With Kurushimi actively searching around for trouble, it didn’t take long for her and canisfang patrols to make contact. However, the leader wouldn’t be notified of her existence for a while. There was one major reason for that…

Kurushimi crouched down, keeping low and remaining close to whatever nearby foliage there was. The bushes and trees served their job as cover to sneak up on an unaware group of canisfangs. Other than patiently waiting up in a tree, this was one of her few methods of catching monsters by surprise; the light of the large crystals prevented her from using camouflage.

“I should buy a skill for sneaking around, shouldn’t I?” Kurushimi mused.

“Then I’d suggest something that suppresses sound. Even when you can use camouflage, it doesn’t dampen footsteps or the sound of breathing…” Atelier proposed a suggestion on the matter. Camouflage was a skill that hid the user by blending into the surroundings. It did a great job at hiding from wary eyes, but it had no effects towards preventing noise from the user. Let alone a monster apt in hearing, all it took was a keen ear to know of her presence and get a vague idea of her location.

“That’s a great idea, but let me remind you you’re supposed to be sneaking up on a group of canisfangs right now. Talking isn’t stealthy.” Kurono reminded them. Atelier couldn’t hear Kurushimi’s thoughts like she could with Kurono. So when they spoke to each other, their voices were open for the world to hear.

“Well, for now it looks like she’s fine. Luckily, she wasn’t too loud when speaking.” Atelier said. The canisfangs hadn’t shown any signs of noticing Kurushimi. Since they weren’t exactly the type to feign ignorance, it was likely they didn’t hear her. Atelier was safe to continue talking without worry as only Kurushimi and Kurono could hear her.

The total distance between Kurushimi and the group of canisfangs was still a good bit. A small amount of talking would probably continue to go unnoticed, but she decided it would be best to stay silent from this point. She readied her katana and moved closer as she looked for a good point to strike from.

A swift clear was what she was hoping for. Generally, this was how she would hunt. She did have the option of forsaking stealth and going gung-ho from one group to another. The original purpose for not doing so was because she couldn’t handle too many enemies at once in the beginning. However, her strength now was incomparable and she was confident that no matter how many canisfangs were sent at her at once, she would still be fine. Her crowd control ability was especially strong now.

But the problem in that strategy wasn’t her ability to take on the canisfangs, it was efficiency. In the face of an overbearing and dauntless enemy, even the overly-aggressive canisfangs under the influence of the large crystals would flee in terror. Going too hard from the get-go turned out to be a great method for creating wild goose chases. It was much more efficient to spend the extra time to sneak up and swiftly take them out before they understood what was going on.

So as to seek the most efficient farming method, Kurushimi moved through the bushes slowly and silently. As usual she would take them by surprise and execute a smooth clear execution– or so she thought… In her next step, the canisfangs instantly jumped up and faced her; the unexpected outcome gave her a big shock.

“I’ve been compromised!” Kurushimi shouted, half-jokingly. She’d only gotten approximately five metres closer before the group noticed her and sprung into immediate action. This behaviour was strange compared to the usual canisfangs that she could easily sneak up on. Were they among the type she suspected to be acting differently?

Kurushimi came out of her prone position and entered a fighting stance. Nevertheless, she had been caught out and needed to react. Even with things going a little differently, she managed to get close enough to them without detection. They’d grown aware of her, but were yet to move from their previous positions.

Before they could make a move, she slashed out a horizontal arc. The air was ripped apart as her blade travelled through it. She had casted dimensional magic, and all of the canisfangs were within the area of effect. The tear suddenly collapsed in on itself. Without warning, they were all dragged off their feet and pulled to her.

Most of these canisfangs were grounded by this action. They hadn’t expected this and were disoriented, trying to find which way was up. This gave Kurushimi plenty of time for her next move. She ignited her sword aura, letting off a relentless flurry of slashes around her. The canisfangs were quickly diced up in the maelstrom and any unlucky enough to survive the first attack were finished off with a blood magic execute. As always, her methods were brutal and unforgiving - the floor was soaked with blood.

Kurushimi put away her katana, putting an end to her move. This was what she gained after killing the vengeful spirit and obtaining her third mastery of sword aura. It was a high-power, wide area of effect attack that soaked up a large amount of mana. It was also possible to concentrate the slashing on a single target, like she’d previously used to fell the vengeful spirit.

Every time she encountered a patrol, she would slaughter them like so. This brutality was why the canisfang leader stayed ignorant of Kurushimi’s existence in its turf. These were scouts and were no match for the powerhouse that was Kurushimi, with all of her frightening skills and methods of swiftly killing them.

Although the leader still had yet to know about her, Kurushimi now felt her theory held enough credibility to say something was going on. She was able to confirm they were different first-hand. She finally got definite proof when she asked Atelier to appraise them with her high-level appraisal.

“They are underlings of a large pack, that’s for sure.” Atelier said.

“Is there not any more information?” Kurushimi asked. She was hoping that the appraisal would tell them details such as who led them or where they were situated. What she got so far wasn’t much more than validation she was on the right track.

“We’ll have to find higher-standing canisfangs in the group; from these grunts, all we’ll get is what I just told you.” Atelier replied.

“Hmm, that’s annoying… so we need to find a way to meet stronger canisfangs…” Kurushimi pondered, unsure of how to approach it better than she already was.

“If you’d stop killing them all on sight, perhaps we could follow one back…” Kurono noted sarcastically. She seemed to disagree with Kurushimi’s abrasiveness.

“That probably wouldn’t work…” Atelier continued, “One of their few strengths is their senses, they’d most likely be able to tell they’re being tailed since Kurushimi is unable to use camouflage here.”

“But I’ve gone undetected before? Why can’t I do it now?” Kurushimi asked.

“These canisfangs are different — that last group for example… They noticed as soon as you got close to them, even when you approached from behind. It’s likely these scouts have even greater senses as well.” Atelier said.

“Then I guess I only have one choice…” Kurushimi said.

“?” Big question marks simultaneously appeared above the gods’ heads. Kurushimi suddenly came out with this remark. Atelier was purely curious, but Kurono made an uncomfortable face. Is it going to be one of ‘those’ ideas?

“I will kill as many canisfangs as possible and make such a big commotion that they’ll be forced to come to me!” Kurushimi revealed her ‘brilliant’ plan.

It was one of those ideas!

Kurono was speechless. How… straightforward — and, in character. She could only sigh. She couldn’t think of a better plan at the moment that would better serve Kurushimi’s purpose. Kurushimi wanted a big fight and this was how to get one. Only, hopefully, she wasn’t biting off more than she can chew…

So from then on, Kurushimi started rampaging around the forest. She forsaked any semblance of stealth she previously set and ran around, killing any canisfang she could find.

However, even with her ongoing onslaught, she didn’t meet anything more that night. Nothing came out to meet her just yet, so as morning came she put an end to it to continue the next night. By now she suspected they should’ve taken notice of her at the least.

Kurushimi returned to base and went to sleep as the sun rose. The next day would mostly remain the same in running around and killing any canisfang she encounters. The night didn’t turn out to be a waste though, along with gaining three levels and some stats, she also got new information – a new type of canisfang among the pack.

Unlike the scouts she usually encountered, they were much bulkier to a visible extent. Their speed didn’t match the scouts and neither could their senses compare, however, they were a lot harder to kill and took more effort to get through the thick muscle. Atelier proposed their purpose to be doing the heavy-lifting that the scouts couldn’t manage; likely to carry the carcass of anything they hunted back to the pack settlement. Although they were harder to kill, Kurushimi was happy to do so as they gave more HP, END, and SP than the usual expected amount.

When Kurushimi woke up, the moon was just visible through the canopy. It was large and overbearing yet gave her a sense of calmness. She was getting more and more used to activity solely during the night. Although, the lack of exposure to the sun wasn’t helping her already pale skin. Thinking on that topic, she thanked her lucky stars that she didn’t appear to be the type of vampire to have a weakness against sunlight. Likewise, garlic hopefully shouldn’t be a problem either…

Without much delay, she moved through the forest again as she took the lives of many canisfang along the way. She spent the first hour or so bathing her sword in blood. Over time, she started to notice a new development in the groupings.

“They’re increasing in quantity… Am I getting closer?” Kurushimi asked. The canisfangs she met were leading greater numbers. Less and less regular canisfangs were appearing and they even felt slightly different than the common scouts or muscle she met. They were more vicious and were starting to give her a run for her money.

Fangs and claws sharper than usual. Faster and more aggressive in their assault, making the already aggravated canisfangs of this location pale in comparison. Kurushimi dug her glaive into the head of one such canisfang, the last one of its “attack unit” – as she had labelled them. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she finally was able to relax: “Fiesty little bastards!”

She had just finished off another attack unit, of which she had met multiple already. They always found her before she found them, as if they were searching for her. There was no doubt she’d been noticed and these attack units were specially being sent out to go after her. For now, it seemed her plan worked and she was noticed as she hoped for.

Just as she had a moment to relax, she suddenly interrupted. A large growl that seemed to shake the trees and leaves around her emanated from ahead. Kurushimi strained her eyes, instantly becoming wary again. A bead of sweat formed on her forehead and slowly creeped down the side of her face.

For the first time in a while, her blood felt cold again. Acting on its own, salamander's blood quickly reacted by bringing her blood back to a normal state. She hadn’t felt like that since… Kurushimi shook her head as if to regain composure and reset her mental state. When the growl finally finished, she asked in shock: “What was that?!”

“It sounded like a warning… something along the lines of: get out of this territory while you still don’t understand what you're messing with.” Atelier responded.

“Can you understand canisfang?” Kurushimi asked.

“Not really. Canisfangs generally don’t speak intelligent language with meaning, just noises with vague purposes. That growl sounded more coherent than the usual is all…” Atelier said.

“Hmmm… well, it sounds more like a challenge to me~!” Kurushimi smiled. Her nerves hadn’t fully calmed down from before, but she wasn’t going to back away from a challenge. She was determined to show her growth over her stay in this forest.