The first night away from the base camp was just the beginning. Every night, we were visited by more and more chitinite attacks. They seemed to come in waves, moving from company to company, one after the other. 

Every time they appeared, it was just as confusing. After the first set of attacks, we began to move our camps closer and closer to one another, so that any camp would be able to see every other camp without any issue. Yet… that didn’t help us at all.

Chitinites simply appeared within company camps, almost like magic. In fact… soon enough, I was able to see some of them throwing spells around as they fought… Was this a different breed of monster from what the Ancestor Fox warned us about? A monster capable of using magic so similar to our own?

By the end of the first month away from base camp… every company had been hit. For ours, we were down to only thirty of our original eighty men. Some had it even worse. Of the ten battalions within the legion, two of them were almost wiped out.

In order to supplement the numbers, Saren ordered us to begin merging battalions. Those companies which had been sent without a proper commander of their own were divided among other companies. Thankfully, there hadn’t been a death in any ranking officers yet… at least not from our end.

If there was one thing that we could be thankful for, it was that food was becoming less and less of an issue. With less mouths to feed, that meant that there would be more and more meal grubs that could be distributed. Sure… they tasted awful. But, it was better than nothing, right?

By now… we’ve been out here for five weeks, I think. No, maybe it’s been six since we left the camp? The days were getting harder and harder to measure. However… I did discover something.

The sky above our heads, the perpetual storm… One day, a couple of weeks ago, a man lost his nerve. He fired his biggest wind spell, a surge of magical energy, straight into the sky. He wanted nothing more than to be able to see the sun one last time. From what he shouted, even seeing the stars would be fine.

Instead, when the spell briefly blew away the storm, it also blew away his hope… The spell struck against a solid, rock surface. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that we were back in Fyor, but that didn’t add up either. Given the height of the ceiling, the gravity should have been far higher for us if we were truly in an equivalent layer of Fyor.

No, this was simply a massive, underground kingdom. A kingdom for the chitinites, and we were the invaders. 

As we continued to move forward, I began to doubt the wisdom in splitting us up into Legions. Yes, the plan was solid, it made sense at the time. But that was before we knew that the chitinites would simply be able to appear within our camps whenever they wished.

“Enemy attack!” I was broken out of my thoughts as a call sounded through the air, and I lifted my sword for battle again. My two outer eyes closed, the central eye sweeping over the camp. Only ten, this time…

We were lucky. If there were just ten monsters this time, then the twenty of our company should be able to handle things easily. Lowering my stance, I lunged into the fray, beams of light shooting from my eye and wrapping around my sword.

It was important to deliver a decisive first blow, allowing the morale to stay strong within the camp. And so, I did just that. My sword split through the chitinite closest to my, rays of light grinding against its natural armor and sending sparks flying.

Seeing that I had managed to fell a foe in a single strike urged the men onwards, allowing them to unleash their most powerful attacks as well. Some were blocked by shields of mana or ki, others by thick, heavy limbs. Yet still, the battle was a swift one.

Once the fight was over, I began moving through the wreckage of yet another camp, seeing what could be salvaged. As I did so, I saw something unusual.

Next to one of the camps, there was a chitinite gripping a small book in one of his elongated hands. Just a little journal, but it almost seemed like he was trying to hide it. Immediately, I thought that the journal might have some secret plans that could be deciphered, clues as to how the chitinites were invading our camps again and again.

When I opened it, I saw an almost frantically scribbled message on the inside of the front cover… ‘Where did they all go!?’

What amazed me most was that the message was written in the common tongue of Earth. A language that the chitinites had no business knowing. Not unless the Keeper provided us with some magical translation ability, but we had been given no warning about that.

Furrowing my brows, I decided to investigate the book further. Either it was written by the chitinites, and me being able to read it was a blessing… or the chitinite had been trying to steal the book for some reason. If that was the case, then it should still have some strategic value.

I returned to my tent, sitting down on my bedroom and flipping through to the first page.

My name is Johan Thorn, and this is my expedition diary. My friends all said that it was crazy to keep a written account of what was happening to us. Either we’d make it back to tell the tale ourselves, or this journal would never be found. But, I like to think differently.

Maybe this diary will find its way back if I die. Maybe someone will be able to return it to my loved ones, to let them know that I fought bravely, that my decision wasn’t wrong. If they do… if this diary has made its way back to you… thank you for reading this. Thank you for giving me something to fight for.

Day 0 - Arrival

There is no sun here. No day, no night, just an endless storm that hangs above our head, shrouding the world in darkness. We arrived with an army of two million soldiers, ready to take on anything, and we found an empty wasteland. Did we send too many people? Maybe we didn’t send enough, if this world is so large.

The hunting party went out today, thankfully without any real casualties. They said that they ran into a small scuffle against a monstrous entity, but had managed to bring it down rather easily, just causing one man a heavy burn on his arm. Thankfully, they managed to bring back a few monsters, so hopefully we’ll get a food source soon.

...Sadly, the monsters all turned out to be inedible.

Day 3 - Food

Thank the Keeper! The Hunters found something that constituted as food today! By… some stretches of the definition. These tiny white bugs in the ground, apparently everything eats them, and the First Legion confirmed that they can be eaten safely. I was starting to get worried that we’d only have our basic rations, and have to starve when those ran out…

Day 15 - Concerns

Nothing has really happened lately, but something feels odd. Why do some companies not have commanders? Out of the ten thousand companies in our army, I’ve noticed six that just weren’t sent with a commander. If they just had the extra people, why not split them into other groups? Surely, that wouldn’t be too hard, right?

Sorry, just a little complaint to pass the time. Like I said, it’s been pretty dull lately. The chitinites haven’t been able to cause any troubles outside the first isolated incident, where a few broke past our wards. Since then, they’ve just been staying out around the perimeter.

Day 31 - First Night Away

Two million… two million… why did I write that there were two million? We only came here with one million troops. Did my mind just misfire and write down the wrong number? And… there were clearly seventeen companies lacking a commander. What’s wrong with me?

Day 42 - How?

Where are they going? Why can’t I remember any of them? I’m writing this log as a record of the disappearances. Below, I’ll write the names of all fifty members of my battalion. I know there were more… I know that we came through with two hundred… but I can’t remember them. Their names, their faces… Every time the chitinites attack, we lose more of them.

Day 45 - Underground

We’re not on the surface. I couldn’t take the questions anymore. I had to see for myself. There was no wind, no rain. How can anything live without water? How can we live without water? Grubs? How can the grubs substitute water for us?

I put everything I had into my biggest spell, firing it towards the clouds. I wanted to sweep it away, see just the briefest glimmer of hope. What I saw was a cold, stone wall. The battalion members looked at me like I was crazy. But… I’m used to that now. I’ve already started asking around… twenty names from my list are gone. I can’t remember writing them… I can’t remember meeting them. Neither can anyone else. But it’s my handwriting! Why would I fake that?

Day 68 - Don’t eat the grubs!

That has to be it! I’ve been doing the math… every time we face an enemy, every time the chitinites appear… their numbers match. The number of people we lose from our battalion. The number of people that vanish from my memory… they match the number of chitinite bodies.

Something about the grubs… turning them into those monsters. Making us fight each other, and forget who they are. No… maybe they don’t even really turn into chitinites. Maybe they’re still our friends, but we can’t see them for who they really are anymore?

...what is my name? Why can’t I remember who I am… Is it my turn…?

I felt a shiver run down my spine as I read the journal. I had never met anyone by the name of Johan Thorn… or at least, I couldn’t remember ever meeting him. But, looking at the list of people from our company, I found his name, as well as my own. I found the names of every surviving soldier from our group. Mixed and disordered, with names I couldn’t recognize mixed in.

I had to take this to someone. This was too big to sit on. As I left my tents, I made my way to the tent of the Legion General. “General Beth!” I shouted, calling for her attention.

Moments later, the tent opened, a strong heroc woman stepping out and looking to me. “Krash, what happened?” She asked, curiously. “Was someone injured in this latest battle?”

I shook my head, relieved that I didn’t have to deliver that news. Though… “Maybe… maybe it’s much worse than that.” I lifted the diary up, pressing it against her chest. “Read this, please. I found it among the bodies. I wish that I could say that I didn’t believe it…”

General Beth took the book in her hand, looking at it in confusion, before giving a slow nod. “Sure. I’ll read through it…”