"Another rune huh…" The man couldn't help but feel apprehensive about the runes. The cannibalistic man seemed to be heavily influenced by the hook rune. It was hard to determine if the man was prone to mentally breaking, or if the strange symbol brought him over the edge.
"I can't exactly not take it though, it's thanks to that strange violet rune I am still alive…" The choice was a difficult one, but he decided to gamble on it. Anything was better than being torn to pieces by monsters.
After moving aside the remains a peculiar symbol remained. It resembled a crescent with a jagged edge and a point on the end. The bloody red glow gave it a particularly barbaric feel.
"I can only hope this doesn't mess me up too badly." Upon reaching out to it a familiar heat transferred through his hand. Rather than last time the heat felt somewhat nice, hell even relaxing.
He felt the symbol become etched on his back, fairly close to the other symbol. "How strange…" An influx of knowledge flooded the man's mind. Movements, techniques, and disciplines filled his mind. The process felt alien, yet soon became like second nature.
The man wasn't exactly sure of what he had just obtained, but his familiarity with fighting had just increased, he knew that for sure. He quickly pulled out his blade and gave it a few swings.
"It feels more natural, but not that much different…" Perhaps the man's aptitude lied somewhere else besides a dagger. After trying a few more moves the man became acclimated to the changes in his body.
The changes lacked a physical aspect. The change mainly molded his mind to better understand combat as a whole, and his instinct felt sharper, more focused. The rune at least this time seemed to provide him quite a large boon.
Deciding to trace his way back to the flatlands, the man quickly gave everything there one last cursory glance to make sure he didn't miss anything. That last look at the remnants of two humans served as plenty of motivation to get a move on.
The man did not forget to look for more runes on the way back, they seemed to serve a mystical purpose of pushing the puny humans to at least be able to defend themselves. The man couldn't help but feel dread when thinking back on the monster mentioned in the journal.
"No time for caution, I can already feel my stomach growling". Without food the man might end up like the cannibal, but luckily he had ant meat to cook on the doused fire. Finally, he reached the mouth of the cave and stepped back into the campsite.
"The crystal seems to have darkened, almost feels like nighttime now." The once radiant crystal was now dim, and the cavern now felt even more terrifying. The darkness added a layer of primal fear that had the man looking over his shoulder at every moment.
"Get your head on straight man, this place eats away at the mind on purpose." Shaking off the dread the man looked for tinder. Behind the patchwork tent was a small pile of dry grass, twigs, and thicker sticks. All that was left was lighting it up. The man was tempted to use that strange ability when he obliterated the ants, but quickly let it go.
"Can't risk blowing myself up, that would be an embarrassing way to go…" Luckily upon searching near the fireplace he found a piece of flint. "Thank god for that one man and his bag of goodies!" He quickly set up a teepee of twigs and sticks, before setting the dry grass outside of the firepit.
The man proceeded to strike the flint with the blade over and over, creating sparks. After a few minutes, pieces of the grass lit up in flame. Quickly the man scooped up the grass and blew on it, feeding the newborn fire. Once the flames started burning his hand he quickly put them underneath the teepee of dry twigs, and soon enough they caught fire too.
"All in a day's work!" The man happily admired his handiwork and then moved onto the next task. He needed to clean off the bloody meat, and find a stick to use as an improvised spit for the meat. Remembering a mention of a spring in the journal, the man searched the vicinity. Near the hill he came from, a small spring flowed from the ground. Cupping his hands he quickly lapped up the water. The man failed to realize how dehydrated he had truly become.
Quickly rubbing the green blood off the ant meat with water, the man moved to the nearest tree. Beneath it lay a decently sized stick, with an edge he could spear through the meat. Going back to his fire, the man threw some more sticks on it, and proceeded to roast the meat over the fire.
Although the man was hesitant to eat the suspiciously sourced meat, the delicious aroma and oils coming off it were too hard to resist. After biting into it the man felt instant gratification. He had survived at least a day in this nightmarish land, and even got to enjoy a delicious roast. The man decided to go into the tent to hopefully get some sleep. The man's nerves were fried, and he needed to rest asap before he passed out in the open.
Stepping inside the tent he made his way to one of the "beds", which was really just some grass thrown about with a sheet of cloth thrown over it. "Better than sleeping on stone again…"
Despite the harrowing lands and monsters, the man slipped into the welcoming embrace of sleep fairly easily. However, he kept his trusty blade readily available in his pocket.
...….
The man groggily opened his eyes, his muscles stiff from overexertion, and his butt still hurting from the rocky slide the day before. However, the man felt a strange power flowing through him… a familiar warmth flowed through his blood. Before the man could test out the feeling he was interrupted.
"Wakey wakey princess."
"...Huh?!" The man quickly looked up and at the entrance stood a woman. She had raven black hair and cool blue eyes. She seemed to be cloaked in a strange brown leather with a few metal plates covering her vitals. Overall, her image felt like that of a stoic adventurer.
"I've got a few questions man… so listen carefully." Her eyes went from calm to quickly rageful, "You wouldn't have happened to butcher a fellow nameless, would you?"
The man searched for words but couldn't find any. Whether it was the shock of finally seeing another live human, or the fear of being attacked at any moment he struggled to put his words together.
"N- No, no, I would never sink that low, I stumbled upon this place, and found traces of a murder. I was just so damn tired that I decided to sleep through the night…"
She quickly squinted her eyes, sizing the nameless man up and down. "Yeah, you don't look to be the cannibal type, no crazy glint in the eyes either… I'll take your word for it for now."
"Well you better get your shit together, otherwise trouble will head right our way. Your damn fire's gonna attract every ingrate and monster in a 10 kilometer radius."
"H- Hold on, could you at least tell me what's going on right now?? Ever since coming to this place it's been a nonstop fight for survival! I need some answers before I follow some random person. For all I know you could be a cannibal too!"
The woman scoffed, "Look pal, if I wanted to, your head would be rolling on the ground by now, so quit your whining and pack up. Unless you'd rather end up monster food and shit out the next day."
The man was flustered, but had no choice. He picked up his bag and quickly followed after the woman. "Hey could you at least tell me your name? Or at least tell me where the hell we are?"
The woman glanced back and quickly looked forward again, "Names hold an importance here, at least names tied to your identity do. Unless you want to reveal everything about yourself, never give it to another person. As for where we are? Hell if I know, people have been trying to figure that out for a while now. As far as I'm concerned it makes no difference. Whether this is hell, an opportunity to be reborn, or some sick joke, one thing remains true here."
"And that is?"
"Without power you're screwed, simple as that. As for what people call this place, they call it 'The Abyss', fitting right?"
The man shook his head, "Yeah, sure it is… Where exactly are we going? All I've seen this entire time is endless grasslands"
"Be patient nameless, you'll see in the coming days, for now focus on moving. We can't let the Mindletter catch our trail, otherwise we'll both end up monster food."
"Mindletter? What the hell is that?"
"A horror level being, feeds off the minds of its victims. Anyone who resists is just eaten the good old fashioned way. Once the victim has gone completely brain dead, it'll eat every last morsel."
[Must be whatever that cannibal saw. Poor bastard was set up for death no matter what happened]
After hours upon hours of walking along the plains a large coniferous forest met their eyes. With trees stretching up tens of meters the place made the man feel like a speck.
"Let's set up camp here, the tall trees make an ideal place to get away from any potential monsters." The woman instructed, as she easily dug her hands into the tree and quickly climbed to a sizable limb.
"How in the hell??? What is up with this place…"
The woman quickly replied from the top, "Sorry nameless! I forget how fragile you all can be! Here this should help!"
The man looked up before a large pick fell past him into the ground.
SWOOOSH
The man jumped to the side in fright, "Holy shit! Watch where you throw sharp items off of trees!"
The woman looked down and rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah, quit whining and get your ass up here!"
The man let out an exasperated sigh, and began to use his knife and newly acquired pick to make his way up the tree. After a painstaking amount of time the man finally reached the limb.
Gasping for air the man pulled himself up onto the limb. The woman seemed to be holding in a laugh, "It's about damn time, newbie, you're gonna need to work on that cardio if you're gonna survive here."
"Ok whatever, I'm not superhuman like you, my bad" The man grumbled while trying to recover from exhaustion.
"Haha, not to worry nameless. You'll shape up in no time. Truth is I'm a scout, my job is to find people like you, and determine if they're fit to live in this place. Most nameless are around your level, so don't feel too discouraged."
"What about people who aren't fit to live here?"
The woman's eyes took on a terrifying glow, and she smiled, "They're disposed of!"
It was at this moment that man realized no one in this nightmare seemed normal.