Chapter 18: Exploration

A week has passed since I went into the depths. In that time, I’ve just been taking it slow, doing normal mandrake things and patrolling the forest for any new threats that might have popped up. Most of the birds have returned by now. Other monsters have not. Everything still remains desolate, with the exception of the few (I) grades I’ve seen shuffling around. Considering that some monsters like myself just pop out of the ground, the ecosystem has begun rebuilding itself at the base. Soon enough some of those (I) grades will evolve and become proper monsters for me to hunt.

I can’t wait for everything to go back to normal. I’m getting tired of taking down groups of Segriad snails with the occasional spitter snail that roams the forest on its own. Other than that, I’ve only seen a single Cave crawler on the surface. It was a weak (I) grade that was tearing leaves of trees to bring back to its nest. I hate it. I hate that there are more of those bugs in the Depths. But for now, they’ll just have to make do down there while I laze in the sun.

For all my efforts I gained another level, bringing me to level 7. My leg has completely healed over the course of the week. For skill levels, I gained one in Identify, three in Photosynthesis, one in Roots of Nature, and another one in Claw Slash. Turns out that with all the new levels I don’t have to melt the spitter snails with their own acid anymore. Hide didn’t gain any levels since there is nothing to hide from.

I stare at the skill points in my menu. One for each level but I’m not sure what to do with them yet. In which skills should I invest them? What’s best? I scuff at the grass and sigh. Shouldn’t Sairal return today or tomorrow?

I look back to his tree, the mushroom guardians around it far more active than before. Especially the two (G) grades. I swear I once saw them playing rock, paper, scissors. Did the pieces of that Beaver's heart change them in some fundamental way?

The lake has also returned to its original size. I’m forced to give it a wide berth, not wanting to have a meet-and-greet with the squid that has murdered almost everything it can get its tentacles on.

The army of fishes that’s still in the lake offers some resistance but it won’t be long now before it’ll be the last monster standing.

The sun falls beyond the horizon and I head to my home for a restful sleep. While I barely fought anything in the past week, I did explore a lot of the forest around Sairal’s tree. It’s easy with no monster activity. Even the things that roam around at night sound more quiet, making me think that there are fewer than before. Maybe, just maybe, the Wolf-blooded alligator didn’t survive that tsunami.

Still, I’m not taking chances. As long as I don’t see a corpse, the monster or enemy is alive.

I lay down on the makeshift bed I made from soft grasses and clumps of moss I found while wandering the forest and wonder what I’ll find tomorrow.

***

I head to the northwest using Sairal’s tree as a landmark. Going this way will help me avoid the human army that might still be roaming the forest somewhere. Thanks to the dryad’s absence, I haven’t been able to get any new information. But with how quiet the forest is, the army must’ve left.

During my walk, I don’t bother darting from bush to bush. With my slowly growing height, higher level, and the empty forest, it’s just pointless to do so.

As I noticed before, if you move towards the centre of the forest the terrain grows more uneven. Small hills and valleys appear along with taller trees that managed to survive the tsunami. I keep away from those parts of the forest. All the monsters there might not have been wiped away by the wave.

It might be a place to head towards when I reach the next grade or if I have more difficulty levelling.

I let my mind drift and think about what kind of skills will suit me best. My claws are powerful with two skills boosting them but I don’t like getting close and personal with a monster. Maybe I can work towards being a mage? They seem to have it easy. And with Body of Roots I can shore up physical weaknesses the average mage has. I barely tapped into the skill’s potential. At higher levels, I can make bigger changes such as making myself taller or denser, so that I have some sort of defensive skills to protect me.

I bet that blue beetle has a defensive skill. They could shrug off blows from that Cave crawler queen as if it was nothing. I want something like that too. Sadly, it seems that a skill like that doesn’t match up with the skills an ordinary mandrake gains.

One of the birds in the trees almost jumps out to ambush me. My head snaps around, face twisted in a snarl. I stretch my claws out, letting the creature see just how dangerous I am.

The stupid bird backs away and lets out a defeated chirp as I pass. It’s a thing I learned to do when I don’t want to fight a monster. Just look scary and they will back away. Usually. I wonder if all the monsters don’t have to Identify since they seem to do everything on instinct.

I walk past a tiny hill with a strange opening. Vines hang in front of it like a curtain. I halt in my steps and with a shrug, head towards it.

I wait next to the curtain, listening for any signs of life. There is no breathing, no heartbeat, just a thick earthy scent that wafts out of the cave. I feel like a part of myself is drawn to it; as if there is something in there that my mandrake-self desires.

Not getting too far ahead of myself, I push the vines out of the way and peek inside. Instead of seeing the Valeroal moss that seems to accompany the world below, there are small purple mushrooms growing on the walls. Seeing no other monster, I slip inside.

Heliotrope mushroom (H)

The heliotrope mushroom is commonly found in caves with dense earth mana. Since they always reside in areas dense with magic, it is said that they often lead to treasure or doom. The mushroom has alchemical uses.

That’s not ominous at all. I peek closely at the mushroom. They glow with gentle purple light and it looks as if each one has captured a star in their cap.

With more care, I move into the cave. As the system said, these mushrooms lead the way. The cave itself doesn’t slope down which is a good sign. Maybe this is just a natural cave that somehow doesn’t connect with the Depths? I can make this my new home. It looks quite lovely, although I don’t think the vine curtain will provide enough protection against some monsters.

Anyway, the caves curves to the left and still shows no signs of habitation.

Not far away tiny vines, like the ones that hang over the entrance, grow along the walls and hang from the ceiling. I pause and look at them. It would be far too obvious for them to be some kind of nature snake that lies in wait for monsters.

I prod the vines and they don’t respond. I scratch them with my finger and wait until sap leaks out. They still don’t move. Satisfied, I move on.

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Only a dozen metres further tiny, cyan flower buds appear on the vines. It all pulses with energy just like when that storm was unleashed by the Weatherman. Only this feels far gentler.

The leaves on my crown unfold and by some miracle absorb the energy that hangs in the air.

*Photosynthesis (C) lvl 10/20 -> Photosynthesis lvl 11/20.

Huh, my leaves absorb mana too and that counts towards levelling the skill. Good to know. The air feels solid, hinting that earth magic is dense but there is a secondary element to it almost like an aftertaste. I take a deep breath, tasting the air. it’s like spring; budding flowers, singing birds and a world that returns to life after a long pause.

Some of the flower buds deeper in the cave have opened up, showing smaller pink petals that clash with the larger cyan petals.

The cavernous features disappear, making it look like I am walking through the heart of nature instead of a cave. When I evolve again, I will definitely settle here. It’s so beautiful. Bet you can throw nice tea parties here too. Have to get some more friends, though. Maybe I can send the beetle an invitation?

I stop with my musings as I round another corner. In the back of the cave, there is an elevated platform where a strange root floats above.

Earthen ginseng (G)

This root has soaked up a large amount of earth- and life mana over its life. Now it produces these types of mana in abundance. This root has many uses.

I feel like I should work more on Identify. Surely, there has to be more to this root. For all I know that can be one of the ingredients to the elixir of immortality. At least, if this was some kind of cultivation world. The neighbour’s kid and my brother wouldn’t shut up about those too.

Anyway, I get close to the root and feel the magic radiate off it. Somehow it feels the same as that beaver heart. Something tells me that this is important, that this is a treasure. As if on instinct I reach out and grab the root. I look closer at it, wondering if I should eat it. I hope I don’t destroy this tiny ecosystem it made. Maybe I can also let my home look like this if I keep it there for a while. I should make the entrance more secure if I want to do that. I don’t want to get ambushed in my sleep due to some monster that wants a piece of this root.

I can leave it at Sairal’s tree and the mushroom guardians will protect it.

I pocket it and head out of the cave to explore further. I move up the tiny hill, trying to look for something else that might be interesting or fun. The forest has a few bald spots but looking at it all from up here makes the damage the tsunami did seem less than I thought. To the right lies the vast grassland that stretches further than I can see. Zulis should be somewhere in that ocean of grass.

Up north there is more of the forest, although I can see the tips of mountains peeking over the horizon in the distance.

Standing upon this hill also gives me a little sneak peek into what lies deeper in the forest. Trees loom overhead, the grassland below fading into wild, untamed plant life.

Creatures are far and few in between, most tending to stay hidden or being just too small to see from a distance. A bit further up north there are two strange trees. One of them has leaves in shades of purple while the other one has them in the shade of charcoal. They aren’t too far away from here. Maybe they are monster nests like the Cave crawlers. Or more likely, dryad trees. Sairal’s tree doesn’t stand out much compared to the normal trees of the forest but who says that the same is true for all dryads?

I stay for a while longer on the hill, enjoying the sun and the view of the forest and its surroundings. Maybe I’ll visit some more dryads, and see if they are all as strange as Sairal.

I shrug and head down the hill, happily strolling through the trees, wondering about these two dryads.

On the way, I encounter a new monster. It’s some kind of weird lizard with rocky grey skin that looks out of place in the forest. The monster has a long tail that ends in a sharp spike.

Its abyssal black eyes bore into mine.

[Cavern lizard] lvl 2/10 (H)

There must be another cave nearby. I stare at the monster since it doesn’t seem to be inclined to fight. The system, with all its might, isn’t good at naming things. In most cases, it just takes a place, colour, or element and just adds the species of it. It-

A spike of pain lances through my eye. My knees buckle and I collapse to the ground, my entire body convulsing. My hand reaches up to my face, looking for anything that is wrong.

My eyes water and one of the most painful headaches I’ve ever had sets in less than a second. The image of a needle getting pushed into my eye is the only thing that can fit with this pain.

Through my hazy vision, the lizard stares at me with a smug expression.

Something other than darkness flickers in its eyes and I feel the piercing of an ice-pick in my eye again. Tears and blood leak down my face as my eye shrivels under its magic.

The lizard shoots through the air, mouth agape, ready to get a piece of me. The tail of the monster lashes out and I parry it with my claw. My skin is nicked and I feel my hand go numb.

It bites my side and I hiss in anger.

Like a piranha it just hangs on my body, gnawing on me, as I stand up.

In a sudden motion, I slash out at it, using all my skills. It barely pierces the rocky skin of the monster. Just how strong is this thing? It’s five levels below me, I can’t lose to it.

Having had enough of gnawing on my side, the lizard jumps away, only to find itself hanging in the air by its tail.

It looks at me and I give it a smug expression. The tables have turned.

The lizard looks at me, unblinking. Before the monster can do another one of its attacks, I poke its eyes out with my other hand.

Now that leaves the question of how to kill this monster.

I rake it apart as if I am cutting shawarma but that doesn’t do much, unfortunately.

I look at it perplexed. Why is it always like this? Are my skills just too low-level? The monster wiggles in the air and snaps at one of my fingers. The sharp edge of my claw cuts the inside of its mouth.

My eyes light up. When you can’t kill something from the outside, you have to do it from the inside.

***

A few minutes later I’m washing bits of gore and blood off my hands. I nod satisfied at the kill notification and resume my travels to the two strange trees.

Do I always have to kill monsters in gruesome ways? I certainly hope not. Maybe I should get some sort of poison skill that does the killing for me. I really, really don’t like to get my hands dirty. Literally this time.

I crest another hill and walk into a valley. The trees are denser out here. It seems like the tsunami didn’t have enough force to advance over the hilly terrain. The forest is dense enough to block out most of the sun. I think twice about walking around this dark patch, however, that will probably force me to spend the night somewhere if I want to reach those dryad trees.

With a shrug, I head into the dense part of the forest. By any means, this is still the outskirts so there shouldn’t be anything strong nearby.

A good twelve paces into the forest something moves behind a tree. I whirl around, cursing my bad luck. The monster is a tall…human. He wears some kind of golden Roman armour. In one of his hands he wields a spear. Just above his heart, there is a brand of a dragonfly stamped on the metal. The human stares back at me with shock on his face.

I give him the same expression.

He looks like someone from Earth; shaggy blond hair and a decent jawline.

Then I realise it. He is a human. I’m a mandrake. I’m a special, rare, monster wanted for its many uses. The soldier seems no come to the same conclusion. Before he can do anything with his spear, I sprint back out of the forest the way I came.

I feel his eyes on my back as he stares at me. Then his voice roars through the forest, “MANDRAKE!”

Uh oh. And how the hell do I understand him? It’s like he’s speaking English but a bit off.

This went bad fast. I manage to spare a glance backwards. The trees shake and rustle. Before I know it, there are several hundred humans pouring out of the forest, all running after me.

I want to cry.

They just keep coming from the dense bit of forest, just like when you upturn a rock and are surprised by how many bugs live under it, only here with humans and a dense pocket of trees.

Finally, the endless tide of humans that kept pouring out stops.

A general on a horse bursts out of the foliage. I almost stumble while I keep looking backwards. He raises his sword to the sky, taking on a valorous pose. “MEN FETCH ME THAT MANDRAKE!” he roars through the forest. Do humans in this universe have a bigger lung capacity or something?

They all cheer behind me as I crest the hill.

The general roars behind me again, “THE YOUNG PRINCESS SEVEIAH WILL TURN 18 SOON. FETCH THE MANDRAKE SO THAT THE ALCHEMIST CAN TURN IT INTO A GIFT. I HEARD SHE PREFERS SKIN PRODUCTS.”

I almost stumble over the proclamation. While I run from the small army, I stick a finger in my ear and feel that the pathway to my eardrum is free and clean.

The general keeps repeating the statement, even going far enough to yell at me to stop running.

I really, really want to cry.