However, the taste of "Death’s Door" differed from that of sugarcane.
It was more akin to chocolate.
The kind that came in big slabs, wrapped in foil, easily broken off.
Slightly bitter, but more so rich and sweet.
The flavor of each piece varied slightly due to the "texture."
Subtle, yet for Jason, it was quite the surprise.
Like the saying goes, "Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get."
After several chews, Jason spat out an aluminum teapot he had already bitten into shreds, deeply agreeing.
Well-prepared, Jason cast a veil of mist before the horde of monsters could charge at him.
In the pitch-black humanoid creatures’ bewildered gaze, he slowly moved towards the nearest shadow.
Mist Concealment also required Physical Strength.
Although it was slow, Jason definitely preferred to maintain ample strength.
His steps were slow, silent.
The stealth and concealment skills above that of a Master made Jason seem like a phantom shadow drifting through what seemed like a "shopping mall" sort of "room."
This "shopping mall" would normally have four or more floors in the real world, but here it only had four, and just half of it, as if it had been cleaved in two with a knife and tilted at a strange angle.
Yet without electricity, the place was brightly lit.
The light bulbs were invulnerable.
Obviously, they were protected by some kind of rule!
But, such rules were not omnipotent!
At least some places remained dark.
There were light bulbs there too, but they had gone out.
"Were they extinguished when we entered this place?"
Jason mused, looking at the shattered bulbs.
Then, he continued along the edge of the corridor, towards that area.
However, just as he was about to step into the darkness, he halted in his tracks.
It wasn’t that there was something in the dark, but rather something under the light.
In the gap between light and darkness, where the light got through!
The light should have been shining on the wall!
Jason could confirm this.
But this crevice allowed the light to pass through it "transparently."
Fine and barely noticeable, if Jason’s perception hadn’t been extraordinary and he wasn’t sufficiently vigilant, he would never have detected this anomaly.
He stopped to inspect.
Inside the crevice, "darkness" was churning.
He couldn’t describe what it was.
Too many shapes, yet all bizarre.
He could only name it based on color.
Jason involuntarily flared his nostrils.
There was no scent of "food."
In an instant, his interest waned, and he moved a couple of steps to the side, continuing towards the darkness as he had originally intended, where there was a wardrobe that might offer a place to rest for a while, waiting for the next dawn to arrive.
However, as Jason passed the crevice, a tremendous suction force suddenly emerged.
An invisible yet seemingly outline-traced black hand stretched out from the crevice.
At first, it was flat, as if in a photo.
But after extending, it rapidly expanded into a real hand, and then crossed the space to seize Jason’s ankle.
The hand attempted to pull Jason down and then drag him into the crevice.