Continuing my glorious trek to the mountains, I spent most of the time staring at my Nexus status as the image of the mountains got bigger each time I climbed up a tree.
Now that I had a system as a guide, I was curious about how I could earn [Inventory] to be exact. As someone in a foreign world, I needed tools and weapons to survive as I pursued my primary goal.
For now, I was safe because of the ash and fear it created for the other creatures roaming Nether. The silence alone confirmed that. However, beyond the wasteland, I was going to be on my own and needed some sort of weapon to protect myself. If I was half as good as the others I would've been given a weapon according to protocol as a worthy subject.
But who was ready to waste magic items on some who couldn't use the full potential of the ichor given to them?
'Jokes on them, I have two constellations supporting me.' I consoled myself, knowing full well that the blessings weren't going to do much since I had no Job Aspect, to begin with.
Knowing that a weapon was necessary, I managed to make myself a bone spear from the ribs of a creature that had been consumed by the black ash. It was a wolf-like creature and had died lying under the dry roots of a large tree. I could tell it died not so long ago because some of its flesh was not fully consumed. Most of its bones were weakened by the black ash so breaking it wasn't a problem even for someone like me.
After sharpening the edges and trying out a few swings with it, I was good to go—though my combat skills were slightly above average from all the forced training Tyris put me through.
I followed the ashen path without stopping, using my determination and fear as fuel to cross the wasteland. If I was normal, I would've dropped dead from all the fatigue I felt. My feet were throbbing, begging me to stop.
But no. My skin was already tickling from the flesh-eating ash.
Soon, by the grace of the gods, the grey clouds grew lesser and lesser in the sky. I never thought traveling for so many hours alone would feel so alone.
Strangely, I was already missing Ivy and the others from Bloodhaul.
Ivy usually told us stories of the surface and how it looked outside. Even though she came from one of Beta 3's colonies, the little girl was familiar with how the human planet looked like. She said it had beautiful green meadows and blue skies like Eden. Beta 3's similarity to Eden alone made it one of the most human-populated planets in the Chroma Galaxy.
I wasn't very educated about the history of humanity, but I knew that humans had long started conquering other planets. 'Beta 2' was the first planet outside the solar system to be conquered. And 'Beta 3' came shortly after that.
By the time I was born, Humanity already had three habitable planets and over five hundred colonies across moons and rogue planets. The most powerful Colonies were usually ruled by Hunters who challenged Nexus Events and supported their colonies with knowledge about magic and alchemy.
With how far humanity had come, I found it hard to believe that we were related to monkeys. Because if we could, what's stopping them from building ships and conquering planets like us?
***
I was out of the wastelands and already climbing up the black mountains using the rock climbing lessons I acquired during survival classes. Once again, my feet were sore from all the walking. I was only going to rest after I find somewhere to sleep before nightfall—if it even existed in this world.
I climbed my way into the inner parts of the mountains and found myself on a narrow path leading to somewhere. I was careful while crossing the path and kept leaning against the stone to cover my newfound fear of heights. Every time looked down, all I could see was the fog and the deep abyss that produced it.
I also heard strange growls and movements coming from the abyss from time to time. But I was too scared to look down just in case one of those creatures sensed my timid gaze.
Don't get me wrong. I hadn't changed my mind about accepting my fate of dying. It's just dying in a place like this felt improper compared to the life I had lived before this. My life hadn't been much of course. I have never seen the real sun, tasted normal food, gone to normal school, or even seen a meadow beyond the false paintings they showed us at Bloodhaul.
I wonder how my life would be if I actually managed to get a soul and become a hunter. The world had wronged me so much that I didn't care about what happened to it in the end.
But would this experience change my mind and somehow pivot me towards Prince Amarac and his stupid offer?
Or would I go rouge like one of those villainous characters in webtoons?
I sighed loudly. "Honestly, I don't know."
I've never made or given a choice over something. My entire life before coming here had been a series of commands I followed because I wanted to survive. But a few days before this event, I completely lost the zeal for it.
There is no meaning to my life if I thought about it. I had no one in this life who cared about me. If I died, I would just be another failed experiment like the other subjects before us. And if I lived, I would remain a product of those disturbing bastards at Bloodhaul. There was more to all of this than what they told us. I wasn't stupid, you know.
I took and another gentle step, but I guess this one wasn't as careful as I thought. I heard an obnoxious sound after that single step and my soul almost left my body.
Crack!
I stopped right away when I noticed the path I was on was growing a network of cracks, my foot being the origin. The small path wasn't going to hold my weight any longer. And to make matters worse, I was on an edge so falling would mean death by monster or by hitting the ground and having my brains paint the stone ground like a freaking art piece from the 19th century.
I had hoped for the cracks to stop once I tried to evenly distribute my weight. But They didn't.
Almost immediately, I snapped into action and ran as fast as I could as the cracks increased. Very soon, each step felt like a gamble as I relied on luck alone while I tried to avoid the weaker pieces of rock while I rushed to reach the end of the path.
I mustered all the strength I could and managed to outrun the collapsing path behind me, its rocks disappeared into the abyss without a trace left behind. I didn't hear any sound hitting the ground, meaning that it was much deeper than I had anticipated.
I prayed to the constellations as I picked up more speed. Fortunately enough, I finally saw the end of the path. But I was too late, the entire path collapsed faster than I could run—forcing me into a situation where I had to take a leap of faith. I channeled all my strength to my legs and jumped as the entire path crumbled and collapsed once my feet were off the ground.
My legs dangled in the air for a moment. Then, I realized I wasn't going to make it. Gasp. Reacting quickly, I unstrapped my bone spear from my back and launched it while in mid-air. I felt my small muscles tear when the spear left my hand and its pointed tip easily pierced into the newly formed mountain edge.
I stretched out my hand and grabbed its end right before I could fall any further down. Surprisingly, it held my weight.
My entire body quivered as I tightly held on and reached for any rock and could climb on. The rock was obviously weak. But It managed to hold my weight and I proceeded to climb up with no difficulty.
When I reached the surface, I almost cried about surviving. It was hard to believe that someone like me had pulled off someone like that.
"I've survived."