Early in the morning, Arthur and the others left Misty Town to explore the canyon. However, one could not tell whether the day was due to the area’s fog.
“The canyon is not that far from here, but once we are inside, it will take a while to explore. It is like a whole different world down there.” Luvon said.
No one has ever been able to find what secret is inside that canyon, but many have tried and perished. It was a place said to have countless magical beasts, and some of these beasts were strong enough to destroy an entire army.
The truth was that Arthur did not want to explore that place after knowing all of that in the current state he was in, but the second he stepped inside Misty Town, something felt familiar.
“I still don’t know what it is, but I hope it is something good.”
Arthur did not know if it was something to do with his bloodline or something else, but he sensed that this fog would have a shocking secret that could potentially increase his strength.
“Here, this is the canyon.”
A big hole, so dark that it was impossible to see what was inside.
“The entrance is right there, but if something happened here, then it would be able to attract the beasts,” Luvon said with an evil smile as he pierced a dagger at Arthur’s back, kicking him into the abyss.
Arthur did not trust these people, but he never thought they would betray him like that. He thought they would be happy to have his strength during the exploration, and if a treasure were found, they would indeed plot against him and kill him.
But never he imagined the plotting would happen so soon. As Arthur fell, he tried to cast any of his spells or dragon skills, but nothing happened.
He quickly checked his status screen and saw that he had been poisoned with the dagger strike, temporarily making it impossible to use mana.
“You will regret this!” yelled Arthur as he fell into the dark abyss.
~~~~
“Ahhh, it hurts.”
Arthur’s unconscious time was unknown to him, but the pain was so fierce in all parts of his body that he wanted to scream.
His left arm had bent, wholly broken after the fall. Not only that but a few ribs were also broken, making every move a hard one.
Arthur’s incredible healing speed was taking effect, but it was not as fast as he had hoped. Perhaps that poison had also hindered some of his healing, or maybe the canyon had a mysterious effect on it, he didn’t know.
Slowly getting up, Arthur gazed at his dark surroundings, which were not a problem for his night vision. The insides of that canyon were far different from the outside and the rest of the dark lands.
It was green everywhere. The plants had life, and the majority of the plants were things Arthur had never seen before. The fog was still there, decreasing the vision range, but still, it felt more vivid than the rest of the dark lands.
How? The dark lands are so ‘dead’ because the sun did not send that much sunlight there, making most of the plants die, and the region seems as if it was always night-time.
The canyon was inside the dark lands, and the sunlight would be even harder to reach that place, yet, it seemed it was not the case considering how alive it was.
“Does it have to do with the fog?” Arthur thought.
There was no time to think about that, as one of the plants not that far from where Arthur was attacking him using his vines, grabbing him by the feet, turning him upside down.
The mysterious plant opened a vast mouth and tried to eat Arthur.
“In your dreams,” he said, using his right arm to slash his sword down, cutting the plant in half.
“That was close. I need to find a suitable place to rest.”
Arthur’s situation was not good, considering his damaged body and attributes. He needed to find somewhere to heal his external wounds before venturing inside that canyon.
Thus, he wandered around that forest-like area with the utmost care, ensuring that no other plants or beasts tried to eat him.
Speaking of beats, the place had a lot of them, but for his luck, not a single one found him. Arthur had the plan of finding a cave or something like that to rest, but what he did find was an old wooden cabin with vines covering the walls, making it blend with the rest of the area.
“Did someone live here?”
It was an odd sight, something that he did not think of finding there. Arthur tried to look through the windows before coming inside, and based on what he saw; there was no one there.
There was also no traces of someone being there for a long time, so it should be a decent location for him to rest a little.
The cabin was dusty, with a few bugs crawling between the furniture, but Arthur did not mind. What was important was that he was safe inside that place. He hoped for, at least.
Out of curiosity, Arthur searched for the belongings of the old owner of that house to learn more about the people there, and what he saw shocked him.
On one of the shelves, there was a diary that Arthur had yet to read, but the book was a magical one about tattoos besides that diary.
“This… Was he someone from the Shukar Empire? Or was it someone else?”
Arthur grabbed the diary, sat on the bed, and read it while healing. After a few hours, he was done with it, and the things he found inside that small old diary were shocking.
“It makes sense, but why here?”
While he was lost in thoughts, a noise came not far from the cabin. It voiced, and Arthur guessed these belonged to the group that betrayed him.
“Look, a cabin!” Luvon said.
Arthur went to a hidden cabin room with a mischievous smile, which he learned from the previous owner.
“Hehe, you will regret doing what you did.”