4 Life was like this
Nameless stood in front of the mother fox, he didn't rejoice over killing a peak rank 2 beast, he didn't even bother to take its beast core.
He turned back and moved over the foggy ravine while stepping on the giant branch.
As he was on his way, weird feelings began to emerge within him.
He couldn't hide it but he kinda felt bad for the mother fox. He wouldn't be bothered as much if not for the look on the mother fox's eyes.
He could easily realise that such a beast would have escaped if it saw him yet it recklessly jumped over him and unleashed its strongest attack to try and kill him.
Even while limping it didn't try to escape.
Nameless couldn't have known the small fire foxes were its cubs but he didn't regret it.
He knew the cruel nature of life, even if he didn't kill them now, they would be killed later on.
Life was absolutely cruel, the world in his previous life was such an example. Even then, animals still lived harsh lives.
He remembered a clip on social media he had watched where a soldier was killing wild feral pigs with an assault rifle with great precision because they were damaging the ecosystem.
Most people in the comments were in surprise because of his precision and supported him but Nameless kinda felt bad for them.
Ever since their birth what had they done wrong? what did they do to deserve such a thing?
Their very existence seemed like a mistake, not because of their own doing but because they were born in a certain place.
Life was unfair like this, some people would say "energy can neither be created nor destroyed." but it seemed merely like a consolation prize.
Seperation was inevitable in this world, even if reincarnation was real and the foxes he killed survived. It still wouldn't be the same as if they had experienced growing together.
Nameless felt indescribable emotions, he was alone again in this world thinking about life. He didn't even know if other human beings existed.
He looked at his tail and couldn't help but think : "am I even a human now?"
That video with the feral pigs was still ingrained in his memory, not because he felt bad for them, they were damaging the ecosystem after all, they had to be killed. But because it showed that life was like this and opposites couldn't be reconciled.
In that event, there was only two choices, to kill the feral pigs or to let them damage the ecosystem leading to the death of other living beings.
Even if they could be moved to a proper ecosystem, it costed ressources and ressources were limited. let alone other elements like sickness, predators and the difficulty in relocating so many wild pigs.
Life was cruel like this, it left few choices and one had to choose the lesser evil.
Carnivorous animals had no choice, either to kill to survive or starve to death.
Nameless knew the fire fox had probably fought other beasts to protect her cubs, that's why she had gone to the outer layer of the forest to begin with, to prevent beasts from feeding off her cubs yet her cubs were killed by him anyway.
He didn't feel bad at it, it was inevitable, he had to survive for himself and he would continue to do so no matter the price.
His desire for life superseded any other desire or empathy he felt.
Life was like this, aside from predators, herbivores had it even rougher, having to eat constantly to feel full, starving and having to always be alert in case a predator shows up to eat them, even their cubs wouldn't be spared.
This is of course was when food was available, forgetting the droughts, natural disasters and accidents or human intervention.
Life was harsh, the winters were brutal, humans themselves had to go through so much to survive and build a civilisation, only for it to bind the freedom they fought so hard for.
Nameless didn't feel to bad about the red foxes but still he couldn't help but remember a line he had written himself in his previous life.
"Life silently agonises waiting for death."
Nameless didn't reject death, he knew it was inevitable, neither did he want to live forever, his only wish was to live his own life on his own terms while being true to himself.
As he thought that, he felt a weird feeling in his mind as if it was enlarging.
He had already gone past that foggy ravine.
As he walked on the grass near a small body of water, he looked at his own reflection and he felt slightly dizzy with the movement of the water.
His mind started enlarging faster and faster before he suddenly felt like he was floating on top of a Sea.
He felt as if he had teleported somewhere.
He looked down only to see a breathtaking blue sea.
As he looked at it and his own reflection at its surface. He felt it represented his memories, thoughts and emotions.
He kept looking for half an hour before a weird feeling surfaced on his mind.
It seemed like his mind had broken through to a new level.
Nameless had reached the 2nd rank of the sea of consciousness.
