Near the Valackian coast, a small weather-beaten ship was tied to a half-rotted dock, its hull encrusted with barnacles and black algae. Gulls circled overhead, screeching into the grey dawn mist. Beyond the shoreline, the swamp stretched in endless brown-green desolation, trees draped in black moss like corpses strung up for display.
"This place reeks of poison and shit," Martin muttered, wrinkling his nose as he stepped onto the muddy bank. The humid air felt thick as rotten oil in his lungs. A revolting blend of stagnant swamp, sulfurous fumes, and rotting fish permeated everything.
He glanced around at the terrain: a corrupted fusion of swamp and forest interlaced with a poisoned river, its surface filmed with yellow-green sludge that bubbled occasionally as if exhaling death itself.
But none of it surprised him. Hydra, the Lord of Poisons, had made this marsh its nest decades ago. Its mana saturated every molecule of mud, reed, insect, and breeze with virulent toxins capable of killing a Steelblood boar within minutes.
Then there was Sodagui, the Devourer of Lands, a creature tall as a siege tower and heavy enough to flatten stone outcrops into clay dust. Its bloated body was sickly and covered in patchy, bristle-like hairs. An omnivorous monstrosity, it was said to consume entire forests to feed its endless hunger.
The two monsters had formed a territorial stalemate over the years. Hydra's poison kept Sodagui at bay, as its body was vulnerable to toxin overload despite its regenerative prowess. Sodagui, on the other hand, could tear through Hydra's heads with brute force, forcing it to withdraw each time. Neither could fully drive the other away.
Martin sighed. "Armor," he commanded quietly, as his mana surged outward. A thick layer of translucent reddish-black mana wrapped every inch of his body, forming an armored shell that rippled and hardened into seamless plating.
He took his first step into the swamp, feeling the ground squelch beneath his armored boots. Instantly, something shot forward with frightening speed. A blurred shape launched out of the undergrowth, fangs bared, slamming into his calf.
"Stupid ecosystem," Martin grunted as he looked down at the giant snake that had broken its fangs on his armor. Its eyes widened in pain and rage before it recoiled into the fetid water.
"Huh?" he blinked, feeling the ground shift under him. Before he could move, a massive root-like tendril whipped around his leg, yanking him off his feet and dragging him through mud and black water at terrifying speed.
"Son of a forest!!!" Martin roared, summoning flame with a flick of his wrist. The inferno burst from his fingers in a jagged arc, burning through the vines and sending clouds of acidic smoke rising from the churned swamp water.
He tumbled to a stop near a half-submerged log, splashing filthy water everywhere as he rolled onto his back. Rising to his feet, Martin glared at the gnarled trees looming overhead, their black moss curtains dripping with milky poison. 'Now I know why people don't come here. It's not dangerous – it's deathly annoying.'
He flexed his armored fingers experimentally as the water slid off in oily sheets. 'The creatures here must have learned to suppress their presence to avoid Sodagui's relentless feeding. But to this extent… terrifying.'
A low ripple sounded through the river to his left. Martin turned sharply, his gaze flicking across the grey water until it locked onto a shape beneath the surface.
Then the water exploded.
A gigantic jaw lined with curved serrated fangs lunged at him, its maw wide enough to swallow a wagon. Martin dove to the side, rolling through a patch of thorny vines as the serpent slammed into the bank, spraying mud, shattered reeds, and dying fish into the air.
The creature was colossal, its scales slick with poisonous moss and leech colonies. It coiled swiftly, aiming to constrict him.
Martin swung his hand horizontally, releasing an Air Blade. The invisible slash cut clean through the serpent's head. Its decapitated skull fell into the water with a massive splash, but the muscular coils still writhed, flailing and smashing him sideways into a moss-covered tree trunk with bone-jarring force.
"Is this place serpent-themed?" Martin muttered as he staggered upright, shaking swamp water from his hair. His mana armor flickered as dozens of small slithering noises reached his ears. Turning slowly, he saw a gathering of snakes weaving through the reeds, eyes glinting like dull gemstones in the dim light.
Their bodies twisted and rippled through the mud with unnatural grace, forming a tightening circle around him.
"Wonderful," Martin sighed. He raised both hands, his mana swirling into a dense, hot aura. "Fine then."
Flames erupted outward in a sweeping arc, incinerating the first line of serpents. Their bodies convulsed and melted, releasing a foul stench that mingled with the swamp's poisonous miasma. But as the smoke cleared, he could still hear the hissing of dozens more.
'What a mess,' Martin thought, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the encroaching shadows. 'I can't use any big spells, or one of the two will come walking. And then it's not just an annoying ecosystem – it's an extinction event.'
He rolled his shoulders, feeling his mana surge with impatient hunger beneath his armored skin.
"Alright then," he whispered to the silent swamp, his tone almost playful despite the lethal gleam in his eyes, "let's see just how far annoyance can push me today."
Above, the storm clouds began to gather into a dark spinning vortex, heralding thunder that trembled across the poisoned forest floor as Martin took his first true step into the depths of Valack's cursed jungle.