Concepts [II]

The shadowy wall pixelated and fell into the earth...

And Lucian's vision was filled with the most beautiful scene he'd ever laid his eyes on. Instead of looking straight onto an open Tile, he was looking at a small mesa that stood close to five meters tall and was covered with green moss. The moss had white and pink flowers growing all over it, and multiple waterfalls tumbled into a wide stream that surrounded the entire platform. As the water splashed down, translucent waterfalls sprang up from the streams, which disappeared into caves running through the beautiful rock formation.

Lucian stared open-mouthed at the sight before him. Even though he'd been expecting something otherworldly, it sure hadn't been this. The constant sounds of the crashing waterfalls filled his ears, and the feel of the light mist assaulted his skin. He longed to strip off his equipment and dive into the water, but he wouldn't let down his guard until he'd done some exploring.

Still, he walked closer to inspect the moss and have a drink while making sure no creature would suddenly escape the caves. The water was clean, and Lucian drank many gulps before he was satisfied and quickly returned to his Tile. He wanted to check out the caves, but there were matters that he had to handle first.

"Well, I can always Indiana Jones this thing after prepping the skins," Lucian muttered. There were already ideas of making a bedroll and backpack from the many furs and skins he could salvage from this batch of rats. He didn't intend to let any more material go to waste.

Lucian set to work skinning the beasts, pulling their bones, and slicing some of the meat into strips. He would attempt to smoke a bit into jerky, but the majority would be tossed into the void. The brains went into the three large pots he had, and he covered them to keep the organs from rotting in the following hours.

After scraping the meat and fat from the skin, he washed the hides thoroughly under one of the waterfalls while watching closely for any sudden attacks from the caves. While working on cleaning the skins, he noticed that creatures were swimming in the water that weren't much different from fish. His mouth began to water as he thought of the meals he'd be able to make with freshly caught seafood. With water this pristine, it was likely that the fish would be delectable!

He hummed his tune and continued to wash the skins while thinking of the many delicacies he would cook after trapping a few of the slippery bastards. It wasn't long after that Lucian found that he wasn't alone. A small blue rabbit joined him at the water's edge and began to drink from the running stream. After tasting the water, its eyes lit with that familiar, creepy light. Within minutes, tens of the little creatures made their way to the water.

"Hey, where's little green at?" He wondered quietly, not wanting to scare off the bunnies that were quenching their thirst. The rabbit had hopped off into the hedge after taking a quick nap, and he hadn't seen it since. Lucian owed it for the easy kill, and he swore to give it as many of the yellow fruits as it could eat!

He quickly finished washing the bloodied hides, coming away with several excellent, clean furs. Two of them were heavily damaged, but none were damaged beyond use. Lucian took the pelts, multiple branches, and the last of his twine into the [Vorikan] Tile and set up drying racks in the open space. With the light shining directly on them and the warm, arid atmosphere of the Tile, they would be dry by the time he awoke the following morning.

"Oh yeah..." After Lucian finished setting up the last stand, he remembered that he needed to search the sabercat's burrow. With so much to do, it had completely slipped his mind. He walked over to the cave the creature had leaped out of and peered down into the darkness.

Careful not to move too aggressively in case of a collapse, Lucian took one light step in, followed by another. With his enhanced vision, he could see to the end of the short tunnel and was impressed by how cleanly it had been carved out. If Lucian didn't know any better, he would think that it had been excavated by human machinery. When he ventured forward, a wretched smell assaulted his senses, and Lucian had to cover his nose with the leather apron. It didn't take long for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and he almost cried out when he saw what was lying at the back of the cave...

Bones!

The first thing that Lucian noticed was the many different types of bones piled toward the back wall of the cave. His heart raced when he saw the humanoid skulls stacked amongst the many strange animal bones. Many still had rotting skin on them, and he felt that he could make out the terror on their faces. It looked like the two tigers had been gnawing on them for a long time, getting everything they could from the corpses.

Lucian's legs almost buckled, but he caught himself and shook his head wildly. He slapped his face lightly and steeled his resolve. He'd endured too much to be freaked out by a mere pile of bones at this point.

As Lucian stared at the pile, somewhat curious by the odd shapes of the humans and animals among them, he noticed something colorful lying within. It wasn't just one object, either. There were multiple.

Curiosity outweighed his revulsion, and he stepped forward, using the spear he carried to sift through the pile from a short distance. Once he'd knocked a few of the skulls and rib cages out of the way, Lucian jumped in excitement at what appeared beneath.

"This is..."

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Transitioning to a new platform, so go check it out! Will no longer be posting LoN on WebNovel after chapter 50.

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