I kept running at my maximum speed, and yet his spiritual sense was still locking into me, like an execution's blade.

How strong was he to be able to reach this far?

I did not know, I only knew that once I ran until I could no longer see the strange nest they had built only then was I free of his probing.

I finally felt safe!

I looked around trying to find the direction of the hole I used to live in, but I could not tell. This place was completely foreign to me and I had no idea where to go from there.

I looked back once again and I felt something new. I did know what it was but it felt bitter and I did not like it.

I felt complicated once again, which was something that started to be more frequent even before I met the bird and my close demise.

Life was very simple before, I did not know what changed.

I hunted when I was hungry, and I cultivated underground when I was not.

Because things never required me to think too much about them, life was a constant battle of the strong versus the weak. The moment I opened my eyes I found myself fighting to the death with monsters that looked just like me.

When I ate my egg shells, a memory appeared in my mind. If I eat them, I'd be able to gain strength and exceptional skills. Back then, those concepts meant nothing to me. What would I need this strength or skills for?

That was not the reason we fought to the death, but because that memory carried with it an intense hunger and bloodlust.

To this day, I had never felt that way before.

I completely lost myself and started tearing everyone to shreds. When I came to myself I had already killed and eaten all of them, four to be exact.

It was only then that I got out of the hole I found myself in and started exploring the world. Only to find that it was no different from the hole I woke up in, the only difference being that I was lucid enough to know what I was doing and actively doing it.

In those days, I was not capable of many complex thoughts. My thoughts were always simple and were not able to penetrate deep into things, I needed food to both survive and grow stronger and so that's what I did.

However, it was not simple as every monster I had met towered over me, just to kill them or run away I had to put in a lot of effort, unlike the monsters I woke up beside who were just as small and as insignificant as I was.

The only intelligent thought I remember having in that period was realizing, that just as I was terrified of their size the opposite was also true, but my small stature was not really the best trigger to evoke fear, but it evoked an emotion nonetheless.

Maybe not as glorious and imposing as other monsters but I had my unique way to kill monsters fairly easily, sometimes even stronger than I was which only helped me get stronger faster, and faster.

The stronger I grew, the more intelligent I became and the more appreciative I was of using my thoughts instead of just strength

My hate towards my small stature changed, I used to view it as a curse but I knew it was the only reason I was still alive. I had killed and almost been killed hundreds of times and every single one of them was entirely thanks to how small I was and the different ways I could appear as.

But even though I grew more and more intelligent, the way I viewed the world remained the same.

Because nothing changed, I still had to fight to the death with every monster I encountered.

and that was exactly why I looked back in the direction of that strange scary bird.

I could not believe it! Something completely new, he saved me from certain death, he did not try to eat me even though he was stronger, he could speak with me, and many other puzzling things.

It was only now that I started thinking about what happened and realized the strangeness of it all. Before I was all too terrified and every fiber of my being was screaming for me to get away from there.

After all, after years of living at the edge of life and death, you don't even have to think about the danger anymore your body instinctively feels it when someone could kill you.

I turned my head and looked north, even though it felt safe because I was in control, another feeling came over me, intense disinterest.

Every single day was the same, cultivate in a hole, go out and eat then repeat. When I was young the concept of boredom was nonexistent to me because I was too stupid.

But in that stupidity I was indeed satisfied, however as I grew older I started questioning the tediousness of it all.

What was I working this hard for? To get stronger sure, but it was to survive mostly, but what if survival lost its appeal and was so boring and unworthy of all the work you put in and you wanted something more?

That was exactly the reason I almost died, I got out of my territory and started exploring places I had never been into before. It was the most colorful time of my life, I saw new things, fought strange monsters, learned many things and every day carried with it a unique fragrance.

When I saw the flower and recognized it as something new at first I was suspicious but when I did not sense anything strange about it I approached it only to be surrounded by dozens of monsters and tied down with several thick roots.

As I lost all of my strength trying to run away I got buried alive with roots penetrating every part of my body, I knew that I was going to die!

And yet, I was not as afraid as I thought I would be. Death was the thing looming over me every single day of my life, doing anything in my power to run away from it because of its dreadfulness.

But when it came, I was surprised to find that I was overestimating it. I was afraid sure, but not to the extent I thought I'd be. Then, I felt another new thing. I was happy about my decision to leave my territory because I knew that one day I'd also die just like every monster that died beneath my claws, how dreadful would it be to die without ever living?

The complexity of this thought both terrified and excited me. As much as I wanted to continue exploring this new strange dimension that I always had but only then was I able to appreciate it, I was going to die. With that my strength was sucked away and I did not have any energy and everything turned black.

Until I woke up surrounded by two big birds, one strong but not too much but the other was a complete mystery. at first glance, he seemed just like an especially strong High Body Refinement but nothing serious, yet the strength he was able to unleash was anything but that.

I was sure he had a skill that gave off a fake impression of his strength and I wished I also had it. He could also talk with others, and the way he controlled a monster stronger than him and got out safely without any talk or fight was simply dazzling. This was exactly the sort of thing that made me admire thoughts and intelligence instead of just brute force.

I very much wanted to go back but I was afraid of them, even though I did not fear death as much as I used to it doesn't mean that I'd just walk right up to it.

Staying close to a monster that had the ability to kill me was unthinkable for me, but so was getting out of my safe territory and exploring new places and here we are.

I could feel my life was at an impasse and the decision I'd make right at that moment would change my life forever.

North was comfort, safety, and control. South was dangerous, mysterious, and most of all an adventure.

So what would it be?

...

When I bought the spell, I was shocked to find that it could allow the targets to sense each other. It sounded good on paper, but I had to use a human for the other link and I trust no one that deep to give them the ability to sense where I was at any given moment.

Just as I was cursing myself for my lack of patience and buying things without thinking things through, I found out that because it was a mild type of spell it had the function of giving out your general direction only if you were willing which was exactly what I needed.

*Pheww*, Dodged a bullet there. I would have rather not used it than take that risk.

The way The Beastmaster's Mark worked was fairly simple unlike the other two spells I had learned previously, but It was a spell that required two people.

I had to choose between Jia and Cai Yi.

Emotionally, both of them were the same to me, so I went with the decision that would be most helpful to one of them. In this case, Cai Yi was the most troubled one and might use some sense of meaning or purpose in these dark times, and if I asked her to help she might feel a bit useful, probably. At least I hoped she would, even if she would not, just seeing that someone was caring and wanted to help her is good enough.

The rain had stopped falling a while before but no one came out yet, I used my spirit sense and penetrated the wooden walls only to find all of them lying down deep asleep.

Just as I was using my spirit sense, I started hearing the dinging sound of a notification, the only difference was that this was even higher pitched and kept going off in quick succession.

I almost jumped in fright at how ominous and alarming it sounded.

It was the sound of the alarm notification I had set up.

Shit, I need to change it later!

It stressed me out, before even checking the incoming danger.

Opening my map I saw an approaching white dot!

This was strange white? I was only familiar with blue neutral, red enemy, and green allies. As I focused my gaze on it I was able to see who it was.

The dark white spotted leopard gecko. He was walking in my direction very slowly.

"What does this guy want?" I muttered under my breath.

I immediately thought of the worse, and that once he felt my spirit lock vanish he managed to find some courage and was trying to do something.

Infuriated I darted in his direction at my top speed.

All you could see was a shadowy blur with a faint golden trail at the front dodging the tree branches with a fast speed forming a natural captivating dance.

I quickly arrived in front of him and stopped abruptly, the inertia with which I was rushing there created a gust of wind that sent everything flying dirt, leaves, insects, and dead branches.

Noticing my furious charge he stood up on his hind legs and raised his arms up high.