Day 10

The day had just started when I fought the giant rattipede, and I was determined to make more headway and walked for 6 hours total. At a certain point, the tunnel gently sloped downwards a bit before leveling out, then I came to a crossroads, with three distinct paths and examined the choices before me. To the left was a flat path, going almost perfectly straight. To the right came a smell like rotten eggs, and the distant noise of bubbling, the tunnel gently curving ahead. Dead ahead of me was a curving path going up, and I could feel the faintest breeze coming from it, it carried no immediate scent, but it cooled my skin, ever so slightly.

Thinking about what I should do I smashed and hammered out a small dent in the wall, maybe a foot or two deep. I sat down, my hand light having gone dim, and meditated. I immediately noticed some changes in my mental landscape. For starters the waterfall was much wider now, no longer a measly 3 feet wide, it tripled in size to 9 feet and was much higher up, maybe 20 feet now. The shallow pool was no more, in its place was a large pond, say 200 feet in diameter, leading to a wide river. There was a natural bridge formed leading to a large boulder under the waterfall, still flat as ever, but now a foot above the water. Surprised I walked across the bridge carefully, not wanting to slip in.

I sat down on the boulder, the water now crashing into me, not as gentle as before, but still manageable. I examined the Manaphage again, noting the changes to it, how it had shrunk down, and how it had developed edges, looking much more fist like. Did it grow, or evolve by absorbing the monster from the inside, or did it change through constant use? I knew the changes in my landscape correlated to the changes in the Manaphage, but I was unsure of what they meant, though I had some guesses. Most likely it had to do with my mana, or more specifically the amount I had, and I would have to experiment with it upon waking up. The other possibility was that absorbing the lifeblood of another creature was a way to upgrade mental faculties. I thought about it some more before slowly drifting to sleep.

Waking up I felt normal, not really groggy, but not energetic. I got up, pulling out and sniffing the magically dried jerky. It didn't smell like much of anything and was as hard as leather. I decided beggars can't be choosers and took a bite, or tried to. My teeth had a hard time biting through the tough meat and how thick I cut it didn't help. After what felt like forever, I tore off a more manageable piece and was able to chew it, finally tasting the meat. It was surprisingly not bad, it had a bit of a gamy taste to it and not much else really. I swallowed it down, the first solid food in five days, and the first bit of meat in 10.

I took another bite and looked at my three choices again, flat, breeze, or rotten eggs. I left my stuff in the alcove, only holding my bat, my ax comfortably holstered at my side. I walked down the left tunnel a bit, leaving my flashlight pointing down the tunnel on the ground and walked down it for a bit, holding the Manaphage up, lighting the rest of the way. There where no turns, no diverging paths, and no marks on the wall, feeling oddly smooth. I turned around and jogged back, deciding against going down this tunnel. I picked up the flashlight and glanced at my things, completely untouched, and started down the rotten egg tunnel.

I left the flashlight on the ground again, pointing down the tunnel, and walked along it, chewing more jerky. I was following the gentle curve to the point that I could no longer see the light behind me. The scent in the air was growing stronger, the bubbling sounds getting louder, I felt the air slowly getting warmer, and in the distance, I could see the faintest of light. Putting two and two together, I turned around and started jogging back, touching the wall and feeling the same smoothness as the left tunnel. I realized I was in a magma tube, unused for a while to be sure, but it felt dangerous none the less. I got back and grabbed my flashlight, and quickly packed and grabbed my things. Then started up the least dangerous path, dead center, towards the cool breeze.