Finally , he gave up and called it a day . But he would dedicate some time every day for meditation as well he decided . At least until someone told him it was a waste of time . It had been a long day , and Zac was exhausted . He wiped his sweat and then crept into a small crevice that secluded him even further , and fell into a deep slumber .
Chapter 44 - Peak
Zac woke up just at dawn and decided to meditate briefly before getting ready . He wasn’t sure whether it helped him gain insight and progress his Dao Seed , or help gain a new one . Even so , he felt it was a worthwhile endeavor . He was starting to get worried about his psyche . He had bathed in blood and battle constantly for weeks , and it had taken its toll . He felt he almost shut off all his emotions as a coping mechanism to not go insane , but it wasn’t a permanent solution .
He needed to adjust his state of mind to be able to endure . He knew that even if he survived the island , his life wouldn’t likely change much . He still had to defend his island from new invaders for three months even if he managed to kick out the demons . At least if he understood his quest Incursion master correctly .
Incursion Master (Unique) : Close or conquer incursion and protect outpost from denizens of other alignments for 3 months . Reward : 5 E-Grade Nexus Crystals , outpost upgraded to town , status upgraded to Lord . (0/3)
Since the quest still hadn’t progressed after over a month he believed it would start up as soon as the demons and the Incursion were dealt with . If it meant that he only needed to worry about the critters on the island for three months afterwards , then everything would be well and good . But Zac held no hope that the System would be so nice about it , and would likely send some trouble his way .
As he was looking through his quest panel he also noticed that the Forester’s Constitution quest unfortunately hadn’t progressed from his day of battling Monkeys . There were some solitary trees rooted on the cliffs , but it seemed the system made a clear distinction between a mountain next to a forest and a forest .
He closed the menus and silently stared out over the tranquil view . The mountains were quite a bit calmer compared to the forest , as the stone monkeys didn’t have the tendency to incessantly roar like the barghest did . It almost felt like he was just camping again , which made him think about Hannah .
To be honest , he hadn’t really been thinking about her and the others a lot lately , as he was focused on surviving and getting stronger . As he was reminiscing about her he realized he had missed an important clue about the tutorial . The four of them hadn’t returned to his camp after the month-long tutorial had ended . He didn’t reflect over it at the time , his mind occupied with the newly arrived demons and his class acquisition .
As he saw it that could have two reasons . First , they were all dead , and the system didn’t bother to teleport back corpses . Second , after finishing the tutorial they were not teleported back from where they were snatched up , but somewhere else . Perhaps to human settlements or the like .
He could only pray it was the second reason . He wondered if they were looking for him , or if they just assumed he died . Had Hannah moved on?
Zac sighed and looked out over the sunrise . What obligations did he have to a new girlfriend when the apocalypse came? They had only been together for a few months when the world was integrated into the multi-verse . And even if he managed to find her again it would likely take a long time . Could they still even be considered a couple? He couldn’t find any easy answers and simply tabled the matter .
There were monkeys to kill .
He ate a quick breakfast and headed out . Today he was planning on scaling one of the peaks to look for the Herald . As he traversed the mountain he made an intriguing discovery . The further up he climbed , the more concentrated the cosmic energy felt .
He was clueless if it was related to altitude , or something about the mountains themselves caused the phenomena . But he realized that it might be very valuable in the future . He wasn’t a cultivator , but even he felt invigorated by the density of cosmic energy in the surroundings .
Perhaps he could rent out the mountains to cultivators in the future at exorbitant rates . He could only assume that cultivating in this kind of environment would be far more effective compared to doing it at a place with a normal density of energy . It could be a great source of income if he got a town up and running in the future . There was something about the thought of becoming a post-apocalyptic slumlord that gave him a comforting sense of normalcy .
Zac spent half the day killing monkey packs and scaling the closest peak , with his efficiency in monkey dismantling starting to reach a sublime level . There were some surprises where unexpected backup that Zac had missed entered the fray , but it generally only resulted in more Nexus Coins for himself . The scariest moment was when a monkey somehow managed to sneak up on him , biting him in his inner loin . Just slightly to the left and the monkey would have eaten his precious jewels .
He reached the peak midday , and after a brief survey could conclude that this peak wasn’t the home of the Herald . The air felt quite fresh up here , and Zac decided to have his dinner with a view . He sat down between some rocks to look more inconspicuous and retrieved some fruit and dried meat from his pouch .
His experiments with food and the pouch was a great success . Everything he put inside kept even better compared to a refrigerator , the fruits and slabs of meat still looking pristine after over a week . He didn’t dare start a fire for some barbeque this close to the demon town though , so he could only stick to his dried rations .
As he ate he looked over the mountain range . His view from the peak afforded him a unique vantage , and he made some new discoveries .
There were a total of five real peaks , of which he sat on the western-most . The peak he occupied was slightly off on its own , whereas the other four were a bit more clumped together .
Between the four peaks there seemed to be a secluded valley that wasn’t visible from down below as it was located a few hundred meters above sea level . The mountain range itself had some sparse vegetation , such as some windswept shrubbery and small trees , but the valley seemed quite lush with an abundance of leafy growth . Zac even thought he could discern a small pond or lake , but couldn’t be sure as a large part of the valley was covered in a mist .
The valley certainly looked intriguing , like a secret little paradise hidden from sight . If he was on a treasure hunt he’d bet all his doubloons that any riches the island had to offer were hidden there .
More importantly , it also seemed like a good resting place for a Herald .
The only thing making him unsure was the fact that the monkeys seemed to like the rocky outcroppings and cliffs of the mountain . It would be a bit odd if their leader preferred to stay in a forest instead .
The great elevation also allowed him to finally confirm that he was indeed on an island . He hadn’t been able to see anything behind the mountain range before , and knew there might have been land on the other side as well . But steep cliffs gave way to the ocean at the end of the mountain range , looking almost as though the mountain had been sliced clean off . Perhaps the System simply had chopped off part of a larger mountain range and slapped it onto the edge of the island . It was quite the sight , with a drop of at least 100 meters down into the waters below .
Zac finished his meal and made his way back down the mountain slopes again , and started trekking eastbound for the other peaks . He kept killing every monkey pack in his way , bringing a storm of carnage to the mountain . He was somewhat surprised that there still wasn't a more concerted effort to catch him by the monkeys by now , as the monkeys seemed to care greatly for each other .