A few minutes passed. Conrad was sprinting at full speed, trying to reach the ravine before nightfall truly arrived. The sun was already setting, casting long shadows across the island. There were still about six kilometers to go before he reached the eastern edge—but if he pushed himself, he could make it.
As he ran, a chill crept into the air. The light dimmed. Gurgling sounds echoed from behind the trees.
'Guess I'll have to fight a few monsters before I make it,' Conrad thought grimly, accepting his fate.
It wouldn't be too hard—he was only a kilometer away now. The rest had flown by in just ten minutes. His training with Dante over the past few months had clearly paid off.
Suddenly, something shot up from the ground, halting him in his tracks.
A creature stood before him—skinny, with a massive hunchback and thick, slimy skin. It snarled and hunched lower, ready to pounce. Conrad grinned and raised his weapon: a pair of massive crab claws.
This was the perfect time to test them out.
He lunged forward and snapped the claws into the creature's chest. A sickening CRACK echoed out as bones shattered.
The creature collapsed, split in two. Guts oozed onto the sand, blue blood staining the ground, bone fragments sticking out at impossible angles.
Conrad blinked, impressed.
"Huh. This weapon's actually pretty effective," he muttered. 'Maybe the night won't be so bad after all.'
But he'd spoken too soon.
The sun dipped fully behind the treeline, plunging the forest into darkness. From all around, creatures began to stir. They poured out of caverns, slithered from under rocks, crawled out of the woods—starving, bloodthirsty things, some even eating each other in desperation.
As Conrad kept running, the sound of snarls and chittering behind him grew louder.
Then Conrad heard big thud sounds, a two-meter-tall monster came barreling after him. Its eye bulged, ready to pop from its socket. It had no lips or nose, just yellow-green jagged teeth and a rotten stench pouring off its body.
It was gaining on him.
Conrad spun and slashed with his claws. The blade tore through flesh, slicing off the creature's arm.
It screeched, stumbling—but before he could breathe, it lunged again. With its one good arm, it gripped the claw and crawled up it, clambering toward Conrad's face.
It opened its mangled jaw and bit into his shoulder, tearing out a chunk of flesh.
Conrad howled in pain.
The monster's severed limb suddenly regenerated, right before his eyes. It laughed, a hideous sound.
Gritting his teeth, Conrad wrenched the claw open and crushed the monster. Blood splattered across the ground as its head bounced away like a stone.
He was panting now. His shoulder throbbed, blood dripping steadily.
And then the ants arrived.
Giant, monstrous ants—with gleaming red eyes and mandibles the size of daggers—poured out in a swarm. They chirped and clicked, clearly communicating. One, much larger than the rest—the King Ant—locked eyes with Conrad.
He braced himself as it lunged.
Claws met pincers in a brutal clash.
Smaller ants scurried up his legs, biting through cloth and skin. Conrad kicked wildly, shaking them off, but lost his balance—and the King Ant slammed him to the ground.
Dazed and vulnerable, he looked up.
The King Ant raised its claws.
"I DON'T WANNA DIEEE—AAAAAGHHH!" Conrad screamed, just before everything went black.
Darkness took him. But as the monsters closed in, a strange shadow expanded from Conrad's unconscious body, swallowing the air around him.
The monsters stopped.
Something about the shadow terrified them.
Still, some crept closer, until a figure emerged from the mouth of the ravine.
An old man.
He walked with a wooden staff topped with a glowing ruby. In a blink, the staff transformed into a gleaming crimson tachi. Without hesitation, the old man leapt forward, slicing a wolf-ogre hybrid in two. Then he cut a centipede beast into a thousand pieces before it could even react.
Then came fire.
With one swipe, the blade released a wave of flames, incinerating the ant swarm. He turned toward the King Ant and vanished from sight, only to reappear behind it. The Ant's limbs fell one by one, then its head.
Then, the hunched, slimy, and snarling, the two-meter beasts, called Grivvoks, charged.
The old man was out of breath.
He turned the tachi back into a staff and tapped into the floor.
They charged and were vaporised the second they touched the invisible sphere around him.
He looked down at the boy.
Conrad lay unconscious, surrounded by the protective shadow.
The old man knelt, trying to lift him.
But the shadow burned his hands.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself through it, every second searing his skin. With a grunt of effort, he carried Conrad through the ravine's gate.
"Rocks," the old man wheezed.
A few locks were undone from the inside. A pale, shocked survivor opened the door, only to be shoved aside.
Whispers echoed through the cave as survivors stared.
The old man barged into a room and laid Conrad gently onto a bed.
His own arms were scorched down to the bone. His chest was blistered and raw.
He grabbed a jar and poured the contents onto himself. Steam rose as he screamed:
"GAGHH—God damn it, why does this medicine burn so much?!"
Then he turned to Conrad. Tapping his staff to a second jar, it glowed faintly.
He poured the contents over the boy's body.
________________________________________
Four hours later, Conrad finally awoke from his slumber.
He was warm, wrapped in blankets, lying on a soft bed. The pain in his shoulder was gone. He touched it—no wound. Just smooth skin.
'Where am I? Am I dead?' he thought, blinking around the unfamiliar room.
Then his eyes landed on the old man.
The stranger stood silently, dressed in grey robes made of rough animal hide. His long grey beard and hair were tied back in a bun. He wore cracked glasses, torn jeans, and battered brown sandals.
He smiled gently.
"Hello, young man," he said. "What's your name? And why are you here?"
Conrad stared, confused.
Then he spoke, his voice raspy.
"I'm... Conrad. I have a friend who needs saving. And I'm in desperate need of water."