Mud, Rain, and Ruin. Those are the colors of survival. In order to enjoy the lavish life of Kings and Queens one must first live through death, and there can be no weakness.

Would you abandon your humanity just to survive?

-✵

A light drizzle echoed with a pitter-patter as the large trees of the forest protected the animals in their shelter. Although there was a snowy mountain not to far away, warm breezes still accompanied the lightly glowing flora and hiding bugs. The large trees that made the forest very spacious blended into the almost black background, except for the occasional glowing flora that made it stand out. The dark green moss that blanketed the entire forest floor soaked any little drop of rain that fell on it.

No thunder or lightning danced along with this little storm today. It was a very peaceful time.

A long brown haired man with a small amount of stubble on his chin and a walking stick in his hand walked along in the forest with both a large smile on his face and a large umbrella over his head. Accompanying him under this umbrella was an almost 8 foot tall golden bird that dwarfed the man by over 2 feet.

"We're finally back home!" It had seemed like a millennia since he had been in this amazing place. It also seemed like Mike had started to just treat this forest like his home ever since he almost died in the mountains tundra like weather. His bare feet could finally touch soft moss again.

He had long taken off the broad bear fur and stuffed if back into the backpack along with those strange things from the dead Monsters rotting corpse.

After walking around and reassociating themselves with the surroundings, Mike had found a flat area where he got rid of the umbrella and created a large rain shelter for them so they could eat and sleep for the night.

After eating a large cooked deer until both of them felt bloated, sleep finally descended upon them.

As Mike lay there with the broad bear fur once again surrounding him and a slow fire beside him, he looked back on the last day or so that they spent within the mountain.

'That was the worst experience I have had up to date with exploration, but it was entirely my fault for any of that happening. I really didn't prepare anything at all. I had went in thinking everything would work out, and even though it did, I still suffered the consequence for being both to naive and arrogant. I mean I nearly died multiple time, I also put Turul in to much risk as well. I don't want to do something like that ever again, but something tells me i'm gonna have to anyway.' The drizzling rain echoed softly as Mike looked at their temporary ceiling through his covers.

'But next time, I'll be more prepared.' Sighing, Mike knew that would probably only be the start of such occasions happening, but for now it was time to sleep rather than worry about the future, he had already done enough of that.

✵

Peaceful hearts and calm minds. Winter sheds away to reveal the lovely underlayer of spring, where one's happiness plays with the soft breeze.

The little storm seemed to go on throughout the entire time Mike and Turul slept, luckily the moss took care of any problem of flooding.

With a simple breakfast of the common berries from the forest, to which Mike reminesed on Earth's amazing food, Mike planned their future actions.

'Find Civilization.' That was the long term goal that Mike had come up with. Obviously there would be a lot in between finding other people, however that's what they would search for in hopes of locating where they even are in the first place.

The other plan Mike had was to simply fight creatures for Turul to level and to scan items for him to level. They also needed to figure out if Turul did actually take the experience for him killing things, though that would be kind of hard since there was no way to tell how close he was to leveling.

After checking everything, Mike looked towards The Explorers Log newly finished log for The Monster.

--Scourge: A being created through dark rituals, it is one of pure malice. These beings are created by using sacrifices and precious materials to create an amalgamation of sin. There are 7 forms of this being, each corresponding to the sin under it. There are also 3 different forms for each sin from weak to strong starting with the 1st form to the 3rd.

Cupiditas(1st Form)(Type: Greed): One of the weakest in defense and attack as compared to other Scourge types, however it is known to be one of the most deadly. Greed types are known for being able to use illusion and control type attacks and traps with the utmost skill, Greed types are also the most intelligent out of all 7 types, allowing them to ruin entire civilizations if not caught early. They can easily amass entire armies and power under even the most harrowing of situations. Oriented more towards magic, Greed types are renowned for having large amounts of mana to use. The smarter the opponent, the easier it is for this type to win.

Environment: Any

Effects: N/A

Danger Level: MAXIMUM

Rarity: Legendary

Sighing incredibly loudly, Mike sat down on a nearby rock as he ruffled his hair in both confusion and frustration.

'Was that little bastard the reason there's no human life around here?' That theory came and went, after all it would explain why there's no sort of civilization here even though this place has a lot of the things needed for one.

'But there's no signs of any sort of battle, plus wouldn't it have more power than that if it actually did destroy a civilization? It seems slightly suspicious that it's still in the 1st weakest form as well if it actually did do something as grand as turn a species to extinction or something like that just because they started getting smarter.'

'And if it truly was smart, it would have created its own sort of empire or something by now where it would rule like a dictator. So the idea that it destroyed an entire civilization is ruled off for now. And unless there was something else that could destroy everything that thing created, it would have either left irreparable damage to the land or still be around here today.'

Focusing on more pressing matters, as the theories of the Scourge drifted away, Mike wanted to figure out some way to get better clothes.

His once sleek suit from earth has turned into a large, muddy, hole filled, shredded piece of swinging cloth. Faded to a dark blue as well as the shoes being long discarded for going barefoot. The only way for one to realize it used be clothing is that the arms and legs of it reach to his elbows and knees.

"I guess it's about time I discard this pile of junk huh? It smells like manure anyway." The only problem being that if he was to discard it, he would need to bathe as well in order to rid himself of stench as well.

✵

Finding a large spring of water and bathing was easier than thought to be since there was one nearby.

Discarding the clothes to the side, Mike focused to create a simple long sleeved gray shirt, pants, and underwear. Creating anything more than that with his backpack added on wouldn't leave him any room to create a weapon or tool without going dizzy for a while, plus walking on the moss barefoot was what Mike enjoyed doing the most. He also didn't create anything that could really protect him besides the extra thick pants since it would use even more of his power, and that would kind of ruin his whole idea of conserving some power for emergencies.

Now he looked a lot more normal and less hobo like.

Sitting down beside Turul under the umbrella as rain dripped down slowly really was peaceful. Before long Mike started to just rummage through his backpack to find that little crystal and the pair of eyes.

'Which should I scan first?' Looking at the tiny pellet sized golden crystal and the pair of ugly vein filled eyes, Mike went ahead and chose the crystal.

'Should be done within the hour.' Dropping them back in carefully, Mike yawned before laying down to take a nap.

✵

5 Months Later:

Ever since the day Mike and Turul came off the mountain, they had explored basically the entire area near it. Never sleeping in the same place twice, they searched, fought, and scanned anything that they could.

It wasn't always smooth sailing. There were times where Mike almost got himself killed. One such case would be where they found another cave, but the ground in it was loose and underneath was a pit of lava, and although they managed to find a pretty nifty gem at the end, it was ultimately just a regular sapphire.

Another was when they found a large carnivorous plant that used special scents to lure its prey in. Naturally Mike almost got eaten.

Or that time they ran into the Lighting Queen again and had to fight her and the entire colony of lightning bugs. Luckily Mike got some of that sweet Queen Jelly in a large created jar of his.

A lot more near deaths than that happened though, however one of the best things they had gotten out of it all is the bunch of loot, Mikes backpack was basically bulging now. He now carried a second smaller backpack on top of it that stored the more precious things.

After 5 months of constant use, Mike was now more familiar with his new found powers and could now create a more broad range of items, and since he carried such heavy things around basically all the time, Mike now had a lot more stamina to create more items if needed. This finally allowed him to create clothing that could defend him better, albeit only slightly.

Sadly both him and Turul both stayed capped at level 9. No matter how much he scanned or fought they never seemed to level up.

It had been constant struggles one after the other, and though saying it was enjoyable wouldn't exactly be the truth, Mike definitely didn't hate doing it though.

The Explorers Log was filling up very nicely.

Over the course of the 5 months, Turul had grown tremendously as well. Standing at slightly below 20 feet tall, Mike can only reach up to his knees now.

Luckily they could now fly around with ease now though. Another thing is Turul's starting to gain more strength by the day. It wouldn't be long before the only thing that could stand in his way would be a dragon.

Mike looked more like a man in his 30's than a 20 year old guy, sadly it was due to the long disheveled brown hair and the scraggly beard. Although he maintained a constant basis of washing, it still didn't rid him of that look.

But perhaps the biggest gain over the course of those 5 months is Mike's experience with danger. When he got here, he had been scared to death by basically anything that had a set of teeth and a menacing look in its eye, and although 5 months wasn't enough time to turn him into a seasoned veteran of the wild, especially with Turul by his side, he had definitely come a long way.

✵

Although he had spent 5 months with Turul around the clock working and fighting, he still hadn't gained anything that was as precious as the materials gotten from the Scourge.

--Elemental Crystal: When a concentration of pure elemental power is pressurized in an area, it goes through three stages, gas to liquid to crystal. When an element reaches crystal form it becomes unimaginably pure, holding a deep reservoir of elemental power. These crystal can be used for basically anything related to magic and have value beyond comparison.

Environment: Deep Underground

Effects: Anything related to magic

Danger Level: N/A

Rarity: Rare

----✵

--Eyes Of Sin: Once a Scourge is slain they have a chance to drop a random concentration of their power in one of their body parts. This body part is typically the one that holds the most amount of magic within their body upon death, and each body part has a different effect, creating thousands of variations for each scourge. The Eyes of Greed can be used as the main material to create top tier potions related to either illusions or basic magic. These eyes may also be used to bring back this specific type of Scourge.

Environment: N/A

Effects: Top Grade Material for potion creation, or Reanimate Scourge

Danger Level: None

Rarity: Epic

Those two items were definitely worth something, especially the Eyes of Sin, that could definitely be used to create a life saving potion that he could carry with him. Well if he could find someone who can create a top tier level potion, however difficult that was.

The Elemental Crystal would also be put into that potion as well.

✵

Sighing, Mike laid atop Turul as they flew through the sky once again. They couldn't find any trace of civilization. Ever since they started to explore around the mountain, Mike and Turul alike kept a keen eye on anything that could be a sign of activity.

And it's not like they hadn't tried to leave this forest to search as well. Even after flying for over 3 days they hadn't managed to see an end in sight to this forest, and that was by traveling on probably one of the fastest creatures alive, so chances are they wouldn't be able to leave it anytime soon anyways.

'Well i'll take it as I see it. There's bound to be something eventually.' Humming a tune while thinking that, Mike had no idea how true his words were at that time.