Chapter 6. Outside of the walls:

This afternoon Dave left the town. On him he took all his items (not that he had many to begin with)

Dave found himself outside the town searching for an odd mushroom. In the painting he saw it had a long green stem with a purple top. It almost looked like a plant but in reality it was a fungi.

Dave saw all kinds of odd creatures walking around the grasslands near the town.

He needed to avoid many of them as they were dangerous for him to engage even with his powers.

Most creature's were common domesticated grazing herbivorous animals, however sometimes he could see predators and even monsters.

Monsters are simply animals who can use classical magic, most monsters aren't actually that dangerous and many don't even feed on other life forms.

Some monsters don't even need to eat at all, however they are very rare and almost always still need to absorb energy using different means.

Simply put they get their energy from the sun or from magical energies flowing around them.

Dave had to stop when he noticed something seems to be following him in the distance.

He stopped and lifted his head higher up to try and see it better. He saw the grass rustling as if there was a beast hiding inside. The beast, once noticing that its cover has been blown, pounced out of the tall grass nearby.

It switched from stalking to striking in an instant. It looked like a small wolf but its teeth were shining with a crimson red colour. Dave instantly knew he got too far away from the city and the major roads by now, but it was too late for him to regret straying so far. However this time Dave was prepared as he slashed the beasts with his toothed plow. Dave has already chased many foxes out of the village back when it existed, for him this small wolf like monster was just a slightly larger fox. The plow landed straight on the monster's head causing it to crash on the ground. Dave lifted his plow to hit it again but it seemed the monster understood that it wasn't his match. The monster got up and leaped away back onto the tall grass. Dave decided to keep away from the patches of extremely tall grass. Most of the monsters and Wild animals in this region of Massadra weren't all that powerful yet there were exceptions out there. Dave decided to not return his small toothed plow back into the bag but instead keep it in his hands In case of another ambush. Dave kept waking for a few hours around the grasslands until he found a small green line in the distance. It looked like a thin green straw in the distance. However as he got closer he noticed it looked a lot like the fungus painting. It stood out in the grasslands not too far away was a small forest and to each of its sides stood a mound. The two mounds looked like they were two tough bodyguards protecting a small frail and delicate gem. Dave approached slowly to make sure there weren't any beasts hiding behind the mounds. Eventually he arrived in front of the fungus. To his dismay he saw the top was a different shade of purple than what he was hoping for. This might seem like a small deal but in reality it meant it was a different species altogether. However it did mean that there is a potential chance to find more fungi from this family in the nearby region.

Dave continued walking forwards into the woods ahead. The trees weren't too densely packed in these woods allowing a relatively large amount of space for maneuvers. This terrain would be good for humans to escape from larger predators who may attempt to eat them. Dave continued going deeper and deeper into the woods. He saw all kinds of creatures hidden within, however he didn't see a single monster in there. This slightly confused Dave. As he went into deep thought about why that is he noticed a bit of purple just at the tip of his eye. When he turned to look at it he noticed that it was another green stem with a bit of purple at the top. Dave instantly rushed towards it. Just as he was about to teach it he slowed down. This fungus had a strange smell. A frightening smell. The smell itself wasn't actually that bad, the problem is it exactly fit the description of the single most toxic species of this fungi. Dave rushed back as quickly as possible. If he would've touched the fungi he would definitely be dead. However even breathing in its vicious vapor can lead to severe poisoning. This species was said to be rare but it seems Dave's luck wasn't all that great. Not only did he find it he even whiffed in some of its vapor. Dave was coughing the hardest he ever did in his entire life. He puked out everything he ate during this entire day. He felt itchy all over. It continued to get worse with new symptoms appearing out of nowhere. He started to lose balance. Eventually he couldn't even crawl no matter how hard he tried. Fortunately Dave had already been warned about this species of fungi allowing him to retreat in time. After a few minutes on the ground the symptoms started to disappear one after another just as suddenly as they appeared they were gone. Dave started to move more Cautiously. He moved across the forest continuously searching for either fungus or a living Habruru Bouncer. Dave has started to think it would be far easier to hunt a living Habruru Bouncer than finding its bones. However he still has yet to see a monster in the Forest. Eventually Dave reached the outskirts of the forest again. This time it seemed he left somewhere to the

North East of where he came from.

Since he entered from the south of the forest he was to the north of Copper Cantury. The evening was approaching and as the light got dimmer the more dangerous his situation would be. Dave was yet to find a Detriota Fungus or a Habruru Bouncer making Dave a bit disappointed in his luck. Dave headed South back into the grasslands. However Dave's bad luck Streak was yet to end. When he reached the top of a nearby hill he saw all the grass in this region was considerably higher than the route he went through to get to the forest. Dave could only use the now slowly setting sun as reference to his position. It would be bad to get sucked into the tall grass after sunset. However staying outside the town during the entire night would probably be even worse. Dave was regretting heading out so far for nothing. Now his life was in danger and he didn't even complete the job. The research center would usually operate 24/7 so at least they wouldn't care too much about what part of the day Dave would return at, however if he returned tomorrow and even empty handed he would have to give an excuse for failing. Even worse he may even be fired before the 10 day period would have ended. Unlike his town and its surrounding regions these plains housed some extremely vicious nocturnal monsters. Dave decided to start off with a sprint into the grasslands. Dave rushed onwards as fast as he could and as far as he could. He chased many pests in his old village. His stamina wasn't the best in the village but it was far better than most. He was also used to running while holding farming equipment so it wasn't too hard for him. His stamina was not unlimited though.

Eventually he had to slow down. He was panting heavily. He felt as if Someone hit his lungs with a frying pan. The energy in his feat seemingly was getting sapped into the ground. He continued to march on towards the general direction of Copper Cantury. He would occasionally hear howls in the distance. He didn't know how far away from Copper Cantury he was. He only knew that the sun was soon going to set and that Copper Cantury was to the south. He saw all kinds of odd shapes in the tall grass. Most were trees or rocks, some were animals and few were monsters. It was not rare to see patches of nearby tall grass suddenly rustling as he passed by. He once saw the corpse of a snake-like animal. It was clear by its bright colorful stripes that this snake was venomous. While its venom may be useful Dave did not want to touch anything venomous. He had enough poisons, venomous and toxic stuff for one day. On his way he saw a red tree with golden yellow leaves. Dave didn't have time to approach it so he kept on without stopping. He soon after heard growls from the direction of the tree. When he looked back he saw three wolves charging at him. Dave may have been able to fight one head on but there were simply too many. As they approached they exposed their glowing red teeth. Dave already encountered a monster like this before. He without any more hesitation turned around and ran away. Humans aren't fast creatures and aren't able to outrun a pack of wolves. It didn't take long for the wolf-like monsters to close the gap. Even worse for Dave is now that he had run he was even more tired than before. Dave shot out his steam towards the leading wolf. Dave's steam didn't have a long range and lost its temperature alongside dissipating before even reaching the wolf. Dave lifted his plow and prepared for the wolves to bash into him. As he expected the lead wolf pounced at him just like the other wolf did earlier this day. Before it could land on Dave his plow landed on the back of its head causing it to crash onto the ground head first. Before it could get up Dave stomped on its head with his foot. However he did not have time to deal with it as another one of the wolves pounced on him. The teeth in its mouth started to glow brighter as they became more orange as it flew towards Dave. Ofcores Dave wouldn't let it bite him. He swung his right arm at it hitting the side of its snout causing it to flip 180 degrees before its rear crashed into Dave. At this moment the wolf below Dave's foot managed to struggle up. Dave stumbled back as he shot out steam from his left arm at the 3rd wolf that has now pounced at him. The wolf howled in pain while crashing into Dave. Luckily due to pain it did not manage to bite Dave. Dave did not waste a moment and lifted his knee into the wolves chest. He followed up this attack with his plow. Dave turned around and attempted to escape again. Dave did not want to find out what would happen If all three wolves got close enough to fight him in close quarter combat. Dave managed to gain over 100 meters before the wolves started chasing him again. However 100 meters were not far enough to escape from these wolves. In a matter of seconds the wolves closed in again however this time before they could pounce Dave used his steam as a smoke screen as she switched directions slightly. He dove into the tall grass nearby and stopped moving. He hoped that after the wolves would lose sight of him they would give up on chasing him. The wolves ran up to where Dave disappeared to and started sniffing. In no time they were already staring at Dave again. Dave shot his Steam at them. He shot out of the Grass and ran away again with the wolves right behind him. One of the wolves pounced at Dave again. Dave wasn't prepared this time so the wolf latched its teeth into his shoulder. Dave could feel immense pain from his shoulder. To Dave's horror it seemed as if the wolf's teeth were blazing hot. These teeth were seemingly made of fire. Even worse is that Dave crashed onto the floor making escape impossible. Dave could see the other two wolves approaching. He suddenly had an urge. An urge to eat these wolves. His two hands shot down onto the floor releasing the fastest jet of steam they ever had until that very moment. The steam started burning the wolf biting onto him. However Dave too suffered from this strike. The wolf soon let go of Dave's shoulder and began to retreat. Dave held his Plow and Toothed hoe in each hand. The two other wolves pounced at him at once. Dave threw his Toothed hoe into the mouth of one of the wolves as he attempted to smash his plow into the other wolf's head. To Dave's surprise he missed his target. The wolf crashed into him with its claws slashing at him. He punched its neck and blasted it with steam. Dave was about to smack it with his plow when the wolf that bit him earlier pounced on him from behind.

Dave fell with his face first into the first wolf. He rolled around and slapped the wolf with his free arm. Dave kicked the wolf and got up and began running away again. Dave managed to get further away this time. He kept rushing forwards as he heard the howls of the wolves behind him. He heard the wolves howls getting further and further away. Just as he started to slow down he felt something ramming into his back again. It was one of the wolves. It seemed that two gave up but this one was persistent. He tried to kick its mouth away. Once again the kick missed its intended target but it still hit its stomach. Dave lifted his plow and smacked it into the wolves chest. The wolf started to retreat, and Then! Dave felt it again, an urge. An urge to eat the wolf. He threw his plow at it and gave chase. He leaped onto the wolf and shot it continuously with his scorching hot steam.

He lifted the monster and smashed it back onto the ground. Afterwards he shot it with steam again and again. He continued cooking it alive until it became unconscious. After this he tore it open with his farming plow. He couldn't control himself as he ate the monster as if he himself was a beast lacking all intelligence. Eventually the urge to eat the monster started to fade. As his reason started to return to him he started regretting his actions. He felt disgusted with what he had done. He wanted to vomit out all he just ate. However while all this was going through his mind his body did nothing. He just stood there on his knees. His face showed no emotion as if he didn't feel anything. What he physically did had nothing to do with what he thought. Dave got up with chaos in his heart. He turned towards the sun. He could see it had started falling behind the horizon. He won't have a lot of time to return to Copper Cantury. Therefore he started walking south again. However before he could take even two steps south he saw a long green stem standing tall above the Grass.