Chapter 76: 70: Alone

Your spell list is clearly shorter than it was. You glance through it and breathe a sigh of relief when you see that both {Submission] and [Summon Imps] spells are still there. [Hellfruit] is also fine. Only now you gain a single point of energy, but, at least, you seem in no danger right this moment. Recollecting what spells you used to have, you recollect that you used to have more summoning spells. Some kind of Shadow Demons. You never ended up using it, so you don’t feel too depressed.

Then you realize that [Dick Enlargement] is also gone. Just when you finally used it! And with that thought, you quickly pull on your trousers and take a look down at your package. It’s the same as it used to be. Nothing to complain about, but a far cry from the horse-cock you were packing moments before.

“Ah!” your memories return to you as the fog clears from your mind. Where exactly are you? Where is Epsilon? Where are the dire wolves? What the hell were you thinking when you—There’s no helping it now. You were attacked! You remember now the pain that lasted for but a moment, but was overwhelming and ran through your body. But now you’re fine. You’re still weak, but there are no visible injuries or discomfort. You roll up your shirt—not a single scratch on you.

The first thing that comes to your mind is that you’ve died and gone back in time like one of those “Groundhog Day”-type stories. But then why aren’t you with the rest of your party? How far back did in time did you go? The last time you can remember being alone in this world was the first night in your dungeon-castle. And if this isn’t some death-reset, then what exactly happened? This situation is not dissimilar to when you first were summoned into this world. You still have most of your spells though, and you’re not buck-naked this time. Though you do not have any other possessions with you. You also vaguely recall a female voice saying something about “not the time to perish”. Were you revived? Were you teleported? You pinch yourself.

“Ngh,” you flinch from the slight pain in your forearm where you now have a thin red mark from your nails. You seem to be alive. And this is certainly not heaven. Which means you need allies to help you stay alive.

You rise to your feet and look around again. You’re not at the camp. It’s still the middle of the night and you hardly see anything. Running around the wolf-infested forest in the middle of the night seems risky. But just sitting on your hands and waiting for the dire wolves to come to you seems like just as bad of an idea. The last thing you want to do is fall asleep while you wait for sunrise, and get mauled in your sleep. You bring up your energy bar tab.

[Energy 4/250]

Not even enough for a [Hellfruit]. Sitting around will get you nowhere, but if you do come across the dire wolves what are you supposed to do? You decide to hunker down with your back against the biggest tree you see and, at the very least, wait for forty minutes until you have enough energy to cast [Summon Imps] should you need it.

Time passes slowly. With the energy bar up before your eyes, it is literally like watching the clock. Each time your energy increases by a point thirty seconds have passed. If you do this enough you’ll be proficient in accurately counting seconds in your head. The silence is unnerving. No owl hoots, no crickets. Nothing. At least you also don’t hear any more wolf howls, but that doesn’t ease your heart. You look ahead through the trees, looking out for the blood-red eyes of Shinde’s pack. Even after your energy recovers well over 80 points, you still don’t feel comfortable going into the darkness. Just a few points more… Just a few points more…

As your energy crosses 150, you realize that you can see deeper into the forest. You look up—the stars are dimming. Sunrise is approaching. Finally, you must up the courage to venture forward. The steadily approaching sunlight also helps you orient yourself better. You have been here before just yesterday. You’re at the end of the valley, that put you two days away from Ranville. Your last night’s camp should be close. Which means you are also closer to danger. Still, with no sign of even a single wolf, you have to find out if either of the two camps are still there.

By the time the sun rises, you find what you were looking for—your empty camp in an enclosure between pines and rocks. It’s completely destroyed. The tarp Elza used for protection from the rain is torn to pieces, as well as your bags with sheets and supplies. What little food remained is gone. Fearing what you will find in the other camp, you slowly approach it.

In the center of a round, open area, you see remains of the burned-out campfire. You walk closer searching for any sign of survivors. The moss is colored red by blood and guts. You don’t remember where the corpses of Cassandor or Mori were supposed to be, and it is impossible to tell now. Apart from torn apart pieces of clothing or armor, you don't even see a single arm remaining. It appears that what little remained of them was dragged around and fought over to the last bone. 

Among the blood, fur and torn-up organs you also find the head of a big, black dire wolf. You recognize the alpha of your pack that you Submitted. There are at least four or five other dire wolf heads. As if they were left as a sign because the rest of their bodies appear to be ripped to pieces and devoured. The whole area reeks of piss and dogs. You walk over to where you think you did your deed with Epsilon. The only thing you find is a dried-up, red puddle on the ground.

A flash of red goes momentarily overtakes your vision. The same that you recall from earlier. Is this your blood? Is it Epsilon’s? Alpha’s? No one is here. Nor is there a single humanoid body. You hope that everyone managed to somehow run away. You fear that they were devoured like the two adventurers. For the gigantic wolf that was Shinde, someone like Alpha would probably be a light snack. You’re nauseous and hurry out of the bloody, reeking area to get some fresh air.

You lean against a tree and take deep breaths while considering what to do now.

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