Countdown

The day after we defeated Squeaky passed surprisingly calmly. Perhaps it was because the area right around Squeaky’s lake was barren of life, but we only met our first predator around evening.

A pair of wolves. Compared to the horrors we’ve been through this far, it was child’s play.

Saga insisted on fighting like always, which worsened her condition, but with her and Kai’s help I still made short work of them.

We set up our camp inside a small hollow in the ground, protected by a canopy of leaves. I was also growing slightly more proficient with my healing as time passed, so although it still took a lot of energy, Saga was looking better and better.

…Or maybe she just stayed in the same condition, because she kept opening her wounds and requiring me to heal her again.

We gathered around the fire to look at the map again.

“We’re supposedly nearing the end of Harko Forest,” Kai said, as the one who consulted the map and scouted the forest the most. “But the map’s obviously not really accurate for this area, so it might be completely wrong.”

“Well, not like we can go anywhere else at this point,” I mumbled. “After coming this far.”

“We need to find One,” said Saga. She used a strip of cloth to tie her hair into a ponytail. We did take some spare clothes so she was fully dressed now, but the bandages still peeked from underneath.

“Man, you’re so obsessed. What’s up with that?” asked Kai, trying to inquire into Saga for a change.

However, she remained as reticent as expected.

“Hah, you wouldn’t get it.”

Oh, that was a new line. But it was still just as expected.

Kai just sighed and shook his head while Saga closed her eyes. “Anyway… I’ll guess we’ll just try to get out. One or no one, haha, we definitely need some new supplies. We have no more bandages, barely any food… at least we replenished our water.”

“I’ll take first watch,” said Saga after we sank into silence for a while.

Kai frowned. “You’ll do no such thing. C’mon C, heal her up one last time and go to bed. I’ll keep watch now.”

“Hah,” said Saga but didn’t argue any further.

Another night passed quietly and we resumed our journey. While my feet still constantly hurt, I felt like I was slowly but surely tempering my body. Sure, I used almost exclusively just magic during our fights, but still.

I sure wish I had some way to heal my stamina, though. Hopefully we’d meet some mage, whether Mana or otherwise, to teach me some new stuff. I ran out of spells from the original game by now.

We were just continuing our trek when there was a sudden noise and a small, furry creature climbed down the branch of a tree right in front of us.

It was a squirrel.

Considering what happened just a few days prior, that obviously caused us to raise our guards.

Saga raised her sword, Kai grabbed his knife, and I scanned the area for any other small critters.

Upon looking at us for a few moments, though, the squirrel just turned tail and scampered along to the next tree’s branch. It turned to look at us again for another moment, then vanished deeper and deeper into the woods.

We exchanged glances and remained on guard, but no attack or anything like that came. After about a minute we decided to just carry on our way.

A few minutes later, however, the same thing happened.

A squirrel appeared from a branch, looked at us and then squirreled away with high-pitched squeaking.

I was starting to suspect something, but it was Saga who vocalized it first.

“…Is it telling us to follow?”

“What? A squirrel?” asked Kai.

“In case you forgot, the animals around here aren’t exactly normal,” I noted sarcastically.

“Alright, I get it. But… why?”

“Hah, isn’t it clear?” spat Saga. “It’s leading us to One.”

That gave me some pause. If One really was in charge of the animals in the forest—and what we heard back in the village, our experiences and brief conversation with Squeaky all but confirmed this—that was a definite possibility.

“Why would he be leading us to him instead of ambushing us again, though?” asked Kai.

“Why would he call a dragon-serpent-thingy ‘Squeaky’? Man’s clearly not all there.”

“Good point.”

“And we’ve discussed this before, right?” I added. “He seems to be testing us, or something.”

“We’ll just have to accept his challenge, then,” said Saga, moving in the squirrel’s direction.

Now seeing that we were in fact following it, the creature leapt from branch to branch to tree to tree, stopping ever so often to see we were still there, and led us through the forest.

After about half an hour or so of walking, the surroundings underwent a major change.

Just like with the lake before, we exited into a huge clearing in the thick woods. Except that this time it was rather the complete opposite.

Empty land. Unnaturally so, as if someone meticulously tore down not only the greenery but even the rocks and soil and replaced them with even, flattened, perfect ground.

This time no monster peeked its head out. Although the one present there had somewhat of a grotesque appearance, he was clearly human.

A rotund man sat right in the middle of the bare ground as though in meditation. Even his eyes were closed. His wide face was serene and he was shirtless, exposing his swollen stomach.

It couldn’t be that this sumo wrestler-like guy was actually…?

“Welcome,” the man finally opened his mouth to speak. “It seems like the prophecy has come true. I am One, and I will be your first opponent.”