Not wanting to waste sunlight, we headed out with Brett to scout the area around the nest. This could end up being a very bad idea, resulting in a big fight against a swarm of Eaters. An offensive move against the nest or the surrounding area had every chance of resulting in the Eaters recognizing the incoming danger, and that was something we were being very careful not to let happen.
Then again, someone who was truly intelligent would notice. I mean this in the sense of having rational thought, not just being smart. If that was the case for them, they could see the attack coming from a mile away. There was too much movement in the nest and the Rodenti village, too many new members of that population appearing, and too many Eaters being killed while traveling to the nest.
These variables would warn anyone who could see patterns like that. They would know that a fight was about to happen, that an attack was incoming. It seemed that wasn't the case with the Eaters. They were unable to recognize the signs of incoming danger.
Maybe the creatures were not as intelligent as we took them to be. Alternatively, they might never have had to worry about being hunted before. They could assume that the sudden lack of new Eaters arriving at the nest wasn't because of a single organized group, but somewhere a wild monster was causing a problem. After all, the Eaters we fought were weaker than the Ice Devil. I wouldn't put it past the Eaters to have found those types of creatures elsewhere and failed to defeat them. My thoughts continued moving rather quickly while we walked across the desert.
We had left the village and used a staircase to climb the mountain. It was grueling, but eventually we arrived at the top of the plateau. Now, we were all moving near its eastern edge, which was where the nest was supposed to be located. As we walked, I noticed a few oddities about the environment.
It was something that kind of passed me by, but in general, the world seemed to be vibrant with particles. I could somehow sense them everywhere, even if there were small amounts. This was much like what happened when Riley first got the System, where we could visibly see the moment they gained those particles. Their physical appearance didn't change, and as soon as the moment passed, we were unable to tell what was different. However, to anyone watching, it was undeniable that there was a change.
What I realized was that this was also happening to the environment.
The rocks were missing something. The sparse vegetation was more dead than it should be. Even the air itself didn't smell as fresh and deserty. It very much felt like I was back in the hidden Horn village. My old home had almost no presence of particles whatsoever. Only now, weeks after leaving my old home, did a thought come to mind.
Maybe the reason we never saw any powerful and strongly mutated animals or any allusion to the System back there was because the Eaters that were around us were taking in all the particles. They left such minute amounts that the particles could not make any meaningful changes to the surrounding area. We might have only seen those monsters near the village when we were attacked. However, all hunters who ventured more than one hour away from home would be on the lookout for the Eaters.
To me, it meant either the nest was doing something, or because we were in the desert, the particles were behaving differently. Making all those coincidences I just noticed just that. Coincidences. Still, I really felt like my initial conjecture was correct.
My home was so strangely unaffected by the changes happening all around us. Just a few days north, there was a dungeon with a giant polar bear, for crying out loud. A dungeon that caused an eternal snowstorm around it. The most we would see were animals that looked very healthy and maybe had an extra limb or two. However, that could be attributed to the radiation caused by the nuclear bombs that were dropped during the war against the Eaters, not the particles.
I really wanted to ask Riley about my theory, but this wasn't the right moment to do so. We had to focus on what was in front of us and continue to move, following Brett. After roughly an hour and a half of walking, the Rodenti scout gestured for us to stay low, and we all crouched, with the exception of Rex, who just lowered his head.
Brett led us to a ledge, and we dropped even lower to the ground, now almost crawling against the rocks. It took us a good ten minutes to reach the ledge, as everybody was moving extremely slowly, being careful not to make any noise or kick up any sand and dust. Eventually, we reached the area and could see what Brett was trying to show us.
Down below, on the same level as the village itself, although much further away and going all the way around the mountain, was a giant spire. It was made out of strange-looking black tentacles that seemed to be glued or dissolving into each other. They were all dripping a strange ichor that hardened like wax after dripping down.
The top of the Spire wasn't a point, but instead a round thing that was strangely similar to a cocoon. However, instead of being completely closed off, gaps showed something sickly green inside, which was constantly reaching out and back as if whatever was there was trapped and trying to escape. There could be tentacles, but it could also be something else as the appendages that appeared didn't look like anything the Eaters had. Then again, it was too hard to tell what it actually was.
Looking down, the base seemed to be growing steadily, becoming larger and larger until reaching maybe 100 meters [328.1 ft] across. It looked to be somehow embedded in the ground, but it felt wrong. The tentacles were not just buried. They were ripping the ground apart. Exposing freshly dug dirt that almost looked like it was bleeding a strange red mud.
It was like an infected wound forming around a splinter. From that wound, there was a direct path to the flesh inside the spire, as I could see a cave that was glowing with a pale green light. Walking in and out of that were a couple of eaters. Small ones in comparison. Maybe not even Tier 1. Not wanting to reveal our position, I reached out to touch Brett's shoulder and sent a message through the System.
Cassandra: Is this what we're looking for? The nest?
I already knew the answer, but I wanted to confirm just in case this was something that I didn't know. Maybe this was just a tower.
Brett: Yes. Seems different.
Cassandra: Different how?
Brett: More open. Had big tentacle inside. Now doesn't.
Considering what I had seen from the nests, maybe the giant tentacle was part of the Eater that brought it here. The one that created this nest itself. Not having it meant that the integration with the environment was complete, and the nest could now grow properly. Or it could be something like an Eater that specializes in digging those nests. Either way, it made sense that now that the tentacle was gone, there was a change on the nest itself.
Cassandra: Should we go back?
As I asked, I also touched Riley's hand and gave the rundown of the situation. Asking them to pass the message to the others. We would need to be playing a strange game of telephone here.
There was a pause before the rodenti answered.
Brett: Not yet. We watch. Only go back when sure of change.
Cassandra: We need to be more sure than this?
I glanced back at the nest and saw a larger Eater come out of it. It was almost as big as the Guardian Eater, but it didn't have the same armored legs that the other creature had. Instead, the tentacles were longer. Some from the top even scraped the ground. At first, I assumed it would start moving around and trying to hunt down something. Instead, it just started walking on the perimeter of the nest, likely patrolling the area for any possible danger, or just in search of food. The monster continued moving for several minutes and eventually went back to the tunnel, walking back inside and vanishing into the nest.
We spent another hour there, everybody frozen in the same position, having conversations through the System and doing our best not to make any loud noises. The one noise that we couldn't control was our stomachs grumbling. It had been far too long since we had eaten before this. Once the Astrid's stomach let out a louder growl, Brett turned around and sent a message through the System.
Brett: We leave. Tell changes. Move back slowly.
Since we were in a line and not in a clump, the message had to go from one to the other. Only when everybody confirmed that they understood the plan did we start moving again. We slowly backed away from the ledge and waited until Brett signaled to stop crawling. Still being sure not to make too much noise, we got up and started following the same path that to get to the village.
At first, we all assumed that things were fine, and we had scouted the area without any repercussions. Yet, dropping our guard was our mistake. We were somewhat distracted by nothing in particular, just the act of moving around, when Brett suddenly stopped. I was about to ask him what happened before I heard something in the distance, coming from the left where the edge of the mountain was.
Turning in that direction, together with Astrid and Michael, we shifted just in time to see a large Eater peek over the mountain. It looked somewhat similar to the one that was patrolling the area, except it was smaller. Just as the monster peeked over the mountain, I had the System look into it, not wanting to be caught off guard in case this was stronger than we were expecting.
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Patrolling Eater - Tier 1
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That was far from a threat to us, but the fact that it chased us all the way here was worrying, especially considering its name.
I saw Brett starting to run toward the village, which was a really bad idea, but I also understood why. His job was to find more information about the nest and come back with it, and he was trying to do exactly that no matter what. Even if it could be a detriment. There was a world where the Eater was going to follow him and understand where the rest of the Rodenti were located. And then to the exact same thing Brett was doing.
Astrid took a step towards the Eater, but I quickly said, "Hold on. Let the Eater come," The Huskcarver glanced at me with a confused expression before I added, "Let's not fight near the edge. Maybe others are coming." She and the rest of my companions understood what I was saying. Rex, who had already raised the stone spears from the ground, was now just waiting before sending his attack.
The creature rushed at us, its tentacles lashing out. It had a form similar to what I expected from an Eater. The donut shaped body with multiple tentacles. But this one had more legs than I had seen before, not as many as the Guardian Eater, but still a good number of them. Another difference was its mouth not being as wide, and there was a sack underneath it. Maybe it was something that would allow them to capture us instead of just killing us right from the start.
Still, just as the monster got close enough, we all sprang into action. Astrid used the {Frost Chop} to cut off the monster's legs while I used the {Formless Swipe}, bringing it down to the side, slamming its body against the rocks of the mountain. Michael fired two arrows into its midsection at the same time that Riley wrapped the creature in strands of silk that were ignited in a strange blue flame. I had never seen an ability like that before, and I was going to ask them about it as soon as I had a chance.
The one who finished the creature off was Rex, who used the stone spears that were already floating in the air to pierce the monster. After the impact, each broken shard flew out like sharp nails, ripping its body to shreds. Only to return and go for round two. Finishing the creature off almost instantly.
The difference between Tier 2 and Tier 1 was a bit too much for the creature to handle, especially since it wasn't even saturated yet. With the monster dead, we waited a moment to see if the blood was going to do anything. It seemed like this version of the Eater didn't have the ability to explode once it was going to die.
Still, we were very careful about staying close to it and eventually decided not to try to grab the blood. We still had about a dozen waterskins that we acquired during the past week, so there was no need for us to focus so much on getting more. We waited for about 10 minutes, ready to fight against another one, but nothing came. The danger was gone. Yet, one way or another, it looked like we weren't going to wait anymore for the attack on the nest to start.