When David woke up on the statue's hand, he looked down — the sun had just risen.
He climbed down and started heading south. Soon, he saw two lower mid-tier monsters ahead — they were devouring a third demon.
David hid behind a tree, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Then, as the demons began to fight each other, David saw his chance — and took it.
Launching a surprise attack from above, he pulled out his blade and drove it straight into the demon's head. The second one, still unaware, stood frozen.
Snapping out of it, the demon let out a roar and charged at David.
David ducked low, the demon's arm swiping over him, and drove his sword into the demon's stomach, making it scream in pain.
Yanking the blade out, David thrust it into the demon's head — and it collapsed, lifeless.
He, too, felt drained, his fragile body weakened by the effort.
But when he looked at the result of his work, a smile appeared on David's face. Quickly collecting the two cores from the fallen demons, he turned his gaze toward the one that had been getting eaten…
And spotted a third core.
"So that's why they were fighting… They couldn't share the core. Fools," he thought.
Taking the third core as well, David continued on his way. An hour later, he finally reached the edge of the forest. Looking out into the distance, he saw there were more places just like this one.
"So I'm on an island right now… That would explain why the plants here are so strong."
David pondered. But suddenly, he saw smoke in the distance.
"Smoke… On another island? Looks like there are people there. I need to find a way to get over."
He glanced at the sun — it was already starting to set — and headed back. Thirty minutes later, David reached the statue and climbed back up to the hand.
Sitting there, he started thinking about how to get to the other island.
"How can I reach it? Maybe I could swim… but that's risky. I don't know what's in this lake — what kinds of demons might live there. It's dangerous… but maybe I should try anyway."
After weighing his options, David went to sleep. The next morning, he got up and headed for the edge of the island again. The smoke was still visible.
He stopped at the forest's edge. Near the water, a fallen tree lay on the ground. David sighed, pulled out his sword, and began hollowing out the trunk. After a few hours — with the help of fire to speed things up — the inside was burned out.
By sunrise, the boat was ready: simple, blackened by ash, but sturdy enough to float. That was all he needed.
After hiding the boat for a while, David returned to the statue. He climbed up and fell asleep on its hand. The next morning, he headed back to the boat. Once he arrived, he pushed it into the water and climbed in.
He began paddling toward the island where the smoke had come from. Slowly… There was nothing in the lake, and nothing seemed likely to happen.
Then, suddenly, a small wave rippled the surface. David turned around.
A bad feeling crept over him. He started paddling harder with his hands. The waves kept growing — higher, stronger, more violent.
David stopped wasting energy on paddling and looked behind him, bracing for an attack.
Suddenly, a demon burst out of the water.
David saw it — and froze in shock and horror.