The orange glow lit a damp cave forgotten by the gods. Footsteps echoed in time with dripping water.
A man held that torch. In his right hand, a fang with a vine-wrapped handle, taken from the creature he had just killed.
That man was Talon.
"But what kind of fucking endless cave is this?" He'd been inside the skull-mouth for several minutes, and after a steep descent, he'd walked far enough to realize he was no longer near the small island.
The chill contradicted the jungle's heat above. Stalactites blocked his path and the stale air, probably trapped down here for who knew how long, made Talon dizzy.
"Why the hell did I decide to come down here, huh? Wouldn't it have been easier to just stay up there eating my prehistoric crocodile?" Talon didn't dare say it out loud. Nothing guaranteed no creature lived here, except a lack of prey to feed on.
Beep!
The notification rang in his mind. He prayed it wasn't echoing loudly all around him, like a phone alarm.
There was a reason Talon ventured into this cave.
The Scan.
Knowing at least which lifeforms existed within a five-meter radius meant he was ready for any ambush.
He looked at his forearm, which was growing heavy with all its functions.
He saw a large red dot far ahead, a little northeast of his position. He inhaled sharply and moved the torch away from his body.
Even though he was a sailor, Talon had once been a trained marine. Only the best marines could become divers, and he was among the best of the best.
He crouched and almost crawled toward the red dot marked by Scan.
He needed to know what it was, especially since he planned to spend the night on the island…
Or at least that was the excuse he was giving himself.
It did not take long for the narrow cave corridor to widen. Farther on, several stalactites emitted a faint bluish glow.
Realizing they would draw attention and that his torch wouldn't help.
Talon snuffed it out with a light tap against the rock and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dim light.
Crunk! Crunk! Crunk!
As soon as his eyes adjusted to the bluish glow, the sound of rocks being crushed reached Talon's ears and he prayed it wasn't what he feared.
Apparently, the gods didn't hear his prayers.
Only one scenario came to Talon's mind for how a creature could survive here without prey… The environment itself had to be its prey.
In front of him, more than a dozen long, slightly curved legs sprouted from the cave ceiling. Many were embedded so deeply in the rock that they glowed blue, as if fused with the stone. Its round mouth, lined with six rows of teeth, connected to a fat body studded with glowing blue spots.
Talon held his breath… down here, he would be far more than mere prey.
Not for a second did he doubt those rows of rock-crushing teeth could devour his body. He was about to turn and flee when his eyes caught something.
Directly below the creature's mouth, some dozens of meters away on the floor, a luminescent dust accumulated in a fine cascade of powder from the monster's chewing.
And among the gathered dust, a small camp.
A table made of stone, a few shelves carved into the rock, and what grabbed his attention most was a small silver bracelet gleaming on a stone slab.
"Greed kills a man… Greed kills a man…" Talon repeated in his mind, but his feet were already moving stealthily beneath the creature.
The feeling was chilling and the crushing sound was torture in itself.
Crouched and slow, Talon crept to the ledge where the table and bracelet sat.
When his fingers neared the silver...
BEEP!
His soul froze.
Talon stood still for several seconds before realizing the notification sounded only in his mind.
Once he understood, he grabbed the bracelet and the slab of rock, and departed.
Throughout the return journey, he imagined that monster would ambush him, but he calmed down when he realized he was already near the skull's mouth.
The fire hadn't gone out, but it was fully night. The only light he could see was the flickering flame in the distance.
"Okay… That creature is way too big to leave the cave, and it has no reason to chase me out," Talon forced himself to believe he was safe.
He glanced at his forearm and saw the notification:
[Custom fusion function is about to activate: Yes/No]
"There it is… The sweet reward after staring death in the face," Talon chuckled softly. He'd become addicted to this. With every unexploded warhead recovered from the ocean's depths, he got another hit of adrenaline.
Over time, he realized he couldn't live without it, the thrill of knowing a single wrong step could kill him.
[Loading… 10%]
He watched in silence, in the heat that even nighttime couldn't banish from this infernal jungle. Mosquitoes died in the flames and Talon could swear he heard someone crying—but figured it was just an animal hurt beyond the lake.
Beep!
[Previous user Arkhand'Zul confirmed dead]
[New function acquired: Translator]
When Talon confirmed "Yes" and finally received the notifications, he nearly jumped for joy, only restraining himself for fear of alerting the woman walking on the lake's surface.
Swiftly, he traced his fingers over the stone slab and a red light began scanning it. As the light turned the surroundings faintly red, it was clear others could see it too. But he doubted the woman in the white dress, slowly approaching the island, would mind.
Beep!
His eyes flicked back to the notification on his forearm:
[Hello, you have no idea how hard it was to separate my bracelet's functions once I fused them, so I won't go on too long. I found only a tiny piece of rock. If you found this slab and didn't see that monstrosity, don't worry, it really is small.
But don't underestimate its power, it tore half my arm off. Its weakness is that it's blind; extinguish all lights and stay silent. I trust you! Now I need to get out of this cave, I fell in by accident… Oh, and don't respond to the woman in white or comfort her; you're not her husband!]
[Signed: Arkhand'Zul]
All that time Talon had been trying to ignore it; his eyes were glued to the bracelet. Simply because he knew that if he looked up, that woman would be standing right beside him.