“Derek, your joy has started to disturb me.” Konohora said, nonplussed.

“There’s no spiders here! You can’t, you can’t expect me to just take that with ease. Wait, are there still wasps here?! What about scorpions?!”

“Yes. There are Wasps. As for ‘scorpions’... I’ve never heard of them.”

“YES!”

Today was going amazing already! Honestly, maybe I had been too harsh beforehand. Any world that doesn’t have spiders or scorpions couldn’t be all that bad.

“Quiet.” Said one of the Cannibals.

He said that but correctly did not try to poke me with his spear. The fact that we were getting taken away by Cannibals honestly didn’t seem that important. I mean, so what? We had some basic reasons to go, but I couldn’t deny that curiosity and confidence were big factors. Why hadn’t the Giantesses met with these people all this time? We would have been less of a surprise I felt, one way or another, if they had. As for confidence… with my Power Gauge and Happy’s general good luck, we’d honestly probably be fine.

That was without factoring in Konohora’s healing.

Even Happy’s general good mood couldn’t put a damper on my spirits. I even began to whistle. This damn fantasy world had truly given me so very, very little. It was lopsided I felt. Blowjobs from an elf? Amazing! Nearly dying to a Fire Mage? Horrible. Getting my body rearranged to make it even more wrong. Awful. Experiencing literal Hell? Indescribable torment.

Futanari sex? A literal dream come true! Being nearly torn apart by a vampire and nearly dying twice from that experience alone? Not worth it. Holding a Gem inside me that can open a portal to Hell? Horrifying. Dealing with a man born with supernatural luck and charisma who wants to gather all of the Gems together, each insanely powerful, with four in particular literally world rending most likely? Might as well be a constant panic attack.

Ups and downs, ups and downs. I considered today to be an up. I got to learn that spiders and scorpions straight up just don’t exist here. That’s probably worth at least one of my near death experiences.

We were being led deeper into the Jungle now but the path we were taking was strange. Not so much that it in itself was strange but… we were heading… down? The ground was starting to slope down. I looked at it, struggling to tell what was off, till it clicked in my brain.

“Artificial.”

“Hmm?” Konohora said.

“The ground is artificial. Well, more like they’ve made a path.”

We continued to follow it and soon I could see why the ground started to go down. They’d made a man made cave, a hole in the dirt. I frowned at that. I’d seen literal elemental chasms be opened up that were the size of three football fields and probably just as deep. It seemed… dangerous to put yourself at risk like that.

My thoughts aside, we were led in and down.

And down and down and down. It was a curving slope, torches on the side of the walls. My confidence was starting to fray. It would be awful to fight while trying to climb back up and out of here. I hoped I hadn’t made the wrong decision here but only time would tell. I didn’t feel the threat of death on my neck this time but when had I ever really?

Finally, the path leveled out and we were marched forward down a long winding tunnel. I saw more tunnels branching off here and there. These Cannibals had basically made themselves into an underground ant colony. I wonder how they dealt with rain.

We passed through and out the tunnel and-

“Wow.”

“Extraordinary.” Konohora said.

“Ah, what a splendid surprise!” Happy said. Damn it Happy, stop being alive, you’re spoiling this for me.

In front of us were not shitty tents or half made structures or anything I’d associate with a simple group of cannibals. It was a whole civilization. A city of stone, a ruin, sat below me in a massive cavern. The stone looked overgrown in a few places, moss and vines clinging to it, but overall things were practically new with a giant temple in the center of the city.

I had misjudged these people. They might be Cannibals but they were something far more concerning. People. A whole lot of people.

We were led forward and I felt amazement. People stared at us, fleeing as we were led forward. But I could feel them with my Power Gauge. Women, men, children. Tanned clothing and most seemed… normal. Just plain normal people. With certain foreign features, sure, but I felt like I was visiting mexico more than an underground city of strangers. The only people with bones I saw seemed to be warriors of some sort.

They were looking at us with awe and… some amount of terror.

Despite that, we were led deeper and deeper in and more warriors began to show up, crowding around us. By the time we’d made it a few streets in, it felt like over fifty people were all around us, ready to attack at the slightest provocation.

I could physically see how they all grew more confident. The young man I disarmed earlier was given a new spear and looked more than ready to use it on me.

I suddenly valued my Power Gauge quite a bit, otherwise I might feel intimidated.

“Derek.” Konohora said, stiffly.

“Unranked.” Was all I replied with. Her shoulders immediately relaxed.

The group that had found us had been some of the strongest. There were a few more D-Ranks appearing, strong ones at that, but only one or two more low C’s. A difficult fight had become a dangerous fifty/fifty, but only if we actually tried to fight to win. I didn’t think running away would pose any problem.

Some murmurs started to go up from the crowd, but were immediately silenced with stern looks from a few of the older warriors. Especially the one that was leading us.

And on it went, until finally, we came to the base of what looked startlingly like a Mayan pyramid. We extended the steps, everyone but the leader and us staying at the base. As we rose, I began to feel a new presence and became incredibly uneasy.

Running away from that… would be kinda hard.

I looked over to Happy, smiling like a loon, happy to be alive. Some luck would do us some good here. If it came down to a fight… well… I’m sure being eaten alive would be an interesting experience for him. In fact, I’ll personally volunteer him for it.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

We got to the top and I got to see something striking. In front of me, sitting on a throne made of skulls, sat a woman covered in bone armor. To be more specific, she wore nothing but bones. Bones put together in a clearly elaborate way. It was like a cloak, a dress, and a religious garb all had a field day with the concept of ‘less is more’. There was a lot but more than just a bit of skin could be seen. Her headdress I felt was more than enough alone to state, yell, and scream, ‘I am the leader here!’ but it did look good on her.

The man leading us stopped and stamped his spear for good measure, before slamming his fist to his chest.

“Chieftess Hiyark, we have brought you the foreigners.”

As he said that, a weight I had completely forgotten about hopped off my shoulder. Bob, the little monkey, jumped away and scrambled… directly towards Chieftess Hiyark. He crawled up her body and drooped over her shoulder, as she lifted her hand and scratched under his chin.

“Bob! No! You betrayer!” I said.

How could he do this to me?! We had a bond man!

The Chieftess smirked which was… bad. Rulers not being stiff as a board meant they were maybe easier to talk to… but were also probably a lot more confident in their strength. Konohora and I could give her a run for her money right now… but not with a literal army at our backs. I really didn’t want to have to run down a fucking pyramid.

“Welcome Foreigners. Tell me, why and how have you come to this Jungle.”

What a silly question.

“By accident and magic.” I said.

She quirked an eyebrow.

“Yet I don’t feel either of you three are mages. Well, perhaps the grey one.”

“Hello!” Happy said with a big smile.

Chieftess Hiyark ignored him but I saw her lips widen a bit. Oh right, we had a Luck and Charisma god on our side. Go Happy! Use Attract!

“Wasn’t our magic.” I replied.

“Hmm.” She responded.

She tapped the armrest of her chair, looking at us three.

“Recently, the Gaieldr have been much more active than usual. They have been combing and searching through the Jungle with intent. Particularly towards the ground. This has endangered more than a few of my fellow tribesmen and women. Would you have any idea on why that would be?” Her stare felt like twin beams of steel from her grey eyes.

But again, kind of a silly question. Why deny the obvious?

“We were captured by them for a while, before escaping. And now we're here.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You are unconcerned. Dangerous.”

I shrugged. Sorry, my Power is coming in handy for the first time in forever. It’s hard to pressure me with an army I know I can probably beat, despite how mind-boggling that fact is. But my mind has been boggled since I’ve gotten here and I’m really just starting to learn how to roll with the punches.

“Tell me. Why should I let you three live?”

I stared at her deadpan.

“You can take Happy. Feel free to eat him, add a few more bones to your collection.”

Happy laughed.

Chieftess Hiyark, however, looked amused but also extremely offended.

That was nothing compared to the hunter leader that had brought us here. He had raised his spear, pointing it right at me, clear absolute anger in his eyes.

“Do Not speak of that which you don’t understand.” Chieftess Hiyark said, rage bottled up in her voice.

“Feel free to explain it. You’re all wearing human bones. Kinda easy to assume you’re all Cannibals.”

Hiyark’s face morphed into pure seething rage for a moment and I nearly felt like I was going to stabbed in the eye by the other guy. But apparently his loyalty overcame his rage, as I merely heard the wood beginning to creak in his grip.

“We are the Restante. We wear the bones of our Lost, to remind us of their sacrifice. You spit on their grave with your… assumptions.”

“Ah. I’m sorry. I meant no offense.”

Hiark still looked absolutely angry but she did calm down some. Enough for a normal conversation. One she decided to start up with.

“Tell the Truth. Why are you here?”

I was about to speak, when Konohora took over. Ah fuck.

“We arrived by accident to the Jungle and agreed to follow your warriors in the hopes of obtaining supplies and information.”

“Hmph. What information do you seek?”

“We’d like to know where a Temple is nearby.”

Ah fuck. Konohora, I know you aren’t stupid. What is it some sort of compulsion, them asking for ‘The Truth’? Because you really shouldn’t have said that. My suspicions only proved more true as both the guy, really wish I knew his name, and Hiyark froze.

“You seek the Gema Verde.” She said in shock.

Welp. I prepared myself for a fight, limbering up my tail, claws ready near my sides. If she attacked, I hoped to immediately grab Konohora and to begin running. Hiyark pulled herself out of shock and looked down on us sternly. No, not just sternly, her face became pure granite, looking at us without any emotion at all. Unnerving.

“You would take the Gema Verda away? Back to your foreign lands? I felt the power of divinity when you spoke before. So speak again. Why?”

Konohora stared her straight in the eye, but glanced at Happy for a moment.

“My friends and I seek to use the Gem to try and return a friend of ours to his home. Beyond that… to keep it safe from forces that would seek to abuse its power.”

Hiyark stared and it felt like the world was frozen in that pregnant moment. No one moved or said anything at all. Even Happy was apparently content to let the moment pass.

“You…” Hiyark started and then took a deep breath.

“You require information and so you shall have it. Listen well to my words.

Long, long ago, the Restante lived and thrived. We were not as we are today. Our cities spread throughout the land, our people flourished, and the Jungle… it was not as it was today. Smaller. What my ancestors would call normal. Creatures and plants no bigger than a Gaieldr’s knee. The Jungle held dangers but only those, at most, as big as three Restante warriors. We were rulers.

And then came Gema Verda.

It tore through our lands, smashing into our tallest temple. Our communion to our God was instantly shattered as the Jungle Grew. In days, the trees reached towards the sky, Animals and Monsters began to mutate and grow, and perhaps if that was all we would have even survived the ordeal, survived the Calamity. But there was something else, something more foul. The Gema Verda was a source of life. It could, can, be felt, all the way down to the bones. It came with boons, boons we took to heart. Our people grow stronger, live longer lives, require less food and water. But so to does it come at a cost. In the early days… we had no choice but to pull deep from such a natural well. Our lives, our whole existence, was at stake. Monsters that could simply roll over our cities, Animals who had lost their minds, and new things that made our people vanish as if they never were. We had no choice.

And some of our people began to Transform. Became Lost. You have already met them.”

A shiver ran up my spine. A ball of heat still within me suddenly seemed to press against my awareness.

“The Gaieldr seem to enjoy making great use of them. Pure life… without a soul.”

“The Lost.”