"Why is this place so huge?" Yur grumbled, skimming across the air. Though he hadn't quite mastered long-distance flight, he'd learned to soar for brief stretches if he launched himself high enough, speeding up what felt like an endless journey.
He'd been traveling for more than a day, and the scenery remained depressingly barren. Occasionally, he ca across another Imp Mother or a Bahirath pool, where he would pause to feed and rest. His appetite seed insatiable—every hour, he devoured around twenty imps.
"Zul, how about a chat?" he called out as he glided. Silence. "Oh, co on! You're the only one I ever talk to, so humor ."
[I am but a tool!]
"Tools can speak." Yur rolled his eyes. "I was a slave once, but I could still talk." Despite his coaxing, Zul remained mute. Sighing, Yur changed tactics. "Fine. Here's sothing else—what do you think my final goal should be?"
It struck him recently that he had no true ambition. Escaping slavery had once been everything, but now that he was free, he felt adrift. Becoming the strongest? Surviving? Those phrases ant little when he had no idea what lay ahead.
Freedom was both a gift and a curse—endless possibility, yet no direction.
[What does the Host desire?]
"I'm really not sure," he admitted. "All I ever wanted was freedom, and now that I have it, there's...nothing else."
[Host should remain free! No goals! Survive!]
"That's...unexpected," Yur said. He always assud Zul would push him to beco so unstoppable force or follow in Mal's footsteps.
[I am a tool for the Host. Nothing more!]
"Still, give sothing to aim for," he pressed. "Quests kept busy before, but just wandering without purpose is...boring." He couldn't think of a better word than that—stark boredom.
[Generating Quests...]
[Complete!]
His spirits lifted at the sight of new prompts. Over the past few days, he'd hoped to find excitent—fierce beasts, unique landscapes—but all he'd done was run, fly, eat, and repeat. It wore on him ntally.
[Zulmasharr Quest: Find a Mother Tree Sapling!]
[Reward: 30 Demon Points!]
[Zulmasharr Quest: Slay a Vashra Demon!]
[Reward: 50 Demon Points!]
[Zulmasharr Quest: Slay a Morruk Demon!]
[Reward: 100 Demon Points!]
[Zulmasharr Quest: Leave the Barren Canyon!]
[Reward: 20 Demon Points!]
[...]
A dozen or so quests scrolled across his vision, ranging from trivial to daunting—gathering items, hunting demons, searching out landmarks.
"Wow. If you can hand out so many missions, why didn't you do it before, Zul?" he asked.
[I respond to the Host's wishes!]
He only half understood, but no matter. It gave him tangible goals. So tasks he might accomplish by chance, while others required more deliberate hunting. Either way, it was sothing to do.
He skimd the list again. "I really want to try fighting," he said, recalling that the only battles he'd experienced so far were life-or-death struggles where he nearly died instantly. "Any shortcuts to finding a good fight?"
[It is up to the Host!]
He let out an exasperated sigh. "Fair enough. At least now I have so idea."
He pushed onward, days blending into nights—if one could call the dim, crimson sky "night." It took nearly a week before he reached an imposing wall of rock.
[Quest Complete!]
[Reach the Border of the Barren Canyon!]
[Reward: 20 Demon Points!]
"So this place is called the Barren Canyon?" he muttered, irritated. A whole week of running and gliding, with nothing new but more Imp Mothers and Bahiraths. No wonders, no rare trees, no demons aside from those he'd already grown used to.
"This is ridiculous!" he shouted, stomping his foot. "I'm climbing out of here. Zul, claws!"
In response, his arms and legs shifted from a mostly human shape to a more bestial form. His nails extended into razor-sharp talons, erging from his fingertips like a cat's claws. With a crouch, he leapt into the air, scanning the impossibly high cliff.
"Zul, set a tir or sothing," he ordered. "I need to be back before the Erept Mother matures. If it spawns Erepts while I'm gone, they might wreck my Imp Mother or the Asheseed Relic." Given all the effort he'd poured into acquiring them, he couldn't risk losing them.
[I shall warn the Host when it's ti to return!]
"Great." He nodded, digging his claws into the wall to climb. At intervals, he let go and used his wings to ascend, resting them whenever he switched back to scaling. After hours of punishing ascent, he finally glimpsed a distant ledge.
"There it is!" His heart surged with relief. "I thought I'd be crawling forever!" Channeling renewed energy, he launched himself upward in repeated bursts, covering the last stretch in minutes.
"Wooooo!" he whooped as he blasted over the lip of the canyon.
[Quest Complete!]
[Leave the Barren Canyon!]
[Reward: 20 Demon Points!]
Floating over the canyon's edge, his hands reverted to human form. He stared at the view beyond in awe.
"W-wow..."
A land of overgrown trees, stone structures, and demons of various shapes sprawled before him. None seed imdiately hostile, but unlike the barren wastes he'd left behind, this place teed with life.
[Host has discovered: TheLand of the Mother!]
[Reward: 100 Demon Points!]
"What?!" He nearly choked on air. "These rewards are insane—didn't I nearly die just for five or ten points before?"
[The Barren Canyon held little of value!]
[Venturing farther reaps greater gains!]
He ran a hand over his jaw, recalling his near-fatal struggles for re scraps in the past. "Guess that makes sense," he allowed. "Well, ti to see how much I can gather before heading back."
Gliding down, he landed on a patch of slimy green grass that squelched under his feet. The environnt was nothing like Afloria's. Eagerly, he explored further, astonished at the bizarre flora. So trees grew serpentine vines from glittering limbs; others had translucent trunks with literal hearts beating inside them.
"What is that?" he said, pointing.
[That is a Heart Devourer tree, a type specific to Zulmasharr.]
"And that one?" A white-barked tree had leaves floating an inch above the branches, unconnected to the twigs.
[That is...]
On and on, he questioned Zul like an excited child discovering the world for the first ti. Eventually, he ca across a behemoth of a mother tree—an Erept Mother, significantly larger than the Imp Mother at his base. Its thick branches dripped green sli that congealed into pods. From each, a newly ford Erept erged, about the length of Yur's forearm.
They had charcoal-black bodies, faintly glowing red rib cages, and horns jutting from their heads. Oddly, their wings sprouted near their neck, and their mouths and eye sockets glowed a malevolent crimson.
"I wonder how they taste," Yur muttered, feeling a sharp pang of curiosity. He advanced on one that had just broken free of its gooey pod. It hissed, but he paid it no mind. Erepts were stronger than Imps but still laughably weak compared to a Vashra.
"Relax," he said, almost amused. "I just want a bite."
The newborn demon thrashed its miniature wings in a futile attempt to escape. With barely any effort, Yur seized it by both wings and began pulling them apart.
ERRR ERRRR!
A shriek tore from the Erept as he ripped it in two, green blood splattering across the ground. Yur lifted one of the halves to his mouth, sinking his teeth in.
"It's...kinda sour."
Reviews
All reviews (0)