Zef woke up to the scent of copper and iron. "Probably my own," he groaned. He felt exhausted, but he was still breathing, his vision was still blurry, but that didn't matter. The sky was still dull and grey, clouds hovered ever so slowly.

He sighed and then leaned his neck to look at his feet, his injured foot no longer throbbed, so he moved it slightly. There was a slight twinge, but other than that, it felt perfectly fine. He pushed it more thoroughly and knew he would walk soon, maybe with a slight limp. Yet he imagined it would only take a couple of days for it to be heal fully if he didn’t add more pressure to it.

He grunted as he used his palms to push himself to a sitting position and checked himself. He was still a mess, dried blood stained him chest. Yet all the puncture wounds and cuts have all been healed up.

He was now littered with scars, both faint and clear, dark and light, exposing the grueling time he had the last few days since he woke up in that cave. He was also fortunate he picked up the correct vials; those health potions did a great job on him. He touched his face and felt the scar where she clipped him with the blade, the healed injury extended from the bridge of his nose to his right cheek.

I guess I'm not a pretty boy anymore.

Zef was about to sigh when the pit of his stomach released a growl.

He got up slowly on his search for the satchel and ended up finding a dark tattered cloak from the ground, which he must have missed earlier. He wrapped it around his lower body, obtaining some decency. Sadly the cloak wasn't a large one and acted more like a skirt that touched his knees, but it was better than nothing.

You take what is given.

He then found the satchel and grabbed the remaining rations and ate to his heart’s content, finally burping loudly, saving the last sealed leafy ration. Zef again licked the ones he already opened and lightly rinsed them before folding them back again for later use.

He looked around and found something dark lying next to the edge of the walls. He zoomed his vision, there were sprawled clothes on the ground and deduced that it belonged to that long-eared smoky girl he killed. There was blood on them and it smelled somewhat fresh, hinting that scream he heard earlier on his trek here. Ironically his senses should have picked it up when he first came here, but the smell of food distracted his thoughts.

I made a mistake that almost killed me...Never again!

Zef inspected the clothes and armor from afar; it was all black. Shoes, shirt and pants alongside a chest armor that looked like it was made out of leather, there were also guard armor for shins and forearms. It seemed to be light but sturdy, meant for quick movement he perceived.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Probably a scout.

He wanted to inspect it even more and make use of it, but it was the edge of the road, almost touching the misty wall. He thought about it for a minute and slowly crept towards the tip; nothing happened until he was 10 feet away away, the misty wall suddenly sprung tendrils. They looked like worms that just come out of the soil on a rainy day.

He sucked his breath and waited to see what would happen, the tentacles of smoke ahead of him just stayed there hovering in the air. Zef moved left and they followed his movement, he moved the other way and the same reaction occurred. As he took a step forward, they moved with more excitement.

It didn't take long for him to connect the dots; these items all belonged to the long-eared girl he killed earlier. Something more substantial must have killed her or she saw something and got pulled into the mist, ensuring a fight which she eventually lost. It still didn’t explain why she attacked him or how she was made out of the same substance on the walls, but based on what the Caretaker claimed; it was all linked with losing your soul or essence if you die here.

So it seems she was a person with flesh and blood judging by the cuts on her clothes and the dark splotches of blood. Then the same might have happened to him. "I should move before more creeps come,” Zef thought to himself.

Zef quickly grabbed the belt of potions and put it inside the bag, picked up the blades and put them into their wooden sheathes and stuck them inside his skirt, which he wrapped even tighter.

He was about to leave, then turned back and looked at the misty wall where the clothes were lying.

A shiver crept up his spine as the misty tentacles dragged the clothes and armor into the mist. He gulped and quickly backed himself on his tiptoes towards the center of the road.

I'll scout a bit ahead, follow her trail of blood before turning back to the cavern with the gateway to my world. Hopefully, that centipede is gone.

The satchel had one leather strap which he put around his shoulder, Zef than walked deeper along the yellow brick road feeling with his antennas for any change in the air, hoping that nothing else will emerge from the mist.

He walked for what seemed an hour, the scenery ahead of him never changed and he thought it was best from him to head back. The whole situation had him on edge, just an endless yellow road and continuous smoky mist around him.

He wanted to use the Nexus and question the girl, but this wasn’t the place or the time. Luckily he found a large structure ahead of him, the trail of blood led there.

His eyes zoomed and a large arch appeared, unsurprisingly also made out of yellow bricks. Itself was probably fifteen meters high and wide.

The mist did not enter the arch. It just enveloped above and around the archway. Zef thought then grabbed one of his blades and took a leap of faith and walked till he reached the Arch. It was connected to a tunnel which was was long and dark, he entered and walked to his left.

He frowned when he touched the wall which felt a bit cool, he blonde several times and saw unlit torches on sconces on both sides. He grabbed the nearest one and looked at it.

He remembered he had flint and tinder inside the pack, which he quickly used to lit the torch. Blue flames suddenly sprung out.

Zef cursed and dropped the torch.