It took Arthur several seconds to regain his vision after the bright light took over his senses, overwhelming him with intense flashes. Then, the darkness took over again, and Arthur could open his eyes.
He blinked as he took in the new sight. However, nothing prepared him for what he witnessed. Looking down, Arthur only saw a large wreckage that covered large areas as far as his eyes could see in every direction.
“WOAAAH!!!” He screamed instinctively as he swung his arms. “This is going to hurt!”
*BANG*
A second later, Arthur slammed into the ground with a loud thud as he rolled several feet away before smashing into a wooden structure. All air was knocked out of his lungs, and the boy ended up coughing profusely while holding his back.
“That… hurts!!!” He groaned. “My back cracked…”
It took the boy several seconds to regain his composure and stretch his back a few times to adjust it again. The impact was really painful as he expected, but he didn’t sustain any serious injuries due to his strong body and also the help of the Shattered Skull Armor Set that gave him bonus defense against all types of damage, even fall damage.
“Ugh, where the hell am I?” Standing up, Arthur rubbed the back of his head, trying to inspect the area, only to freeze for a moment.
“… What the hell?” He muttered with wide eyes. He looked left and right, blinking in confusion. What he was seeing was indeed correct. He was standing in a wasteland, empty and barren of all life.
Instead, it was filled with what seemed to be broken ships and old wooden structures. Miles and miles of these exact ships just lying around. Just a mere look at the state of these ships told Arthur that they were far from old… They were ancient.
So old, in fact, that he didn’t even know how this wood hadn’t turned into dust yet. But it was clearly on the verge of completely disintegrating into mere rubble.
“What is this place? What are all these ships doing he-” As Arthur spoke to himself, a sudden realization hit him. He instantly looked up at the dark, empty sky above and knew the answer to all of his questions.
“Don’t tell me… They fell from the sky where I came from?” He muttered as he rubbed his chin. “But, there are so many… I could easily count thousands of these ships. What even is this place?”
‘If these ships fell here, then that means they had to sail through the entire river and end up in the waterfall… But, if I remember correctly, Deka told me that rarely do humans sail through the Akora River.’
“I wouldn’t say this is rare, Deka… There are entire fleets of broken ships laying in this wasteland.” He muttered with a deep frown.
The boy could feel the immense seriousness of his situation very quickly. This barren place wasn’t just a graveyard for ships, and the ships themselves were a mystery that he had to unravel.
So, as a first step, he decided to move from where he was standing. He didn’t feel comfortable standing in that darkness all alone and not actively doing something. At least he would be able to busy himself with a task while being afraid.
So, Arthur started walking, moving carefully through the wreckage. He jumped from one spot to another, passing through the small holes and passages he could find in his path. As he was walking, Arthur explored these old ships with his eyes.
He could see signs of old furniture, some rusty broken weapons, and even small bones here and there of unknown origin. The state of the entire place reeked of death and decay. It felt like Arthur was moving through a place that got stuck in the past and never moved from there.
Just a few minutes there gave Arthur such a depressing vibe that he ended up losing some of the energy he had earlier. He was simply unable to find anything worth smiling for. On top of that, the darkness was extremely gloomy and terrifying, keeping him on edge the entire time. Discover hidden stories at My Virtual Library Empire
“These ships were indeed human built… They have fallen from the sky.” He muttered with a dark expression. “How many years had it been since these things landed here, I wonder.”
Arthur was no expert on ships, so he couldn’t know precisely, but he was certain that it was at least decades since that time. Something had led these ships down here.
‘I need to find some high ground to have a better look at my surroundings. I don’t even know if there is an end to this place.’ He thought to himself.
Looking around him, Arthur spotted a particular shipwreck that was considerably elevated from the ground. So, he climbed it and stood at the top to see where he was and where he could possibly go.
‘It would’ve been a lot simpler if I could fly.’ He mused as he looked all around him. His eyes pierced through the darkness, searching for anything remotely interesting in this endless sea of nothingness.
But, after a minute of looking around, he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It was the same sight for miles and miles. Arthur stood there, breathing silently while contemplating what to do.
“It seems I will have to walk and pray I stumble upon something that can get me out of here.” He muttered as he jumped down from the wreckage and decided to continue moving in the same direction he chose.
He didn’t know where he was going, and his map wasn’t helping since his vision was heavily obstructed, but Arthur felt like he should find an end to this wasteland at some point.
For the next hour or so, Arthur found himself walking endlessly, moving through the rather rough terrain with agility. As seamless and quiet as it seemed, Arthur was aware of the small threats all around him that could pose a problem.
These ships were far from stable or unmoving. Their old wood threatened to fall at any moment, perhaps burying him under its crushing weight if he made a mistake or stepped on a wrong spot.
It was like walking through a minefield with no map or indication of where to step. However, Arthur was able to easily navigate it with his cleverness and reaction speed.
‘This is ridiculous. It’s not even fleets… How many ships fell here?? And why did Deka not mention this at all? The way she talked about this river made me think that accidents in it are a rare occurrence. This is clearly not!’
This ship graveyard had proven to be way larger than Arthur expected, and it was not even close. This scale of destroyed vessels could only come from large-scale wars, and even those pale in comparison to this place.
What were these ships? What caused them to fall here in such large numbers? And most importantly… Does this place even have an end?
As Arthur was contemplating all those thoughts, he suddenly heard a noise for the very first time since he arrived there.
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!