Banda prowled through the murky forest as though the land itself was his enemy. It was a far cry from the one he had called home his entire life.

  The trees were shorter with darker leaves and moss covered bark. Gnarled roots dug into the wet black soil, too wet for good footing and the patches of dank grass were too scant to compensate.

  But worst of all was the mist that draped the forest in every direction. Thin enough to make out his surroundings up close, but further away that thin mist overlapped into thick fog which prevented him from seeing more than several dozen yards ahead. Even his sense of smell felt impaired.

  Banda scowled with his feral face as his situation was even worse than he thought. Lost in such a perilous place without his divinity. Every step he took made him more and more aware of how weak he had become, and just how much he had lost. Only his vigilance against the threats of the wild kept his frustrations from overflowing.

  “Hey.” Eres spoke up, trailing behind Banda.

  “Be quiet.” Banda snapped back, as he kept check on every direction for danger. It was bad enough that he was weak, but now he had to protect her along with himself. Worse yet, this human had no sense for survival, insistent on making too much noise and not hiding her presence.

  “What’s your plan here?” The bored tone of Eres’ words matched the look on her face.

  “Find a lair before it gets dark.” Banda hoped she would be quiet with that answer.

  “We need to find a town. A human lair.” She spoke again.

  “No.” Banda vehemently refused. That was far more dangerous than being where they were now.

  Something suddenly caught his senses, and he darted by Eres’ side in a crouching poise, ready to react to whatever came.

  Banda glanced around careful and keenly, and slowly the glow of eyes appeared from the dark of the forest. Large gray wolves stepped out from the trees, circling the two of them completely. Waiting and watching.

  Banda grabbed Eres by the arm and spun her behind him as a giant wolf lunged from their blindside with its jaw opened wide. Banda lowered his body beneath its fangs and lunged with it, burying his clawed hand through its throat until the force of his tackle that slammed into the dire wolf’s chest stopped it in its tracks.

  The beast let out a pitiful, desperate yelp but Banda caught its trashing paw and ripped out his bloody arm as he kicked it away. The giant wolf tried to rise but collapsed as quickly as it tried, the blood that gushed from its neck drenched the soil beneath.

  Without pause, Banda turned to the pack of smaller wolves and let out a roar, more beastial than human. The wolves paused only a moment before they slunk back into the forest as quickly and calmly as they appeared.

  Banda grit his teeth in frustration. “Send me back to my forest.”

  “That’s not possible right now. I used the last of my amulet power’s to bring us out of Humbaba’s lair.” Eres answered calmly.

  “Then…”

  “This isn’t the place to stand around arguing. It may be the weakest floor of the tower, but we’ll still die if we stay out here like this.” Eres glanced at the forest before turning back to him, her demeanor casual even after the wolf attack. “We need a town.”

  “No. Humans are worse.” Banda paid her little more attention than that, turning his focus to the motionless dire wolf.

  He opened his mouth wide as his eyes turned white. The wolf’s soul seeped up and then ripped out with ease, flowing straight into the savage’s mouth who swallowed it whole, to the wide-eyed surprised of the former priestess.

  Banda felt for the power he just absorbed and tried to harness it as he had always done but divinity refused to rise within him. Frustration mounted within Banda as he stopped, knowing full well it made no difference whether he tried for a few moments or a few days.

  “That’s a rare ability…” Eres commented. “But I told you before, didn’t I? We can’t become demigods here.”

  “Then what-”

  “Cultivation.” Eres spoke with some grandeur, the calm look in her eyes that of one who had already made her decision. “Power outside the realm of divinity. The path allowed only to mankind. You’ve fought some before, haven’t you? Monks.”

  Banda measured her in silence. “How?”

  “I don’t know.” Eres placed a hand on her hip. “I never had the opportunity to learn. I wasn’t planning on becoming one anyway. But plenty of people here will know, and we can find out from them.”

  “Too dangerous.” Banda asserted yet again. “They’re stronger than monsters.”

  “All of the ones you’ve met were high ranked. No one is capable enough to enter Cedar Forest otherwise. Most of the ones on this floor will be even weaker than we are now.”

  Banda didn’t respond this time, and Eres caught notice that her words were finally starting to be heard. “This is the only way we can be as strong as we used to.”

  “...what does a town look like?” Banda relented for the sake of power.

  Eres smiled at the question. “You remember the shanty town outside of the Tower? Many piles of stone and wood packed on top of each other. Behind a thin stone cliff.”

  Banda swung up a tree without hesitation, reaching the tip of its heights and peered over the land with careful focus until he found what he was looking for. A human lair.

  ---

  Banda and Eres walked up to the tan-colored stone wall with caution. It was as tall as a tree, and as Banda now realized, was made of many smaller pieces of stone cut into similar shapes and sizes. The whole structure was built over a small cliff that jutted out unevenly over the ground.

  He glanced to his side as they passed through strange land. Large patches of the same small plants covered the surrounding soil, save for small dirt paths in between.

  The fog of the forest didn’t encroach on the large area of land surrounding the town, and sunlight seemed to shine a bit more easily over it, though the sky was still covered with light gray clouds.

  A few humans loitered around atop the wall. To Banda, it didn’t seem as though they were hunting. More like patrolling for enemies, however poorly they did so. Regardless of which it was, he kept a sharp watch on them as they passed through an opening in the wall undisturbed.

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  Immediately, a rank stench struck Banda’s nose. A sharp acrid scent that permeated from every corner of this wretched human lair. The forest had its share of foul smells too, though they were mostly suppressed by the rich earthly scent of dirt and plants. But it seemed he would find no such reprieve here.

  Banda did his best to ignore it as he inspected the town. Inside, the buildings were more varied than he expected. Some built with stone, some with wood, and no two were the same.

  It wasn’t as mysterious or impressive as he expect. Even as he was now, Banda was fairly certain he could destroy these paltry human structures with ease. But the atmosphere was strange.

  He glanced back at the wall. It was not formidable, but something about it felt like it kept not just the fog out, but the forest itself.

  "Towns and cities within the Tower are Sanctuaries." Eres informed, as though she could hear his questioning thoughts. "Monsters are unable to enter, making them a safe haven for humans."

  This human lair could warn others to stay away, Banda understood. Most of the powerful beasts in the forest could do the same.

  "So, how is your first town? Impressed?" She asked.

  Banda was not. “Where are the monks?”

  “Everyone here, most likely. But monks are not all equal. We need to find a good teacher, preferable one that won’t try to stab us in the back the moment we show it.” Her expression lowered into one slightly more serious.

  “Find one fast.” Banda would not wait any longer than he had to.

  “Now there’s a pretty face.” A bearded stranger from across the street spoke loud enough to draw their attention. He was muscular with hair only on the top of his head and the bottom of his jaw.

  He wore better clothes and armor than Banda had seen on the ones on the wall. And down the right side of his face were the distinctive scars left from a mauling beast. The rough leather patch across his eye suggests he lost it from the same injury.

  “Don’t kill anyone just yet.” Eres subtly whispered.

  “Definitely haven’t seen you before. I would have remembered.” The man had walked too close for Banda’s liking.

  His off kilter jerky mannerisms that just wouldn’t settle, even after he came to a stop, only served to further aggravate his sense for danger. Both hands had come to a rest on the hilt of his sword as naturally as taking a breath, without appearing threatening at all.

  “Is it your job to remember?” Eres asked, her expression relaxed but distant. Her focused lingered on his leather eyepatch for a brief instant.

  “You could say that.” The man pulled his gaze from Eres to peer at Banda, acutely taking measure of him. The sheer disregard for daring to challenge him so boldly almost made Banda’s limbs tense in preparation, but he managed to just barely suppress it.

  “Where did you come from?” The man directed his blunt question back to Eres, along with his odd gaze.

  “Somewhere else.”

  The stranger’s face moved oddly “...Why are you here?”

  “For reasons of our own.”

  The man let out a dull sound, almost a laugh, almost a hum. “This isn’t much of a conversation.”

  “We could always make it a fight.” Eres’ eyes narrowed.

  “I don’t think that’s in your best interest.” He leaned in slightly with the advice.

  The tension rose slightly with his words, and the two men behind him responded in kind, shifting their stances to something almost suited for combat. Banda made his presence small and unnoticeable in response, focusing on the neck of the scarred human he deemed most dangerous.

  A pause held the air, for what seemed a lot longer than the several moments it actually was. The man was the one to break his stare, shifting his gaze around with no rhyme nor reason accompanied by awkward facial movements, as he leaned back upright showing no intention to press further.

  “We should speak again sometime.” He gave Banda a look and then Eres again as he took a few steps backwards, and turned around on his way.

  Eres waited until they were out of sight before continuing on. Banda lingered a half moment more before following close behind.

  They walked through the street without anything more than odd looks and wary stares before a wooden sign at the front of a building caught Eres’ notice and she walked through the open door.

  Banda walked in after, and all eyes fell on them. Sharp. Hostile. Covetous. Banda’s intent flooded the tavern in an instant, as piercing as fangs and claws. A promise of death from a beast to his challengers. Some of the rugged crowd in the tavern jolted to their feet in fear. Most were unable to move.

  “Banda, stop.”

  “They watch us… like prey… They think us weak!” Banda’s intent grew heavier, more suffocating.

  It had been so many moons since he had experienced it that it felt almost foreign. He had been king. The weak fled from his path and the strong who challenged him did so with fear in the depths of their hearts before his gaze.

  But ever since he was pulled from his forest and robbed of his power, these humans dared to leer with drooling eyes as if he were food. Prey.

  Banda had tolerated much in this forest of stone for the sake of survival but his restraint was wearing thin. The resentment that had been festering deep within felt as though it would burn through his gut. And he would suppress it no longer.

  “Stop.” Eres ordered more firmly this time.

  Banda stood still in place on the verge of snapping, but soon slowly cooled his intensity. His hostility remained though none could sense it behind his guarded eyes. Eres kept her gaze on him for a while before walking up towards the counter with her feral guard trailing behind.

  The customers of the tavern began to slowly sit back down, though the conversation and music had turned to mere hushed whispers amidst the tension, and some started to slip out of the building, trying their best to go unnoticed.

  “...What will you have?” The man behind the tavern counter asked. His physique bulky with a bit of weight on it, and his appearance as rugged as his customers, though he seemed a bit firmer and more composed. Eres supposed that was necessary to run an establishment in a place like this.

  “A cultivation teacher. Someone capable and trustworthy.”

  The tavern owner was silent for a moment. “Not easy to find someone with both.”

  “Surely there must be one or two.” Eres pushed.

  “...man named Otto. Spends most of his time in the rundown manor northside. He’s a drunk but he’s capable at least.”

  “Thanks.”

  Eres left at the same casually pace she entered, and Banda followed, staring at the humans around them. They walked across the street from the tavern and down a narrow alley heading north based on the low sun to their left.

  And stealthily trailing behind were a group of thugs from the tavern with ill intentions. The foremost one watched them round a corner and followed with quiet steps to carefully peer after.

  And a clawed hand pierced through his throat to the back. Banda grabbed the dead man by the neck and held his body out as two arrows sank into its back.

  He spun and hurled the body at an armored woman on the other side, cracking her head against a stone building, and in the same motion lunged for the archer. The man scarcely had time to even raise his bow before Banda tore out half his throat.

  One by one he targeted the rest wherever an opening form. Maiming. Ripping. Impaling. They tried to flee but Banda wouldn’t let them. It was not a fight, but a slaughter.

  The last one found his trembling legs unable to run out of sheer terror and slashed his sword down in desperation. Banda grabbed his hand and broke it in his grip as the other seized his head.

  The man screamed in agony as Banda clenched down. His skull cracked and dented for a mere moment before giving in to the force, and shattered to a gory pulp in the savage’s hand. But still, the rage swelled within him.

  “I eat when I want! I hunt when I want! Only I am not prey! Only me!” Banda roared among the corpses slain without respect. Humbaba aside, the Gates of Heaven aside, he vowed he would make all within this tower lower their gaze and tremble again, like he had known before.

  Eres watched coldly from the side. Banda’s savage nature had been a source of amusement and benefit to her, but this is the first time he has shown the true nature of a beast.

  These kills were not clean nor efficient, but done with contempt and cruelty. His fixation on this status of predator and prey was greater than she thought.

  She had planned to take her time in this hostile town but it seemed Banda’s patience had worn far too thin. They needed to learn how to cultivate quickly, before his violent tendencies brought trouble they could not overcome.

  “We should find this teacher before we lose the sun.” Eres spoke up calmly and carefully, assessing his response.

  Banda remained where he was for a few moments, before lashing the blood off his hands and walking over in silence. Eres turned to lead the way, and he followed with feral eyes.