Another Stupid Isekai

I walked this path so many times already, but this day, it felt different. Probably because I was subconsciously worried about people I had to find somewhere in the unknown. They could be dead. All of them.

These thoughts made me realize how little we knew about this whole world. We behaved like we owned the place, but we had no idea what was a day of travel further for the most part. The worst part was, nobody really cared.

As long as they had food and a roof over their heads, they seemed content. If you threw a person to blame for any negative events into the equation, they would be even happier. As long as they didn’t have to face their own problems, and fight to get better, they were good with the lives they had.

Pathetic excuses if you asked me. I on the contrary kept fighting, struggling every day to make myself better. It worked in many ways, but in others, my life became worse. I had many things on my head, but at least I felt like I’m in charge of my own life.

I kept rambling about it in my mind over and over. I felt like I could maybe teach those people something, but I was not very social, and a terrible public speaker, so the only option remaining was beating it into their heads. For some reason, this didn’t seem to me like a good idea.

In this way, I made it to the goblin cave, with occasional breaks to kill few green ones. And then something unexpected happened. As much as strange it sounds, I had a vision. In the beginning, it felt like a hammer struck me right in the skull. I stumbled and collapsed with no idea what was going on.

Then I saw it. A city in flames.

It was a brief image. Like one frame in a movie, but I knew it was there. I took a moment to collect myself and then tried to look around in search of the possible culprit of such a strange event. There was nobody.

The first thought I had, was that the device started to mess with my mind. It was a possibility that couldn’t just be ignored. A whole race went mad just because somebody messed with their sapling. Maybe with the upgrades, my body went thru, that levitating orb finally had enough influence to launch its attack? But why now? Why not anytime during the whole month I spent idle? There was no sense to that.

For a moment I wanted to go back, and check what will happen if I get closer to it, but then I realized its impossible. Even if I did that, there was a crowd I would have to confront. They were just looking for an excuse. Well… at least some of them.

Unfortunately, the crowd intelligence seems to be lower than that of individuals the crowd is made of. So all they needed is a few people eager for battle, and we would have an all-out brawl. Me against them.

Even with me knowing how stupid such a fight would be, I would for sure not back down, which totally threw that option to the garbage bin. I could only go forward. Returning was a possibility, I just needed to have some answers with me. Right then, I had none.

So I pressed forward, increasing the tempo, and constantly going back to that strange image in my head. It was definitely our city. Although at that point, I never saw it from above, the architecture and positions of a few recognizable structures didn’t leave me with any doubt.

If it was not the device, it could be my own mind telling me that bad times are approaching, subconsciously. I couldn’t really agree with that idea, cause it should rather happen in a dream, and for sure not knock me down.

[0)ᴠʟ My worries kept growing with every single step until I finally decided to just push them away. There was nothing I could do right now. I was on a mission, and my focus should remain on that.

I increased the tempo yet again, and before the sun went down, made it to the canyon. I took a moment to have a good look from above, but in the gigantic natural labyrinth, there was no way for me to see anything. Even if they were there.

Then I made it down, slaughtering the orcs at the bottom. Leaving their crystals felt like an incredible waste, but I had no space in the bag for anything else than supplies. It finally made me genuinely forget about that strange vision.

Making it further was a bit more challenging than I anticipated. Almost a month of a break from fighting made me a bit rusty, and orcs were just as great warriors as ever. On top of that, this time I was completely alone. Even with Hailwic, at least some of them had their attention split between two people.

Despite all those minor problems, I was quite quickly getting rid of the rust, and pushing forward, until the night forced me to stop. I had to turn back and look for a safe spot because risking a fight in the darkness, could be fatal even with my upgraded body and extraordinary abilities.

I set my camp up, by putting the thin barriers just to alarm me if something was coming, then I went to sleep. It was not easy to drift away in such a dangerous environment while being alone. Even with precautions I took. The subconscious worry wouldn’t just let go.

Few hours of staring at the stars later, I finally faded into the realm of dreams.

And I saw the city again. This time it was not just a flash. Buildings were burning, and people fighting on the streets, outnumbered. Well, I couldn’t exactly tell if they were people, more like shapes, but despite that, I knew. I knew very well those are human beings struggling for their lives, facing hordes of enemies. Smaller and bigger.

Although I couldn’t really hear the sounds, I was able to feel them. Screams of agony, the clang of metal, disgusting, wet noised of flesh being chopped to pieces, and bones being broken. Blood painted the cobblestone streets red. Just as the figures responsible for this attack.

Even though many people fell, the massacre wasn’t stopping, and more enemies swarmed the alleys looking for targets. They seemed angry, primal, animalistic even.

I saw few shapes here and there trying to hide. Trying to sneak away. All those efforts proved to be useless in the face of numbers traversing around. They just couldn’t escape, but still struggled to the very last moment.

I suddenly woke up. My eyes were wet from the tears. I was uncontrollably sobbing, and my mind was clouded with emotions. It took me a moment, to collect myself, calm the emotions down.

I just couldn’t ignore this dream, especially with the previous vision. Something was really going on. Was that the reason behind the expedition not returning? Did they die facing an entire army of monsters? No. Blue would run away. Unless the enemies would be faster…

My experience told me, that there are not many monsters around who could keep up with my own speed, and he could potentially be faster than me. Still, it wasn’t like I knew whats way further ahead. Maybe it was the plan of those fucking aliens from the beginning?

For some reason, I couldn’t find any sense in that. The pieces of the puzzles were just not fitting together. It felt to me like there was something else going on. Something I couldn’t quite grasp.

Maybe in the end it was me, for real going mad…

Maybe the device was messing with my brain, and the organ kept fighting, which was represented by that burning city…

So many maybes and no answers. There was no point in sitting on my ass and wondering when I couldn’t solve the riddle because there was not enough information.

I stood up. It was still too early for the sun to show up, but stars were shining a bit, and I could see at least the outlines of my surroundings. It was not the best decision, to just start pushing forward, but I felt like I had no other choice.

I grabbed the bag and quickly showed some food in my mouth. Washed it down with a bottle of water, and was ready to continue the journey.

That’s how this long day, filled with worries and unsolved, annoying mysteries finally ended, turning into the next one with a smooth transition provided by a nightmare. A nightmare of sorts I never experienced before, but that was just the beginning of madness lurking around us.

The last day of a whole month of rest finally turned into another one, with 1 124 481 points still remaining on my account, and hed full of worries.