After the dust from the fight settled, the bugmen took their game away. I was tempted to follow them to their lair or settlement, but I didn't dare to risk it. I didn't like at all how their antennas twitched when they got closer to me, and at one moment I was sure one of them spotted me… but no.
But the stronger and brighter the water in the stream was, the more powerful the monsters, the closer I got to the source, and it boosted my spirits even when my stomach gnawed at me to feed it with something better than wood lice. Or were they mushroom lice if I found them near mushrooms?
I ate mushrooms too. At least I didn't have to care if they were poisonous or not—I would digest anything. It was another question if I would gain anything from what I ate, or I could've just ate stones and be happy with it. There was, after all, no shortage of stones around.
