I didn't stay down for long. Every part of me wanted to—rest, or better yet, just pass out and let everything go dark—but I couldn't afford that here. This place was too dangerous. If another beast on the same level as that snake found its way here, I wouldn't even have the strength to resist. I would simply die.
I forced myself up.
I was still deep within the forest, completely lost, but I had a rough sense of direction. Anywhere away from the rift—that was enough. Nothing good would come from staying close to that abnormality. With slow, dragging steps, I made my way down the cliff and into the woods, each movement heavier than the last. My body felt like a corpse, broken and unresponsive, while my mind hovered on the edge of emptiness. I had already given up on maintaining the vajra mantle; there wasn't enough atma left for that. What little remained was barely enough to keep me alive.
Hunger hit me harder than anything else.
It didn't make sense—I hadn't eaten for just a day, but it felt like I had been starving for far longer. My throat burned with thirst, my stomach twisting painfully, but I pushed it aside. That was a problem for later. What I needed now… was rest. My thoughts were unraveling, my mind nearing collapse.
I found a tree—tall, wide, and standing slightly apart from the others. Its bark was thick, its presence old and steady, almost comforting in a way I couldn't explain. It felt… safe, at least compared to everything else. I climbed it slowly, my limbs barely cooperating, and settled onto a wide branch, leaning my back against the trunk. For a moment, I just sat there, breathing shallowly.
Then—
I let go.
Darkness took me instantly.
I woke up just as the sun began to set.
My mind had recovered enough to function, though only barely. My body, on the other hand, felt worse than before. Pain lingered everywhere—deep, constant, unavoidable. My atma was unstable, strained to its limit, and weaker than it had ever been.
But above all—
The hunger.
It had changed.
What was once an ache had become something far worse, an excruciating pain clawing from the inside, as if my body was consuming itself.
I looked down at my arm.
And froze.
It was thin.
Too thin.
Bone barely covered by skin.
The muscles I had built through effort and pain… gone, as if they had never existed.
Slowly, I climbed down the tree and made my way toward the stream—the same place where I had encountered the tiger… and the demon fox. When I reached the edge, I looked into the water.
The reflection that stared back at me—
Was a corpse.
Sunken features.
Hollow eyes.
Skin stretched tight over bone.
I moved slightly, and I could almost hear it—bones scraping against each other beneath the surface.
A mummified shell.
For a moment, I just stood there.
Then I thought.
And the answer came.
During the fight, my body had suffered too much damage. The excess atma had accelerated my natural healing to keep me from collapsing under that strain, but it came at a cost. Energy could sustain the process—but it couldn't create flesh.
So my body adapted.
It consumed itself.
Muscle, fat, everything unnecessary—burned away to fuel survival.
I needed protein.
Real sustenance.
Fruits wouldn't help.
Fish wouldn't be enough.
I needed meat.
I needed to hunt.
I hadn't seen many animals I could eat so far, but I knew they had to exist. The tiger alone proved that. Something like that couldn't survive without prey.
Which left me with one problem.
How the hell was I supposed to hunt?
I had never hunted a day in my life.
Still… I didn't have a choice.
I decided to at least try.
Night fell quickly, darkness swallowing the forest. If I could use my atma to sense my surroundings properly, this would have been easier—but in my current state, that wasn't going to happen. So I moved carefully, step by step, watching, listening, searching for any sign of life.
Nothing.
No movement.
No prey.
Just silence.
My body was already at its limit, pain flaring with every step, and eventually I stopped. There was no point pushing further today. I found a spot that looked safe enough and let myself rest.
Light pressed against my face.
That was what woke me.
Morning.
I wasn't ready for it.
Not even close.
For a fleeting moment, a thought crossed my mind—I hoped someone would find me. Save me. Give me food. Anything.
Then I realized—
It had been a long time since I could rely on something like that.
No one was coming.
Green surrounded me.
Thick growth clung to towering trees, vines wrapping around them like veins, life thriving in every direction. Insects buzzed faintly, though far fewer than I expected. Even that had a reason, I was sure—but I didn't have the energy to think about it.
I just sat there, taking it in.
The beauty of it.
The contrast of it.
Then—
A sound.
Faint.
Almost nonexistent.
A soft step against dry leaves.
A quiet rustle.
I turned slowly.
Behind me—
It stood.
The tiger.
Calm.
Silent.
Approaching.
And somehow—
My vision had failed to notice it until now.