I hadn’t made much progress in my quest for well-seasoned meat, but I hadn’t given up either. I was currently exploring the forest once more in search of seasonings. Today, I was clad in an outfit made by the Three Eyes. They’d presented me with the clothes this morning, looking rather proud of themselves. It had been a pleasant way to start the day.
To my surprise, the clothes weren’t plain white. Instead, I’d been handed black pants and a light green T-shirt, along with some standard white underwear. The clothes were more comfortable than anything I’d owned before. The fabric was smooth and soft to the touch, with none of the stiffness that came with my usual cheap clothes. I did ask them to make the material a little thicker for the next pair of pants they made, though: the fabric itself was comfortable, but thin, unsupportive trousers were less so.
The pants and T-shirt were one thing, but I was most grateful for the new underwear. I could clean them with magic, but at the end of the day, I’d been wearing the same pair since I’d arrived here. Physically, they might have been fine, but mentally, I needed a fresh change of underwear. Thankfully, I’d somehow managed to persevere through their detailed inspection of my old underwear without fleeing in embarrassment. Unfortunately, without any elastic, both the underwear and the pants had to be held up with thin lengths of cord, but it was a price I was willing to pay for fresh clothing.
I’d been surprised to see the colored reels of yarn when I’d dropped in to check on the Three Eyes a few days prior, so I’d lurked around to see if I could figure out how they were making it. Apparently, the color of thread produced by the worms differed depending on what they were fed. Small groups of baby spiders scuttled in and out of the room, returning with different types of flowers and leaves according to the Three Eye’s instructions.
Wait... Do the Three Eyes have some kinda authority or something? I don’t understand the power balance between all of you...
Anyway, thanks to the Three Eyes, I had a new outfit—and they say that with new clothes comes a new attitude. Hopefully my positive mindset would lead to positive results during today’s expedition.
A few minutes’ walk from the edge of the recently made clearing, I stumbled across a small, rugged hill—with a gaping hole right at the base.
“Another cave, huh...”
A gradually descending slope led farther inside, quickly disappearing into the darkness. From out here, it was impossible to tell just how far underground it led. I quickly thought it over. The new cave wasn’t too close to the house, but it wasn’t all that far away either. If something was lurking inside, it was probably close enough for it to affect our cave too—which, unfortunately, meant I needed to do some spelunking. I conjured a ball of light to illuminate our surroundings and crossed through the rocky archway with Koa, Soa, and Hio beside me.
The sloping passage led deeper and deeper under the ground. Minutes passed as we walked along without any notable changes in scenery—and with nothing to distract me, I instead began to focus on the passage itself. Specifically, I was starting to feel anxious about the size of it. The entrance itself had been quite large, but that wasn’t too unusual, as far as I knew. However, the entire length of the passage we’d covered so far had been exactly the same dimensions, never shrinking in width or height.
I wasn’t sure how far we’d walked by the time we emerged into the large chamber. And there it was: the answer to the question that had been wriggling away in my subconscious since I’d first noticed the size of the passage.
I was face-to-face with a strange, giant ant—or rather, face-to-fangs, several of which were bared at me in an unquestionably threatening manner. The ant was around the same size as Koa, who, given her recent growth spurt, was currently around the same size as a golf cart...
Come to think of it, you’re way too big, Koa—and this ant is too!
The giant ant was mostly a very bright red, with a mottled black pattern covering some of its body. It wasn’t like the shadows that had covered the other animals; in fact, the black patches seemed to emit a strange, dull light rather than the ominous mist I was used to. Still, it felt like the others had.
It’s not shadows, but maybe it’s still a curse? I mean, who knows if curses always come as shadows anyway?
The atmosphere here felt just like it had all of the other times I’d happened across a cursed animal, so for starters, I tried purification. The ant’s whole body glowed with the warm, familiar light—apart from the mottled black patches, which actually seemed to repel it.
My purification didn’t work.