Kranos stepped into the spatial portal. Although there was a brief delay before he vanished, he didn't think much of it.
Whoosh!
Cough! Cough!
Chaotic. That was the first word that ca to Kranos' mind as he opened his eyes. What greeted him was a world beneath a sky bathed in shades of purple. Breathing the air felt heavily polluted and chaotic.
I guess I'll have to get used to this, he thought.
Looking around, Kranos realized he had arrived in what resembled a forest. A forest? he frowned. Why do the trees seem so... strange?
The trees had clearly been affected by the corrupted environnt. Their bark twisted into odd shapes, and their color had shifted to an eerie purple hue, as if the land itself had mutated.
This lower realm isn't ordinary... Kranos sighed, already forming a plan. First, I need to find a safe place. Then, I'll gather information about this world before attempting to earn any points.
Cautiously, he began to walk, scanning his surroundings like a trained explorer. Thankfully, his past life experiences as an adventurer were proving useful once again.
Soon, he found footprints—human ones. He knelt and examined them carefully.
Judging by the depth, soone was here recently. A few days at most. And from the spacing... they were running. But from what? A monster? Yet, there are no beast tracks... Odd.
He followed the prints, discovering three distinct sets—two smaller and one larger.
Two girls and a boy, he guessed, studying the size and shape. They must be young, perhaps teenagers.
Continuing along the trail, Kranos noticed that the further he walked, the less corrupted the trees beca. That offered so hope, but soon he started hearing childish sobs; it sounded feminine; Kranos could guess that it belonged to one of the ladies with the young man.
He paused for a mont to listen closely and discern where the voice was coming from. There! Kranos looked towards the north; although he was previously headed west, he didn't think twice before changing direction. It didn't occur to Kranos that his decision might be wrong.
In the blink of an eye, Kranos reached where the childish sobs were coming from. He saw a young, wounded, disheveled girl; her clothes were torn in various places. Kranos guessed that she was 8-10 from the way she looked.
"Hey," Kranos said softly, not wanting to startle her. "Are you lost?"
The girl's sobs quieted. She looked up at Kranos in surprise; seeing his white hair, she felt amazed. Kranos seed to give off a warm, pure, kindhearted feeling, unlike the people of this world.
"Mr... do you know where we are?" She asked, her voice seed innocent and trembling.
Kranos shook his head gently. "No. Do you know if there's a human settlent nearby?" He paused, realizing the word "settlent" might confuse her. "Sowhere people like us live?"
The girl pondered for a mont, then nodded. "Yes."
Kranos smiled. "Good. Can you take there?" He then gestured for her to lead the way. She turned and began walking south. Kranos raised an eyebrow—he had assud she was part of the earlier group whose footprints he had followed westward. Apparently not.
What Kranos didn't know... was that as they walked, only one set of footprints trailed behind them.
And had he been walking in front of her, he might have seen the twisted, wide grin stretching across her face.
Hehehe... it seems I've found tonight's al...
...
Kranos and the girl walked for a couple of hours; by now the sky was already darkening, a darkish purple, eerie moon seed to erge in the wake of the night, causing the whole forest to be filled with a desolate light. At this mont, finally, a village ca into Kranos' view.
It felt like seeing a light at the end of a tunnel; the girl's pace quickly beca faster. Kranos increased his pace a little to keep up; he didn't mind; he guessed that she must be excited to be ho, which was why. Soon they reached the dilapidated village; the sign of the village na seed to have been destroyed.
As they entered, Kranos noticed sothing off. The village had no gates or guards; he imdiately kept his guard up. Could sothing have happened to the village? "Little girl, get behind for a bit," Kranos said to the little girl. The girl obeyed.
Why is the village so quiet? Kranos pondered as they walked forward; he could feel the tension in the air rising. At the sa ti, behind Kranos, purplish tendrils began to sprout from the girl's back—writhing silently like vipers in the shadows.
Kranos was unaware as he slowly walked to the first house in the village. He went forward to push the door open. The door refused to budge. Could there be people inside? Kranos realized, with this thought, he knocked.
Knock knock knock
After knocking a few consecutive tis, Kranos received no reply. it seems it's just this house; I should head to the next, Kranos thought as he began walking to the second house. Knock... knock... knock... still no reply?
Kranos was starting to feel that sothing was wrong. He went to the third house. No reply? Sa with the fourth house? wait there is movent... Kranos listened closely as he knocked on the fourth house and noticed that there seed to be movent but no sign of anyone coming to open the door; the sa thing happened to the fifth house.
It seems as though they are afraid of sothing... Could it be that there are monsters in the forest? Wait... forest... Slowly, he looked down and narrowed his eyes.
Under the dark, purplish hue of the moonlight, he realized sothing horrifying: there was no footprint behind him.
His gaze slowly moved towards the little girl that was grinning at him. "You're not hum—" Before he could finish, a thick, dark purplish tendril shot forward, piercing straight through his chest.
His eyes widened in pain and shock.
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