Sitting down on the hard stone floor around the newly lit campfire, Somnu took a quick glance around before Mathros began his story.

  Although he had just come out of a small cave, which on second inspection seemed more like a small grotto instead, Somnu recognized the scenery surrounding them. Even during his panicked state as he fell, he was able to get an idea of what lay far beneath the crypt.

  It was a long and wide cavern, its rocky walls were still covered by a luminescent green pattern which at times seemed to come alive and move around. Those glows lit up the faint ripples on the surface of the subterranean lake spanning way too long and wide for Somnu to get an estimate size for it. The stalactites dripped rhythmically into the water below, creating an occasional, hollow echo that broke the deep silence within the cavern.

  Seriously, how did I even escape that situation…?

  Somnu questioned as he looked over to the lake that had almost killed him. The party was almost at the end of the cavern, sitting on the safety of some wide flowstone, an amalgamation of hardened mineral deposits that had grown meters above the lake water. While the surface of that ground seemed smooth and shiny from hundreds of years of solidified water droplets, it was still rock-hard and a good place to avoid drowning.

  How is that fourth person even gathering firewood in this place…? The scarecrow wondered, even questioning how that person could have left the cavern, but he had quickly noticed more cave-like holes on the side of the walls nearby. That might be our only way out of here…

  “Then, hearing your crow buddy fighting, I dove into the lake and looked for you.” Mathros continued, not realizing Somnu had missed the previous part recalling his fall. “By that time I made it to the Nightmare Creatures you killed down there, I followed the string of straws deeper and found it tied around your petrified body.”

  “...”

  Those two…

  Somnu realized that despite how heavy he was at the time, Fala and Grudgekeeper must have kept hold on the straw rope which led to his saving.

  “I then carried your stoned ass all the way to the nearest flowstone, taking care of any Nightmare Creatures that attacked along the way.” The lizardman got up and began to recall his sniping as if he was holding some sort of slingshot. “And you know what you did the second your body was returning to normal and I got some water out of your lungs?”

  “I don’t remember…” Somnu replied, not liking what his savior was insinuating.

  “You thought I was some sort of Nightmare Creature, even tried to attack me! Hahaha!” Despite Somnu’s horror, Mathros laughed it up. “I almost thought you were some kind of racist person!”

  “What…?!” Somnu blurted out. Wait, don’t tell me…!

  “?!”

  “W-what do you want?!”

  Suddenly turning to look at the other two bunnyfolk, they immediately put their guard up.

  “Do you have something against beastfolk, brother?” Mathros asked, only to slap his knee and laugh when he saw Somnu’s half-agaped mouth. “Hahaha! Relax, I’m just messing with you.”

  “...”

  Somnu stayed silent for a while. These had been the first folk he had sat down and earnestly tried to talk to in a while. It was mostly just the old people like Mr. Emberlyn and his wife that Somnu had felt comfortable enough talking to before.

  However, just like Mr. Emberlyn, Somnu seemed to always meet people with a weird sense of humor.

  Even his late mother had been the same way.

  “You’re too honest and direct!” That’s what she used to tell him before laughing it off.

  For a moment there, he had truly been worried about the people around him considering him a racist, on top of the already unsavory pervert accusations.

  I need to stop worrying about every little thing… He remembered what his mother had said to him. What do I want, and how can I get it…? For now…

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  “Thank you for saving my life and taking care of me for so long.” After a moment of deliberation, Somnu lowered his head in a slight bow and addressed the lizardman looking his way. “If there is way for me to repay you somehow, I will do my best to-”

  “There is.” Mathros cut in.

  “...?”

  “For the past month and a half, you were under the curse of Lethe after swallowing the lake water. After it enters your body, it makes you hallucinate as if you were stoned or drunk for long periods of time.” The green-scaled reptile man explained while poking some wood in the fire, making them snap and release small embers around. “The worst of it though, is that it’s extremely addictive. It wants you to surrender your mind to it, to spend the rest of your days on this Layer.”

  Somnu furrowed his brows, then noticed Lulu and Benji doing the same while wrinkling their bunny-like nose. After all, they had just recovered a few weeks before Somnu, they were just as unsettled by the story as him.

  “That’s why, whenever your cravings acted up, and you rushed for the lake again, I had to stop you.” Mathros paused for a second, then continued. “The others were easy to subdue, with only Lulu making me work for it, but you…”

  Somnu had more or less known what was coming next.

  “You were a little much to handle, and as more time passed, you only seemed to get more desperate and vicious, which is what led to these wounds from before you came back to yourself.”

  He didn’t remember any of it. The scarecrow had done a number on this party while blacked out… just like the time he did the same to his classmates.

  No wonder the bunnies were scared of me… He realized how wrong he had been.

  “I’m sorry… To all of you…” Somnu apologized, making sure to address the bunnies too, who seemed to purse their lips in response.

  “I didn’t explain all this to you for an apology, neither did I do it all for gratitude.” Mathros got up again and walked around the campfire, to the edge of the flowstone. “I always follow the path my compass puts me on, and this time, it led me to you.”

  Seeing as everyone was turned around from him and following Mathros’ line of sight, Somnu listened while bringing up the lizardman’s information.

  Even if it seemed like an invasion of privacy, he felt he needed to know more about the people he was surrounded by, and what their intentions could be for him.

  Not to mention he had been a little too curious to know how much his own System differed from the normal one. Mr. Emberlyn had been way ahead of him to be of any help in that matter.

  [Name: Mathros Xurasdos.]

  [Species: Grodran.]

  [Rank: Dreamer.]

  [Ego Core: Green.]

  [Ego Core Level: Level 58.]

  [Dream Catcher: Wayfinder's Treasure.]

  [Mementos: {Discoverer's Pouch}, {Grimrazor Sling}]

  [Terror Cores Available: None.]

  [Ego Particles: None.]

  “Ever since I was young, I wanted to get out there and seek my own adventures in the world, to live a full life.” Mathros continued as Somnu got through the details slowly. “And now, in this place, I can truly reach for the stars, to follow my dream!”

  [Personal Title: {Fate Seeker}, {Breathless}][{Fate Seeker} Title Description: You have a natural ability to seek and pursue what Fate has in store for you! The more you seek and discover, the greater the rewards!]

  [{Breathless}: You live on borrowed respiration! Every breath counts! The more and longer you hold your breath, the stronger and more independent you get!]

  [General Abilities: {Multilingual Comprehension}, {Enhanced Natural Prowess}.

  “However, I can’t do that if we’re stuck in his cavern for long. We’ve exhausted what food we could scavenge, as well as the patience I had in me.” The lizardman turned, interrupting Somnu’s reading. “We have to fight what’s blocking our way and we need your strength with us to achieve it!”

  “... I’m not against fighting.” Somnu replied, making sure to take part in the conversation. “But if we’re all going to turn to stone anyway…”

  “No, that’s not it. The Nightmare Creatures that did that to you are monstrous statues at the bottom of the lake, it isn’t an enemy you can defeat from above water.”

  “Then what is it exactly?”

  “In my time here, alone as all of you were barely conscious, I had time to do what I do best. I explored every nook and cranny of this cavern.”

  [Aspiration Ability: {Explorer}][Aspiration Ability Description: You aspire to explore uncharted stars!

  The path you seek might be long and arduous, but you are surely determined to traverse through it!]

  [Skills: {Heightened Senses}, {Wind's Blessing}, {Terrain Adaption}, {Light Foot}, {Cartographer’s Insight}, {Quickdraw Combat}.

  [Current Active Fears: {Fear of failure - Atychiphobia},

  {Fear of becoming overwhelmed - Atephobia}, {Fear of aging - Gerascophobia}.

  “I know all the paths like the back of my hand now!” Mathros proclaimed.

  “...”

  Somnu, having finished going through the most important elements of the lizardman’s System, leaned in as if urging Mathros to get to the point. He would have to review what he learned later.

  “There is only one way out of this place, and it’s blocked by a Dreadbeast Nightmare Creature!”

  “?!”

  Somnu’s eyes stretched wide, phantom pains from the last Dreadbeast he went up against throbbing across his body.

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