He fell on the rocky ground with a metallic click, but he instantly recovered and moved on. Walking amidst a veil of mist, it was difficult to discern his surroundings, but judging from the chilling temperature and treacherous cliffs and rocky paths, it should be a mountainous region although geographical logic did not have any meaning here. He did not know where and how far he had walked, but he was sure it was not the world he knew. It was too haphazard and preposterous to be his world. He had travelled from a scorching horizon of fire that seemed to burn for eternity and stumbled into a tropical rainforest with humid and warm temperature in the next minute. The world shifted like an impatient child.
He did not remember the exact detail of the happening that brought him into this strange world, and he did not have the time to entertain it as there were more pressing issues to deal with. Monsters. Haunting apparitions. In every region, there was something lurked in the corner and snared at easy targets, such as a wounded warrior. Until now, he managed to evade monstrously stronger beasts and demons while dealing with the weaker but faster ones. He was more concerned about the seemingly overflowing voices that whispered in every region. Most of the time, these voices mumbled to themselves and sometimes to each other. Occasionally, there were cases where these voices breathed their foul words at his ears, whispering even screaming. And now, these voices were getting restless as they became active and even wailed at his ears.
Grimaced in pain as a sharp screeching voice screaming vengeance at his ears, he stopped and grabbed on his head while shaking it to rid of the haunting voice. As the pain was subsiding, he focused the rest of his attention on the ugly remaining of his left arm. It was strange that he was still able to move about quite well with his left arm severed and massive loss of blood should have killed him. But he was still standing here with somewhat functioning mind and body. With the wound closed on its own in one night, he also noticed increasing black masses covered his left arm and started to worry. But then, he did not have enough time and knowledge to resolve the dilemma. Perhaps, Floki knew what was it and how to remove it, but it would be a meaningless thought if he did not manage to escape from this world.
Supporting his weight with his spear, he was basically dragging his steps across the rough and uneven ground. It was no good as he had reached his limit in both mind and body long ago. Voices around his ears glee with sinister exhilaration as he fell yet again on the ground. They knew it from countless encounters with beings that wandered to this realm and lost their way that he would not be able to rise again. As his eyes blurred by sweet and terrifying whispers that lulled him to his slumber, he made a vain effort to get to his feet before falling lightly on his chest. Voices became inaudible and the world distorting to myriad waves of grey and white. Whimpered softly in frustration and pain, he whispered a name that brought him the light to go this far in the hostile world before fading away. “Lucious...”
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