Chapter 78: A Scratch Shouldn’t Have Mattered… My Regeneration Made It Worse

There was no gate, wall, or sign marking where the relatively safe part of Mirevale ended and Deep Mire began.

Only red posts driven between the reeds.

The last one appeared around midmorning. Beyond it, the channels narrowed, the trees grew so close together that their roots formed natural walls, and the water darkened until it was almost black. Even the insects seemed less numerous.

Raven wasn’t sure whether that was reassuring or a warning.

Maelor considered it a warning.

"The last patrol made it this far," the alchemist said as he examined a mark carved into one of the posts. "Three men came back sick. Two died. The third is still isolated."

Raven studied the water on both sides of the decaying wooden walkway beneath their feet. Valeria stood several yards behind him, Roland watched the canopy, and four quarantine soldiers guarded the rear. Garran had stayed in town to coordinate the new medical protocols, but he had authorized the expedition under one clear condition: scout the area, recover samples, and return.

They were not supposed to push toward the heart of Deep Mire yet.

Raven had made no promises about what would happen if they found something useful before then.

"Last Reservoir Toad sighting?" he asked.

Maelor checked the waterproofed map.

"About half a mile northeast. Two hunters found tracks and empty eggs five days ago. No adults."

"Then we start there."

Valeria walked up beside Raven.

"Remember, officially, we’re not looking for your special toad today."

"I’m looking for the reason they’re disappearing."

"Which may coincidentally lead directly to your special toad."

"Efficiency shouldn’t be suspicious."

"With you, it is."

Raven kept walking.

They had been moving for less than half an hour when they found the first corpse.

A Mana Reservoir Toad.

A large one.

Probably Level Twelve or Thirteen.

It was trapped between two roots, partially submerged. The skin remained intact, but the abdomen had collapsed inward as though something had emptied the creature from the inside.

Raven crouched without touching it.

Predation responded.

[Species: Mana Reservoir Toad]

[Level: 13]

[Status: Deceased]

[Estimated Time of Death: 31–46 Hours]

[Mana Reserves: 0.6%]

[Foreign Biological Residue Detected.]

Raven focused on the final line.

"There are traces."

Maelor moved closer.

"Hollow Threads?"

"Probably."

The alchemist pulled on thick gloves before lifting one leg with a pair of long forceps. Beneath the body, translucent mucus clung to the mud.

Valeria grimaced.

"Every new thing we find in this swamp is worse than the last."

"We still haven’t found anything trying to talk."

"Don’t say that."

"Why?"

"Because this world listens when you make comments like that."

Roland gave a quiet laugh.

Raven collected a small sample of the residue with a spatula. Predation needed only a few seconds.

[Hollow Thread Biological Residue Confirmed.]

[Development Stage: Juvenile Fragments]

[Viability: None]

Maelor looked at the corpse.

"So the toads are being attacked."

"Or infected."

"But we already confirmed they can digest them."

Raven studied the collapsed abdomen.

"They can digest a juvenile Hollow Thread."

Maelor understood immediately.

"Not necessarily hundreds."

"Exactly."

Reservoir Toads could consume small parasites.

That did not mean they were immune to overwhelming numbers or more developed stages.

Raven stood.

"Open it."

One of the soldiers glanced around.

"Here?"

"Here."

There was no reason to carry the corpse several miles just to discover it was full of worms.

Maelor didn’t argue.

Five minutes later, the abdomen was open.

The Crystalline Mana Reservoir was almost completely drained and covered in small circular marks. They weren’t bites. They looked more like puncture points where something had pierced the membrane and remained attached.

Maelor examined them through an enchanted lens.

"Dozens."

Raven spotted dead filaments inside one of the channels.

"The toads eat the smaller forms. Looks like the larger forms eat them too."

Valeria crouched on the opposite side.

"So they’re disappearing because the Hollow Threads are evolving."

"Possibly."

"You really hate calling anything certain."

"Certainty without enough information tends to be expensive."

Maelor pointed toward a small puncture in the crystalline bladder.

"This didn’t come from the intestine."

Raven leaned closer.

He was right.

The parasites had not reached the reservoir through the digestive tract.

They had entered from outside.

"A wound."

"Most likely."

Raven looked toward the water.

If Hollow Threads could exploit open cuts rather than relying on ingestion, containing the outbreak became considerably more difficult.

"No entering the water with open wounds."

Roland looked down at his boots.

"I’d prefer no entering the water at all."

"That too."

They continued deeper.

That lasted seventeen minutes.

The walkway ended at a channel roughly twenty feet across.

There was no bridge.

Only the remains of one.

Two posts protruded from the water, and a section of rotten wood floated near the bank.

One of the soldiers pointed upstream.

"We can go around."

Maelor checked the map.

"Almost an hour and a half."

Raven examined the channel.

The water would probably reach his knees.

"We cross."

Valeria looked at him.

"You just said not to enter the water."

"With open wounds."

"That still doesn’t inspire confidence."

Roland used a pole to test the bottom.

"Solid."

Raven went first.

Not because he wanted to prove anything.

Stonehide made minor bites less likely to matter, and Predator’s Instinct gave him an advantage if something came out of the water.

The first step was normal.

So was the second.

On the third, he felt movement.

Not clear hostility.

Only a vibration through the water.

Raven stopped.

"Something’s moving."

Everyone froze.

A bubble surfaced to his right.

Then another.

Raven turned slowly.

Nothing.

He took another step.

The attack came from behind.

A gray creature launched out of the water, small and flat, with four long legs and a circular mouth packed with tiny teeth.

Raven twisted and raised his arm.

The creature slammed into him.

Its teeth scraped across his sleeve while one of its legs ended in a spine that sliced shallowly across his forearm.

Raven caught it before it could fall back into the water.

Stonehide spread across his hand.

CRACK.

The creature’s head struck the broken post.

Once was enough.

[Target Defeated.]