We had gathered enough meat for the village to last awhile, or maybe not since there were a lot of people living there now. Either way, the coyotes were gone, and we had done our part. Not just that, we were also bringing a decent amount of supplies for them, one way or another. While carrying the bodies around would be a hassle, it was better than the alternative. Leaving it behind for the ants or the frogs to end up eating them and becoming even more of an issue. The last thing we needed right now was to leave the people of this village having to deal with supercharged hard of something just because we removed one of the predators of the area. All we needed to do was put the body somewhere when we were going to check on later. Worst-case scenario, I could see if Astrid was able to create a makeshift vault using her {Emerging Glacier} skill to make sure the meat was safe from any creature around.
By following the map, specifically the map that I copy from the Hunter's Den, we did not take that much time to reach the area where the Eater was supposed to be sleeping. It was overall an uneventful trip. That is, until we saw in the distance, a massive Eater laying against the ruins. The thing is, this Eater looked massive and far beyond any Tier 1 Eater I had ever seen. But its body was exactly like one of those creatures. If anything, just a very big one. I tried having the System show me its name or something, but it could not do it. The monster was no longer alive. Maybe it had some sort of skill that stopped anyone from trying to look at its levels. All three of us started to feel something weird. As if there was something going on that none of us really understood. And to confirm our worry, an announcement appeared in front of our eyes, one that not a single one of us wanted to see.
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You have entered the Eater's Rest dungeon.
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I froze hearing that, and so did Astrid. The two of us exchanged a glance, eyes full of worry. But Michael had a confused expression.
"What the hell is a dungeon?" He let out a sigh. "What does that mean?"
I paused. "Honestly, I'm not 100% sure. The Giant Ice Devil I lived in one of them. You know the one I told you about?"
Michael nodded. "Yeah, I remember that one. You mentioned he lived in a cold frost mine something. Was that a dungeon?"
"Yes. That's one of the two we ever saw. The other was when we saved the kid that was captured by giant rats. The Rodenti."
"Where you met Rex, right?" Michael asked.
"Yeah. And still, honestly, I'm still not entirely sure what exactly was happening there. I mean the sense of why that was a dungeon. It felt just like a large network of caves. But maybe that was the point. It was just a way to make sure the caves stayed as caves to help the rats build."
"Ok. But what does that mean for us now?" Michael asked as we were still slowly walking towards the giant Eater leaning on the side of the building.
"I genuinely have no idea. It could be nothing, but it could also be something."
"No shit," Michael rolled his eyes.
"If danger, we run," Astrid added.
"But you're still saying that we should go there?" Michael turned to the Frosted Lumberjack, who nodded in response. He let out a long sigh and shrugged while walking forward. "You know, people used to say I was the crazy one for being nice to everybody. And I shouldn't be happy all the time and polite and yada yada yada. I don't think I'm that crazy anymore. You two are. You two really are."
Despite his complaints, he was still following along as we slowly approached the giant sleeping Eater. We were still carrying the bodies of the coyotes, Astrid taking the bigger ones since she could handle the weight better than both Michael and I. But there did not seem to be any threats in the area. This allowed us to move around without any issue. We slowly and carefully walked towards the giant Eater, despite the strange feeling that seemed to be washing over us.
It was a feeling of wrongness of me being somewhere I should not or was not supposed to be. But at the same time, it was so much familiar. I just could not wrap my finger around where I had felt this before.
No one said anything for several minutes as we slowly got closer and closer to the giant Eater. But eventually, I realized wher I first encountered this strange sensation. It would happen every time I killed an Eater. Once I did that, this feeling would come over me. As if I was not supposed to be there. I always assumed this was just a reaction to having killed it and me being worried about possible reinforcements. But what if it was not? What if the reason why I felt like that was because of the effects the Eater would give off? Pushing anything and everything away from the place where it had died.
'System, what I'm feeling right now, is it something that a skill is doing? I'm not entirely sure if this is truly me or not,' I asked silently.
[Analyzing.]
But the analysis lasted barely a second.
[User is correct in assuming that something is influencing user's feelings. In addition, this is an effect that user has been under before. Due to previous experience, System can infer that this is the feeling caused by the skill that belongs to the Eater. The same skill that causes other creatures to avoid any areas that contain a dead creature like that one. Although the effects being present right now are not exactly the same, they are similar enough to infer that this is a skill belonging to an Eater.]
[Then is that thing alive?] I looked at the giant Eater laying on top of the building. Its various tendrils stretching out downwards, almost as if they were trying to grab more rubble and rock or even other buildings to pull itself.
5ef[System is unable to confirm if that is the case or not. However, it is possible that giant Eater in user's sight is still alive. Alternatively, it is possible that skill became integrated with the dungeon, allowing the very environment to replicate the effects of Eater's skill.]
'Okay then, let's see if we can figure out what exactly is going on,' I told the System before turning to my companions. "Look, I think we need to make sure this Eater is actually dead. Because if it's not, everybody and I do mean everybody who lives nearby is in trouble."
Astrid nodded in agreement.
"You can say that again," Michael scoffed. "But would we even be able to run far away enough to be safe from that thing? It must be what, 10, 20 meters tall?"
I glanced back and thanks to all the math drills that Pops forced me to do, my System was able to make the calculation necessary to check the size in just a couple of seconds, "Seems to be about 15 and a half meters [50.9 ft] tall, " I said.
Michael stared at me like I was crazy, but he didn't say anything. We continued our approach, this time a bit faster than before, since things did not seem to be as dangerous as we initially thought. At first, being close to the Eater only caused some mild discomfort. And I was chalking that off to the potential skill that belonged to the creature. But the closer we got, the stronger that feeling became. First it was just annoying, then it became manageable, then turned into bearable, and finally, it got to the point of it being too much. None of us felt comfortable moving forward. But we pressed on. Until we reached the street in which the Eater was resting or had been killed.
Michael shook his head and took several steps back, hiding behind one of the ruined buildings. "Sorry, I can't do this. That's just... I... for my... I can't."
Astrid tried to take a step forward, but she froze and shook her head. "Same," she replied. Cold sweat formed on her brow.
I looked back at the monster and then at my companions. They were not the only ones who didn't want to go forward. But when would I ever get this chance again? When would I ever be able to inspect and analyze the body of a dead Eater or even just a sleeping one? That was the most impossible thing I could think of. Even more impossible than the existence of the System itself.
Pushing through that feeling, I nodded, passed the coyotes I was carrying to Astrid, and said, "That's okay. You stay here. I am going to keep going."
Michael stared at me with wide eyes and so did Astrid, but their reactions were also very different. Michael was looking at me as if I was crazy. As if I had just told him that I was going to fight the Sun or something like that. But Astrid stared at me with a sense of awe. Almost as if I was inspiring her somehow. And honestly, the latter made me much more uncomfortable.
Still, I did not waste much time since the longer I delayed, the more likely I was to give up completely. Turning back to face the giant Eater, I took one step, then another, then another, then another, taking deep breaths with every movement. Every centimeter that I got closer triggered another wave of rejection. My entire body was telling me to run, to flee, that I should not be there. It was not fear or dread as it happened with the coyotes and Rex. It was something different. Something more profound. As if I was getting too close to something that was beyond my understanding. As if staying here for too long would drive me insane.
I had to keep reminding myself that this was just a monster. A creature that would die like any other. A horrible monster, yes, but a monster nonetheless. And what I was feeling was just a skill. Just the powers, the ability of a creature. It was not real, not in the truest sense of the word. It was just something that another thing was forcing me to feel. An external force. Even if the System could not confirm that, even if my instinct was telling me I was wrong, I tried to trust that this was nothing, that this feeling meant nothing.
I could not tell how long it took me to reach this spot. I could not even tell how long it had been since I had started walking towards the creature. All I knew was that eventually, I reached my destination. One of the many tentacles that belonged to the Eater. Its strange metallic flesh into the ground with hundreds of tiny needle-like protrusions appearing from the very bottom of its feet if we could call it that. I was just a few steps away from the creature that haunted my nightmares, a gigantic version of it that was, according to the dungeon, just resting and waiting for something. Maybe it was just regaining its energy to start attacking again. Maybe it was waiting for its friends so it could move around or, hopefully, it was waiting for death, as there was nothing else that could be done to save it.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I slowly reached out my hand towards the monster. My vision started to get blurry and everything was slowly turning dark, almost as if the creature was bending reality. I heard the noise of metal grinding against metal. Louder and more intense than anything I ever heard before. The sound so loud that it washed over my thoughts, made my vision tremble, and even the air come out of my lungs.
But there was just this tiny part of me. Be it the sane or the insane part telling me that it was not real. Telling me that everything I was hearing, everything it was doing, and all the tremors and heat emanating from the creature were all fake. That was all just to stop me from approaching it. I felt my hand slowly moving towards the monster while my staff was to my side, keeping me propped up. Without it, I would have fallen to the ground a long time ago.
But before I could touch the creature, my knees wavered. My body started to lock up and refuse my commands. With the last remaining strength I had, I pushed myself forward so that if I were to fall, my hand would touch the creature. And then I do not know. Only after making that change, deciding that I would try to touch the monster, I realized I had no clue what that was going to do to me. I had no way of being sure that touching it would not kill me. Would it kill me outright or would it just make me collapse on top of it and maybe even awaken the monster so it could start rampaging yet again? But it was too late.
I pushed myself forward and touched the Eater. First my hand, then part of my arm, and lastly, my face. The soft flesh of my cheeks scraping along the thick metal plates. Metal plates of the monster that killed my parents. For a moment, all went dark. The darkness that only lasted a second but also a lifetime and then in a burst of light.
[Awaken]