Chapter 14: The Garden of Beasts (Part 1)

The bodies seemed almost stone-like in their positions. Frozen in a moment, paused in time, like a sculpture that captures the essence and root of horror that humans can display. Andrew looked around as the sun seemingly began to set on this field.

Something had killed these people right at the location of the gate, however, he hasn't been attacked yet. His suspicions and paranoia continued to rise as he looked around.

Andrew drew closer to another body this time as he looked at it his eyes flared golden.

A familiar series of sounds rang in his head.

𝘋𝘐𝘕𝘎

[Fate Detected...]

[Reading Past, Present, and Future Data...]

[Data received...]

[Beginning ...]

[Initializing...]

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Rendering...]

In an instant, the scene in front of him changed. Andrew stood back in the field in the dead of night, as he looked around he saw a group of people just a ways away.

The sounds of laughter echoed through the empty field as they talked.

These were members of the Glory guild who had been in charge of mining or grinding this dungeon.

"So what's the plan today?"

"Same plan as always, we farm, remember don't touch the core and close the dungeon!"

"Aye aye aye"

As the group was about to leave the air began to change as Andrew began to feel a dangerous blood-lust flood his senses.

His eyes darted and his body tensed as he watched the group from afar. Despite knowing that this was a vision of sorts he couldn't stop the shiver that crawled down his spine.

Suddenly a muffled thus could be heard.

𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘧

"What!"

"What's going on?"

"Watch out for--"

Shadowy figures that resembled insects seemed to crawl out of the ground, combining to form giant tendrils. Tendrils which latched on to them, before dragging them away into the ground as well.

As their bodies were dragged and pulled into the earth the sounds of their bones crunching and breaking echoed through the field as gurgled screams were further muffled by the earth.

The remaining survivors grew fearful and attempted to fight back.

"COME ON LETS DO IT"

"AAH"

In an instant, the remaining survivors were all caught. Their bodies were now coated in shadows that seemed to crawl and skitter around.

Their bodies were then bent and crushed, pulled into the earth itself.

The vision ended.

The golden hue now faded from Andrew's eyes, as he regained his vision of the surroundings. Instantly he noticed that the light from the sun in this dungeon had begun to grow dimmer. Once it set, he would be completely vulnerable.

Panic began to rise as Andrew's mind raced with solutions to counter his current predicament. His mind replayed the images that he had seen, as he desperately scrutinized every detail to find some sort of loophole.

It was at that moment Andrew came to a possible solution. During his vision before the entire group fell, they had tried to fight back with minimal effect. However, something interesting happened before they died.

One of the members of the group appeared to be a decent magic user and fought back by frantically casting spells at the creatures. While most of her attacks were abysmal in terms of effectiveness, one spell proved to be helpful, however, she was overwhelmed before she could ever fully make use of it.

The spell itself was of the flame attribute, and while it didn't burn any of the creatures, Andrew noticed that many of the creatures seemed to stray away from its light as if scared.

If this was so then it made sense why such creatures never came out in the day, it was because they couldn't.

Immediately Andrew got to work, time was running out and the sun was setting. Quickly his mind went into overdrive as various thoughts appeared in his mind.

He was currently in a field with no clear resources that could help him light a flame of any sort. He could use the gunpowder in his bullets to as to help start a flame, but he wouldn't be able to consistently keep it burning.

Pulling off the backpack that he brought, Andrew rummaged through trying to find an item that might help him.

Finally, he stopped. Reaching into his backpack he pulled out a flashlight, one that he had packed just in case. A flashlight may not have been real flames or anything, but it still emitted light, hopefully, it was enough to keep him safe.

As Andrew thought this, the final remnants of light had disappeared, as night had come and claimed the day.

The ground shook, as Andrew stood there he could feel the subtle vibrations of something within the ground. Quickly reacting he turned on his flashlight, turning it on anything that seemed to shift and move.

The field went quiet for just a second.

Before cracks appeared beneath Andrew's feet as shadowy insects broke out from underneath. Instantly they began to amass into the tendril-like forms, ones that he had seen before. Quickly reacting he shone his flashlight on the creatures.

As if they had been burnt by light the creatures seemed to disperse and retreat.

Andrew began moving, using his flashlight to protect and guide the way.

Walking through the field he kept his guard up, wary of any possible surprises. Almost failing to react more than once.

After what seemed like hours, he finally came to what appeared to be a forest. He could hear the faint sounds of what seemed like a bird's song echoes throughout.

Venturing within Andrew remained vigilant, choosing to move by jumping from tree to tree to keep from the ground below, and gain a better vantage point.

Using a handkerchief that he had with him, Andrew tied his flashlight to the hunting rifle and armed himself. He kept his flashlight off momentarily after finding that it was safe to do, while also letting his eyes adjust to the night. He couldn't risk the flashlight giving his position away.

Soon Andrew came across what seemed to be a group of highly aggressive Boulder Boars. Boulder boars possessed impressive strength and defense while also being able to blend into their surroundings by disguising themselves like a boulder or a stone.

Bullets couldn't hurt a boulder boar unless they are specially crafted, or the monster had already been stripped of its armor. The knives that he currently had on hand would bend under the hard armor of the monster. Not to mention that Fighting them would be tough, especially for a group of them.

Overall it would be wise not to engage.

This is exactly what he would have said a couple of months back. However, now after becoming blessed, Andrew could fight, while he may be low-ranked, he has strength and he knows how to use it.

Andrew ventured around the Boulder boars, careful not to alert them, to scout the area. Soon he came to find what seemed to be a deep trench that had been dug by something or someone but had long been abandoned.

Using the trench, Andrew aggravated the Boulder boars, by targeting them with precise shots. These shots dealt virtually no damage but were more focused on annoying and taunting the monsters.

One by one they were lured towards the trench itself.

While the trench was deep, it was tight enough such that once a boulder boar was stuck it would take a considerable amount of effort to get out. With little and no room to move, these monsters became fish in a barrel for Andrew.

Every time one found themselves stuck in a trench, Andrew would take the opportunity to deal with them. While having high defenses, Boulder boars were otherwise simplistic in behavior and cognition. Their main instinct during any danger was to trample the danger or hideaway.

The issue in defeating them, beyond just defense is the agility that it possesses. For something large, it possesses a surprisingly agile body, able to react and move quickly. However, once that is neutralized all that Andrew had to do was tear off its armor.

As the monster continued its constant struggle and thrashing in the small finite space of the trench, it seemed to fall into a state of mindlessness. As it kept violently struggling and thrashing in the trench, smashing and crashing about.

Eventually, the armor on their bodies started to wear out and slowly ripped off due to the thrashing and struggle of the monster. This helped in exposing a defenseless target that was now easy pickings for Andrew.

With their flesh fully exposed, Andrew unloaded into their vital areas.

One shot, then a drop.

The bullets easily pierced through their flesh after that, each shot aimed at the brain of the monster.

𝘉𝘈𝘕𝘎

The sound of the gun threw the remaining monsters in the trench into a frenzy, as they began to struggle even more, ever so violently. Every shake now shook the area around, as dirt and dust were kicked up into the air.

𝘉𝘈𝘕𝘎

One more, two more, three more, four more.

𝘉𝘈𝘕𝘎

When the dust settled, all that was left was a line of mangled Boulder boars laying there dead. The few which survived had already scurried off into the forest.

Sigh

Andrew let loose a breath that he didn't know he was holding.

Moving out from his hiding spot behind a couple of large trees, Andrew slowly moved toward the bodies left in the trench.

The previous sounds of boulder boars and their struggles were nowhere to be found, as the area around him fell silent. Andrew picked up a large piece of the armor that had been torn off during the struggle. Its decent size and strong defense would provide Andrew with good protection should he ever need it, tying it to his back, he made his way towards the corpses of the boulder boars in the trench.

Pulling out his knife he went to work quickly cutting up the corpses, bringing some of the meat for emergency food, while searching for any cores.

Finding none, Andrew prepared to leave and continue to make his way through the dungeon. Getting up to leave he stopped in his tracks as he turned his gaze back to the corpses. His mind went back to the skill he had gained, one of the greatest benefits of his ability to read "fate" is that he could gather a large amount of information.

Activating his skill, he was met with a familiar sound.

𝘋𝘐𝘕𝘎

[Fate Detected...]

[Reading Past, Present, and Future Data...]

[Data received...]

[Beginning ...]

[Initializing...]

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Rendering...]

Instantly various images flashed in front of Andrew, as he experienced the life of the boulder boar, this time, in just seconds.

Born from its parents, the boulder boar had only known monotony for its whole life. Eat, sleep, and walk, a fixed routine that constantly occurred. As it grew up this didn't change much, the only difference was that its armor made its defense strong, and it grew more aggressive.

At the moment of its death, which occurred as it followed its brethren out of curiosity, there was only a singular thought on its mind "sleepy". Its experiences and memories overall didn't possess any important information.

Once it was confirmed that there was nothing else to do Andrew left and continued to venture deeper into the silent forest.

The soft rustle of crushed fallen leaves under his feet could be heard as he walked with caution and wariness.

In the dark, a large distance away from Andrew's current position two eyes that glowed an ominous red could be seen.

A shadow of a face and a hint of a smirk were all that seemed to be visible, as the mysterious being seemed to be looking in the direction of Andrew.

The figure slowly disappeared back into the darkness.

Andrew felt as if he was being observed, as a chill ran up his spine. Despite regressing to a weaker body, his instincts developed from years of fighting hadn't left.

Stopping and looking around his area, Andrew held his rifle tight as his muscles tensed, ready to react at a moment's notice. In the dark he could see as the moonlight illuminated the forest, however, he couldn't find anything out of place.

Andrew tried to strain his ears to notice any sounds of movement, however, in the dark of night all that Andrew could hear was the sound of his breath.