Atheline moved through the forest with urgency, his steps faster. His senses were everywhere, scanning the forest for any other beast but there weren’t any, a relief.

Behind him, far beyond where he could hear, his stalkers caught up to his kill.

The corpse of the frog had not yet cooled.

Its massive body, lay where it was left half sunken into the ground.

The wind blew, spreading its decaying smell attracting the wanderers.

It slipped through the trees, its body twisted unnaturally as it searched for something.

A low growl followed right after breaking the stillness. From the undergrowth another emerged, its body spilling corrupt aether in concentrated waves.

Another flew by circling the air, sniffing.

The first one stopped by the corpse, sniffed, and then froze. A flash of unnatural intelligence passed over its lifeless eyes, it glanced to the others.

Its gaze moved towards the direction he had gone a glint in its lifeless eyes.

More followed, emerging from the dark covers of the massive trees.

The lead corrupt took off towards his direction. Some followed while others stayed to feast on the corpse.

Atheline jumped from one branch to another, oblivious to the danger following his scent.

He could feel it almost instinctively, there were only two to three hours till the sun rose. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Moving through the forest at night, wasn’t enjoyable. The wind was almost freezing, bringing with it the scent of the forest.

He quietly landed on a protruding root bending his knee to distribute the pressure.

His senses had eventually picked up something, flowing water, something normal in the forest.

Before he could find joy in his find. A branch snapped somewhere ahead.

He froze.

His hands rested lightly near his weapon, eyes scanning the dark spaces between the trees.

The forest felt so quiet at the moment, even breathing seemed to take more effort than normal.

’Another one?’

It came into view, walking almost leisurely.

A broken sharp-horned deer.

It stepped between the trunks, its feature intact but its legs looked broken.

Bent inward at a weird angle and it walked as though it was about to stumble but managed to stay upright somehow.

Its horns were half its body size branched into knife-like features.

’Who broke this deer!’

Its dark lifeless eyes, a sign of corruption, fixed on him.

It bolted towards him without hesitation.

’Fast’

He reacted on instinct. Arrow drawn, then released. The shot landed clean, straight through its neck but it didn’t fall, it kept running.

He moved forward, closing the distance between them before it could build momentum.

The deer lunged, its body twisting mid-air in a way that would have snapped any normal deer spine.

He tucked underneath it, the horns narrowly grazing his outer robe.

He turned, the second arrow, closer this time, went straight through the skull.

That did it. The body hit the ground hard, skidded across the dump soil before finally going still.

’That felt a little too easy’

He didn’t relax. He approached cautiously, watching for movement.

Nothing.

Despite all that, Atheline didn’t get the reassurance he wanted.

Along the back of his neck, he had a crawling feeling like something was brushing against him but out of reach.

He frowned. Atheline always trusted his insticts. He turned sharply, but he couldn’t see anything.

The trees stood upright, staring back at him. He rubbed the back of his neck for warmth.

Behind him, far from his vision and sense range, they stopped all in command the moment he glanced back.

They moved the moment he did.

Atheline exhaled softly.

’... Just my imagination. ’

But his grip on both his weapons tightened. He didn’t linger, his steps carried him forward faster.

Time passed strangely after that, the reward from the system having lost its effect.

The sky had started to light up. Mist clung to the air, collecting on grass and leaves.

Up ahead the sound of the river became louder.

The next attack came without warning, a blur of movement from above.

He barely had time to react, rolling forward as something slammed into the ground where he stood.

’What the hell, is everything now out to get me’

Long claws first entered his gaze, then red fur-covered arms. They were attached to a body that clung to a tree.

A long-armed monkey.

Its arms were almost twice its body size. Atheline couldn’t help but wonder how it even managed to operate those.

Its face was the scary part. Its lips were stretched back too wide in a permanent smile.

’It’s not corrupted’

Atheline hid his surprise.

It dropped again, faster.

Atheline drew his dagger this time. The monkey didn’t give him any distance or time to draw and shot his arrow.

The creature shrieked loudly as it lunged its long arms wide open.

He met it head-on. Sparks flew as the knife grazed against its iron-like claws.

The impact jarred his arm, but he held firm, twisting his body enough to let its weight and momentum carry it past it.

The blade cut deep across its side. Bluish blood spilled out but that didn’t stop it.

Its claws stretched and clung onto him.

One arm latched onto his shoulder, its claws digging in.

The pain almost forced him to lose his concentration. He didn’t hesitate. He drove the blade upwards into its throat.

That wasn’t enough to kill it.

He did it over and over again in fast processions until its grip loosened, then it fell.

The body hit the ground with a soft thud, spasming once then it stilled.

He stepped back, breathing heavier now, from all the accumulating fights and stress.

Atheline was beginning to worry the deeper he moved.

He stepped forward, each movement pulling the half-healed wound harder than the last.

’Haa, this is getting annoying’

He briefly pressed a hand against his shoulder then pulled away. The wound wasn’t too deep.

His eyes flickered upwards, scanning the branches then outwards into the forest.

’There’s more’

He didn’t doubt it. The attacks seemed coordinated but he could only pray it was a fluke on his part.

He adjusted his grip on his dagger, his bow slung over his shoulder, and continued forward towards the river.