Izzy came back right when Dmitri appeared to shuttle the newbies away. Elwyndor gave everyone a lunch pack and Marcus a scroll. Marcus checked it over as Richard placed the pack in his inventory.

  Marcus snapped the scroll closed. “Alright, everyone. Richard has both loot and inventory, which means he’s the first to fill his inventory. If we stumble upon basic monsters, he’s the one that loots them. Got it?”

  Everyone nodded as Elias climbed down the ladder. Marcus led the way, and Richard did his best to stay by Izzy’s side.

  “The fertilizer isn’t holding as well as it should. If nothing changes, Elwyndor and the others will have to take rotating shifts to keep the fertilizer constantly spread over the plants. They need more advanced materials, and as much as they can get. Master, if we can find them. They’re already losing a lot of crops, and they’re suffering most from the lack of manpower they once had.”

  “You really think the farmers are suffering from a lack of manpower?” Elias asked.

  Savannah shot him a glare. “Strange coming from you, who always says a scavenger class should be kept small.”

  Elias rolled his eyes.

  Marcus shook his head. “Just to make it perfectly clear, if we don’t have farmers, we don’t eat. And if we don’t eat, things will get ugly. Ignore everything in the forest until we reach the lake. We get what we can there, then we come back and gather on the way. We move fast, but silently. How’s everyone’s stealth?”

  “Master,” Elias and Savannah both said.

  Richard glanced around, wondering what they meant. “Uh… stealth?”

  Marcus turned to look at him, his face falling. “Shit, shit, shitty shit, shit,” Marcus whispered under his breath.

  “It’s an ability. One you must not have yet. Scared?” Elias asked.

  Richard wasn’t the only one glaring at Elias.

  Marcus checked the position of the sun. “Alright. To the lake. It’s half a day’s journey; let’s make it there by midmorning.”

  Richard almost wished Marcus hadn’t asked about the stealth ability. He became aware that Marcus, Elias, and Savannah were nearly silent as they trekked through the forest. Richard, on the other hand, winced at every noise he made. He followed in Marcus’s footsteps so he wouldn’t step in anything. At least Izzy was here. She was making just as much noise as he was, though she was way more deadly in a fight.

  Marcus wasn’t kidding about wanting to reach the lake by midmorning. They were booking it, somehow going at a jog, dodging the trees and moving around the foliage. Izzy would randomly stab a tree that shrieked before curling in on itself.

  “Just keep moving. She’ll catch up,” Marcus said to Richard.

  When Izzy did, she handed Richard the loot. “You’re the one that needs to upgrade your looting ability, no?” she asked after he gave her a weird look.

  “Oh, right.” Richard slipped it inside and saw two tree saps enter his stacked inventory.

  They kept moving fast. They weren’t being attacked by nearly as many monsters, but they also weren’t stopping for anything to find them.

  The forest got darker, the trees more twisted and closer together. A feeling of claustrophobia and paranoia entered his brain and heart. He knew this forest could kill him, and he was fighting every instinct to turn around and run back to base two. Despite all their preparation, he understood why Marcus did not want Richard to enter this part of the forest.

  The trees broke away, and Richard saw the lake Marcus mentioned. It was a huge oval shape, with little waves lapping at the edge. He frowned, noticing a figure halfway in the lake, with the water risen just enough to cover the body entirely. She was a woman in her late twenties, frozen in the water. Not like ice, but simply frozen. Richard took a few steps forward when Marcus raised a hand.

  “This body of water isn’t nearly as deadly as the ocean.” Marcus gestured toward the lake. “Because of the bravery of one woman fifteen years ago.”

  Richard frowned, then studied the lake again. That woman was completely frozen in the water, but she wasn’t the only thing in there. His heart stammered and his brain sputtered as he saw an enormous mouth open almost to the size of the lake itself. There were so many teeth inside that mouth that Richard’s self-preservation kicked in and he stumbled back. Somehow, that woman froze herself and whatever lake monster inside.

  “I… what happened… what is that thing?” Richard asked.

  “Not much is known, since fifteen years ago might as well be ancient history in an apocalypse. All we know is this woman froze herself and that thing in here for what we all hope is forever.”

  Richard again looked at the woman, frozen with a look on her face Richard wasn’t sure he could interpret. Fear, yes. Determination? Possibly. Maybe even a little anger. Granted, Richard didn’t focus too much on her face. He was far more concerned about just how many teeth were under the surface. That mouth was enormous; no doubt whatever monster was there could have easily swallowed this woman whole. And all those teeth would shred her to ribbons before she even reached the stomach.

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  “I, uh…” Richard’s blood pounded fast, his ears roaring with adrenaline as he kept staring at that open, frozen jaw. “How did anyone survive before that thing was frozen in the lake?”

  Marcus shrugged. “My guess? It had never been woken until this moment when it got frozen. It’s why we always say be careful when you step into the ocean.”

  Richard could not tear his gaze away from those teeth under the surface. It was all he could see. He couldn’t see the monster’s eyes even if he tried.

  “Now, you have the loot option, right?” Marcus asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Perfect. Follow me.” Richard obeyed, following Marcus to a muddy part of the lake. “Mudlings should be perfect for you. Izzy will stay close while we get some more advanced and master resources.” Marcus pulled out his dagger. “Tap the mud a few times to lure one out.” Marcus did so, and Richard watched, fascinated. It took only a few taps before the tip of a round head rose from the ground. Marcus brought the dagger down hard, and the creature died. He then hit the loot button before handing Richard a clot of mud. “That’s good for plant growth.”

  Richard slid it into his inventory as Marcus got up, brushing off his knees.

  “What if I touch the water?” Richard asked.

  Marcus dipped his fingers in the water, wiggling them a little. “The only threat in this lake is already frozen. Don’t get me wrong, there are still glimmer eels that will pull you under if they get the chance, but if you accidentally touch the water, it won’t end your life.”

  Richard nodded as Marcus walked away. Izzy stood close to the lake, her focus on anything that moved. He appreciated that as he reached forward with his dagger and tapped the ground a few times. He watched the mud and kept tapping, waiting for the top of a head to bubble up. When one did, he stabbed it with his knife, relieved that it had only taken him one stab to kill the monster like Marcus had. He mentally chose the loot button, easing more dirt into his inventory.

  He watched for the others, but they had disappeared. With the trees being so thick, they didn’t need to go far before they were out of sight. Richard kept up with the strange monotony. Monotony, because it was the same thing over and over. Strange, because he was killing these mudlings before they killed him. He wasn’t sure what they looked like, just that they had stringy hair that clung to their scalps.

  Richard’s stacked inventory filled with mud. He got an occasional clay as well, but it was mostly mud. As everyone told him, he assumed this was vital for survival in an apocalypse. But he also remembered how excited everyone was to get dead insect bodies, and yet here they were in the darker part of the forest collecting more things because once again they had run out.

  Richard couldn’t help but glance at the teeth again. They were jagged and went all the way down the throat of this creature. He was positive that if this creature were ever free, base camp two would be destroyed. No doubt about it. He had been there when Marcus and the others fought two bosses, and this looked like some sort of mega-boss.

  Richard glanced back at the dirt, realizing he’d been taping for a while and got distracted. His heart dropped as he saw multiple heads bobbing up from the mud.

  “Uh….”

  One creature lifted its body out of the mud, and Richard got a good look at it. When it pulled itself up, it had an enormous head with a tiny body. It had hollowed-out eyes and razor-sharp black teeth. It looked right at Richard, giving a gurgled snarl before dropping back down in the mud. The tiny body seemed to gain more strength, gathering up mud before reaching toward Richard. He didn’t let it get any further as he stabbed its body. The creature shrieked, but the mud circled around him and began sucking his hand deeper into the dirt. Richard’s eyes widened as another muddling jumped on his hand and melted with the mud to keep pulling him under.

  “Shit,” Richard said.

  Izzy turned. “Everything alright?”

  “No.” There was no point in being heroic. Not this deep in the forest. Richard’s mind scrambled as more mudlings jumped onto his wrist, and soon his arm was covered in mud. His dagger was now buried. He did the only thing he could think of and activated his punching power before punching the mud covering his arm. He let out a gasp as the shock of it shattered the bones in his wrist and hand. Three loot boxes appeared in his vision, but he ignored them all.

  Izzy started stabbing with her spear, and Richard tried punching them again. Without the activated super punch, he had to punch a creature three times before mud fell off his arm. He focused on doing that, gritting his teeth against the pain of his broken hand.

  More loot box options kept popping up in his vision, and he finally started collecting them, feeling more mud disappear when he did. He scooped up balls of mud and clay with his non-dominant hand and shoved them in his inventory, trying to wiggle his broken hand free so he could heal it and start stabbing.

  Izzy dropped her spear so deeply into the mud that Richard groaned as the spearhead pierced through all the shattered bones in his hand.

  “Oh, sorry.”

  “It’s fine.” Richard tried to see through the haze in his vision. “Lesson learned: don’t get distracted.”

  “A good one, yes.” Izzy stabbed deep, piercing Richard’s hand again. The noise he made was a little louder than he wanted, with how dark this forest was.

  Izzy grumbled, then quickly looted her mudlings. It was enough that Richard could finally pull his broken hand out. He immediately hit his heal power, feeling one of the stab wounds and his wrist knit together. It was a lot of pain to comprehend, and despite the system, his vision was still wobbly.

  “Let’s get your hand washed off. You’ve got a healing potion, right?” Izzy asked.

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Perfect. These low-level creatures wouldn’t have hurt you too badly, so you won’t have to waste your healing ability.” Everything in Richard froze as he stared at Izzy. She frowned, trying to read his expression. “What did you…”

  “I already hit it,” Richard mumbled.

  Izzy paused, then slowly nodded as though accepting this as reality. “Alright, well… I’ll break it to Marcus gently. Usually this dark in the forest, if you get an injury from a creature that can be healed with a potion, use that first. Healing abilities are usually a last resort. Or injuries that can’t be healed by potions.” Izzy gnawed on the inside of her cheek. “Things you would have learned as we took things a little slower. But…”

  “But we can’t, because we’re on the verge of extinction.”

  Izzy grunted as she took his arm and dunked it in the lake. “We’ll get back fine. I’ll break the news to Marcus. How long is your cooldown?”

  “Uh, it’s a two-hour cooldown. So… one hour and fifty-four minutes.”

  Izzy nodded, making sure his arm was completely cleared off. She then took a healing potion and poured it over his arm. Richard grunted as the bones snapped together and his skin knit closed.

  “Thank you.”

  Izzy shook her head. “You’re welcome. Let’s get home in one piece, shall we?”

  She would give him an answer he didn’t like, but he asked it anyway. “What if I do end up in pieces?”

  “As long as nothing vital has been hit, Lucy can stitch you back up again. She’s done it before.”

  He could tell she was giving a very brief, very detail-lacking answer to something she had witnessed before. As he was already feeling like one big scare away from having a nervous breakdown, he decided not to ask for further details.