Starting from Charlotte's resting spot, Magnus first opened the map to see if there was anything it could tell him.
'NO Well, there goes that idea.' with the whole map just an endless yellow, he knew it was a fruitless endeavour. 'Just how big is it if the whole map is taken up, hah!'
Jumping on one of the blue towers, his feet sunk into the translucent flesh and he began surveying the surroundings. Yet even after straining his eyes for a good while, the only landmark he saw was the tower where Charlotte was.
Jumping down, using the tower as an indicator for north, he headed south.
Piles of sand were scattered on the fleshy ground, as were the occasional rocks. More unsettling we're the bones of varying sizes strewn about, accompanied by metal equipment . Whether it was rusted weapons or bits of armor, most were bent or broken in horrifying ways.
Walking around more, he saw a not completely digested skeleton on the ground. The once white clothes were torn, stained and yet they still carried the feeling of a priest from the northern kingdom.
Coming closer to inspect the body, Magnus noticed the skeleton had some sort of book clutched In hand. Picking up the book, along with an arm he quickly threw away, he flipped it open and scanned it's contents.
Other than some symbols he couldn't make the origin out of, he realised this was a book related to spirit summoning.
His ears suddenly twitched, unmistakably having heard something. Yet he pretended to keep reading the book, fully focusing on whatever was approaching him.
'Around... 14 meters. Somewhere behind me. 13.' he estimated, before spinning around to face the enemy.
Peeling out from behind one of the smaller towers, a humanoid shape eyed magnus. Two pitch black eyes with a vertical white pupil, thin and bendy limbs, and a face that looked like an oversized wallnut.
Looking at the grotesque abomination that stared at him, it sent shivers down his spine. Taking a vaguely defensive posture, Magnus slightly backed away from it.
Only to see it step out of the tree, and reveal that it had a nearly 3 meter tall body. The limbs kept being bent at odd angles, yet the its eyes kept staring into Magnus soul.
Seeing it followed him, he was about to shout, only for the words to get stuck in his throat.
The wallnut head, the size of 3 human heads, split vertically, revealing rows of sharp teeth. It fell on all fours, and the two black eyes popped out of the sockets, two stalks focusing them towards Magnus.
'nahnahnahnahnahnah fuck th-'
The creature let our an ear piercing wail, before it jumped towards Magnus, it's teeth aiming to bite off his head.
Magnus sidestepped, before grabbing the creature by the neck in one fluid motion. It flailed its limbs, trying to bite him. 'How weak, It's barely stronger than a normal human.'
Out of curiosity, he tried to use monster control on it, yet realised it didn't seem to have a consciousness of its own. 'Interesting. Is it a parasite that lives inside the Kraken? Or something else?'
Tightening his grip, the creature's neck snapped and it stopped moving.
[Level 8]
15/800
'Hmmm... So they're worth 8ish xp, not bad. Maybe I could farm more of them.' he thought, as he heard another sound nearby.
Looking around, he spotted another one of those creatures in the distance. However, unlike this one it was running on all fours already.' Come, XP, I'll turn you-'
His words got stuck in his throat, as another 20 of them appeared. Weighting his options, he still decided to fight them. '20 I can handle!'
Only to then see their numbers multiply a few times, sending chills down his spine. 'Ah, damn it...'
Turning around, he saw more of them approaching from each direction. By now, more than a few hundred of them were running towards him, their sharp teeth gleaming.
Taking a deep breath, he gathered his strength and jumped on top of a nearby tower. 'King of the hill style battle. If I don't get swarmed by too many at once, I'll be fine!'
He glanced at the around 3 meter large tower top, which would serve as an arena.
The creatures began climbing, gripping the flesh of the tower with their hands, tearing into it as blue liquid flowed out. As more and more started climbing, the tower wobbled, and started deflating.
'Man.'
The first creature climbed to the top, covered in the blue fluid, before it lunged at Magnus.
Ducking, he delivered an uppercut, smashing its head into gory bits. The body continued flying and hit another creature, both falling to the ground.
Sidestep, followed by a jab dispatched another. Jumping, three smashed into the spot where he was standing. Three jabs and all three died.
A pain shot through his leg, as one creature struggled to bite through his reinforced skin. A backhand strike, and it also died, yet the blood flowing from his wounds excited the creatures.
To make matters worse, the tower started faintly leaning to one side. 'Damn it!' he thought, grabbing one of them as an improvised weapon. With a swing, he sent three new arrivals toppling off the towe.
A quick glance underneath made him shiver, as there were hundreds if not thousands of those creatures racing to his position. Mixed among them, there were some larger variants which, unlike the others, had burly muscles covering their entire body.
The tower tilted to the side, and Magnus threw the creature in his hands away. Exerting all his strength, he jumped up from the ground, aiming for the nearest tower.
'I can make it-'
A tongue flashed like a whip, curling around his leg and pulling him down. Panicking, Magnus clawed at the flesh tower, digging into it with all his might.
Panting, he glance at his leg, only to see the tongue coming out from one of the burly creatures. 'What-'
Not having time to ponder, more creatures began climbing towards him.