[Passive Skill: Local Geography - Activated]
[Analysing...]
[Nearest settlement detected: Hancock Village - 25km Northwest]
[Terrain: Forest paths, possible wildlife encounters]
[Estimated travel time: 7-8 hours on foot]
He raised his head and noticed the sun had already started setting beyond the horizon, which meant he had a few minutes or rather hours left before darkness covered the entire land.
'Shelter and food. Travelling to Hancock right now won't be easy, I'll leave at dawn. For now, I'll search around the area for food, I think I should be able to find something edible around here'
He turned back to the system screen and scrolled through. After a while of quiet thought, he decided to use the skill again. 'Alright, time to get comfortable tonight..' he stretched his body hard, shaking off the drowsiness in his bones.
'Man, it's been so long. I've moved on both feet, and the air smells so…. Unclean, but I can somehow manage. I can finally use my hands again though. This is going to be a fun adventure'
[Local Geography (Passive) - Triggered]
Knowledge he shouldn't have suddenly clicked into place. Street names, building locations, the layout of a village he'd never seen before, all of it clear as day in his mind.
'Alright, let's see how I can survive for tonight..' he turned to the system's neon red screen, scrolling through the message notification.
[You are in: Fallen Crest Village]
• Status: Destroyed 2 weeks ago during the drought
• Cause: Divine abandonment by Sun and Weather Gods
• Former hub for farming communities
• Current state: Mass grave, no survivors
[Local Landmarks Registered:]
. Village Square - Central meeting point, now littered with corpses
. Old Chapel - Stone building at the village centre, roof collapsed
. Graveyard - Eastern outskirts, where the host body was buried (current location)
. Water Well - North district, dried up 3 months before the massacre
. Blacksmith's Forge - Western edge, tools and equipment likely intact
. Market Street - Southern district, abandoned stalls and goods
. Village Chief's Manor - Largest building, northwest corner, ransacked
. Grain Storage - Eastern district near farms, possibly has remaining supplies
. Healer's Cottage - Small hut south of chapel, herbs, and medicine inside
. Guard Outpost - Village entrance, west road, weapons may remain
[Warning: Bodies have not been cleared. Possible disease risk.]
'Nice, this skill is more useful than it looks.' He grinned softly, 'Now I can find my way around here without getting lost.'
He read through the texts, memorising all he needed to before setting off towards the eastern district of the Fallen Crest village. The former toll on his body had subsided, but to fully heal, he needed food, energy, and water somehow.
Even though he was unnaturally still alive despite the body being dead for so long, it didn't fully mean he was a zombie. He still needed to eat and fill his gut with something to digest so as to gain energy and nutrients.
'And from the knowledge I just earned, the only place to get that here would be the eastern district, where the farms and grain storage are.'
A question stirred at the back of his mind as he moved, and he couldn't help but ask himself. 'If they had a drought, how would they somehow have grains left?'
The streets were uncleaned, and dead bodies lay all over the place. It was unsanitary and sickening to the mind. He often spat on the ground whenever he passed by a corpse. Because of how bad it smelled.
It was unusual how so many people died because of a drought, and even more unusual, how they all died. Even a sudden earthquake wouldn't cause this much destruction to a city, depending on the magnitude but still.
'Why so many dead bodies on the streets if they died of starvation? It doesn't make any sense.' He shook his head and covered his nose with his palms as he walked through a pile of corpses.
He could boldly see maggots, the size of his middle fingers, move around these bodies carefree, and he couldn't help but feel like vomiting.
Using the map the system provided him with, he arrived at the Eastern district in less than half an hour.
Without the system's guide, he would have been a lost wanderer in a graveyard city. It would have been awkward and unsanitary for him to continue ingesting the air in his surroundings.
The air around these parts felt lighter and easier to breathe in without feeling like his lungs would pop at any moment. There was a large signboard carefully written on the top of the signpost: WELCOME TO THE EASTERN DISTRICT.
He nodded his head and then went in for a brief search. The sun had already kissed the sky goodbye and was now heading to the other side of the world.
The stars came out, pulling the moon along, and the light in the sky vanished without a trace: Night had fallen. The darkness crept behind him, pushing him into making sudden life decisions in the middle of the Eastern district.
He was about to make a terrible decision when he noticed flickering lights down the alley of a building. At first, he thought it was his eyes, but the pitch darkness supported his vision and proved to him he was not mentally ill.
'A wildfire, perhaps?' He pulled out logical explanations for the flickering lights. He was forced to move stealthily towards the lights and check out the possible cause.
As he drew closer, he started hearing chattering. Like the voices of a group of individuals discussing about a long, tedious day at work.
'But the system informed me that there were no survivors… a group of undead, maybe? Or this body of mine allows me to hear and see ghosts..?' Another conclusion he made up in his head.
'Either of it, I have to check it out.' he finally came to a decision and moved forward, activating a passive skill he knew would come in handy.
'Activate Streetwise!' he called out mentally. A neon red streak came across his vision and the system notification rang, appearing by the corner of his focused eyes.
[Streetwise (Passive) - Triggered]
[Alert: Campfire detected 50m ahead - multiple voices, possible survivors or hostiles]
[Recommended Action: Approach with caution, assess threat level before engagement].