“It’s alright. Everything is alright.”

  Shouren attempted to calm his pounding heartbeat as he heard the rustling grow louder. The boy tried to make his body as small as he could by hugging his arms and legs together. After making sure the bush enveloped his entire frame, Shouren covered his mouth and nose with his hands, preventing the sound of his breathing from leaking.

  Then, he proceeded to stay still and take in controlled breaths of air. His heart thumped against his chest, adrenaline now rushing through his blood and the boy only prayed that whatever the monster was, it couldn’t hear his hammering heart.

  A viscous smell permeated the air.

  Is that blood?

  Shouren’s palms trembled. Was the monster injured? Could he try to finish it off with whatever caused it to bleed?

  No! Even a Tier 0 monster would have its attributes unlocked. If it still has enough of a fight left, it would be me getting stuffed inside its belly.

  Shouren shook his thoughts away from the dangerous idea. Without undergoing his class awakening, Shouren was a tierless and hence had no access to his attributes. On the other hand, even the weakest Tier 0 monster would have all its attributes at F rank. Some elite monsters could sometimes start at even B rank attributes.

  Unlike the arduous training that humans had to go through to increase their attributes, monsters could simply consume cards to increase both their synchronization and attributes together. This is why monsters had an easier time evolving as long as they had access to unlimited number of cards.

  This was not a battle Shouren could win with brute force.

  Doubling down his efforts, Shouren stayed still despite his muscles showing initial signs of cramping. The rustling got closer and closer. The boy could now hear the growl associated with the rustling. Based on the deep throaty growl, Shouren estimated it was a pretty large creature.

  He could now hear the thudding of the monster’s steps. It was moving slow, but not inconsistent. Was the monster not injured?

  Right when Shouren thought the monster would pass near his hideout, it lazily swivered to the side and a loud thud quaked through the entire forest.

  That was a tree. Is it resting underneath the tree?

  Shouren was too scared to turn his head. It sounded like the monster slumped against a nearby tree. If only the boy could turn his head and see what the monster was.

  I need to wait. It might still be alert.

  Beads of sweat gathered on his forehead. At least the monster hadn’t detected him yet. He would wait until he was sure it was safe to leave the bush.

  A mellow breeze drifted in the forest.

  Shouren stayed still. He was sure his feet were numb by now. But he diligently stayed where he was. The monster had yet to make any noise since it last stopped near the tree.

  And so, 20 minutes passed.

  Shouren was about to lose all sensation in his legs when suddenly, a deep snore rumbled in proximity. A pang of elation spread within the boy. Was the monster actually asleep? Despite the snores, Shouren waited another 5 minutes before he tentatively shifted his leg.

  The snoring continued.

  Letting out a heavy relieved breath, Shouren painstakingly edged away from the bush and slowly turned his head.

  It was a herculean of a bear.

  Tight sinewy muscles pulsed over the stalwart monster, radiating the deadly power contained within them. Thick and hoarse brown fur covered the burly beast, and Shouren soon spotted the source of the bloody smell. It was the bear’s jaws. It was drenched in thick blood.

  I’m so glad I didn’t try to attack it, thinking it was injured.

  Shouren shuddered in fear. The monster wasn’t wounded. Instead, it had just returned from a successful hunt. The blood belonged to its unlucky meal. The boy scanned the sleeping mass of terror in search for any scratches or minor laceration. None.

  Whatever the bear had hunted, it was a complete obliteration. The opponent hadn’t even managed to leave a bruise.

  Shouren anxiously stood up, feeling the nerves in his legs re-igniting once again. He needed to get away from the monster as soon as possible. This bear could well be the apex Tier 0 monster of this whole floor.

  The boy took one step and nervously glanced back to see if the bear had woken up. It was still snoring. Shouren took another two steps. The snoring continued.

  “Wait…”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Shouren whispered, halting his foot mid-step as an idea sprang inside his mind. The bear came in from the opposite direction. Didn’t that mean that path was clear of any potential dangers at the same strength level as the bear? Maybe Shouren would come across any carcasses left by the bear. The bear would have definitely consumed any cards or shards left behind by the monsters, but the bones and some meat should still be there, right?

  Shouren’s stomach had stopped grumbling, but that only meant his hunger had reached a new critical state.

  “Why am I such a coward?”

  The boy grit his teeth and turned around. He made the decision to go where the bear had come from. He didn’t enter the dungeon to live a safe and ordinary life. He came here to risk everything for a chance at something else. Even if that meant he could die in the process.

  Shouren got on all fours and slowly moved towards the opposite path. He needed to stay low to the ground, using the bushes to his cover in case the bear suddenly woke up. Giving the hulking monster a wide berth, Shouren gradually made his way towards the path the bear had come from.

  He could feel the blood raging inside his veins. He was halfway to the other side and the bear didn’t move from its original position. Shouren was too far to hear its snoring now.

  Almost there.

  Shouren’s limbs ached. He wasn’t used to crawling on his fours like this. If not for the adrenaline coursing through his body, his muscles would have long been in seizures.

  “Grr…”

  The sound sent a wave of dread through Shouren. He slowly tilted his head.

  The bear simply raised its baleful claw and scratched the back of its hide twice, and then plopped back to sleep.

  You bastard! Stop giving me a heart attack every few minutes.

  Shouren cursed in his head and hastened his steps.

  Soon, he was out of the forest enclave and could no longer see the bear or the tree it was sleeping on.

  Shouren stood back on his two feet and took in several deep breaths. He was glad he wasn’t wearing a shirt or it would be soaked with his sweat.

  “Time to find the prey left behind by the brute.”

  The boy slapped himself out of all the nervousness and cautiously tread into the new section of the forest. After experiencing the terror of the bear, the normal Tier 0 monsters no longer scared him that much. He only needed to kill 3 Tier 0 monsters, and they didn’t have to be as horrifying as the bear.

  Step by step, Shouren walked deeper into the path. It was no longer as bright as when he first entered the floor, meaning they were soon approaching evening. He didn’t know how time worked inside the dungeon.

  “I can use that. It’s better than nothing.”

  After a few minutes on the path, Shouren came across a fallen branch beneath a large tree. It was thick enough to land a serious hit, but not cumbersome enough for the young boy to swing it.

  “It’s perfect!”

  Shouren laughed as he plucked the straggling smaller branches and leaves off the stick, and swung it around. The weight wasn’t completed balanced in the center, but it was the first weapon that he’d found. Shouren didn’t feel as defenseless as before. He had a fighting chance now.

  Tracing the bear’s paw marks on the grass, the young boy steadily followed it. Shouren’s mouth was parched, his lips showing signs of cracking. He didn’t try to wet it with his tongue, keeping as much moisture inside his body as he could.

  For the next 12 minutes, Shouren tediously tracked the bear’s old marks. He occasionally detected drops of blood on the grass but they were probably from the monster’s jaw as it trod on the grass. With the fresh lingering traces of the bear, it prevented other monsters from crossing Shouren’s path as well.

  “I can smell it.”

  The familiar bloody aroma grazed Shouren’s nose. The bear’s prey was nearby.

  Shouren crouched to the ground with the thick stick resting on his shoulder. He had to be wary of any scavengers that might have found the dead monster before him. Pursuing the bloody scent, Shouren soon came across the source.

  Lying on the ground was the carcass of a half-eaten black fox. It’s heart was clearly gouged out along with a portion of its stomach. It’s body was also savagely ripped from the middle, leaving only its upper body and the front limbs intact. The grass was still wet as drops of blood unceasingly dripped into the crimson puddle. Flecks of dried blood stained the blades of grass a bit further away, but it hadn’t been long since the black fox was killed.

  Shouren gulped at the sight. The black fox didn’t look weak at all, and yet it was mauled to death so mercilessly. Taking a quick glance around to confirm there no other predators in the area, Shouren rushed to the half-eaten carcass. The bloody smell only grew thicker.

  When he arrived, he noticed a few purple beetles chewing on the flesh. Shouren raised his stick and swiftly brought it down on one of the insects. The beetle’s carapace cracked under the force, spilling its gooey insides out. The other beetles scurried away fast before Shouren could pulverize them.

  “Did that count as a kill?”

  The boy waited for the dungeon message to update. But it never came.

  “Tch, it was a tierless insect.”

  Shouren clicked his tongue. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy to kill a Tier 0 monster. And it definitely wouldn’t die in one hit with a stick.

  “I can’t carry the carcass. It’s too heavy and the smell of blood would eventually draw other monsters to me. I need to cut a part of it out.”

  Shouren contemplated how to dissect the carcass. Glancing at his stick, the boy let out a sigh. He didn’t have anything sharp enough to cut through the flesh.

  “I’m running out of time. Traces of the bear will start to fade away and the other monsters will soon arrive here.”

  Shouren searched around in the area, seeing if he could find something to cut. He needed to sever one of the front legs of the fox. He could make that into a sharp enough bone weapon to land a fatal hit. But how was he going to cut it?

  The sun was almost setting; the sky turning a darker shade of orange. There was not enough time.

  “I’m going to vomit.”

  Shouren gulped what remaining saliva he had and bent down to the carcass. With no tool in his hand, he grabbed the dead fox by the leg and bit down near the joint.

  His teeth sunk deeper into the raw flesh and Shouren tore it out. Chunks of fur, blood and meat smeared the inside of his mouth. Forcing himself to not retch, the boy continued to tear chunks of meat away from the joint until he could see the white cartilage and pinkish tendon.

  “Arghh…”

  The boy’s stomach churned as a bit of the blood managed to leak down into his throat. The metallic flavor singed his tongue.

  “Don’t think about, don’t think about it, don’t think about it.”

  Shouren muttered the mantra over and over again as he twisted the leg, causing it to break free from the joint. With his mouth drenched in the monster’s blood, Shouren gnawed on the tendon until it tore off as well, leaving him with the whole leg.

  It was already dark now, the sun setting long ago.

  Shouren gazed up at the night’s sky, his body covered in blood as it cascaded down from his mouth. Tears formed in his bright hazel-green eyes and rolled down his cheeks. But the boy was not sad. They were tears of triumph.

  He was no longer the same Shouren.

  Consecrated by the blood of the monster, the young boy had taken his first step on the path of power.