"Oh, no, I'm fine, Mom. And yes, I've eaten too."
Honestly, at first, I found her calls annoying every time a new job came up, but as time went by and the deaths of my colleagues became more and more frequent, I began to value those moments more and more.
"Did Dad wake up? All the more reason to come back in one piece, don't you think?"
My heart warmed a little at the news.
Working at a time like this didn't exactly make me the best son, but what could I do? Work is work.
"I'm going to hang up now, Mom. I need to set up the equipment before I enter the new zone, and don't worry. I'm good at it, so bye."
I stared at the floor for a few moments as I hung up.
My facade crumbled with a sigh as I gathered my courage.
Today, my hands no longer trembled as I began to assemble the equipment...
"Enough. Work is work."
As always, I repeated these words of comfort to myself before taking off my clothes and putting on the protective suit that covered me from head to toe. Neither my mouth nor my nose were exceptions, being covered by a mask.
Hot and stuffy as always. My only protection was the oxygen tank connected to the protective mask.
I quickly put on the rest of the equipment. A motion and thermostatic sensor, along with a special camera that would transmit everything via satellite, small bottles for collecting samples, and the tools to do so. There were also some small beacons connected to the motion sensor to mark the path, but...
Zero weapons...
The people in the department were complete assholes.
"Anyway, shall we begin?"
With those words, I finally took a step into the new, unexplored zone...
.
.
.
The atmosphere was simply suffocating. Not that it was anything new or unexpected from a new zone, but this one was especially suffocating for some reason.
The mana was especially dense, increasing the vegetation to an absurd level. My eyes were met with plants of various colors everywhere.
The color blue was the most predominant. That wasn't a good sign. Probably most of them had acquired poisonous characteristics, given the fauna of the place before it became a new zone, but...
"Maybe I'm in luck?"
I paused for a moment, closing my eyes to calmly analyze the situation. No one in the department expected this to become a poisonous zone, not with how little time had passed since this unexplored area was formed, but maybe that was for the best. The chance that the previously predominant poisonous fauna had evolved was now minimal. The environment had developed too much for that to be the case.
Dealing with poison would be dangerous, but dealing with poisonous animals would be my death sentence. 1-0 to me.
I soon began to carefully collect samples before cautiously venturing deeper into the forest. The sensor was always on, ready to show any abnormal movement, even with the lack of heat.
Some time has passed since then. Everything was going normally, with me finding a few decomposing animal carcasses along the way and among the vegetation, proving more and more that the fauna had not evolved and that this was perhaps my safest exploration to date.
Of course, this made me a little paranoid too. Everything indicated "safe," but my pessimism wouldn't let me let my guard down.
It made me doubt even the wind... Wind? Fuck!
Without thinking twice, I threw myself into a giant bush nearby, hiding. My heart was racing!
How did I not notice this before? It was very windy outside the zone, but inside it was calm. So calm that, along with my fear, I let it slip when I entered the zone.
Please! Please! Don't let it be a damm bird!
If any birds have evolved, I'm dead! Definitely dead...
This is the worst possible scenario. Given the previous fauna, this was clearly a hunting ground for various flying predators, but given the environmental combinations, the chance of having a nest of any flying predator was almost nil, despite being a hunting ground, so it must be some isolated bird or one that was hunting at the time the zone was formed.
Damn, I should have realized this earlier and immediately requested to abandon the mission.
What was I thinking? It was so obvious! This incongruity of the environment with the air.
Sigh... Well, there's no point in lamenting now, right?
The notion that the environment had developed so much ended up clouding my judgment with a false hope of safety.
Beep... Beep...
I'm fucked... I didn't even need to look at the sensor to throw myself desperately to the side! My heart froze with the wind hitting my back, while I managed to narrowly avoid the low pass...
One more thought, and those beautiful black claws would have torn me in three!
My heart raced to its limit as I began to run through the trees and increasingly dense vegetation, ignoring the path I had previously marked. My breath was labored with every jump and dodge from the creature's swoops!
With every dodge, stumble, and scratch, I felt my heart beating beyond its limit. I didn't want to die here! Not like this!
Despite this, my movements became increasingly useless as deep scratches penetrated my skin!
My death was approaching...
I lost too much blood.
Not to mention that the sensor was damaged and barely beeping anymore.
My resistance didn't last much longer with the oxygen tank ruptured. I quickly threw myself into a bush, trying to staunch the deepest wound in my ribs.
The pain was the least of my worries now... Not even the poison in the environment corroding my flesh was...
Simply and solely the creature's majestic landing was on my mind. Everything else was just noise.
Its terrifying white plumage contrasted with its black claws. Its imposing height conveyed a majestic feeling along with the crown of feathers on its head.
A predatory gaze, yet curious and... Childlike?!
Its features resembled those of a harpy eagle...
A baby harpy eagle...