[NR] A Worrying Amount Of Nothing - Chapter 655

Early the next morning, the group begin their journey to town. Though it seems the Deep Wilds aren’t going to make it easy on them. While the general layout of the terrain hasn’t changed, the topography has gotten wilder. Small hills now steep climbs and small valleys turned into almost canyons. Overall, not an easy bit of land to traverse.

Jason stands on top of a bluff with a sudden drop to one side and glances around. Nothing. He frowns and steps off the edge, bounding off various bits of rock sticking out of the ground as he makes his way to the valley below. One final push off from a boulder and he lands heavily next to the others.

Jason shakes his head, “I’m not seeing any monsters.”

Courtney frowns, “We’re about to land in something annoying.”

Jason, “Maybe we should head back and try another day.”

Rosha shakes her head, “Whether we continue or turn back, I doubt we’ll be able to skip out on this. Maybe if we had turned back right away, but we’re in the middle of it now.”

Jason sighs, “I wish I could disagree with you, but that does seem likely.”

Courtney nods, “We’re not deep enough to avoid some good ol’ fashioned System scripting. Something is happening and we are going to run into it either way we go. The question is how to prepare ourselves. Jason, did you see anything that would point to what kind of threat we’ll be facing?”

Jason frowns, “I didn’t see anything besides the lack of life. Though that is a bit of an indicator on its own. I’m thinking either a swarm, a boss, or some critter that projects a long range effect.”

Courtney, “That doesn’t narrow it down all that much.”

Jason shakes his head, “No, it doesn’t. However, I doubt it is a boss because if it was one we could fight, we’d see something already and if it was one of the giant beasts, we’d see a bunch of minions.”

Courtney, “Hmm, then I’ll cross off swarms as well. We’ve fought a bunch of those, so the System knows we can handle them.”

Jason sighs, “And since I can’t feel anything, this isn’t a creature projecting intent. That leaves a pheromone we can’t detect.”

Courtney nods, “A decent guess.”

Rosha shakes her head, “I have no clue about any of that, but we really should start moving. Whatever is up will likely be worse if we’re just standing around.”

That was enough to get the group moving once again. Though as the time since the seeing that last animal extends, the more jumpy they get.

Rosha stands up from examining some tracks and shakes her head, “These were made a few hours ago. In fact, none of the tracks I’ve seen have been made within the last couple hours. Worse, I can’t find any hidden critters.

“Even when the forest seems dead, there are usually animals somewhere! Birds hidden in the leaves, mice under the brush, something! This feels more like a school VR environment where they didn’t load anything besides the plants. You can tell animals are supposed to be around, but they aren’t.”

Jason frowns as he scans the area, “I have a feeling.”

And he crouches down, scanning the forest floor. At first he doesn’t see what he is looking for, but soon finds his target. “Just found an anthill, but I don’t see any ants. Either of you have a spell to pull a chunk of dirt out in one piece? I can dig it up, but that wouldn’t give a good view of what is happening below.”

Courtney crouches down next to him and with her finger glowing a gentle brown, traces out a circle around the anthill. Then, after waiting a moment, places her hand on the area and lifts upward.

Her hand doesn’t stay connected to the soil, but the circular plug does slowly lift out of the ground. This maintained the structure of the ant nest as it was removed. Not that her spell went deep enough to actually touch on any of the important chambers.

Jason examines the core sample before shaking his head. “No ants at all. This is way beyond animals hiding from something. They are completely gone.”

Courtney, “This isn’t the work of a monster, at least not as we understand it.”

Jason nods, “It feels more like either the System or the Deep Wilds pulled everything out of here.”

Courtney, “Stranger things have happened, but not to us, at least not yet.”

Rosha smirks, “I guess there is always the first time for everything.”

Jason sighs, “I’m more nervous about what we’ll find in town. An empty town would likely be the least of our worries.”

Courtney grimaces, “That would be a kingdom level problem at the least.”

And then she puts the dirt plug back where it came from and the group continues on.

All the while, the terrain stays jagged and the animals continue to be gone. Even after checking a few more anthills, they don’t find a single animal. At least plants didn’t seem to be vanishing or dying.

Then there is one more hill. Jason glances up at the peak, and his stomach flutters. “So, uh, the town should be behind this hill, right?”

Courtney nods, “That is the theory. Except I don’t hear anything.”

Rosha shakes her head, “It isn’t silent. I don’t know what I’m hearing, but there is noise coming from the other side. However, it isn’t the sound I would expect from a town.”

Jason sighs, “I half don’t want to climb the hill. What will we do if the town isn’t there?”

Courtney shrugs, “Head back to the clearing? After that, I’d need to go and check online to see if something happened here. We were close enough to the town that the Wilds could not just detach us from reality.”

Jason shakes his head at that and begins to climb up, the other following. Then, as they crest the hill, they can see they aren’t alone. The town still stands and there are people manning the wall. Though the number of guards is worrying, nevermind how quiet everything is.