While analyzing the wreckage, Alwyn noticed that there were no corpses lying around.
It was a bit suspicious.
Monsters never ate a whole person, it was common knowledge. They only bit people out of instinct, not because they were hungry, and so, grotesque remains could always be found on their path. It was the reason they were so easily trackable.
But there, only pools of blood were left behind.
Alwyn had a bad premonition.
What if it wasn't the work of monsters?
Then, only humans could be the culprits. They had probably killed the victims and hid their bodies somewhere, but for some reason forgot his. Then wild animals came to inspect the scene and chewed off some meat from his legs. However, at some point, his ravaged body mysteriously started healing. The wounds closed themselves and he came back from the dead.
That was just a wild guess though.
To deal with humans he had to be extremely cautious. This time he didn't plan on regressing, no matter what happened, not now that the overpowered ability was malfunctioning.
'Great, I can't use the System.'
In this injured and powerless state, his only chance of surviving was evading the aggressors.
He looked at his legs and cursed internally. The regeneration was taking too long.
Judging by the little progress, it would still take them about a couple hours to heal completely, one hour at best if he could endure the pain while walking.
'Shit.'
He was in the middle of a plain of barren earth, with nowhere to hide other than the remains of the carriage. Here and there, rocks and weak, black bushes decorated the land, but it was a far cry from the flourishing vegetation he was used to.
That land… was basically dead.
He scanned his surroundings once again, this time expanding the scope to the horizon.
To the East there was nothing in sight for hundreds of kilometers, at least nothing that could be spotted by naked eyes, but in the far distance a lone, almost imperceptible peak interrupted the straight line of the horizon. By foot it could take him weeks to approach it, if not even months.
From North to West a towering mountain range stretched for who knew how much, both start and end were not in Alwyn's field of vision. Its jagged peaks were covered in grey… snow? About seventy kilometers separated him from the nearest slope. Reaching it was not a viable option, not in his current condition.
A vast blackish forest occupied the southern area. It was relatively close, as it would probably take him only four hours to arrive there, with fully-healed legs obviously.
At last, he looked up at the sky. Gray tone, no clouds, and the sun could hardly be spotted, as if the air itself was too dense to let light through. But the most concerning thing about it, was that the sun was already close to the western mountains, meaning it was about to set.
It would soon get dark and cold, more than it already was, and gods only knew what roamed at night there. He had to move quickly to a safe place.
He didn't want to pass the night in the open plain, and hiding under the rubble was not an option. The blood on the scene would definitely attract beasts and monsters.
The only affordable destination was the dark forest, but even that was a four hour trip from his current location, without considering that his legs would be out of order for at least another hour. And by the time they healed, the sun would already be gone.
In other words…
'I'm fucked.'
Alwyn clenched his fists. The gods had given him another chance to entertain them, and that meant there had to be a way to survive that ordeal.
To his understanding, watching tragedies was no fun, at least for the three bastards. There was always a way to get to the next stage, as painful as it could be.
And now that he didn't have both System and Regression Skill, the difficulty should probably be lower than his past rounds.
'...Right?'
It was doable, but he first had to understand the exact situation he was in, so he looked around once more.
'Come on, no cities? No roads? Not even a single Wallmart?!'
Where did he get teleported to? There was no place on Earth that resembled it, even remotely so. Everything gave off an alien feeling.
'Is this… a different world?'
Judging by the objects scattered around, like the broken cartwheel, it was highly possible. They were all very primitive and there was no sign of advanced technology.
'Great, now I can't determine both fauna and flora's threat level... First things first, I should probably find a weapon. After that I can start crawling towards the forest.'
That was the plan.
Alwyn immediately started inspecting his belongings.
He was wearing a white linen shirt and brown, torn trousers. The shoes… were nowhere to be seen. He was clothed like a beggar.
'M-Maybe in this world this is the norm? Wait, who the hell wears only a linen shirt in this weather! I knew it, I'm broke!'
Sullen and ashamed, he checked the right pocket, hoping to find something even remotely useful. To his surprise, he grabbed a small compact object, and pulled it out with anticipation.
'Is it a lighter or… Are you fucking kidding me?! What the hell am I keeping a shitty rock with me for?'
His luck was incredibly terrible. However, he didn't give up and, after putting the rock back in the pocket, he inserted his left hand in the other one with high expectations.
His fingers felt a smooth surface.
'N-No way… Jackpot!'
The reason for his joy was simple. On his open hand, lay a simple metal compass, a working one at that! Despite whatever had happened to the carriage and its crew, it had not broken down, not even during the nasty fall he had experienced just a couple minutes ago.
As he thanked the God of Luck, not that he really existed, he noticed something shiny covered by dirt in his close proximity, so he took it up and cleaned its surfaces with the dirty sleeves of his shirt.
It was a small golden locket, circular in shape, with elegant motifs decorating its circumference.
'No, judging by the rust, it's not made of gold. And it must be quite old...'
Fiddling with it in his hand, he managed to open it. Inside of it, on one side was a grubby mirror, on the other a rough portrait of a young couple holding a kid.
'Who are they? They look familiar. Are they my-'
However, as Alwyn switched his focus back to the mirror and stared directly into it, he abruptly collapsed, lying motionless on the hard ground.