

Charlie couldn't find a safe way into and through the horde, not that he ever expected to truly find one, so instead he returned back atop the coves and doubled back the way he came. The density of the creatures would certainly die down as more of them fell from the constant fighting, nevertheless, Charlie decided that breaking through the masses was too difficult for now.

After having returned high up enough in the cave to actually spot a way through the writhing mass of bodies, Charlie seized a chance that was only possible due to [Mana Sense]. There was a group of vicious and furry deer-like creatures that had just passed Charlie, and another group of unknown creatures were going to be turning the corner in mere moments.

With none-the-wiser, Charlie had slipped right through the gap and onto an elevated path of stone, slinking off into the darkness without sparing a glance behind himself.

Though cautious, Charlie did not remain a pacifist - unwilling to draw attention to himself. No, it was foolish to believe that he wouldn't draw attention by simply existing, instead he took advantage of the chaos and shot out [Hollow Fang] after [Hollow Fang] into the closest creatures. Focusing on those that seemed to be the most dangerous, Charlie created a path of destruction in his wake.

Creatures with two legs, creatures with six. Creatures with soft fur and spongy skin, creatures with hardened scales and calloused paws - They all fell before Charlies ruthless advance.

[Hollow Fang] was incredibly potent - if Charlies needle-like fangs failed to kill in a single strike, then the insidious venom would finish the thankless job. The smaller the body, the quicker the effects, it seemed.

Though they fell quickly and easily, it was still incredibly difficult to continue forward in the ocean of bodies. When one fell, another was already in its place, ready to bite and chew through his scales. Thankfully there was still enough time to breathe, but Charlie could only guess how bad it would become the deeper into the cave he descended.

Charlie was currently making his way towards the sparkling river that he had spotted in the distance. He hoped that the strange truce between the creatures held even in pandemonium, and would give Charlie the rest he needed to continue on his search.

The rabid creatures didn't make it easy, but Charlie eventually made it through the wall of unending battle and had reached the peaceful waters. Peeled scales, ugly wounds and out of breath, Charlie looked like he fell into a blender.

He had been right, though, it was as if the air had changed and everything felt simply more peaceful. Though that might have been because Charlie was greeted with the sight of an ocean of tired bodies hoping to quench their thirst, and less to do with the mystic peace.

Charlie slunk through deep crevices and had stuck to the shadows, but when the wall of bodies didn't move for over ten minutes, Charlie decided to simply slither through the opening between their legs - startling a few in the process. Yet, even when a possibly lethal creature snuck up from below, they did not trample.

Whatever the river did, Charlie felt thankful that it did.

After satiating his thirst, he felt like he had regained some of his energy, but still felt a bit sour. Sure, Charlie could kill and had been doing pretty well on that front for a while now, but he didn't have a chance to slow down and actually consume a corpse. All of these deaths and all of his injuries meant nothing, as without digging up or consuming the translucent core, Charlie couldn't Level up.

Though in spite of the circumstances, Charlie might have found the perfect spot to begin his conquest. The river clearly exuded a calming mystic aura, and he would be a fool to not take an advantage so kindly offered.

Upon approaching, Charlie could see that the walls by the river were no longer perfectly smooth, instead marred by incomplete coves and a rocky texture. Yet, and best of all, there were more than enough deep shadows in which Charlie could find a home - and within the peaceful aura of the river, Charlie would have all the time in the world to find something cozy to nestle within.