Riven's hand shot toward his waist, fingers slipping into the belt pocket and closing around a needle.
Meanwhile, his opponent advanced again.
The stag's hooves pressed into the moss with deliberate weight, antlers lowering as faint golden lines flickered along their length. It charged forward.
Riven shifted into motion fast, stepping into its space instead of retreating, catching the stag by surprise.
With how far it had gotten with its unnatural half-step that seemed to fold distance, it wasn't actually able to ram its antlers into Riven anymore.
He had closed the distance, and moved a little to the side dodging its path.
The stag twisted, trying to hook him from the side.
Riven ducked beneath the sweep, shoulder grazing coarse fur as he slipped past its flank. His fingers flicked.
The needle left his hand — not toward the beast in front of him.
Across the clearing.
It struck the second stag cleanly behind the shoulder just as it tried to disengage from Yue Lin.
Please see this.
Yue Lin stepped forward, seemingly giving up on her defense completely.
She saw.
He detonated the qi.
It rippled through muscle, jolting the beast violently, its legs locking for half a breath.
And Yue Lin wasn't gonna miss that chance.
Her dagger, coated in muted grey qi, carved forward in one clean motion — slicing deep across its throat. Blood burst outward in a dark arc as the stag stumbled, choking.
It tried to blink-step away.
Too slow.
Her second strike drove up beneath its jaw.
The stag collapsed with a heavy crash.
Dead.
Riven didn't look to confirm.
Because his own opponent was already lunging again.
Just as he dodged its attack, a shrill cry split the air.
High. Piercing. Wrong.
Riven's stomach dropped.
The bird.
He had a bad feeling about this.
"Let's end this fast," he said sharply.
Yue Lin didn't question it.
She was already moving over.
The stag in front of Riven charged again, but this time he didn't bother conserving qi. Instead of opting for Vaern's Basic Martial Arts, he executed a Falconburst Kick.
His leg snapped upward in a blur, 65% faster than normal. The impact cracked against the stag's leg with brutal force, sending it staggering sideways.
Before it could recover, Yue Lin was there — her dagger plunging deep between ribs, grey qi slicing through flesh as if it were soaked cloth.
The stag convulsed once.
Then went still.
The fight over surprisingly fast once they coordinated.
Silence rushed in after the echo of impact.
But it didn't feel empty.
Somewhere in the distance—
Another faint rustle.
Another cry.
Riven didn't like it.
"Grab a stag and leave."
There was no hesitation. No debate.
They moved instantly, each taking a side of the fallen beast, lifting it just enough to drag without slowing themselves too much. The second stag lay dead behind them, but there was no time to harvest properly. Meat mattered. Survival mattered more.
They retreated fast, boots barely touching the forest floor as they weaved between trees.
Behind them—
Wings.
The bird launched from its perch.
It flapped erratically, nearly smashing straight into a trunk before releasing a sharp, rapid series of cries — different from before. Shorter. Tighter. Echoing.
It adjusted midair, correcting its path.
Riven's eyes narrowed.
It was using the sound.
Mapping the forest with its own voice.
The bird shrieked again and tried to follow, banking clumsily between branches — but flying blind through dense woods wasn't easy. Twice it clipped leaves. Once it veered too sharply and had to pull back.
After a few frantic attempts, the cries grew more distant.
It gave up.
Forest flight wasn't its strength.
Riven didn't slow.
Not until they were nearly out of sight of the clearing.
He glanced back once—
And his blood ran cold.
Through the gaps in the trees, massive antlers moved.
Bigger than any they had fought.
One of the stronger stags.
It stood near the corpse they'd left behind, head lowered as if examining the scene.
"Move," Riven breathed.
And quickly they left the scene behind.
Back at the cave, they butchered the stag.
There was no beast core.
But at least the meat was dense and rich — far more nourishing than fish.
They both ate more than usual.
Riven especially.
His body burned through food at a frightening pace lately. Between the bloodline strengthening and constant training, it felt like his muscles devoured nutrients just to maintain themselves. Yue Lin wasn't much better. Her cultivation and technique refinement drained her reserves just as quickly.
Within two days, the meat was gone.
Every strip.
The bones scraped clean.
They waited one more cycle — just to be safe — before hunting again.
This time, it took longer.
Much longer.
The forest felt different now. Quieter in some places. Overly alert in others.
Even the wind seemed to move more cautiously, as if it too had learned that loud things didn't survive long here.
The stags rarely wandered alone anymore. When they did, birds were never far.
Eventually, they found another pair.
And yes—
A bird perched between antlers again.
Riven didn't hesitate this time.
No flanking dance. No drawn-out positioning.
They attacked immediately.
Needle. Detonation. Grey blade. Falconburst.
Fast.
Brutal.
Decisive.
The bird shrieked — but too late.
One stag dropped almost instantly.
The second fell moments after.
They didn't check for cores.
Didn't linger.
They grabbed one body and left the other behind without even carving it open.
As they retreated, Riven's jaw tightened.
I hope we didn't leave a beast core behind in the other stag...
At the cave they discovered that this one had a core.
Golden.
Warm.
When Riven absorbed it there, his bloodline climbed to 9.3% coverage, gold now overwhelmingly dominant over silver.
Closer.
Still far.
Sometimes, when he focused, he swore the air around his skin felt thinner — like it acknowledged him differently than before. Even without techniques or qi, he felt he could now almost contend with early Inner Condensation cultivators.
But it wasn't only good news.
With how scarce the cores were, he had to give up on his dream of reaching 25% coverage on this island.
That was a luxury issue though.
The more important topic at hand was food.
The meat lasted two days again.
Then it ran out.
Again.
They hunted.
And found nothing manageable.
The weaker stags now moved in groups of three or more — sometimes four. Every single one had birds perched among their antlers. The moment Riven or Yue Lin shifted their footing, a cry would ring out somewhere in the canopy.
They tested once.
A probing approach.
Three stags lifted their heads instantly.
They backed off.
They couldn't kill three quickly enough. Not before something worse arrived.
That was when they noticed it.
The stronger stags — the massive ones they'd avoided since arriving — moved alone.
No birds.
No escorts.
Their antlers were broader. Their bodies thicker. Golden patterns ran deeper along their flanks.
Pride.
Or confidence.
They didn't need scouts.
Yue Lin glanced at Riven.
Riven understood immediately.
Better one overwhelming opponent…
than three coordinated ones that would summon half the forest.
Eventually, they found one.
It stood near a ridge of pale stone, muscles shifting beneath its hide as it scraped a hoof against the ground. The air around it felt heavier somehow.
They circled wide first.
Watched.
Waited.
No other stags nearby.
No birds.
Just the beast.
Riven exhaled slowly.
"Let's go."
They moved at the same time.
No wasted breath. No countdown.
Both of them stood slightly spread apart as they approached.
Then Riven's arm snapped forward, a needle flashing through the air toward the stag's shoulder as Yue Lin broke from cover, dagger already coated in that muted grey sheen.
The needle struck.
Clean.
Buried deep beneath thick hide.
The stag's head lifted slowly.
Golden patterns along its antlers brightened — not startled.
Aware.
Once Yue Lin got close, the stag and her both aiming an attack at each other, Riven detonated the qi.
The burst rippled through the beast's muscles—
And it barely reacted.
A flinch.
Nothing more.
Yue Lin was already mid-stride, blade angling toward the base of its neck — but the stag didn't falter as expected.
Its antlers swept sideways in a brutal arc.
"Yue—!"
Too late.
The horn caught her dagger mid-swing, deflecting the strike wide. The force didn't stop there. Her arm got thrown back, followed by her body, her boots skidding across stone.
For a split second, the world narrowed to the sight of her stumbling back.
The impact rang out like metal striking metal before Riven recovered. He saw her fingers spasm once, grip loosening for the briefest instant.
She didn't fall completely.
But her right arm was hanging down loosely, the dagger almost falling.