Chapter 36: More Fresh Meat

Archer looked at the view before him with curious eyes as he stood on the tropical beach, his bare feet sinking into the hot sand. In front of him stood a massive, dense tropical jungle stretching endlessly in all directions. ''It's green hell all over again. I loved that game, but this is stupid.''

Its towering trees and tangled vines looked menacing, and Archer could feel a sense of danger emanating from the dense foliage. Despite the jungle's ominous presence, the water's beauty still captivates him. The crystal-clear waves crashed on the shore, their gentle rhythms lapping at the sand.

The sea was teeming with colorful fish and other sea creatures. Archer soon spotted a small village in the distance, which he would explore quickly. As he took in the sight around him, Archer couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder at this strange landscape.

He may not have known what the future held, but for now, he was happy to make his way home while exploring.

Feeling his feet getting hot, he looked down and saw his boots were destroyed, sighing to himself. The shirt barely hung on to his torso, and one pant leg was missing.

One boot was gone, while the other was useless. He could see his toes as the boot was coming apart. Stripping out of the shreds of cloth that remained on, he was standing on the hot sand in his birthday suit.

He quickly cast cleanse on himself while putting on new clothes, and as he did that, his stomach rumbled. Archer pulled out some meat wraps and started eating while looking for somewhere to sit.

Spotting a large rock, he made his way over to it. As he sat down, he kept hearing weird hooting behind him. Suddenly, his Aura Detection kicked in, pinpointing where the creature was coming from.

He quickly spun around while casting Plasma Shot at the beast, and it came crashing down in a heap of blood and bones. The massive, feathered body of the terror bird lay in front of Archer, its long snout and sharp claws frozen in a final, lifeless pose.

The creature had been a formidable predator in life, with razor-sharp talons perfect for rending flesh from bone and powerful legs built for a swift pursuit. But now, in death, it lay prone and defeated.

Its once beautiful feathers were stained with blood and dirt, and even in its stillness, it seemed to exude a sense of menace and danger. The terror bird's head lay twisted to the side, its beady, lifeless eyes staring up at Archer as if to challenge him even in death.

Its elongated beak lay open, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth that had undoubtedly caused great pain and suffering to those unfortunate enough to cross its path. Archer couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and respect for the creature, even in death.

It was a testament to the incredible diversity and ferocity of the natural world. Standing over its lifeless body, he couldn't help but wonder what other dangers and wonders lay ahead on his journey.

Finished eating the meat wrap, he pulled out another as he sat on the beast's corpse, deciding to check his status.

[Experience: 100/9000]

[Level Up: 49>74]

[SP: 12>37]

[Rank Unlocked: Apprentice>Adept]

[Mana: 4430>4600]

[Constitution: 670>700]

[Void Blast: 3>4]

[Cosmic Sword: 3>4]

[Thunder Wave: 0>2]

[Call Lightning: 0>1]

[Fireball: 1>2]

[Regeneration: 3>5]

[Short Sword Mastery: 2>3]

[Aura-Detector: 1>2]

He was happy but soon got sad as he felt his broken horn. It was cut cleanly off, but it was slowly regrowing.

As he finished eating, he felt a lot better. Archer pulled out a bottle of moon juice to drink, and after downing the drink, he threw it away.

The drink reminded him of his earth mother's homemade lemonade. He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts, and he took his knife out and cut out the terror bird's heart. Storing the heart and body for now, while looking around, Archer remembered he saw a village, so he made his way there.

As he approached the village, the air grew thick with an eerie atmosphere. He saw villagers going about their business. The thatched huts were haphazardly constructed, made from unevenly chopped timbers and bones.

Bones littered the ground, and Archer's stomach dropped as he realized they were human. When he noticed the villagers themselves were equally unsettling. They wore simple loincloths of animal hides and feathers, but their skin was covered in tribal tattoos and ritual scars.

They moved with predatory grace, their eyes glinting with an otherworldly hunger. The aroma of fire-roasted meat wafted through the air, and he could see human limbs roasting on spits over an open flame.

As he approached the village, all the people suddenly snapped their heads toward him, their expressions creepy and unreadable. Archer noticed the sharp teeth and jagged claws each villager bore, and he realized with a start that he had stumbled upon a cannibal village.

He tried to back away slowly, but it was too late. They all quickly stood up with creepy smiles plastered as they stared at Archer. They were screaming in an unknown language not known to him.

''Demi-human meat!''

''Get him!'

''Eat.''

''More fresh meat.''

Archer was shocked but quickly cleared his head as he started casting Fire Missiles at them. The projectiles zoomed forward and crashed into them. Explosions could be heard as violet flames hit their targets with pinpoint precision.

Controlling each missile to make sure the cannibals died, after finishing, he used Aura-Detection and sensed another dozen or so hiding in the huts and nearby bushes. He slowly started approaching again.

When he first saw the village, more than twenty cannibals were roaming around, but now there were only twelve bodies in front of him. As he walked into the village, he quickly cast Cosmic Shield as two cannibals jumped off a thatch roof, aiming straight for him.

Smash!~

The cannibal's body slammed against the see-through barrier that appeared around him. He giggled when he saw their shocked faces. Summoning his swords, Archer plunged them into the two downed cannibals as he laughed.

Pulling his blades out as he spoke to the people hidden in a bush. ''Stop hiding, you're all dead anyway.''

He spoke in a singsong, lilting tone that sounded almost pleasant, but how he said it made the hiding cannibals frightened for once. Archer let out a creepy laugh as he noticed a group of three hiding.

Aiming his hand, he shot a Fireball at the hidden cannibals. A gust of wind blew past his face as a violet-colored ball of flames appeared above him and shot towards the bush with a powerful woosh.

''Ahhhhhh.''

''Arghhh.''

Two men and a woman came running out of the bushes screaming while covered head to toe in flames, melting their skin and bones.

''Hahahaha.''

Archer started laughing when he saw them dropping dead before they could get any closer. He felt like he had lost something as he watched the three burnings.

''Damn, the hearts!''

Archer got frustrated, but in the end, it didn't matter. There were more hearts he could get if he wanted to. With five down and seven to go, he started hunting the cannibals, killing them. Once they were all dead, he looked around the village.

After he was done with the killing, he went around cutting out the hearts and managed to loot twenty-three hearts altogether. Archer burned all the bodies. He didn't want to put their bodies into his Item Box.

He wandered around the village, finding loads of coins in a chest. Two hours later, he finished his search and wondered where they got them from. Altogether, he found two hundred gold coins and one hundred and twenty-three silver coins, but he also found a lot of sailor uniforms.

Archer also found a lot of dried meat in crates, wondering where all this came from. He still stored it all as he exited the village from the opposite side he entered. Once he left the town, he saw a wrecked merchant boat on the beach and walked over to it while examining it.

The once-majestic vessel lay battered and broken. Its splintered hull and torn sails are a testament to the unforgiving power of the ocean. Its once-proud masts now list at odd angles, tangled ropes still clinging to them like the vines of a dying plant.

The deck is littered with debris, from shattered timbers to overturned crates that once held precious cargo. The smell of saltwater and wood permeates the air, mingling with the cries of gulls circling overhead.

The ship has been here for a week at most, weathered by storms and baked by the sun, a haunting reminder of the dangers that lurk beyond the safety of the shore. Archer noticed some of the planks of the ship were dented inwards. ''Maybe a sea creature attacked it, causing them to run aground here.''

Turning around and remembering the cooked body parts, he shivered while speaking to himself. ''Oh, they got captured by the crazies and eaten. That's where the coins came from.''

Nodding his head, Archer was happy with himself as he solved the shipwreck mystery. He jumped into the ship and looked around for anything he could loot.