Reborn: Earth Online-Chapter 88 - 89: Secret of the Bone Pit
Kaden didn’t stick around at camp any longer. He had three days to burn, and he wasn’t about to waste any time. After devouring ten more steaks like there was no tomorrow, he bolted back toward the Bone Pit.
Now that the settlement core was up and running, he didn’t need to leave his prized stuff lying around in the middle of nowhere. There was a vault option—perfect for keeping his loot safe. Everything was coming together, except for one thing: his items needed to be still buried right where he’d left them.
Kaden was more nervous than he thought he would be. Perhaps he should have tied them up in a bundle and dragged it along with him. Right, why did he not do that? It was stupid to be so confident about that miasma.
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He cursed himself for not thinking things through as he moved through the forest like a beast in the darkness. He gritted his teeth, swallowing down the frustration. "No more mistakes," he silently repeated to himself. The future depended on every piece of his gear and on him fixing his oversight before it was too late.
Soon, he arrived at the Bone Pit, and Kaden descended the steep rocks like a maniac, hurriedly scurrying down the height. He jumped down the last part without having the patience to finish his descent. He dashed towards the corner and waved away the miasma.
Finally, he saw the bundle of roots, thorns, and twigs in the corner. The same bundle he had left. He immediately ran to it and cut through the mess. There it was. His dragon scales, dragon blood crystals, his abyssal shard, and his undead bones. Everything was intact.
Only now he was able to let out a shaky breath of relief. He quickly used the hide he had brought along with him and transferred everything to the beast hide, neatly packing it all up. He let out another breath and prepared to get the hell out of here when he suddenly stopped.
His gaze wandered to the thick foggy miasma that swirled all around. It was thanks to this miasma that he was able to get back what he had left here. In his hurry to set up the system shop and get the first achievement for the settlement core, he had left his belongings here.
Thankfully, the miasma did the job, and everything was intact. Kaden paused for a moment. He hadn’t thought about this before, but now it struck him. Why was the miasma still so strong? The tiger was already dead. Shouldn’t this be dissipating?
In fact, the miasma was not at all something normal. It had a poison and decay element to it. He was only able to withstand it because of his poison resistance. Otherwise, he would be in a weakened state by now.
He looked around, more carefully this time, and saw that there was a narrow path leading further downward, hidden behind a tangle of twisted roots and jagged rocks.
He dropped his bundle back on the ground and decided to take a look first before heading out. Surprisingly, the further he went, the thicker the fog became until it was almost as if the miasma were trying to swallow him whole. But Kaden pushed through, now more curious than ever.
Was there a source for this miasma?
As he pushed through the dense haze, all of a sudden, his feet touched solid ground, and he was standing in an entrance to an underground cave. The miasma was much stronger inside, and as proof, he even received a notification.
[Ding! You are poisoned. Health reduced by half.]
[Ding! A decay effect has been activated]
[Ding! Critical Health]
Kaden snapped out of his trance in an instant, and the next second, he scrambled back up to the surface. If he remained down there even a second longer, he was going to be dead. What the hell was down there anyway?
He quietly sat down and healed himself a little before grabbing his loot pile and getting the hell out of there for a second time. There was definitely something down there. Perhaps that something might have even helped the tiger become so powerful.
But now was not the time for him to analyze that. He was simply not strong enough for that. This would have to wait a little longer.
Deep in his thoughts, Kaden rushed back to the camp. Not so surprisingly, most of the group was asleep, tonight probably being the first night in a while where they all slept a little. A few eyes were still glued onto him, but no one dared to approach him on their own.
Kaden did not mind. He preferred it that way. He quickly opened the settlement vault and tossed the items inside. Niera rushed over to him to see if he needed something, but he shook his head.
"Just take a break. I will be away to do some things for a couple of days. I suggest that you do not let anyone inside if you are not comfortable with them. You are in charge here, don’t forget that. If anyone asks, tell them that I am nearby. That should be enough to scare them for the time being."
Ideally, Kaden would have preferred to wait at least until he added a few more people to the group, people that he knew and trusted. However, those people would only show up in two weeks time, and if he did not do everything right, he might not even be alive after those two weeks. So, he did not care about this first attempt at a settlement all that much.
The core was activated, and things were in motion. That was all that mattered for the time being. In two days, the shop would open and he would be ready for it.
He took one more look at the settlement and then prepared to leave the safety zone again. He already had a place in mind to start working on his first quest.
