Erik ca out of the jungle onto the windswept beach, his boots sinking into the soft sand and leaving mud prints on it.
He sighed.
[Wow, soone's feeling extra dramatic today! Want to check if the sky is still up there too?] the system said.
Erik said.
The ocean lay in front of him. The waves hit the beach over and over. He had spent days walking along the coast and searching inside the forest, looking for any clues about where his friends had landed.
[I bet they are…]
Sothing then caught his eye in the distance.
In front of Erik were what looked like large depressions in the sand. They were too regular to be natural.
The system paused a little to examine the impressions.
[Yes, definitely wyvern tracks. And not just one or two—there are multiple landing zones spread across the beach.]
Erik quickened his pace, moving closer to investigate. The marks beca clearer as he approached—massive claw prints and wing impressions pressed deep into the sand, preserved by the salty air.
However, the wind wasn't helping and was slowly moving the sand away, erasing any trace of the creatures that made them.
Yet the tracks were enough to fill Erik's heart. Maybe, just maybe, he finally found what he ca searching for. His worried face relaxed, and for the first ti in days, he managed a genuine smile.
The wrinkles on his forehead smoothed out, and his eyes lit up with fresh hope. For the first ti on this coastline, Erik's burden lightened.
He asked as he observed the tracks.
[Based on the distribution pattern and density of tracks... I'd say around 500 creatures. I assu they are the Chimaeric Demons since there is no way for a group of wyverns this large to exist. Wyverns are solitary creatures, after all.]
The system paused. [The impressions cover around 3 kiloters of beach, and the patterns suggest they arrived in waves.]
Relief flooded through Erik. Five hundred clones ant significant fighting power, enough to establish a defensive position and protect the others. His shoulders relaxed slightly, the second good news he'd had since arriving on Mur.
He examined the tracks carefully, moving his gaze from left to right across the beach. The marks were most visible near the waterline but far enough so that the water didn't erase them.
Following the trail, he noticed a clear pattern change. The wyvern claw marks morphed into smaller human footprints as they neared the trees, confirming that multiple people had changed from flying creatures to walking humans.
The human footprints confird these were definitely the Chimaeric Demons, removing any doubt Erik or the system might have had about the tracks' origin.
[They probably changed back to human shape to save their strength and to move without being noticed.]
Following the tracks with his eyes, Erik saw they led into the forest, exactly as expected. However, looking at the sand, he couldn't pick out Amber's, Mira's, or Emily's footprints among the hundreds of others. Too many people had walked this way.
[Based on these tracks, I can tell they ca through about four days ago. You can see it in how deep the footprints are and how rain and wind have worn them down.]
Erik checked around for threats as he advanced. The jungle here was nothing like Mannard's familiar forests.
The trees were massive, protected by thick, hardened bark that was able to withstand a lot of thaids attacks, aside from their weight.
Even the undergrowth was dangerous, but that was sothing that was also present on Mannard.
Erik asked, noting how so branches had been broken, most likely when they passed from here.
[Nothing showing major battles,] the system said after analyzing the trails. The two moved deep into the forest at that point.
[I see signs of them resting occasionally. There were the remnants of so fires, most likely made not long after they landed to rest a little before going deeper into the forest. But no. There is no blood, no signs of fighting at all. They moved through carefully but weren't actively engaged.]
The situation looked promising. Erik picked up his pace to close the gap with the group, now four days ahead.
The trees grew denser, blocking more and more of the sun. At so point, mushrooms started growing. However, they were massive, as cartwheels sprouted from dead tree trunks.
[Be careful of those purple flowers,] the system said. [They release pollen that can paralyze you.]
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