Chapter 80: Wasteland

Chapter 80: Wasteland

Erani, the Dryad, and I walked through the dead, decolorized forest, gazing at Kingdom’s Edge in the distance. The range of mountains barely broke through the treetops, but even with the little saw, I could tell we still had a long way to go. But our goal was finally in sight.

Still, my mind was more consumed with my immediate surroundings. As we continued to walk forward, the forest changed even more dramatically. The ground was a gray, hard dirt with no grass sprouting up from it, and the trees continued to thin out and become more and more lifeless. This wasn’t some small area, it seemed – the entire forest had transformed as we continued to approach the mountain range.

“What’s going on here?” I asked the Dryad as we walked. “Do you know what it might be?”

“No,” she said. “I am not home. I do not know here. Something strange, killing plants. Hurting animals. Do not know if poison or something else.”

She bent down and examined the gray dirt more closely while I turned to Erani and repeated to her what I was told.

“You know anything about that?” I asked her.

“Well, we’re getting pretty close to Kingdom’s Edge by now, right?”

“Yeah, probably gonna be at the base of the mountains within a few days. Why?”

“If we’re close to Kingdom’s Edge, then we’re also approaching the wasteland.”

“The what?”

“The wasteland. It’s the dead area that surrounds Kingdom’s Edge. When the Dragons and other powerful monsters there fight, the shockwaves of their power go out and destroy the nearby environment. Powerful Spells and other abilities have totally devastated it. I mean, hells, you know why Kingdom’s Edge is infested with Ghouls, right?”

“Yeah. Few hundred years ago, right? I don’t remember his name, but some super high-Level Wizard tried to clear out the entirety of the mountain range single-handedly. Cast some huge Spell to resurrect all the dead in the area and concript them to fight the monsters in the mountains, but he got killed pretty fast, and now the Ghouls are just wandering around and attacking everything on site.”

She nodded. “Gisharth Wyndinlost. And the Spell didn’t just resurrect the corpses as a one-time thing. Nobody knows his actual Spell path, so we have no idea what the effect exactly was, but whatever it was, it’s a continuous effect. So, even to this day, anyone who dies on the cursed soil gets revived as a Ghoul. So we’re probably on that cursed soil now, and that’s why it’s all gray and wilted.”This chapter's initial release occurred on the n0vell--Bjjn site.

I looked back down at the dirt, suddenly much more suspicious of it.

“There shouldn’t be any negative effects for as long as you’re alive,” Erani laughed. “Just promise me you won’t die and eat my flesh.”

“Uh, hey, Arlan?” Erani asked me, looking confused.

“Yeah?”

“Do you know what a ‘medium Human’ is? And why the Dryad is calling you one?”

While we walked, I took a moment to cast Ethereal Armor and summon Dark Plate. In the past, I’d thoroughly enjoyed the benefit of the Dryad’s empathy calming the nearby wild monsters and keeping them from attacking us. But now we’d have to worry about Ghouls, which weren’t natural monsters – they wouldn’t be affected by her. So in this case, I’d rather be safe than sorry, especially when I was still waiting on Time Loop to recharge.

When I cast the Spell, the glowing Light Plate I previously had donned disappeared into sparkling mites of mist, and the new shadowy armor clanked to the ground. This one, as opposed to the constantly-glowing Light Plate, seemed to absorb all light that came near it, making it even more difficult to put on than its counterpart. Since it absorbed all the light that hit it, I could barely see its parts and straps, let alone see the places they were supposed to go. Still, I eventually figured it out.

This set was slightly heavier than Light Plate, but still completely manageable. Its other main difference was that it just felt like it covered more. The joints were tighter, there was less cloth and more metal, and, most noticeably, it was closed-faced. A visor covered my entire head, obscuring my vision partially. It had wide enough holes for me to see, of course, but still, it was jarring to have something in front of my face at all times. I found myself reaching up to scratch an itch on my cheek, only to be stopped by steel multiple times.

It was a shame that, by summoning a new type of armor, the previous type disappeared. It’d have been nice to have multiple sets of armor lying around. We’d tried it out and it seemed like Light Plate wouldn’t work on anyone other than me – Erani’s hands passed right through it when she tried to grab it and put it on – so it unfortunately wouldn’t have worked to give Erani her own set either way. But even if it only worked on me, it would’ve been nice to be able to have backups lying around in case I wanted to switch without paying any Mana.

“See, the Light Plate made you look like some holy knight,” Erani commented once I had it all on. “But with that, I feel you look more like the Demons we’re fighting than my ally. I can’t even see your face!”

“Well, unless you want me to turn into a Ghoul and eat your deliciously-seasoned arm, you’re gonna have to deal with it,” I laughed.

We continued to walk for a bit as the sun continued to set in the sky. I kept myself equipped with Dark Plate, trusting my surroundings less and less as they just became more and more dead and gray. I didn’t manage to make much more leeway with the Dryad, though – it seemed a single successful joke could only take me so far in her eyes.

I was a bit surprised that I hadn’t seen any Demons or soldiers around, at this point. Even if we’d successfully escaped from their barricade in the confusion, they still must’ve been able to keep track of our general location and direction. So why hadn’t we seen any of them? There must’ve been something going on with them.

Or they were planning something big.

It began to get dark as I pondered the many explanations for the silence of our enemies, and once the sun had just finished setting, I noticed a sound. Ahead of us came this wet snarl and series of shambling footsteps. And, just as I signaled to Erani and the Dryad to come to a stop, the source of the sound showed itself.

Stumbling out from behind a dead tree was a rotten corpse of a Human – one which walked nonetheless. The bones in its leg were completely visible, the flesh having fallen from it seemingly long ago, and the rest of its body was similarly in tatters. A few more similar-looking monsters shambled around corners with their eyes fixed on us.

It was obvious what they were. Ghouls. And it seemed they could smell us.