It was a silent place, the Dark Forest.

Home to all demonic beasts and regular animals. The heart of the southern continent, and the most important location that existed on the continent.

Yet, it held the most dangerous beings, demonic beasts that could destroy a kingdom when enrage. Beasts that could collapse a city with a mere roar.

This earned the location the title of the most dangerous place, but still, people adventured into it!

The quiet, yet snowy, atmosphere was kept for a few hours until a rough ruffling of leaves could be heard.

A young man appeared to be the cause of the disturbance as he ran wildly, dashing past many trees and leaves.

His silky black hair was tied in a knot while his right firmly hand held a sword.

The young man kept glancing behind him as he ran in no particular direction.

*Roar!*

An unknown roar coming from behind him made the young man more nervous.

From the frown on his face, one could tell that he was quite scared of what was behind him.

It seemed the young man had tried to fight it as blood dripped from a claw mark on his face.

His right purple eye pulsed frantically and every time the pulse reached its peak, the young man jilted, losing his balance.

He used his blue left eye to search for a solution to his problem, all the while thinking, 'What a sad life?'

He sighed, 'How things escalate to this point?'

............…

A day ago, which coincidentally marked exactly one week after Jake left Aztec.

Jake had just finished bathing himself in the blood of a [Grade-2] Demon Beast.

Days ago, Upon getting to the forest, he found himself surrounded by all sorts of feral beasts.

When he killed them, he was yet again surrounded by [Grade-1] demonic beast, days after.

The hunt continued and every day Jake had killed a beast.

Nothing the progressive development, Jake understood if things went on. He would eventually die to a beast stronger than him.

He made up his mind to hide his scent using the leaves of the [Harmonious Tree], a tree that absorbed the natural scent of the forest.

It was something he had learned in Aztec's Library, and he possessed the item in his [Spatial Rings]

Rubbing it on his body would make Jake give off the scent of a being that belonged in the Dark Forest, which worked when he did that.

However, it could only deceive lesser demonic beasts. A few [Grade 2] demonic beast could sense his true scent, while [Grade-3] demonic beasts were guaranteed to be able to smell his actual scent.

It was enough for him. He wasn't going to trespass into any of the stronger beasts' territory…...that was what he thought.

However, before he knew it, while sleeping in the night, he was attacked by a [Grade-2] demonic beast.

He was forced to engage in an unprepared battle and was only able to win when he revealed his [Akashic Eye].

Demon beasts were different from humans. Their base power alone rivaled, if not surpassed, the zombies. Plus, their bestial instinct provided them enough battle experience.

At [Grade-1], they gain access to [Spirit Essence] and awaken their special traits that are unique to each species, quite like the physical mutation of zombies.

At [Grade-2], they awaken their elemental affinities.

Lastly, at [Grade-3], the last recorded grade in the library, demon beasts gain their true core and acquire multiple abilities.

It was basically an overkill, and it made Jake doubt the human race standing in the world.

Back to the topic, after killing the demon beast, Jake changed location as his previous one was already jeopardized.

He managed to have a good sleep on the branches of a tree but didn't expect to wake up to a [Grade-3] Black Bear waiting for him to get down.

There was no way Jake would decide to come down after seeing the beast, but sadly, the branch he slept on broke and he found himself in front of the beast.

Instantly, Jake tried to run, but the bear wasn't a normal demon beast.

It moved its arm and used its innate [Fire Element] to burn down any escape route for Jake.

After it trapped Jake, the two engaged in a brutal physical battle. A human male and a massive bear.

It wasn't that hard to understand the outcome.

Despite Jake activating his [Akashic Eye], it couldn't do much as what he was facing was a [Grade-3] demon beast.

Even if the abilities of the eye supported him, he would still have to use his body to execute his attacks!

However, he managed to prolong the fight. That was until the beast sensed the uniqueness of his [Akashic Eye] and took a swipe at him.

Luckily, Jake managed to close his eye just in time, but the claw still buried deep in his face, making a destined scar on the side of his right eye.

Not wanting to focus on the pain, Jake burst with the coldness of his [Ice Element] and frenziedly froze the flames that blocked his path.

Using his speed advantage, Jake ran away with the beast still chasing him, which led to this very moment.

.........…..

'What do I do?' Jake crazily searched for a solution with his still active normal right eye.

He couldn't stop and fight the bear. He also couldn't hide as the bear already knew his scent.

Blocking the sound of the chirping birds, he heard a peculiar sound, 'Hmmm….what is that? Wait, that would work!'

Jake recognized the sound as the splashing of a nearby lake.

Frantically, Jake ran to the lake and drowned himself under.

Based on knowledge, any water body had its own unique fresh smell, a strong one at that.

Hiding himself in the lake would block his scent from being detectable.

However, the main problem was that he had to keep himself submerged enough for the bear's suspicions to disperse.

It was a battle of endurance, and while Jake was used to it.

The high quality of the water stung his open wound, giving him an unbearable amount of pain.

He had to struggle to not make any movement so that the lake would be calm.

*Growl!*

Jake heard the sound of the aggressive bear accompanied with its footstep.

It had traced Jake's scent to the lake and stopped there, wondering where its prey.

It waited beside the lake as Jake endure the stinging of his wound beneath the lake.

One of them was bound to concede the strange battle!