9 Chapter 9. The Strong Will Devour the Weaker

  The ritual was not complicated, but it was difficult to accomplish. To complete it, you had to find a place where you could kill increasingly powerful beasts until no one posed a threat to you in that region, thus being recognized as a true predator. The problem is that you had to do this with bare hands and without any form of protection. You weren't even allowed to wear underwear, which is why Kara was now wandering through the Great Moonshadow Forest like in Paradise Lost.

  In addition to not being able to use any weapon or trap, the one who wanted to complete the ritual was also not allowed to use any active skills. For example, Kara's agility skill was acceptable since it was passive, but the skill that helped her make the prey stumble was forbidden.

  Considering these conditions, this ritual would have been impossible to accomplish if the papers Kara found didn't contain something else, a way to increase your power without relying on leveling up. We all know that leveling up brings increased power, agility, magical ability, and even intelligence, depending on the individual's class. But this growth is very slow, and significant differences are only noticeable after gaining about 10 additional levels. Latent skills play a much more important role in increasing these stats, but they cannot be chosen at will.

  So, what is the method by which these papers help Kara? This method is quite simple for someone with a strong stomach because it involves magic formations made of the flesh of the slain beasts and words written with their blood. To have the best effect, it is recommended to have a pool of the slain beast's blood in the center of this formation, where the person undergoing the ritual would immerse themselves.

  ...................

  The first thing Kara did was search for a place where she could create the magic formation. It had to be hidden to avoid discovery by other beasts but also easily accessible because she had to carry the slain beasts there as intact as possible, so as not to waste their blood.

  After silently wandering through the forest for about two hours, trying not to attract any beasts, she finally found a hidden cave behind a fallen tree.

  'This place is good enough, the only problem is that the entrance to the cave is too small. I don't think I can fit anything larger than a normal wolf in there.' Kara had no choice but to continue her search.

  Luckily, after another half hour of searching, as Kara was walking around the mountain rock that the cave was a part of, she found a crevice in it. Although it wasn't covered, its entrance was twisted, and you couldn't see what was inside if you passed by it.

  'Much better. But I still need to block the entrance with some wood. The problem is that the beasts can smell the blood from afar. If I were allowed to set traps, this space would be ideal. The beasts would be attracted here by the scent of blood, and I could easily attack them from above. The problem is that now I will play the role of the bait if I am surrounded by organs and blood in this place. The only option for me to feel safe would be to kill more creatures and place some of them around to distract attention from the location where I will create the magic formations.'

  After gathering some wood to block the entrance and preparing a cavity in the rock to serve as the blood pool, Kara set off for the hunt.

  'What should I kill first? Some small-sized beasts? No. It wouldn't make sense. I need something big enough to fill the pool...' With this thought in mind, Kara began to roam the Great Moonshadow Forest, carefully looking for potential prey.

  Walking among centuries-old trees, Kara heard rustling in the bushes. 'Huh. I think it's a doe... maybe I should start with an herbivore?' Unfortunately for Kara, the doe that appeared was not the same species as the doe she had hunted in the past. It looked like a cross between a doe and a rat, with large teeth, sharp claws, and a long tail. The only thing that made it resemble a doe was its long legs and large ears. 'Maybe it's a giant rat that looks like a doe and not the other way around..'

  Kara noticed that the so-called doe found her very attractive, as she could clearly see its drool swinging from side to side with each step it took toward Kara.

  'Even if it's a female, I don't think I can reciprocate its feelings. I don't think it wants to eat me in a way that would be pleasurable... No, it's not funny, Kara. I am in real danger now. As I learned from my father, there shouldn't be beasts of this level on the outskirts of the Great Moonshadow Forest. It's probably a beast that could be classified as a C-level threat. Maybe that's why it's so quiet in this area. The weaker beasts have probably left their territory. So far, I've only confronted creatures of the maximum D level, and even then, I was armed. Engaging this creature in direct combat would be madness. I don't think I can run faster than it. Hmm, think, Kara. Yes! Considering its doe-like legs, I can conclude that it can't climb trees. Yes, that's what I should do. I'll climb a tree and then try to observe if it has any weak spots...'

  Before the so-called doe could realize what was happening, Kara had already reached the top of the tree next to her. However, the doe was not pleased that it had lost its delicious meal, so it began using its rat-like teeth to gnaw at the tree trunk.

  'Damn it. It's chewing the wood as if it were made of cheese. Maybe it's related to a beaver. Huh, what's that sound?'

  While Kara was analyzing the creature, suddenly a 7-meter-long fire salamander appeared and, after throwing a ball of fire from its mouth at the doe, it rushed with its mouth open toward its target who was struggling to escape from the flames. The doe didn't even realize that its neck had been crushed.

  As Kara watched the salamander devour her former opponent, she suddenly felt vibrations in the ground.

  'What's happening? Is there an earthquake? Or...'

  But Kara didn't have time to finish her thought because suddenly a huge mouth full of teeth belonging to a gigantic worm yawned beneath the salamander, swallowing it along with the half-eaten doe, leaving only a hole in the ground.

  After a few seconds, the vibrations ceased, and the forest regained its lost tranquility.

  'What the hell was that? Such creatures shouldn't be here. They should be much deeper in the forest...'

  Kara didn't expect the events that just unfolded. She knew that the Great Moonshadow Forest was dangerous, but such unpredictability made every step potentially the last.

  'Why did such creatures appear here? Has something happened in the heart of the Great Moonshadow Forest? No. It doesn't matter the reason; what matters is the result. And the result is that the difficulty of completing the ritual has exponentially increased. Maybe it would be wise to leave the Great Moonshadow Forest and find another area to start the ritual. Ugh! But where would be a suitable place? There's a reason why those ancient papers were hidden in this forest for thousands of years, and that reason is that only by mastering this area where magic manifests in violence can you be recognized by the order of the world as the ultimate predator. From the events that just unfolded, one thing is clear. There's only one law that governs this place: the strong will devour the weaker. And that's what I will have to do too. Beetles, birds, rabbits, frogs, anything that crosses my path must be killed. This is not a place to take risks. In a direct fight, power is the most deciding factor.'

  After drawing these conclusions, Kara silently climbed down from the tree. Considering the creatures she had seen, she couldn't help but wonder.

  'How did the village where my father and I originated from survive with such neighbors? Were the villagers so capable that they could easily defeat beasts like these?'

  But recalling what her father had told her, that the nearby vicinity of the village didn't harbor beasts more dangerous than those in the surrounding forests around the town where she grew up, she concluded that only the papers that came into her possession could have kept the excessively dangerous creatures at bay.

  'Those papers are more dangerous than I had previously considered. It's as if the one who wrote them can influence reality regardless of the passage of time... Such power... Yes, it's worth fighting for such power.'

  The future seemed full of dangers, but Kara had no intention of giving up. The impending peril didn't frighten her or make her yearn to escape reality. On the contrary, it made her increasingly alert, increasingly awake. Yes, this was a place that could truly make Kara feel alive. A place that would make her truly feel at home in the future.