Chapter 336 Island Mystery (1) - A Cobblestone House?

The hunting team turned out to be only Arthur and Sybille, but none of them complained. If the rest of the crew needed to rest, then it was fine. Arthur would not be the type of person to be angry at that.

Sybille walked beside Arthur, and as they went inside the island's forest, she asked, "Are we looking for anything specific?"

"Big animals to feed everyone, and anything suspicious may indicate human activity or another type of sentient species," Arthur said.

It was an unexplored island, at least it looked like one, so there was no clear path for them to take, and the vegetation was denser, thus hard to navigate.

"It smells so fresh? Completely different from the cities," Sybille said, filling her lungs with fresh air.

The atmosphere was different; fresh air, green, and many animals, mostly small ones. A yellow bird flew passed them, stopping on a tree branch, using its peck to hit the tree in a fashioned manner.

They were looking for no birds but bigger animals or magical beasts to feed everyone. So, they only looked at the bird with awe but kept moving forward.

Arthur had a dagger in his hands, useful to cut some of the branches and foliage to open up a path for them. It was the same dagger he used to fight James — made of fine magical materials, strong enough to cut most things.

"Look, a boar!" Sybille said after passing through one bush and seeing a boar drinking water from a river.

She was ready to attack it, as it was an animal capable of feeding them, but Arthur grabbed her right wrist and said, "wait. There is a magical beast inside the river."

Sybille could not feel the beast, which meant it was either stronger than her in battle power or was stealthy. It was the latter.

An elongated fish came out from the water, devouring the boar in one gulp. It resembled the mixture of a fish and a water serpent, with sharp teeth and a vast body.

The beast had the power of a tenth-circle mage, so it was easy prey for both Arthur and Sybille. So he asked Sybille to wait because he was unsure about the level of power of the creature. All he could tell was that there was a beast there, and that was it.

"This beast is good at hiding. You can go and kill it, Sybille. Its strength is equal to a tenth-circle mage." Arthur said.

After Arthur assessed the situation, Sybille dashed toward the blue water serpent. Her speed was not bad; it was too late when the beast realized a predator was approaching it!

Sybille grabbed its neck, tossing it out of the water and preventing it from running away. The water serpent could still live and fight on land, but it weakened its power, which was not that high in the first place.

With no chance of winning, Sybille sent a clean cut to its neck using her nails, killing the beast with one strike. She proudly looked toward Arthur, seeking his approval. He gave her a thumbs-up, which made her crack a smile.

Arthur went toward the beast's body, tossing it inside his magical pouch. They could return after that, as it was enough to feed the crew for a week, but he had another task: to explore the island.

After that encounter, Arthur knew there were magical beasts on the island, so he had to know if there were stronger beasts than the water serpent they found or if all of them had similar power.

Another concern was what could be living deeper in the forest. It was not uncommon for tribes of humans to live in places like those, and cannibalism was also common!

"We will keep moving, as we can see in the dark, right? Let's take advantage of the night to explore this place," Arthur said.

There was no reason for Sybille to say no, so they kept going after putting the beast's corpse inside the magical pouch. But, of course, anyone knew that people often lived near rivers, so following the one they found was a good idea, or at least Arthur hoped so.

They did just that, following the river, carefully looking for anything strange, and indeed, they found it. Constructions made of cobblestone, old, one could tell just by looking at the vines on it.

"What is this?" Sybille asked as she passed her hand on the cobblestone.

It reminded them of a house, or at least the project of one; hard to tell, considering it was long gone.

"Maybe someone lived here once? There's only one 'house,' so perhaps that person was alone?" Arthur said.

He was only guessing, as there was no proof of anything. "Should we go in?" Sybille said.

"Sure, we can, but there's nothing more than vegetation inside."

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The cobblestone house had no door, roof, or walls, one could tell what lay inside without having to do much. Only vegetation and a small snake were crawling between the bushes.

Still, the old cobblestone house proved a point — the island was not as unexplored as they thought. Arthur knew there were only a few unknown places, but that island, even if someone had stepped foot there before, could be a long time ago.

"Let's keep moving to see if there is something else," Arthur said, and Sybille agreed.

It was not a tiny island, so they should be able to find more things. Although nothing happened, Arthur had a strange feeling, as if that island had much more to share with them.

After the first encounter with the cobblestone house, Arthur and Sybille found nothing else, and as the night got darker and the crew hungrier, they returned to the shore.

"Finally, you two are back! We made the fire already!" one man of the crew said.

They built a huge campfire, making everyone warmer and scaring most predators away. Arthur returned with the food, and the atmosphere turned into one of a festival!

The crew members worked together to cut the water serpent, taking off its skin and anything which was not edible. After it, they cut a piece large enough to feed all of them, piercing it using a large stick and placing it above the fire!

Surprisingly, some crew members explored a small part of the forest near the shore and got some edible fruits and plants, which would go well with the meat.

One of the crew members whispered to another, "let's go grab some beer without the captain noticing it."

"Will it be alright? What if he gets mad?"

After the quick exchange of words, two of the crew members returned from the ship carrying lots of beers, which caused the scream of others.

"Yes, that was what I needed, hahaha."

Everyone was happy, drinking and eating, while Arthur was inside his tent with Jane, Wisa, and Sybille, sharing the information about the cobblestone construction they found.

"It's probably nothing to worry about, but we should keep exploring a bit of the island daily," Wisa said.

Jane felt the same way, saying Arthur should not worry about it, but that feeling did not leave him, and by the following day, after the party was over and most of the crew were drunk, Arthur noticed something.

"There are only 13 people, someone is gone!"