What option should I choose?
This question rang throughout my head as I pondered over the four choices that I currently had. Each option seemed to have its own strong points and weaknesses, which left me pondering for a long time.
Time was ticking, and a decision had to be made before the sun went down. I didn't know why I needed to leave before night arrived, but every last piece of my body warned me of the dangers that would arrive.
If these feelings could be trusted was a completely different aspect, but at the very least, being careful and patient was the least I should do.
If there was a chance of danger at night and I could come back the next day during the morning and be perfectly fine, then I would do it.
Because of that, the best decision here felt to be to run away. But there was also another problem: creatures lurked in the forest at night, without shelter and being familiar with your surroundings, it would be the same as walking to your death.
Running away wasn't a possible option for me anymore, which now left three options for where I could go. Although it was a risky move, it was also a chance for a glimmer of hope.
If there were survivors left from this massacre, then they must've found a small shelter or camp. If I could get to them in time, it would most likely be safe, and I could get important information.
But there was a problem, which was that I had to figure out which trace to trust and which ones not to trust. If I chose wrong and ended up in the middle of bloodthirsty monsters, then my life would come to an end.
If I chose right and found the rest of the people from the village, then my situation would be safe. But each option that I had differed and time was slowly trickling away.
Trying my hardest to think quickly, I analyzed each possible option. The first trace had blood. But with my skills, I couldn't tell if that was human blood or the blood of another creature. But what was obvious was the extreme amount of blood that could be the result of fighting.
The second trace was ripped scraps of clothes that trailed off into the forest. The floor was mostly covered in branches, which left no visible footprints of any kind. Although there weren't any other clues, the clothes most likely belonged to people and not monsters.
Finally, the third trace was just a series of footprints. But they didn't resemble any type of shoes, just the shape of a foot, which was mildly concerning. There should be no reason for anyone to run away without shoes, especially since the chances of getting injured will be drastically increased.
After analyzing for a bit longer, I finally decided on the second trace. Although the third option was also viable, recalling the bear-like human hybrid from before made me feel hesitant about following it.
After all, what if the end of the trail was a hungry, human-like beast that hadn't had breakfast yet?
And as for the first trace, it was too vague and didn't provide any clues for a good possible outcome. It was way too risky and dangerous and if there was a safer option, I would most definitely choose it.
So reluctantly, I finally chose the second trace headed into the dark forest, following scraps of torn-off clothes as my only source of information.
Before long I found myself surrounded by the vast forest. Nothing but trees stretched on into the distance as the scraps of torn clothes became increasingly scarce. Thinking of this, I realized that choosing this trail might not have been the best decision.
The one crucial detail that I forgot was that clothes were a finite amount, and a very little amount at that. Torn scraps of clothes could not be used forever, and they would eventually run out.
As time passed on and the sky became increasingly dimmer, the torn scraps of clothes became more and more scarce. Before, I could find some new scraps every five steps; now it would be closer to fifteen steps.
Naturally my pace in finding the end of this trail of clothes became slower. But luckily enough I finally reached the end of the trail with some guessing and backtracking.
But the end of the trail was a small cave. There didn't seem to be any resources lying around or any signs of life, but simply a small cave in the middle of this vast forest.
Trying my best to observe this small area, I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary except the fact that it seemed extremely desolate. But because the sun was just about to completely disappear from the sky, and there were small signs of darkness creeping up around me, I gathered my courage and headed inside.
As I walked through the hard stone floor, at first I couldn't hear anything but the small clanking sounds of my shoes against the floor, but eventually I heard small groans of pain and a strange smell in the air.
Although I couldn't see in front of me, I listened to where the sound had come from and tried to navigate slowly through the dark cave, extending my hands in front of me to see if I could feel anything.
As I slowly approached the sounds of groaning deeper inside the cave, I felt even more unsettled as these sounds echoed throughout the cold walls of the cave and the strange smell became more and more apparent.
Eventually I finally got to the end noises of the sounds but with how dark the cave was, I couldn't see anything. Without any other good options left, I decided to feel around with my hands instead.
Using my ears to pinpoint the location of the groans on the floor, I hesitantly reached out with my foot at first. I felt a soft, squishy feeling as whatever I just touched groaned harder and trembled.
Feeling this, I immediately jumped back several steps as my heart thumped uncontrollably. But as I slowly calmed myself down, I gathered my courage before reaching out with my feet again. This time the same groan could be heard but I calmed my heart as I tried to figure out what it was.
But using my shoes wasn't the most effective way; I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was nor could I feel around to look for details. So after hesitating for a bit, I tried to reach out with my hands.
I felt a squishy sound as I found myself touching something that was fleshy. But that was something that I had already felt with my shoes but what I didn't think I would feel was something that was sticky that covered the areas that I touched this creature with.
So I pulled my hands back and tried to observe my fingertips. Although I couldn't see, I still had my sense of smell. Bringing my hands up to my nose, I found myself smelling a faintly familiar smell. It was like a rotten sweet scent, something that I felt like I'd encountered before.
Yet I just couldn't put my hands on what it was.
But I reluctantly decided to ignore this feeling as I tried to gather more clues in this unsettling cave. Feeling around, I decided that this felt like something very similar to a human, but unlike everyone else that I've seen before, it had a lot of body hair.
But thinking it through, I concluded with hesitation that this was most likely a human, but the condition of this man was different from what you'd usually expect. The only problem was that I couldn't see anything here. Although my other senses could go a long way, in the end I still can't pinpoint a person with just touch.
But a gut feeling told me that something was wrong, yet I just couldn't put my mind on it. It was like my mind was covered in fog and the information I needed was right in front of me yet I couldn't remember it.
But as these thoughts flashed through my mind, another groan sounded off in the distance, which made me jump up in surprise. I finally realized that there were many other people in here and that it wasn't only one person.
But before I could turn and examine the other way, I suddenly felt a chill run down my back; my hairs stood on end as my body told me to run away as fast as I could.
I felt paralyzed down to the bone, but straining my body to its maximum, I was finally able to strain my neck and found myself face-to-face with the same black creature that had originally appeared in the destruction of my village, the same one that created those werewolf monsters.
But this time I was much closer and was able to clearly see the features it had. Its inky-like appearance, pure black, like the dark sky, covered its entire body. Its body was similar to that of an adult man, with similar features like fingers and limbs.
Although there weren't any type of facial features on it, no eyes or mouth. I could still feel the tremendous pressure of a gaze as it looked down at me. But different from what I could see before, the inky surface of its body was swirling.
Each part of it seemed to be swirling in all directions, creating what seemed like infinite spirals spread throughout its body. This scene was so unsettling to the bone that my legs felt inexhaustibly weak as I collapsed to the ground.
I clenched my teeth and tried to force myself to stand up but I just seemingly couldn't. My entire body was covered with sweat as I exerted all the energy that I could have and I couldn't even make my legs shake.
I was fully expecting myself to die; all I could think of at that moment of my life was about my family. My brother would be left all alone in this desolate world while the remains of my family were still unknown.
I closed my eyes, expecting myself to be gone from this world in the next moment, but to my surprise nothing seemed to occur. Seconds passed by, minutes passed by, and eventually I slowly opened my eyes and saw nothing around me.
That mysterious creature that was in front of me was now gone; no other sound remained but only an empty breeze that felt cold to the bone. WIthout the pressure from this creature, I finally got the strength to get back up to my feet with great trouble.
The strength that was originally groaning out of pain was now gone. It was like everything that had just happened was a mere hallucination or an event in my imagination. As I was doubting myself on what happened, I slowly found my way out of the cave.
In the vast forest now glittering in the shine of the bright moon, I felt a wave of confusion wash over me. But as I was lost in these thoughts of mine, I suddenly remembered something that I had wanted to check.
Looking down on my hands that had touched the people back in the cave, I remembered that weird feeling on my hands that I couldn't seem to figure out what it was. As I looked down, I saw a distinct color plague my hands.
My hands were red, red like the sunset. That sickly sweet smell, a deathly metallic smell that felt like it could pierce through my head. I felt confused at first. I examined my body and saw my shoes covered in the same dark red. Every part of my body that I touched the people with was covered in the same red.
I felt sick to the bone; without doubt this was blood, but the amount of blood that was on the ground felt out of this world. The thoughts that lingered in my head were me chiding myself for my stupidity of not recognizing blood and the feeling of dread.
But along with this blood-red color were brownish strands of hair. Although I couldn't see back in the cave, I could still remember the distinctive feeling of the person's hair, rough and warm, unlike anything else that I've ever seen or felt.
Now left alone after these sudden events in the past couple of hours, I felt lost, confused, and despairing. I couldn't do anything, not even move a single strand of my hair, when I faced that creature.
An indescribable anger boiled within me, but it was not directed at anyone else but rather at myself. I couldn't figure out what happened to my family and to my village. I was even stupid enough to leave my brother out in the wilderness, alone, while I try to satiate this curiosity of mine.
I wanted to be strong enough to face that creature; I wanted to be able to live freely without worrying about the dangers of this world, and above all, I wanted the strength that allowed me to protect the people I hold dear.
My entire body felt like it was burning up, my eyes tearing up as I clenched my teeth with anger. I was too weak. too weak to do anything in this world, but deep inside I knew that I couldn't do anything about it.
But as these thoughts ran through my mind, something happened that I've never heard of. I felt like I was hallucinating but as I slapped myself in the cheeks a couple of times and felt a stinging pain, I realized that this wasn't a figment of my imagination.
A blue screen appeared right in front of my eyes, illuminating my surroundings as a pair of words was written on its screen. I felt confused as I squinted my eyes, reading the words written on this blue screen as I felt a tremor in my heart.
…
[Do you desire power?]