Alexander had spent most of the night moving along the river; his steps were quick and determined. The water flowed beside him like a narrow silver ribbon cutting through the darkness of the savanna, reflecting the pale light of the stars as it wound silently forward. Behind him, far in the distance, the sharp scar of the fissure had long since disappeared from sight.
By now he had moved nearly five or six kilometers away from the ravine.
Yet despite that, the savanna was strangely empty.
There were no distant hoofbeats. No rustling of herds moving through the tall grass. Not even the faintest scent of herbivores drifting with the wind. The savanna stretched around him in pale waves of grass, stirred only by the soft whisper of the night breeze.
Alexander slowed his steps slightly; an uneasy discomfort had begun to rise in his mind.
"I've walked this far… it will almost be morning," he muttered to himself. "And I still haven't encountered a single animal."
His words came out in a low, uneasy tone.
There was something wrong with the silence of the savanna.
Even so, he had no other choice. If prey existed somewhere in this endless plain, the only way to find it was to keep searching.
Alexander stopped at the edge of the river and lowered his head. Cool water flowed down his throat, refreshing the dryness in his mouth left by the long walk.
After drinking enough, he lifted his head and turned.
Now the river remained behind him.
Alexander gave his back to the water, changed direction, and began walking straight toward the endless grasslands of the savanna.
Since changing direction, countless thoughts had been circling through Alexander's mind.
For a long time he had believed the savanna would be overflowing with herbivore herds. The logic seemed simple enough. The strange mushrooms in the fissure released a scent powerful enough to attract predators from kilometers away. If the predators had gathered there, then the plains outside should have become safer for grazing animals.
At least, that had been his assumption.
But now he was beginning to doubt it.
He had already traveled a considerable distance through the grasslands, yet he had still not encountered a single herd. There was no distant movement among the tall grass, no tracks fresh enough to follow, and no strong scent of prey drifting through the wind.
Even so, he did not stop searching.
As night slowly gave way to dawn, the horizon began to brighten. Pale orange light spread across the eastern sky, and the long shadows of the savanna gradually withdrew. The wind carried the warmth of the rising sun across the open plains, replacing the cool stillness of the night with the dry heat of morning.
Alexander kept moving.
For hours he walked through the endless sea of grass. But after a while, he began to notice something strange.
At first the change was so subtle that he could not immediately understand what was different.
He lifted his head slightly and took a slow breath.
The difference was not only in the air.
It was in his mind.
For months there had always been a strong presence lingering in the background of his thoughts. After he stopped eating the mushrooms, that presence had weakened, but it had never fully disappeared. A quiet yet constant pressure… a subtle urge slowly pulling his instincts back toward the mushrooms.
But now that feeling had almost completely vanished.
Alexander slowed his steps as the realization settled into his mind. He could not say exactly when the change had begun, but for some time now his thoughts had felt clearer and lighter than before. The faint scent that had once seemed to linger everywhere had withdrawn from the air, and with it the persistent craving in his mind had weakened as well.
The realization filled him with quiet satisfaction.
For the first time in months, he truly felt free.
Alexander exhaled slowly, allowing the last tension in his mind to loosen. Then he continued on his way.
By the time the sun climbed high into the sky and the heavy heat of midday settled across the savanna, he finally stopped. Finding a lone tree rising above the grasslands, Alexander lowered himself into the shade beneath its broad branches and began to rest.
The Nuxali body had never evolved for hours of walking. It was built for short, explosive bursts of speed rather than long marches across the plains. Endless walking simply did not suit the natural use of his muscles. And with the extra mass he had gained during the months inside the ravine, the long journey had exhausted him even more.
The fatigue still lingered in his limbs.
Because of that, Alexander decided to rest for a few hours, at least until the sun began to descend from its highest point in the sky.
As he lay beneath the shade of the tree, his thoughts slowly drifted toward the System.
With a brief moment of focus, the familiar translucent interface appeared before his eyes.
[Biomass] – 16.9
Alexander stared at the number for a while.
A faint grunt escaped his throat.
"Walking really burns quite a lot of calories… doesn't it?" he thought.
Then he lowered his head and tore a mouthful of grass from the ground beside him. The dry blades snapped softly between his teeth as he began chewing slowly, making his rest as efficient as possible.
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Alexander hadn't realized when sleep had taken him.
It wasn't deep sleep, only a short and restless nap brought on by exhaustion. When his eyes opened again, the heat of the day had already begun to fade. The shade beneath the tree had shifted, and the sun was no longer pressing down from directly overhead.
For a moment he remained motionless, simply observing his surroundings.
Then movement near his forepaws caught his attention.
Hundreds of tiny creatures were marching across the soil in a thin and orderly line. They resembled small ants, although their bodies were slightly longer and their dark shells glimmered faintly in the evening sunlight. Each of them carried something several times their own size: seeds, fragments of dry leaves, and fibrous pieces of plants. All of it was being transported toward a small hole in the ground at the base of the tree.
Alexander watched them silently.
He was lying directly across their path, which meant the ants had been forced to lengthen their route and move around him.
The line was also longer than he had expected, disappearing into the grass and then reappearing again near the entrance of the nest. They simply kept working without stopping.
A faint grunt escaped his throat.
"So it looks like things are going well in your colony," he muttered quietly to himself. "Mine, on the other hand, isn't doing so well."
The tiny workers completely ignored him and continued their march.
Alexander watched them for another moment, their endless effort amusing him slightly, before he slowly rose to his feet and stepped out of their path.
When he lifted his head, he noticed that the sun had already begun descending toward the west. The scorching heat of midday had faded, and long shadows were spreading across the savanna.
Good.
It was time to move again.
Leaving the shade of the tree behind, Alexander stepped back into the tall grass and continued walking across the savanna. The wind had cooled slightly, and the evening light painted the endless plains in soft purplish-green tones.
He moved through the grasslands for nearly two hours.
When the sun began sinking toward the horizon, Alexander slowed again. Lowering his head, he bent down to tear a mouthful of grass from the ground.
That was when he noticed it.
At first glance, it seemed insignificant, but something about the pattern of the grass was wrong.
Among the untouched blades were a few narrow patches where the grass had been pressed down toward the soil. The marks were faint and scattered, so they could easily be missed without careful attention.
Alexander stopped, his eyes narrowing as he studied the ground more closely.
Then a satisfied rumble rose from his throat.
"Finally… a trail."
The fatigue almost instantly vanished from his body.
Without hesitation, he lowered his head and began following the faint track winding through the grass.