3. Local Cuisine

After defeating the carnivorous mandrake, Jason loots a new item: the Trowel of the Blood Cult, an ominous, razor-edged gardening tool that enhances carnivorous plants. He keeps it as a makeshift weapon while continuing through the hedge maze.

Jason reaches a rustic well at the maze’s center. His maze-exploration quest completes, rewarding him with 100 iron spirit coins and simple, loose linen pants. He dons the pants, notes their impracticality amid his blood and ointment stains, and evaluates his situation, weighing the possibility of delusion against a reality that defies his understanding.

Inspecting the well, Jason finds iron rungs descending into darkness. A new quest, Secrets of the Well, offers an awakening stone and a bonus essence for not dying. Skeptical, he prepares to reject it—until he hears two nearby men discussing a stolen trowel, captured adventurers reserved for sacrifice, and the merits of eating different people, including an elf and a human girl.

Deciding cannibals are worse than a dangerous quest, Jason commits to the descent. He carefully climbs down the slick rungs as light fades, telling himself the men might be bluffing but not trusting it. At the bottom, ankle-deep in icy water, he slips but avoids injury, and discovers a dark crawlspace in the well wall.

Despite his misgivings, Jason chooses the unknown tunnel over the threat above. He readies himself to crawl into the darkness, prioritizing survival and the chance at quest rewards over returning to the maze stalked by cannibals.