"Dammit!" Isaac, on his knees, smashed both his fists into the ground.
Due to the lingering effects of the Sanguine, small craters were made where he buried his fists.
Isaac grit his teeth as he resisted the urge to yell in frustration.
It wasn't due to the fact that the very return to his earth had slipped away from him, or that he'd now have to traverse his way through further unknown territory after barely surviving Aionthos that made him angry.
Of course, he wasn't pleased.
However, it was more the thoughts and worries he'd buried deep inside himself all this time.
The hints throughout his time here had made it abundantly clear Aionthos was not the final boss.
Peculiar creatures like the rat and the bat being uncommon in Aionthos, meaning they had to come from somewhere else, Fetoh's story of other nations warring and Aionthos being a mere nation in the midst of a handful of others and even the message he was given when he arrived to this world he had remembered a few minutes after awakening in the bush housing the Aroze.
"Survive the Dark Continent."
That was his quest. It wasn't to survive Aionthos like he had hoped it had been.
Isaac had long learnt optimism was a weak man's tool. He'd always preferred to take things into his own hands.
However, in a case like this, he hated to admit it, but it was painfully obvious.
"I'm weak." He muttered.
Looking up, Isaac looked around, trying to soak in as much as possible.
It was only now he could feel the numbing sensation on his feet, knees and hands.
He quickly noticed the dirt that stuck like glue to his skin.
Additionally, the previous booms he had been hearing had drawn closer to him.
If it hadn't been for the fact that his ears rang slightly after every boom, he'd probably not have noticed it, seeing as he'd often hear these booms even within the walls of Aionthos.
Looking to his compass, he checked to see where the needle was pointing, only to find it still facing east, only vibrating slightly, as if it were tempted to point to another direction but couldn't decide.
Isaac noticed the other direction the compass was vibrating to was also the direction the loud booms were coming from, which had suddenly stopped.
'I doubt it's a Cranium. I find it hard to believe they'd stray far from the Aroze.'
Isaac got up to leave, ignoring his sense of curiosity that begged to know what kinds of other beasts lurked what he supposed was called the Dark Continent, but as he tried to get up to his feet, he found the strength in his lower body was completely gone.
Dropping to his bottom, he could barely move his toes, let alone get up and run.
'What the hell?'
Pressing his hands on the ground to keep himself up, he could also feel them slowly losing strength.
It wouldn't be long until he fell to his back.
However, he could only stare in the direction of where the booms had disappeared.
He couldn't see anything, only the swinging trees and overgrown grass, but he could feel something coming.
Now even the compass was unable to pick up anything coming from that direction, only pointing east.
It was the same feeling one would get when in the dark as a child, feeling as though something was watching them, drawing closer.
Only this time it was real.
Not knowing what else to do, Isaac sweated profusely. The mere reflex of breathing heavily when nervous was making him run out of breath in this dense atmosphere, making him hyperventilate.
Therefore, Isaac's instincts kicked in, doing the only thing he knew was natural to survive.
He held his breath.
After a few seconds, something stepped out from below the swinging trees, leaving Isaac dumbfounded.
"Hmm, it can't be. A boy?"
A rough and heavy voice came from where Isaac was staring.
It wasn't long until a man with a wrinkled face, long white beard with a black curled tip, similarly white ponytail and unnaturally long eyebrows falling down the side of his face stepped into Isaac's view.
Despite his peculiar appearance, one which Isaac, a street criminal who'd seen every type of alcoholic and drug addicted crackhead known to man, couldn't take his eyes away from.
He also couldn't help notice the man's attire.
Wearing nothing but baggy and torn trousers, the muscles on the man's torso contradicted his old demeanour.
His chiselled, defined and bulging muscles were enough to indicate his strength despite his old age.
Walking closer to Isaac, the man bent over, coming face to face with the downed boy who seemed frozen.
"Boy, what is your name?" Asked the man in his gravelled voice, to which Isaac's lips started to move subconsciously.
"Isaac."
Perhaps it was the calming and relaxing aura the man had surrounding him, or maybe it was the thought that anything Isaac were to do would be futile before the man that made the boy so eager to respond.
The man raised an eyebrow, soon following it up with the other.
"You're really just a boy, aren't you? After all, I doubt any creature around here can use Zetsu."
"Haha, how have you found yourself in the middle of this hell?" The man chuckled slightly, which Isaac found somewhat calming.
"To be honest, I'm not quite sure myself." Isaac answered, however, his words seemed to be weak and slurred, as if he were drunk.
The man stood up, rubbing his curled beard, as if he were in thought.
"No wonder you're barely able to talk. That may seem like regular dirt, but if you look closely…" The man made a zero with his fingers, putting it over his eye.
"Those little buggers are alive, eating away at your Aura you're so generously offering them." The man smiled, squatting before Isaac once again.
"My what?" Isaac said, his eyes threatening to shut.
The man stayed silent, keeping a straight face as he stared straight into Isaac's eyes.
"You're a peculiar boy, aren't you?"
Wrapping his arm around Isaac's waist, the man stood up, carrying Isaac with what seemed to be little effort.
"If I were to guess, I'd say you came from that path between those horrid pieces of architecture. If you were able to survive it, it can't be that bad, now can it?" The old man chuckled, walking toward Aionthos.
Meanwhile, the dirt stuck to Isaac's body seemed to fall off while he felt a wave of energy rush through him.
If he were to describe it, it was like taking a sip of cold water on a hot day.
He could slowly feel the energy permeate inside him, traversing every crevice of his insides while simultaneously carrying away his fatigue.
It was because of this he could find the energy to whisper and mumble to the man.
"Don't…we'll die…trapped in maze." Isaac let out with the last drop of energy he had, however, the old man seemed to hear every word.
"Is that so? Well, I definitely can't turn back now, can I?" Responded the man in a cheerful voice while stepping into Aionthos.
***
"Where is this? This isn't the Tower you mentioned." The old man scratched his head as he stepped through the hole in the wall, avoiding the obvious trip wire and looking around to see an empty space with a skeleton missing a leg and scattered debris.
"It isn't, it's my home, and I'd appreciate it if you'd leave, you crazy old man." Isaac wiggled out of the man's grasp, dropping to the ground and crawling away.
"You were lucky the maze hadn't changed itself so I was able to navigate us home, and we hadn't run into any Cranium even after I told you countless times to avoid the plantlife!"
Since re-entering Aionthos, Isaac had regained his strength and vitality after he could feel the energy coursing through him.
Although, after escaping from the old man's touch, he could feel the energy weakening.
"That's no way to speak to the man who saved you. Nevertheless, you shan't worry. This maze is oozing with Nen."
"Granted, the rigorous atmosphere will make it hard to focus and the Nen in this maze is just that, a pattern itself that needs to be decoded, but I should be able to find a path leading out soon." Saying this, Isaac wore a face of defeat.
'It's confirmed, this guy's got a few screws loose. He's talking nonsense.'
This is what Isaac thought, however, he was still open to the possibility that this man was a monster himself.
Surviving in the Dark Continent, which seemed to be vastly worse than the insides of Aionthos, he definitely wasn't normal.
The old man walked around the room, passing the skeleton and soon arriving at the carvings in the wall.
"Oh!" He raised his eyebrows and exclaimed, his mouth shaped like a zero.
Stroking his beard, the man ran his fingers through the wall, moving from scene to scene and soon arriving at the small paragraph Isaac had given up on decoding.
"The suffering caused by those in power births their monstrous karma, a testament to their faults and the pain they've inflicted upon the innocent." The man spoke, his eyes skimming past the words.
Isaac's jaw slowly dropped as he stood up, ignoring the fatigue he'd been feeling in his muscles.
"You can read that?" Asked Isaac, frozen in shock.
"I should be able to. It's a dead language originating from the Mimbo Republic. It was long before my time and is rarely spoken to this day."
'Mimbo Republic?'
The old man looked toward the carvings of the compass with a confused look.
"It shows the direction where the compass should be pointing." Said Isaac, holding out his compass as the old man looked to him.
"This compass points toward the monsters closest to me instead of where it's supposed to be faced." Isaac brandished the compass, showing the needle pointing east.
"Interesting. I knew I could feel a faint pulse of Nen coming from somewhere." Isaac ignored the old man, continuing.
"Those carvings, they tell a story. A war breaking out while most of the population fled while some people were left behind. Including him." Isaac pointed to the skeleton.
"He's the one who drew the carvings, and the compass belongs to him. The only thing I can't figure out is the part of the story where the monsters are born."
Just as Isaac finished his words, the old man broke out into uncontrollable laughter.
"Boy, do you know what you've just found? What you've just uncovered?" The man asked, to which the confused Isaac shook his head.
The man turned back to the carvings, spreading both his arms out.
"A piece of untold history. A question, me and countless others, have pondered through many sleepless nights. A dark secret finally brought to light!" The man yelled.
"What are you…"
"Post Mortem Nen!"
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Hey, if you're enjoying I'd appreciate the Powerstones. They help a ton.