The days seemed to burn away faster and faster as Bjorn circled the main skyland. Bjorn had learned to hunt smarter, to use his environment to his advantage. He had mapped out the routes of the lesser creatures, found the paths that kept him just out of reach of the true horrors lurking in the deeper parts of the skyland. He had memorized the shifts in the weather, the changes in ambient mana density, anything that could give him an edge.
The forest was dangerous the further he went into it the more he could feel the presence of ancient monsters. He could also feel something else which is what drew him back to this place. Whatever was at the heart of the forest was protecting something and Bjorn needed to find out what it was. Soon he would wake whatever slept within the mountain forest, and when it did, he had to be ready.
"You should kill Felo," Failsafe said.
"What? Oh he is one of them." Bjorn responded. "Aw man, I actually like this one."
"I think their backstories are getting kind of repetitive at this point." Failsafe said with a yawn. "Though I think this one did have more style."
Felo was a broad shouldered man walking alongside him. Bjorn's memories told him that Felo had been with him since they left the previous island. He helped kill the tarnu blade wing using some type of martial art cultivator technique. He remembers it being quite flashy, a burning jump kick that somehow turned the flames into a roaring ryū. The more he thought about it the more it seemed completely foolish. Why would a human be here with him and the memory seemed hazy at best.
Felo pointed ahead "It shouldn't take too much longer. I marked the tra—"
The "man" was cut off mid sentence as one of Bjorn's jaws closed around the creatures neck. He used Intimidation Roar, and Poison Cloud simultaneously. These things weren't strong as Bjorn had come to know but they were durable. The Sanguine Traveler was the third evolution of a monster after all and each evolution brough more and more power, vitality and lethality.
It took repeated bites and claws to finally bring the creature down. Bjorn wondered what these things actually looked like but they didn't change back after death. The only way to tell what they are is by the utter lack of most organs. They had a stomach but not much else.
He ate the remains. It may have looked human but it definitely wasn't and he was running low on his prepared provisions. Over the course of his extended stay of the Skylands; he found that he could eat most monsters as long as they were at least second evolution. As he chewed, Failsafe offered a lecture he really revealed in the knowledge he gained from the book of monstrosities.
"Unlike the crawling stalkers which were mainly pure corruption," Failsafe said with refined poise. "More highly evolved or powerful monsters actually have mana akin to a normal animal. Calamities like the Jeweled Winged Monarch have mana as refined and controlled as a mage. This is why lower evolved monsters will dissipate into mana once killed but stronger ones will decompose like a normal beast."
"So the lower evolved ones will still be dangerous to eat." Bjorn asked.
"Well, poisonous monsters or ones that have acid for blood we will want to stay away from. We are resistant to poisons but better not to test the limits."
"Well that was the third one of these things. You would think they would stop… eventually. They seem intelligent."
"It's just basic intelligence. If they spent more time around people I think they would get better at mimicking them."
"Yeah, wait." Bjorn said with sudden realization. "Why are they mimicking people around me anyway? I am a hydra."
"I think it's because your mind is human." Failsafe said. "They can't really read minds but they can skim surface level thought. Your mind is human no matter how you look at it."
"Well that is utterly terrifying," Bjorn said. "It was taking us where we were going anyway. We will take a different path in case there is an ambush ahead of us."
***
The forest gave way to an open expanse in the center where a familiar power brewed. Bjorn tongues tasted the air feverishly as if unbelieving in what he was sensing. A dark smoke rose from a lake of endless black. Like a void given form. Monsters circled the lake like savangers each of them powerful entities in their own right.
"You taste that right?" Bjorn said.
"Abyssal maya." Failsafe responded. "That lake isn't normal either. I think that is blood maya."
The monsters had staked their claims, each holding a position in an invisible hierarchy. The weaker ones, like packs of spinefang striders, prowled the outer edges, their movements wary. Closer to the lake, the true predators loomed—each one a being of raw power, standing at the precipice but never stepping into the black waters.
"The monsters are all drawn to the lake but are avoiding the blood maya. Whatever is inside of the lake is drawing them here."
"That's just great. It is probably what we are looking for then. Monsters aren't attracted to maya, the energy is too demonic. So, whatever is inside the lake is extremely pure mana like—"
"A mana crystal… but why would this maya be here?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. That insane greater avatar is breaking into the Higher Planes. Maybe this is the result? Maya invading the world since it is a part of the lowest of the Higher Planes. We might start seeing other Higher Plane Energies if the snake continues to weaken the barrier."
"If other higher plane energies show up we wouldn't be able to sense them." Bjorn said.
"Right, I keep forgetting we have to have a patron to the energy to be able to sense it." Failsafe said.
"Yeah that is why it was so weird when Joha first used maya around us back when we didn't know what it was."
"Well… Monster rush time."
"Monster rush?"
"Yeah, we need to get to that lake, meaning it is time to kill every monster in the way. I suggest we use only primana. I don't think we should gain the attention of monsters near the lake until we have cleared the way."
"This is going to hurt," Bjorn said.
Bjorn's armor covered his form as he activated his Chaos Scales Armor and Poison Claws right as the closest pack of spinefangs seven of the monster were within ambush range. In an instant he was a blur of motion tackling the closest one while biting and clawing its thick hide. His attention was divided as he simultaneously cast Aetheric Disruption Breath, Poison Cloud and Hydro-breath from different heads.
After fighting so many of the spinefangs over the course of the past few months he had become quite proficient at killing the creatures. Open wounds allowed his Poison Cloud to be even more effective. The water he shot out was not a torrent but a concentrated stream that could cut stone like a blade.
The spinefangs barely had time to react. One. Two. Three. The monsters fell in rapid succession. Their vitality was impressive, but they lacked the regeneration of higher-tier creatures. His Poison Cloud seeped deeper into their open wounds, accelerating their demise. The last of them collapsed, twitching, its thick hide split apart by his concentrated water stream.
Bjorn stood amidst sixteen corpses, his armor barely scratched. He still had a long way to go before he would make it to the lake. While he successfully entered the competition it was only going to get harder from there. He had to kill every monster he could not risk getting boxed in with them on all sides. He saw another pack of spinefangs running along the outer edges of the clearing. They were next on his list.
***
"Shit!" Bjorn yelped. "Those barbs hurt."
Bjorn along the Forest Edge in the shade so that his Shadow Concealment worked to its best effect. He pulled out the last of the strider's venomous barbs from his tail. Their venom would kill a human pretty quickly but he had a strong immunity to venoms. The strider venom burned like liquid fire in his veins but his healing factor made quick work of any damage.
The striders were finally dead which meant that the outer perimeter of the clearing was his territory now. The battle had blurred into an endless rhythm of slaughter, and without a clear day-night cycle, time felt meaningless. He considered asking Failsafe how long he'd been at it but dismissed the thought. It didn't matter. The killing wasn't over.
His eyes snapped toward the next territorial beast, a hulking predator that lurked deeper within the clearing. He had watched it before as it killed a pack of spinefangs before he ever got close. It was a good thing he was paying attention because if he hadn't seen it in action, he would have walked straight into its trap.
At first glance, it looked like a withered spinefang corpse, slumped against the base of an ancient tree. The scent was foul but off— not the usual stench of decay, but something laced with a faint trace of pure mana. To Bjorn's senses, it resembled the aftermath of a dead monster left near a magical artifact. He would have gone simply to see if the tree was starting to transform. For the spinefangs, it was a lure.
Bjorn had been watching when a small pack took the bait. The moment they drew near, the trap was sprung.
The corpse split open. A wave of corrupted mana washed outward, its sickly pulse scrambling the senses of the approaching beasts. Chitinous arms burst from the ground, spearing into their bodies with brutal precision. Writhing limbs dragged them inward, pulling them into what was not a corpse at all but an illusion.
The tree, the ground, even the husk itself, it had all been part of the creature. Bjorn stiffened, watching as the last struggling spinefang was devoured whole. The monster settled again, reforming its illusion. This time instead of a spinefang strider corpse it was a dead hydra eerily similar to himself resting beneath an old tree, waiting for its next prey.
"What in the Infernal Planes is that?" Bjorn said.
"Uh," Failsafe started. "Well, that's a hollow widow right there. I say we go around it. They aren't fast but they are really hard to kill. It must have been here before the lake and is just opportunistically hunting weak monsters."
"I don't want to risk a monster behind us too."
"When I say not fast I mean in order for them to move they have to uproot themselves. Their body is underground and it is not a quick process. If it does decide to come out a child can out walk it. It will also be very vulnerable. All the armor is on its face."
"So, going around is actually the better option."
"Yeah, unless you want to dig twenty feet underground to get to its core first."
"Fine but we are going to the otherside of the clearing. Keep an eye out."