For readers: Whenever something appears between "[ example text ]," that is something that the character hears and can see in the form of a golden light. That is generally called the "Bookmark" by the characters.
Warnings: Descriptive gore and violence, animal death and cruelty, abuse, self-harm, suicide.
Note: The above-mentioned themes only occur as fiction and are not meant to be associated with real life in any form.
The abnormally tall trees reached hundreds of meters in height. The ancient moss-covered skyscrapers paled in comparison, occasionally reaching only up to forty to fifty meters in height.
Occasionally, two-to-three-meter-long stone pillars emerged from the ground, making the jungle a remarkable sight for anyone who didn't live there.
The shade of the tall trees and buildings was like a blessing, protecting the jungle's other organisms from the sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays, whose one second of exposure could burn a normal creature's skin.
Safe from the sun's wrath, a craw was feasting on its prey, a baby crawler. On the blue patch of thick grass, its thick black coat of feathers made it stand out much more than usual.
It was an unusually bright day, making everything stand out more, even in the thick shade of the trees.
The craw's four black wings made it look like a fallen angel, like something that should not have been on this world. Its three cautious eyes looked around one last time before it got completely immersed in enjoying its meal.
From a distance of roughly twenty meters, a hunter clad in a green cloak was hiding, watching and analyzing his prey carefully.
He aimed his bow towards the craw and pulled on the string. Potential energy was instantly converted into kinetic energy as the string was released, launching the arrow with deadly precision and accuracy.
The moment the wild craw realized, it was already too late. The sharp metal head of the arrow pierced through the craw's head in an instant; blood splashed out, and the body fell dead on the ground instantaneously.
[ you have killed a lesser beast, craw ]
A tiny grin formed on the pale face of the hunter, whose full figure could finally be seen, even if there wasn't anyone that could.
"Looks like I can finally eat something good," thought the hunter with a smile on his face. "Okay, let's go back to base; it's almost night," he said to himself.
The hunter was somewhat sad; he did not receive any items or insight from the Bookmark this time, but that was not his aim—it was the food.
The hunter had long brown hair reaching his shoulders. His heterochromic brown and blue eyes blinked softly as he turned his pale face towards the receding sun and started heading west.
His steps were slow and steady, quiet when sliding under the nose of other wild beasts and hasty whenever he was detected by a crawler or two.
As the sun finally went below the horizon, the young hunter had also reached his destination.
He stood in front of the mossy submarine at the center of a small clearing in the normally flora-crowded jungle. He wanted to go in directly, but he still had to clean up the craw's body.
After cleaning up the body in a small stream beside his humble home, he went inside and started a fire in the firepit. The firepit was situated under the small hole in the roof, letting the smoke escape and preventing suffocation.
As the meal slowly cooked, he began reminiscing of his past. How he was abandoned by his parents in the middle of the very same jungle along with his old grandmother. It had only been seven years since. His grandmother had died of a disease last year; that was his only regret: not being able to save her.
He truly loved her; he had worked hard to survive for so long because of his desire to protect her. Even after her death, he thought very fondly of her, surviving day to day just to keep her memory alive.
A small, sad but fond smile formed on his face. He noticed the meal was almost ready.
"Oh, I should bring some salt," he said to himself. The hunter got up from his sitting position and walked to the pilot's room; that was where he stored everything.
As he looked around for salt, he heard a slight noise coming from the outside of the door behind him.
He moved slowly, not making even the slightest sound, and cautiously stood in front of the door, trying to make sure nothing was behind it.
After a minute of waiting, he carefully opened the door; there was nothing there other than the view of the dense forest, bathed in the glow of the golden light of the fireflies.
"I guess I should eat quickly and rest for today."
As the hunter began closing the door, he felt a burning sensation near his chest. He looked at his chest, not making sure of what he was seeing. A beautiful silver katana, covered in a crimson liquid, passed through his chest, his heart.
In a matter of seconds, everything went black; the flame of the firepit had gone out. The hunter tried to look behind him, but his body did not respond. The katana was forcefully pulled out, finally making the pain kick in; however, before the hunter could even make a sound, his throat was split.
Blood flowed out rapidly. As the last of his consciousness faded, he remembered his grandma one last time. The body instantly fell on the metallic ground and stayed there, showing no more sign of life.
[ you have killed a lesser beast, jack ] [ you have received an insight ] [ you have gained insight of slaughter of fellow specimen ] [ you have killed over seven of your kind, your insight mastery requirements have been met ]
A chuckle echoed throughout the room; it came from the figure standing in the dark.
[ you have mastered lesser slaughter of fellow specimen ] [ Benefits : 2x damage against fellow specimen ]
In the dark of the submarine's interior, the figure who was behind the hunter began cleaning his blade. After he was done, he kicked the body a few times, making sure it was not alive. After confirming himself, he dragged it outside and threw it in the moving stream of water beside the clearing.
Under the moonlight, the figure's appearance was finally visible.
He was clad in an oversized black coat covered with crimson patterns. Jester resembled a teenager around the age of seventeen. His face was too pale, which contrasted even more with the blood around his cheeks.
After cautiously examining the environment, he washed his face in the moving stream.
"It was a good hunt," he thought with a slight grin.
He had stalked this particular hunter for at least two days nonstop, not even waiting to eat something. Only on the second day had he finally found a chance to safely kill the hunter.
Jester had created a distraction near the entrance of the submarine and used this to carefully enter through the fireplace as the hunter was opening the door. He stood there not making any sound till the hunter had begun closing it; he used the noise to creep up behind him.
Jester had tried to end him in one strike but had failed and had to slice his throat to prevent the hunter from making any noise; who knew what that could attract here.
Looking up at the star-filled sky, Jester appreciated its beauty.
"The night sky, a velvet drape, holds diamonds bright, where stars ignite and paint the dark with light. The moon pearl casts silver on the land, a cosmic canvas, vast and serene."
Jester recited the verse taught to him by his long-gone mother in a soft tone as the same light of silver fell on his face.
A few minutes later, Jester was sitting near the fireplace where he had reignited the flame with a flint rock. He warmed his body while feasting on the roasted craw meat, seasoning it with salt.
Finally eating something after two days made the craw meat taste even more delicious. After finishing the meal, Jester found some cloth from the pilot's room and used it as a blanket; covering his whole body, he lay down beside the fire.
Lying there, Jester thought about the hunter whom he had just killed. Unlike the other people he had killed, he was the most normal one; he wasn't even a bandit, just a hunter who lived off hunting wild beasts.
Though that did not matter; just as he had killed the craw for his survival, Jester had done the same for his own survival.
Jester was not so stupid as to believe in others; the hunter had years of experience. He could have killed someone as frail as Jester in one strike; Jester had only won because he was able to catch him off-guard.
Jester did not regret what he did, neither did he justify his actions saying it was because he had no choice, nor did he question if what he did was morally good.
He was, in fact, fed up with things as stupid as morality. He knew the truth that very few people accepted: that in nature, there is only the food chain—no morality, no dignity, no glory, only survival.
"Anyone who views their actions through morals is as deluded as those who think the world is flat. Morals are nothing but relics of the past, used when society was stable and people were naive."
"The present world is harsh, brutal, cruel, and merciless. Those who delude themselves with morals and justice are nothing but fools; it's survival that matters, nothing else."
Jester remained awake for a while, singing himself a verse in his thoughts that used to be sung by his mother to help him sleep.
He thought one last time about his foolish mother and drifted to the world of dreams.