Su Ren was startled out of his sleep by the sudden shaking of the ground.

Earthquake? That didn’t seem right. He had experienced earthquakes before on Earth and this wasn’t how it was supposed to be. The shaking continued incessantly, showing no sign of stopping. In fact, it was growing stronger over time. And closer!

There was a possibility of cave-in occurring. Now, that would be bad!

The cave was dark. The tiny amount of moonlight coming from above didn’t provide enough light for him to see properly. But soon, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he was barely able to make out the outline of the cave.

He cautiously climbed to the fissure and peeked outside.

The crescent moon and the stars didn’t provide much in the way of illumination. Su Ren was not able to see everything clearly. But what he saw left him appalled. It was enough to send shivers running everywhere in his body.

Rows upon rows of beasts of all shapes, it seemed countless in his eyes, were rushing towards his direction. There were none as large as the hawk-like bird he had seen the previous day but they were plenty big. Any one of them could send some of the largest animals on Earth cowering into their burrows or wherever it was they hid themselves.

The beast horde, if it could be termed that, was just hundred or so meters away. It shouldn’t be long before they reached him.

Su Ren withdrew his head as swiftly as he could.

Did they see me?

There was nothing he could do but wait. Yes, wait with bated breath for the beasts to find him and send him to his death. Many scenarios of how it would play out appeared in his head, each one grimmer than the previous one.

But nothing happened.

The trampling of the beasts neared him and then it pushed onward, past his cave.

The rushing of the beasts continued endlessly. The ground trembled underneath their feet due to their stomping feet, hooves, paws and other assorted parts. But no beast came into his cave. For now, he seemed to be safe.

His taut mind came loose. He felt exhausted all of a sudden.

I hope the roof is able to hold itself up without collapsing, he thought as his consciousness drifted away from him.

The rumbling of his stomach shook him awake.

When Su Ren opened his eyes, he found the cave was noticeably brighter. It should already be daytime.

Also, the ground was no longer shaking. The beast horde seemed to have passed. Still, he told himself to act with prudence. There could be some stray beasts for all he knew. Even a single one of them was enough to take his little life.

He climbed up to the fissure and peeked outside, exposing as little of his head as possible.

None. None of the countless beasts that swamped the area before were in his surrounding.

He let out a sigh in relief.

With nothing to obstruct him, he got out of the cave. It was about time he set out and took care of his daily necessities – namely, feeding that abyss-like stomach of his. He also needed to do something about his clothes. He had only been able to focus on his hunger yesterday but today, he planned to be more productive.

He could hear some faint clamors coming from somewhere behind him. There were many roars and cries.

It must be those beasts, he thought as he headed in the opposite direction. He wasn’t sure what was happening exactly but it had nothing to do with him. He decided to push this matter to the back of his mind.

Then he froze in his track. A certain possibility appeared in his head. If most of the beasts were concentrated in that one place, wouldn’t the part of the forest ahead of him be devoid of those beasts then?

The previous day, he had stopped his exploration due to his fear of encountering those dangerous beasts. But now that they were gone, wouldn’t it safe for him? Of course he couldn’t discount the fact that some of the beasts could have remained behind. But still –

A sharp glint appeared in his eyes.

This was an opportunity for him. If he didn’t take it now, he might not have one in the future. Besides, he couldn’t always remain in his cave, cowering every time something occurred. If he wanted to survive in this savage forest, he needed to become strong and for that he needed to face forward bravely.

Clenching his fists, he went deeper into the forest.

I hope there are some small animals. When he had checked the beast horde previously, he hadn’t seen any of the small animals. But the larger beasts could have covered them or they could have joined the horde later.

Su Ren grabbed onto any plants he could get his hands on and munched them as he walked. Time was tight. He couldn’t afford to waste even a second.

His conjecture seemed to be more or less correct. He had come a long way into the deep folds of the forest and he had yet to see any sign of those huge beasts. On the other hand, he had come across many small animals. As for catching one for his meal, that was another matter altogether.

Every single time, his instinct would take over his body and pounce on them after letting out a growl. But every time, the prey would get away using their superior speed.

No, that wasn’t right. Su Ren shook his head. They couldn’t be considered prey – they were far stronger than he had given them credit for. If he had given it more thought before, it should have occurred to him. They lived among the giant beasts and they were doing just fine. How could they be weak? He had made the mistake of judging them by their appearance. The only reason he survived those encounters, he realized, was because those small beasts didn’t want to confront him for reasons unknown to him.

He was at the bottom rung of the food chain, just above plants and trees in this forest. He was incredibly weak. This trip through the forest had driven that point home hard into his head.

“I need to get stronger,” he told himself.

There was another thing he learnt. As soon as he deemed those small beasts as strong and dangerous, his instinct stopped its antic of taking over his body and rushing forward to take them down. Apparently, the way he perceived things seemed to influence how his instinct reacted to them.

Su Ren was about to end this exploratory trip when he came across a huge majestic cave with a large nest. There was only a single egg. But it was huge! It was at least three meters tall. In his eyes, at that moment in time, that egg became the most beautiful thing in the whole world! Its pearly white shell seemed to beckon him towards it.

Logic dictated that whatever being it was that laid this egg, it was sure to be enormous, even by the standard of this forest. Su Ren knew mothers were often very protective of their young ones; they would normally hover around them. Therefore, it wouldn’t be strange if the mother of the egg was somewhere close. Unfortunately, rational reasoning did not apply to his instinct. Instinct didn’t look into possibilities; it only looked at what was before it and the egg in front of it was no threat.

Just as he expected, Su Ren felt his body lunged towards the egg with a growl.

His teeth bit onto the giant egg. The shell was much thicker than he expected but his teeth easily sank into them.

The possible appearance of the egg’s parent nagged his mind.

But as soon as his tongue touched the inside of the egg, all his rationality and restraint fled to some tiny corner. It was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten! Before he knew it, he had became one with his instinct and was gorging on the egg like a savage beast with no mind.

Within a few minutes, the egg was completely gone, shell and all. Not even a drop of juice was wasted.

Su Ren patted his stomach. It was the first time he had ever felt full. He had never imagined that it would be this blissful. It felt like he had lived all his life, make that two lives, just for this moment. Even if he died after this, he would have no regret.

You have gained +1 Physique, +1 Soul!

You have acquired the trait [Eyes of Garuda]!

Oh! Smiling happily to himself, he checked the details of his new trait.

Eyes of Garuda: You can view objects in the far distance as if it is in front of you. Range: 1 Kilometer.

Cool.

The information on how to use it flowed into his head. It wasn’t complicated; it was just like using one of his limbs.

He tried it out.

He thought it would be like using a telescope or binoculars but he was mistaken. He was given a bird eye view of the area in front of him within the radius of one kilometer. When he focused on a particular point, that point became magnified and appeared as if it was right before his eyes.

It wasn’t as godly as he expected it to be.

If his view was obstructed, that was as far he could see. His gaze was unable to penetrate further. In a place like this forest, the roof of the trees often covered what lay underneath them.

But still, this trait was plenty useful. It upped his survivability by a few notches. That was good enough.

Eyes of Garuda, what a domineering name! He thought. He had read about Garuda when he was on Earth. It was a mythological bird that was the archenemy of all serpents. When he recalled its description, the image of the hawk-like bird he had seen on the first day overlapped with it.

“It couldn’t be, right?” he said to himself. But his shaking voice didn’t sound convincing at all.

Did he just provoke a calamity? Panic was starting to build up inside him.

No. He calmed himself. As long as he wasn’t found out, everything would be fine. That’s right! His surveyed the area around him with his newly acquired trait [Eyes of Garuda]. No sign of the big bird, at least one kilometer around him.

He had to make a run for it. If that huge bird caught him, he would be unable to bear its wrath. He would be killed for sure.

He still hadn’t been able to find something to wear. But that could wait.

He rushed to his cave as fast as he could.

The Garuda returned to its nest after a frustrating trip.

The ancient barrier formation that covered a certain region of the forest was suddenly broken. It was unknown when it happened or for that matter, how it happened. But that was not important. The important thing was – it was broken and the area that was inaccessible before was finally accessible.

She had often wondered what was inside. She wasn’t sure how long the formation had existed but it was a very long time; that, she was sure of.

As soon as she had learnt of the broken formation, she had flown towards the forbidden region to sate her curiosity.

But she was left disappointed.

Oh, there was good stuff there but they were nothing exceptional in the eyes of a lofty descendant of an ancient beast like her. She let the other beasts fight over them.

The only thing that caught her attention was the mighty sword that was stabbed into the ground. Even by her standard, it was a great item. What was more, it had even developed spirituality!

She had tried to gain the approval of the sword but no matter what she tried, the sword refused to acknowledge her as its master. She felt she sensed traces of disdain from it.

In the end, she could only give up.

As soon as she entered her cave, she noticed something missing.

Her egg was gone!

Rage built up in her. Who dared?

She was the overlord of this forest. No beast here was stronger than her. No beast here possessed higher bloodline than her. Who would dare to take her egg?

No, rather, who could take her egg? The prestige of a Garuda, the aura her egg emitted, should have deterred all the beasts from coming to her cave. That was also the reason why she was able to leave her egg without worry.

The more she thought, the more she couldn’t understand.

She screeched in frustration.

Where could her egg be? The one who took it shouldn’t have gone far. With the additional burden of the egg, the movement speed of the thief should be reduced considerably.

She flapped her wings and flew into the air.

It never occurred to her that her egg could have been eaten. According to the logic she knew, it was impossible.

Su Ren's Updated Status:

Name: Su Ren Age: 10 years old

Race: Hybrid

Cultivation Realm: None

Lifeforce: 20/20 (Regeneration: 0.01% per second)

Qi: 0/0 (Regeneration: 0.01% per second)

Occupations:

None

Cultivation Techniques:

None

Attributes:

Physique: 2 Movement: 1 Soul: 4

Fate: 11

Traits:

Myriad Physique (Innate)

Innards of Primordial Taotie (Innate)

Eyes of Garuda (Acquired)