One could often hear that the worms are what keep the fungus in check. If they weren't there, then the rot would've long covered everything inside the kingdom, and then the whole world.
But, then again, this is nothing but a saying the cult had been using to fuel their propaganda and encourage teens to join their cult.
Recently, the cult had been in decline, and why wouldn't that be the case when their whole purpose relies on such vague descriptions?
The cult, they claim, the worms were the first victims and the protectors against it... but I would say that is a load of bullshit. Protector, my ass... they aren't any better than other monsters who wouldn't think twice before swallowing everything whole.
Because of all this, the king had made an expedition consisting of great warriors to check the claims made by the cult, but even after half a decade, there was little to no information about them.
Some say they died in those trenches because of the heresy of invading the home of the gods, while some claim they returned with such valuable information that the king had buried them with their secret.
Nobody knew which of these was true. After all, nobody was brave enough to go into the trenches, and at the same time, nobody was stupid enough to question the king.
And anyway, ever since the incident, there is already enough on everyone's hands to add the worms and their shenanigans to their list of tasks.
No one was that free... but if I were to get some free time, I would like to dig deeper into its secrets... hahah! Pun intended, of course.
Excerpt from the diary of an unknown adventurer.
-------------------------------------------------------
Wiping the drool off his face, Nolan looked at the steaming hot meat in his hand and bit a chunk out of it.
"Ohhhohh!..." Salivating still, he couldn't help but be impressed by the taste of the meat.
He hadn't put anything extra in the meat, yet it tasted heavenly. He couldn't help but fantasize about what it would have tasted like if he had had the ingredients with him.
Not even chewing the meat properly, he gulped it and took another bite. 'F-fuckkk! T-this is sooo good!'
Licking his lips, Nolan decided to savor it this time and began to chew the meat properly. He quickly understood the opportunity he had wasted with the previous chunk, as the more he chewed, the more flavor he was experiencing.
Flavors were exploding in his mouth as his eyes rolled back in pleasure.
'Dammm! This shit is to die for...'
Humans could be divided into two groups: those who eat to live, and the other group who live to eat... and from his actions, it was obvious which group Nolan belongs to.
He was about to take another bite when, from the corner of his vision, he noticed the crow was staring at him with its begging eyes.
"Huh! You want some?... Well, I'm in a good mood..." Throwing a small chunk toward the bird, he muttered, "Take this and enjoy yourself, man."
Grabbing the meat chunk with its feet, the crow began biting a small piece out of it. Just the heart of the monster was more than one kilogram, so he wasn't worried about the meat running short.
'Hmmm! Ohohoho!' Whistling, Nolan continued his feast.
Burp!
Only after finishing both of the hearts did he stop.
For a second, even he was surprised to find that he could even eat this much. Having gained another inch around its stomach, the crow was rolling on the ground as well.
'What should I do with these...' he thought, looking at the rest of the meat. Nodding his head, he began remembering a way to preserve the meat, and soon he had a solution in his hand.
Nodding his head, he spiked them into the ground and began looking at the sky. It had begun to get darker.
'Well, should I check what the night has for us...' As this was his first night in this strange world, Nolan wasn't in the mood to sleep; instead, he was going to see what the darkness had brought with it.
'There is no way I can climb the tree in this condition... let's rest for a moment… shall we?...' As the temperature had begun to drop, Nolan moved closer to the fire and tried to rest.
Being fatigued, on top of having a full stomach, he couldn't control himself and slept around the fire.
Caw! Caw!...
Once again, the caw caw from the crow woke him up from his deep sleep.
'In a strange world... and I still couldn't get rid of damn alarms...' Yawning, he opened his eyes and looked around.
It didn't take him seconds to realize something wasn't right.
'What! How long was I asleep...'
Nolan thought, looking at how the fire had gone out. Not only had it gone, even the ashes had turned cold. Confused, Nolan stood up on his feet and was about to move when something caught his attention.
"NOOOOO..." he cried out in pain as his gaze locked on the horror in front of him.
"How could I do it... How could... Don't forgive me, God... kill me, take my life..." he whispered, looking at the meat that had gone bad from being in the open.
"How could I let this delicacy go to waste like that... Nooo..." Shaking his head, he picked up the meat, but the stench was bad enough for him to throw it back on the ground.
'Fuck man, how long was I asleep... did I sleep the whole night...' Thinking, he looked out, but no matter how much he looked, everything looked the same.
Just as he remembered, the sky had begun to darken a bit, and he could feel the cold in the air. Suddenly, Nolan understood why everything looked the same.
'Shit... did I sleep for a whole day...' he thought, as that indeed seemed to be the case.
The wounds around him had begun to heal. Not only begun to heal—in fact, most of the minor ones had already healed; just his collarbone was the problem.
Except for that, Nolan could feel his body recovering quite fast. Picking up his shirt, he got out of the skull. Taking a last look inside, he began climbing the tree.
Because of the bruise on the collarbone, it took him more than ten minutes of climbing to reach his previous lookout spot. Getting there, he sat comfortably and began waiting for the night to come.
And when it came, Nolan couldn't help but whisper with awe, "What a beauty..."