Chapter 39 - 38
Four months had passed since Lumberling left the goblin village. As he ventured deeper into the forest, he came to understand just how terrifying the wild truly was. Monsters lurked in every corner, each with their own territory—and each eager to feast on intruders.
Deep in the heart of a decaying forest, where twisted trees clawed at the sky and sunlight barely filtered through the thick canopy, the air was thick with mildew, rot, and fur. Here, he encountered creatures unlike anything near the village.
There were giant rats, the size of bulldogs, weak individually but numbering in the thousands. Their nesting grounds riddled the earth with tunnels.
He discovered bear-like monsters—larger than normal bears, with massive claws and thick pelts. They lived in packs, each group dozens strong. One misstep had landed him in their territory, and he barely escaped after being chased.
The largest of them, possibly the alpha, had delivered a single blow that left his arms numb despite successfully blocking it. He suspected even the regular ones among them were Knight Page-level threats, but he hadn’t dared to test the theory.
...
The encounter with the Rotmite Swarm.
It began with a soft hum, barely noticeable against the ambient buzz of insects. Lumberling had just finished skinning a large wolf-like creature when he noticed a patch of his gauntlet bubbling.
He looked down.
A swarm of rotmites—tiny, black parasites the size of ants—had begun eating through the leather. He cursed and tore the gauntlet off, only to feel a burning sensation creep along his left calf.
"Shit."