What now? Knowledge was scarce, and so was support. I highly doubted anyone was looking for me. Surely they thought I was dead. If not for a string of events, I would already be dead. Plus, I was far from safe. Danger lurked everywhere.

  At least I had some food. The onyx ring’s storage contained a stock of dishes that ought to last a single person for months – Monarch jerky excluded. Water was another issue, but I had serums to prevent me from dehydrating. Serums were probably not the best solution to stave off thirst, but they would do until I found a stream or other source of water.

  A shelter it is, then. I muttered inwardly.

  Since I had no idea where I was or what terrors roamed the forest, it was hard to tell which spaces were safe and which weren’t. Maybe none of them were safe in these parts of the forest and I was already as good as dead. That wasn’t a good mindset to survive in the wilderness, but my mind drifted back to it, pushing dark thoughts to the surface.

  Ignoring the pains of my sore and aching body, my head swiveled left and right. I looked up as well, but I couldn’t even see the sky in its full glory through the dense canopy hanging high above.

  The thought of climbing one of the taller trees surfaced in my mind, only to be discarded after a moment. When I fell from the sky, I hadn’t seen much other than the forest’s greenery. Specks of color painting the forest in a myriad of hues flashed before my eyes as memories resurfaced, yet I doubted they were going to be helpful: It was nearly impossible to tell which colorful specks pointed in the direction the flying ship had headed.

  Even if I could figure that out, following the flying ship to return to the Bastion might not be the best call. The ship made detours around Forbidden Zones, and I had no idea if the Bakurean attacked us on such a detour or not. If that was the case, knowing where the flying ship had headed would not necessarily be of any help. But…what else was I supposed to do?

  It took a lot out of me not to panic. Being all alone, injured, and unable to chat with my Soulkins to ease my mind – other than a bloodthirsty mantis – was certainly not helpful. Not even their traits were available at this moment.

  The encroaching darkness did little to calm my nerves. All it did was diminish my chances at survival.

  Scrambling to my feet, I retrieved an aegis shield and a shortsword from the onyx ring. A few more serums to heal up faster would have been great, but Ruler Kazriel’s stock was finite. Most serums in the shop-like structure were also for beasts, leaving only a few cases of serums for me to consume. It would have been more if I didn’t splurge them on the injured Blessed in the training hall, but I didn’t regret helping them for a second. It was the right thing to do.

  A few lightweight armor pieces joined the shortsword and shield. I fastened them, teeth gritted as blood oozed from the wound in my stomach once more. My body was in dire need of rest, preferably days filled with nothing other than food and sleep. Alas, I had to move out. The better the protection, the higher my chances at making it back to civilization.

  Taking a deep breath, I moved slowly through the forest. Silently walking through a forest hadn’t been something I trained for. It wasn’t my forte, but I avoided stomping on the thin branches, leaves, and ether plants on the ground. Taking a detour around larger trees where predators may lurk, I shifted slowly toward shrubs, trying not to brush too closely past them.

  Walking around without traits and ether at my disposal was odd. No matter how many pieces of studded leather armor I wore, or how much they’d been reinforced with dark steel, I felt naked. It was almost as if my perception had been crippled. As if I was only a fragment of the man I was without access to ether.

  The sensation brought back feelings I’d shoved away. Memories of days I never thought I would have to experience again. Days filled with weakness, the lack of ability to do just about anything. It was scary, and it only worsened as I moved through the forest, escaping the attention of the beasts as they strode through the forest like they owned it.

  A massive lizard the height of a house walked past the bushes I was hiding in, its tail sweeping into the tree beside me, felling it as easily as breathing. The lizard left behind a trail of destruction without any care in the world. It uprooted bushes and parts of the forest’s underground, barely acknowledging the chaos it caused before destroying a few more trees.

  The trunks were not even thin. They were thicker than my waist, yet they snapped easily.

  Worse than the massive lizard were only the predators passing high above. I failed to notice them. My guard was up, yet a dozen predators flashed high above before I saw their afterimages in the distance.

  As much as I expected some predator to notice and attack me, I was happy they didn’t seem to care too much about me.

  The inner Worlds of humans were snacks for beasts. Consuming them empowered the beasts greatly, depending on the World’s size, refinement status, and compatibility. My World may have been rather useless to most beasts two years ago, but that was no longer the case. It was a prime treasure…yet nobody seemed to care.

  Where in the Rulers’ na– I shook my head.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Where am I?

  The forest couldn’t have been a Forbidden Zone. If it was, the flying ship would have avoided flying above it.

  “Except if it’s a Forbidden Zone with no powerful avian beasts.” I reminded myself.

  It was also possible that the Seekers and Explorers failed to update the development of a new Forbidden Zone. Regardless, I was certain the massive lizard was a Guardian beast. As for the predator pack following the lizard’s tracks, they’d been faster than Nox. Their ability to hide had been on par with the invisibility of Mirage. I couldn’t even trust my sight if the forest was filled with stealthy beasts, which was just great. Perfect.

  Swallowing the curses on my tongue, I investigated the surroundings even more thoroughly. Every plant was infused with ether. Most were so full of ether that I couldn’t quite tell if there were any Wild Ether plants or if everything was at least an Awakened plant. Regardless, even the grass blades squashed beneath my boots were infused with ether, and thus somewhat valuable.

  I had to squash the urge to start harvesting, which only intensified as traces of elemental ether tugged at the edges of my perception.

  Following the traces in the air, I barely caught the angry yelps in the distance.

  A pair of foxes the size of golden retrievers, their fur glacial blue and fiery red, snarled at other beasts farther to the right. One of the foxes’ paws was bleeding, snowflakes coalescing around the wound and mingling with the blood dripping to the ground.

  Several grotesque corpses sprawled out nearby; the bodies were burned, impaled by icicles, and torn apart by explosions. Three beasts had survived, their gackles echoing in my ears, making my heart beat faster. Rage built up in my chest just from hearing their laughter, which was both odd and clearly magical.

  A potent ability to taunt their foes rang through the vicinity, successfully enraging the foxes.

  Hyenas? I cocked my head to the side, taking in the situation.

  The grotesque creatures had already lost parts of their faces, although they did not seem to care. If anything, two of the trio focused on the corpses around them, their maws closing around their kin’s bodies and ripping chunks of flesh free. They ate their brethren, and the wounds they’d sustained began to heal.

  No matter how much weaker my perception was right now, I could still tell that the hyenas were growing stronger. The duo feasting on their dead felt more dangerous, and each bite intensified their presence.

  A wave of ice shot out from the glacial-furred fox’s paws. It rocketed toward the beasts, shoved the corpses aside, and impaled them from all directions upon impact. The hyenas retreated, intellect gleaming in their eyes as they evaded the wave of ice. They moved nimbly, yet they failed to escape the downpour of fireballs from above. The fiery projectiles descended and exploded, tearing the beasts apart.

  Or so it appeared at first glance.

  At second glance, a dark, ominous barrier formed above the hyenas as one looked up. Its body shriveled, shrinking into a husk that appeared more dead than alive, something confirmed as the smell of death and decay hit my nostrils. The hyena in question didn’t seem to care and turned to one of its impaled brethren, resuming its feast.

  Only then did I realize that the hyena was alone. The other pair was nowhere to be seen. However, a pained yelp made me spin toward the fiery-furred fox just as one of the hyena’s teeth clamped down around its neck. The hyena appeared larger than before, towering above the retriever-sized fox at about the height of a regular wolf.

  The space around them distorted, hints of a short-distance teleportation hanging in the air, which only turned more confusing as darkness seeped out of the hyena’s mouth. The fiery-furred fox squealed at the top of its lungs, only to be yanked around in the hyena’s iron-tight grip.

  A sickening crunch ended the ordeal, ending the fox for good. The hyena seemed to sense the fox’s death immediately and made a run for it, disappearing into one of the bushes near my hiding spot. It carried the fiery fox, which only seemed to enrage its mate more. Yelps of pain and yips of fury intermingled, reviving the wave of ice.

  It unraveled and consumed the shriveled hyena. The beast resisted the ice even as it seeped into its skin and flesh, but it didn’t look like it could resist much longer.

  That, however, left one more beast unaccounted for. Where was the last hyena?

  I spun around, ready to fight the other hyena that disappeared alongside the fox-killer, but it was not with me. No, the hyena was near a gargantuan tree trunk, darkness oozing from its claws as it slashed at the roots… searching for something?

  The hyena’s head shot forward, cracking as the side of its skull smashed into the tree trunk, but it found what it was looking for anyway.

  A faint cacophony of high-pitched yelps rang in my ears. Fiery sparks, ice shards, and a surge of highly magical power poured out of the tree trunk. Only now, with ether spilling out of it, did I notice the small hole in the trunk–though it was not as impressive as it first appeared. The hyena shrugged off the projectiles, a fox cub with white and blue fur dangling from its maw.

  The glacial fox heard its cub and spun around, icicles springing from her fur. Just looking at the beast’s fury, I could tell she was the cub’s mother. She attacked in a frenzy, the icicles bursting apart and regathering into a larger projectile. Yet as the icicles shot toward the target at high velocity, the hyena merely turned, the cub still dangling from its maw.

  It used the young fox–no more than a few weeks old–as a shield. The mother yipped frantically, the cub twitched in the hyena’s grasp, but it was to no avail. The icicle exploded before it reached them, tearing through both cub and hyena head in one go and leaving both unscathed.

  Distracted by the chaos unfolding in her den, the mother beast noticed the cracks in the ice wave behind her too late. I caught only a glimpse as the hyena husk leaped out of the ice, a dark barrier blocking her from rushing to her cubs’ aid.

  Fuck… My heart ached as more cubs emerged from the tree trunk, releasing bright bursts of elemental ether at the hyena, trying their utmost to rescue their siblings.

  The attacks inflicted no damage. All they managed to do was attract the hyena’s ire, hunger blooming in its eyes.

  No, you won’t! I screamed, my worn body churning as I leaped into action before the rational part of my mind could convince me otherwise.