The Beastmaster

Path to Survival

I stood in silence as the surroundings settled in. I guess that worked. At the very least, there’s no immediate danger anymore.

As I try to rethink all of the things that happened so far, it’s probably a common occurrence here in the forest. I heard that natives here are at a constant war with each other, so killing, dying, and maybe even massacring entire tribes might not be that impressive relative to the native beastkin.

Though that’s different for me, who grew up sheltered and taken care of. Yet I understand that I have to dramatically adjust all of my perceptions. This time, I may have only seen severed arms and pierced bodies, I might as well expect seeing more gruesome things as I continue my life here. Come to think of it, why did I not feel any disgust back then? I’m pretty sure I was not mentally strong enough to endure the stress and would’ve vomited or fainted earlier. I would just also dump the reason for that to my blood, just to add another mystery that I have to solve.

Surprisingly, even though my thoughts are still a mess, I feel that my mind is clear, it’s like I’m savoring this scene right now, thinking that I may not be able to experience this serenity again for a long time.

There was just peace and quiet. It’s as if everything that happened earlier was just figments of my imagination. Yet the contrast between nature’s ambiance and the state of my surroundings strikes me dearly. There was blood all over the place, pieces of flesh scattered around, and puddles of water created a cold and humid breeze. Coupled with the faint smell of the trees and the rushing sounds of the river, it was destruction and restoration molded into one.

Even though I wanted to stay still and rest, the constant mental reminder I had accustomed myself to would pop up, warning me that I am still inside one of the most dangerous places in Kyuram. Rest is only an option once I have enough information on the Forest Macabre, its dangers, inhabitants, and important locations. Apart from that, I need to prepare myself for my journey towards my greatest goal here, reaching the Engraved Sanctuary.

Information about the sanctuary especially was very scarce, there were only reports of the most veteran of beasts that went here, and most of the details they gave was too extraordinary that they were believed to be just make-shift excuses coming from individuals with bloated pride. This is a common occurrence to the general public when it is reported that a beast entered the Forest Macabre to either discover its secrets or achieve something, only to fail miserably. And the tales that they tell are brushed off as masks to hide their embarrassment of not being able live up to the expectations they boasted when entering this place.

As I began walking, I remembered some teachings that I had back at the palace. My personal tutors once said that the reason why some beasts venture inside the forest, despite knowing the danger it brings, is primarily because the place is renowned throughout the continent. Furthermore, from what I heard from Leopold and the others, it is very rare for a beastkin to not know the Forest Macabre, as it is one of the famous “Old Cradles” that is believed to be the resting place of the mythical Primordial Beasts. Therefore, those aspiring creatures who dare try to conquer the forest had high hopes of getting enormous fame and honor. Since fighting and battle are among the primary instincts of any beast, it is without a doubt that defeating the forest will bring an immeasurable achievement, not only for oneself, but for the victor’s race and clan.

As I walk through the battle-laden grounds, I saw the severed arm of Giden that was cut while fighting off the storm of attacks coming from the vines. This arm will surely sell a high price in the clan considering the rarity of the beast and the features of the material. I would never forget the visits of several merchants bringing in a lot of monsters and monster parts to sell. That was a common activity in our clan; building business relationships with traders, especially with those who specialize with the Forest Macabre. This is greatly beneficial for our clan and other clans as well because aside from achievements, the forest is also famous because it is abundant with resources, and by resources, I mean different types of goods that you can get from it.

[ Monster. A creature different from the beastkin because they do not resemble humanoid characteristics. Monsters in general are beasts with peculiar bodily characteristics and varying intellectual capacities. Most monsters would only hold intelligence in the form of primal instinct like survival, fighting, and reproduction. However, there are monsters who are capable of communication and hold high intelligence. ]

First are the monsters, even though they are aggressive and fierce, their parts and abilities are of high value. One example would be the bladegrass that is common throughout the forest.

[ Plantae. Monsters and beastkin that are characterized by strong bonds with the earth and are thus mostly immobile. They are adept at absorbing fluids from inside earth for nourishment and strengthening, but their main source of food is magic coming from the sun, light magic is endowed directly to them in the form of extremely small spheres called ‘luminas’. Their bodies are mostly composed of material that are both elastic and strong, giving the plantae’s an almost unrivalled tenacity and versatility in battle. ]

[ Bladegrass. A plantae that is common inside the Forest Macabre and other environments where various immobile plants are present. They cannot take up magical energy from the ground veins on their own and act like thieves for other plants as they steal their nourishment. The bladegrass is also an immobile monster and as the name suggests, it is a creature whose body is composed of hard organic material that is akin to a blade, making t hem good material for weapons. They are mostly overpopulated in dense areas of plants because they only have few predators. ]

Since bladegrass is so common that you can also see it at the forest’s borders, they are easy to acquire as long as you know the proper process of harvesting it. Bladegrass are used to create mass produced weapons for soldiers, especially the rare ones, which has serrated “teeth” growing out on the edges of the bladegrass’s body.

There are also the native tribes inside the forest who are considered to have high military and labor potential by many authorities since they have been living inside the forest itself. They have adapted well with the harsh environment and are assured to be extremely proficient combatants in the different fields of battle. For this, clans and families have sent out scouts to try to establish communication points with these tribes. However, none so far succeeded. The main reason for this is a difference of culture and environment; clans outside the forest has established civilized clans and incorporated political and diplomatic relations with each other, although there are still many who prefer wars and battles to decide who’s stronger and mightier.

Different from this, tribes inside the forest are purely battle maniacs and are extremists on the belief of the “strong eats the weak,” an entirely different civilization where you have no choice but to adapt to the savage environment. In a sense, beasts that were born and raised by the forest are what you would consider true beasts since they live in a lifestyle following the primal desires etched to the very core of any beast. That is to say, pure and original bestial instinct.

And because of these traditions and beliefs, the view of outsiders and native tribes are different between each other. Outsiders think of the native tribes as resources that can increase their economic and military might, while the native tribes think of outsiders as peace-drunk weaklings who are not worth their attention. And this in turn, resulted with the outsiders failing every time to recruit or even just communicate with the native tribes; the scouts were sent away to say the least, but most of the time, they are made to “lose their way” inside the forest and die by natural means.

I picked up the severed arm of Giden. Walked towards the riverbank and saw my distorted reflection on the slightly turbulent waters. Just now, I had truly realized that I am not in danger. The forest is not a death ground, it’s an opportunity. All of these resources, all of the time that I have. These are all with me right now.

I had been presented an opportunity to be something else. And I’ll make it worth it.

I threw the arm into the river and spoke. “I know you are a monster of high intellect. I also know you saw what happened to the pantherian covered with my blood. And also; I know you know what I mean.”

I walked away and sat at the ground.

I suddenly felt a sense of security here, since all the beasts and monsters I’ve encountered so far are so strong, yet they tremble in the sight and feel of my blood. I know I should not be too complacent, but I can’t just get off the feeling of superiority. The moment I was banished out of the palace up until now, there was a glooming cloud of inferiority growing inside me, instilling ideas of weakness and loneliness. It was hard to just abruptly adjust your way of life in all aspects, especially if what you were used to is not what is true.

Nevertheless, I am thankful for everything that I experienced, I am grateful for the forest, I am relieved that I got this chance. There are still a lot of questions that I need to answer but for now, I will be establishing myself here, adapting to my environment and understanding the ins and outs of this legendary forest.

First thing to do would be to create a security plan. One of the few things that I notices is that I somehow gained an ability to lightly sense the presence of the living around me. I am guessing that this is also an effect of my blood. Also, I can only sense their presence for now and still cannot fully grasp their form, their pinpoint direction, and the distance between us. Although this much is pretty useful for me already, any little addition to my protection is never wasted if your life is in constant danger. Well, I’m not really too worried with my security since I have my blood and its high probability to at least scare or defend against attackers, and if by the off chance that it doesn’t work, I can just jump inside the river as my last resort. But with that, I would also have to trust this monster inside the river and its reputation within the forest.

Next would be my source of nourishment, even though I understand that my blood is almost an ability that immortalizes its owner, I would not like to rely on it as much as I could, since even if I might not die of starvation or blood loss, the process of slowly dying would be extremely painful for me. For now, all I see are greens and large, ominous trees but based on the tales of previous adventurers and from the records, there are edible plants here that I can gather even with my weak physique. I’m thankful that I was an avid visitor of the palace’s grand library, with the extensive knowledge that I have, I won’t be worrying too much for poisonous plants or fruits. It’s just that I would have to endure picking only fruits and herbs until I can properly hunt for wild monsters.  

After that would be my base. I will be building a temporary shelter here since its just beside the Hallowed river, with the monster acting as a natural repellant and the river itself as a source a water, hitting two avians with one stone. There is only wood and some stones around me so I don’t really have much choice in the material that I will be using, that also works since I don’t plan on staying for too long; a somewhat sturdy encampment that is not difficult to build would be enough.

I have only read some types of wood and their uses but never got to actually use them practically being since I was always stuck inside the palace. But I do understand the different constraints that I would be having by just building my shelter; first is the idea that normal plants and plantaes are almost indistinguishable inside the forest, so I would have to be extra careful in approaching any tree or plant, second is that I would only be able to bring small amounts of wood because I will be in constant monitoring of my surroundings, and finally is the potential of an attack by any of the living creatures around the area. Needless to say, I have set the power standard for creatures inside the forest as either as strong as the pantherians or stronger than them.

But even with this much, I still consider it insufficient for me to reach my goals here inside the forest. I cannot underestimate my situation anymore; I’ve had a rough day as it is, and I can’t continue being overwhelmed by how frightening and stressful surviving here is.

I closed my eyes. I breathed in, heavily. Then I exhaled. I repeated the process until I started to lose sense of my surroundings. I started to feel calm and understood the underlying silence that permeates the forest; the silence that reveals the essence of the jungle. I started to hear more clearly the flowing of the water, feeling the wind passing through my body. At this point, I started to ‘see’ with my eyes closed. I saw the earth and the different networks that it has with the trees around me, I started to see trees that are true and the trees that pretend. I started to see the moving plants that run away from predators. I started to see those that are hostile and those that are purely living.

I stopped, opened my eyes, stood up, and started walking. I had one thought in mind,

I will be the conqueror of this forest.