The forest seemed so peaceful right now. Only the sound of branches rustling and wind gusting filled the air. The noise from the flying creatures had vanished, leaving the surrounding area eerily quiet. Replacing the song they made was a high-pitched, rhythmic noise that seemed to echo from the long grass surrounding me.
Chirp… chirp… chirp-chirp… chirp…
It was not an annoying sound, but one that faded into the forest's background. Using my newly upgraded Earthen Sense, I scouted the nearby area, looking for anything that could be a threat to me or for a creature that could be my next prey.
The forest's vibrations were unsettling. I could not sense a single creature within forty meters of me. The ground was very steady, only slight vibrations echoed from the nearby trees as the wind caused them to sway. Regressing to my normal vision, my eyes adjusted to the dark landscape. Searching the nearby foliage, I found nothing. Looking into the darkness and deciding to walk until something interesting finding something interesting.
The grass reached my knees, rubbing against my skin and making it itch. The light from the sky bounced off my pale body, making me shine in the darkness. Leaves fell on the ground as the wind carried them from their trees, crunching and crumbling beneath my feet. Walking through the forest was fairly difficult, as the terrain was challenging to navigate. In the long grass were small rocks which poked my feet. One even caused me to trip and fall, scraping my knees and hands.
Standing to my feet and continuing to walk, and ensuring to watch where I was stepping before each foot landed. Dodging rocks and roots, weaving through the forest. It was oddly silent... Realizing why, the high-pitched noise, which had drowned into the background, had stopped.
Stopping for a moment and observing the forest once again. The entire forest had gone completely quiet. There was no wind, no rustling, no noises. It was deathly quiet. Looking up, the sky was drowned out by the trees, leaving only a little of the night's light to seep through the leaves. Darkness enveloped me, even though I could still see quite well; the darkness was terrifying.
Suddenly, a roar echoed from deeper into the forest. The roar made me shiver, and goosebumps ran down my arms. Activating Earthen Sense lvl 2, trying to find the location of the roar, but it must not have been within 40 meters because I could not sense it. The ground began to tremble, but my skill did not detect the source of the vibrations; it was still far away. In the distance, trees began to sway. Around two hundred meters away, they began to fall, and loud booms filled the air.
Another roar filled the forest, and with it, more trees fell. The floor beneath me was now quaking, and the creature was approaching fast, now being only around one hundred fifty meters away. Looking in the direction of the incoming creature, I turned around quickly and dashed in the opposite direction. My arms pumped hard, and my feet danced across the ground, avoiding obstacles.
Trees rumbled behind me, and louder booms echoed closer to me than before. The creature was closing the distance. Pushing my legs to the limit, my muscles strained, and blood pumped rapidly. My heart raced, and heat built in my chest. My eyes darted over my shoulder, but the only thing that I could see was the tree tops rustling before falling to the ground. Looking forward, a tree appeared in my path.
Quickly, I jumped out of the way of the tree, narrowly avoiding it. My foot got caught in one of the tree's roots. My ankle snapped to the side as it got caught, causing me to tumble to the ground and smash my face against the dirt. My foot throbbed as I quickly tried to stand up—a giant purple bump formed on my ankle, causing me to limp.
Behind me, another tree fell, sending a gust of air in my direction. My Earthen Sense finally picked up on the creature's vibrations. It was only 40 meters behind me now. The vibrations were monstrous; the creature exerted immense force with each step. The creature was enormous.
Looking back, and seeing another tree fall, the foliage broke apart, revealing a terrifying monster. It was very large, with dark brown fur, and its long, monstrous face. The monster was very wide, with gigantic paws that could crush me whole. Black eyes stared at me, and as we made eye contact, a roar erupted from its jaws. Long, sharp teeth shone in the dark, saliva dripping from its mouth.
Quickly, I activated World's Knowledge lvl 1 to see the level of the monster.
Aurelion Frenzied Bear, lvl ???
The creature was a bear... and its level was unknown, which means it's at least ten levels higher than me. It was truly a monster. Quickly, I turned my head and began to move as fast as possible. My foot was damaged, and my speed was greatly reduced. Each step sent a jolt of pain through my body. After a few moments, I went from limping to jogging, and then to full-on sprinting as the lump on my foot disappeared.
A roar echoed from behind me, and a loud thumping shook the forest ground. As it was now within the distance of where its vibrations could be sensed, the speed of the monster was absurd. Even while running at full speed, the creature closed the distance to just 30 meters within a few seconds, and then, a few more seconds later, it was within 20 meters of me.
Looking over my shoulder, watching as trees snapped, bark creaking and breaking as the bear crashed through them. Its eyes were filled with rage and hunger. It roared again, speeding up its chase.
I was struggling to breathe, my throat was dry, and my heart raced. It was now only ten meters away. The sound of grass crumpling as it charged through the forest. Sweat dripped down my face, and my body was quaking. Fear took hold of me, not allowing my head to look back at the monster.
9 meters...
8 meters...
The wind it created now rammed into my back, and the sound of its breathing filled my ears. Its breath was disgusting, a mix of rotten meat and blood. It made me want to vomit, but I could not stop. My legs were burning, and they were beginning to cramp as my speed increased. But as mine did, so did the bears.
7 meters...
6 meters...
5 meters...
It roared right behind me, causing me to snap out of my fear, finally. My head snapped back to see the bear's paw raised above its head. Time seemed to freeze as its paw descended upon me. I could feel my blood turn cold, and my sweat enter my mouth; the taste of salt filled my mouth. Swallowing my saliva, my eyes shot. tears formed at the side of my eyes.
With a loud crack, it struck me in the side. I flew through the air for a moment before slamming into the ground and rolling through the tall grass. While rolling, my head hit a sharp rock, causing it to bleed badly. Tumbling through the forest, the only thing that stopped me was a thick tree that cracked as my body collided with it.
Crumpling against the tree, my body was frozen. Multiple ribs had shattered, and my shoulder had been completely ruined from the impact. My side was now purple, with a massive bruise that had five deep cups at its center. Sitting there, blood travelled up my throat and out of my mouth, replacing the taste of salt with iron.
My head throbbed as red seeped into the corners of my vision, looking down at my limbs, the damage was moderate. My left leg was bent sideways, with a sharp object creating a bump in it without actually breaking through. On the other hand, my right leg seemed to fare much better, with only a massive welt on my knee and some small cuts along it.
My arms seemed mostly fine, with the exception of small cuts that leaked acidic blood onto the ground. It hurt to move my right arm far more than it hurt to move my left, but both were still completely functional.
My ears rang, and my eyes felt droopy, but I forced myself to look at the creature, tilting my head up. It still had its paw slightly raised, but on each of its talons, my blood dripped. They seemed to sizzle slightly before stopping completely, my acidic blood only giving the bear a trim. The monster was still drooling uncontrollably, but the rage in its eyes had been replaced. Now there was something else... Hunger, and joy
Wiping its paw of blood and turning the grass red before melting it, the creature slowly began to walk towards me. A giant grin appeared on the bear's face, it showed its disgusting, sharp teeth, they had all turned a rotten black, and small, little flies encircled the monster's jaw. Now that it was closer, more fine details stood out to me. The monster's fur seemed jagged, and in some spots, whole chunks were missing.
The creature had many scars running up its body; some were small, others very large. Looking at the creature, I saw it walk with a limp; its left hind leg was injured. Looking more closely at the creature, small objects protruded from it. There was metal and wood...
The bear seemed to have weapons sticking out from its body: arrows, spearheads, and even the sharp jewel of a staff lodged within the monster.
The monster was being hunted. Were there more people like me? Who grows stronger by killing?
Puzzled, my time ran out. The creature now loomed above me. Its breath streaked across my face, urging me to vomit. Gagging but holding back, my eyes met the creature. It looked deep into my pupils, as if examining me. The creature raised its paw, quickly closing my eyes and awaiting it to strike me, but the strike did not come. Instead, the bear poked me, drawing a small amount of blood from my arm.
My stomach caved in for a moment beneath the bear's strength before returning to normal as it pulled away. It grumbled for a moment and then roared its hot breath, filling my nostrils. Putting itself onto its two back feet, it stood above me. It was now towering above me, standing almost equally as high as one of the smaller trees that it stood next to.
Looking into my eyes, it roared again, but it tilted its head towards the night sky this time instead of at me. Saliva dripped onto my face while it regained focus and stared at me again. Rising even higher, it pulled back to deliver a brutal blow to my broken body.
The forest was quiet; the only sound that filled it was my breath and the bears' breath. Looking up at the bear, I accepted my fate, until suddenly a loud noise echoed from the forest.