It would seem that nature itself was against a group of hunters. Toward evening, a rather heavy snowfall began, which is even more noticeable slowed down their progress. After several hours, it ceased already late at night. Only then did Corvus give the order to set up camp and rest. Each of hunters was busy with something, from collecting brushwood to cooking food. Such cohesion made it possible to complete the impromptu parking lot in the shortest possible time.

The night was very dark, the light of the moon could not pass through the thick clouds, only the light of the fire, fluctuating in the wind, saved them from the embrace of pitch darkness. But for experienced hunters, this situation was quite familiar.

“Lucky the storm stopped, otherwise we would have had to look for better shelter. - The leader's stern voice broke the oppressive silence. Everyone was tired and now rested under the crowns of three trees, between which the fire was set.

- That's true, but maybe it was worth continuing the path? The village is close at hand.

- Not, everyone was already dragging their feet. Nothing will change if we rest a bit and come back tomorrow morning.

At this time, the meat placed over the fire just finished cooking. One of the group took a branch of food in each hand and passed it to the others.

- It's a bit late, but let's have dinner.

The hunters ate quickly, as expected, even though there seemed to be nowhere to hurry. Immediately after Corvus gave the order:

– Zarim, I understand that you are tired, but today we will stand guard together.

“Of course, uncle. I won't let you down.

Nodding to his nephew, Corvus sat down a short distance from the fire, picking up his bow. Zarim did exactly the same, but located at the other end of the camp.

***

Ray had been watching them for almost two hours. It was a long way before dawn, which meant he still had time to better prepare. Now he got much closer and was about ten meters from the nearest representative of the forest people. The guy watched them patiently, noticing various details in the behavior of the hooded hunter, who now seemed to him the only real obstacle.

"Looks like the second one on guard is still a rookie."

Ray came to this conclusion precisely because of the actions of the leader of their group, who now and then constantly turned to check if his party member had fallen asleep. In addition, it was he who constantly replenished the supply of firewood in the fire and almost every five minutes made a short tour of the camp. At first, this seemed to Ray a problem, but over time he changed his mind. The fact was that the same inexperienced hunter really fell asleep. Perhaps his older comrade did not notice this, because the guy was sitting almost as straight, but it was obvious to Ray that the amount of heat that his body gave off became the same as that of the four others who were sleeping.

"How did you make it so easy for me?"

Mentally thanking him, Rei still silently crawled to the nearest tree, heading to the other end of the camp, where the senior hunter was.

The wind from the past storm was still blowing through the forest, its plaintive howl making the atmosphere even more oppressive, and also creating the noise Ray needed now. These creatures had too good hearing and even through a dream they could hear any wrong movement on his part. But the weather helped him and now he was already five meters from the unsuspecting hunter, who was peering into the darkness of the surrounding forest. The poor fellow did not even suspect that danger was waiting for him literally at his side.

Rei didn't hesitate, because, perhaps, instinct sooner or later would have told the hunter that something was wrong. He waited for him to turn his head away from him, then quickly, but with even greater caution, closed the distance. Strong wind served Ray with perfect cover, and the snake's body made almost no noise anyway. Imagine the guy's surprise when he realized that the hunter's hand rushed to his belt with one sharp movement, where there was a small sheath next to the quiver with arrows. Ray was already less than one meter away. He was sure that he did not betray himself in any way, but he seemed to have underestimated his opponent.

Unfortunately…

The moment Corvus grabbed the hilt of his dagger, he had already opened his mouth to wake the others. Just a moment, but it was undoubtedly the most terrible in his life. None of the beasts he had to fight in his long life frightened him as much as the white eyes of the snake, which he noticed already when it was a few centimeters from his face, frightened him. Having lost his senses, he did not have time to do absolutely anything when he felt pain in his neck.

- Ugh ... - a strangled groan the squad leader was drowned in the whistle of the wind, and his vocal cords were paralyzed. A moment passed and eyes the sons of the forest grew dim. Only then Ray pulled the fangs out of his neck, stopping pouring poison into the poor fellow's body. The hunter's body fell, making what the boy thought was a very loud noise. This part of his plan was also thought out, but he did not expect that the hunter on guard would manage to notice him, forcing him to change his mind right on the go.

Rei calmly watched the remaining five, but none of them even moved.

"This was your last chance."

Momentarily changing form and absorbing Corvus' soul, Rey immediately moved on to the next hunter. Four of the group lay relatively close to each other, so Rei didn't bother with them for long. A few quick bites from a handful of sleeping hunters left only a corpse cooling under the winter cold. The guy turned back into a man and began to absorb souls.

- NO! Just as he was finishing soaking up the last of them, Rey heard a loud exclamation coming from somewhere in the distance. Turning my head the guy noticed that very inexperienced hunter who was now looking directly at him, holding a bow with a ready-made arrow in his hands. Without waiting, Rey rushed straight to him. Only three meters separated them, but he decided not to risk it. Even before the arrow had left the bowstring, Rey had turned into a gsarh. The surprise that appeared in the eyes of the young hunter remained in them even after his head was separated from the rest of the body.

The boy watched for a moment longer as the blood dripped from his claws before returning to the headless body and taking the same gray soul of a still young inhabitant of the forest. After that, he glanced at the rest of the bodies.

"Finally the Inventory will come in handy."

As he removed the clothes and weapons from the dead bodies, Rei mentally noted their quality once more:

“What a strong material, yet very light. Almost airy.

As he put on the hooded robe that once belonged to Corvus, he noted that it was an order of magnitude better than the others. Ray did not know that among the forest people the hood was a symbol of strength and was allowed to be worn only by the most worthy of warriors. Long daggers in good sheaths were made of a green substance unfamiliar to Ray. With skepticism, looking at the blade in his hand, a little less than half a meter long, he hit the tree trunk with it. The weapon passed through the bark without appreciable resistance and stopped only after sinking almost two of its widths into it.

"Thumbs up". Ray couldn't help but mentally praise. “It’s a pity that I won’t be able to learn to fence properly with him anyway.”

Hiding the blade in the Inventory like everything else the hunters had, Rey finally looked into the Status. The first change that caught his eye was [Soul Master], which leveled up to the third.

"ABOUT. And those guys were very helpful… What are their names, by the way…?”

Taking another look at the Status window, Rei noticed a second change.

- A native of the Pharos forest. - After a little savoring the sound of an unfamiliar name, the guy nodded.

Well, at least now I know where I'm at. It is a pity that they did not indicate which part of the world it is. It wouldn't change anything, though."

The strange thing was that the name of the new soul was listed in the status four times. Ray discovered the reason a second later, when he mentally looked into the space with souls. Now, in addition to the four souls that were there before, there were four more similar souls inside him, like drops of water. One of them was distinguished by the fact that it was a lighter shade than the other three, but in general all the souls were gray, although it would not be a great exaggeration to call them close to white. About the same color was the soul of the Snow Serpent.

“How interesting, why don’t they break up now?”

Rei remembered that before, when the growth of one of the souls became the limit, all other souls of the same type, when absorbed, immediately turned into energy.

“This could be attributed to the fact that they are sentient and each of them had their own personality, but the first three souls, obviously, still became one.”

“It’s most likely the increase in the level [Lord of Souls]."

The night is not over yet. Sitting next to the still-burning fire, Rey threw the last of the firewood into it and focused on the souls within him. This time, he found the difference right away - now he could move souls around the inner space.

"That's not all, is it?"

Having tried to carry out a similar manipulation with all the souls within himself, Rei realized that he could not move only the human soul, but he did not care. After a couple of minutes, he came to the conclusion that the only acquisition really was the ability to move souls.

"Maybe it's for the improvement that will happen in the next level." - from With that thought, Rey opened the Inventory and took out one of the hunters' bags. Inside was a small knife made of the same green material that looked more like crystal than metal, a flask with a strange-smelling liquid, a small bundle of dry grass whose purpose Ray did not know, a coil of thin but strong rope, and a few other things. , which seemed to the guy quite ordinary and did not cause any interest.

Taking some grass in his hand, he sniffed it and even tasted it.

"Could it be healing?"

After a moment, Rei realized that the way to use this herb was much more trivial. When he lightly rubbed it between his fingers, the grass caught fire on its own.

"So that's how they made a fire so easily."

Putting back the bundle of grass, Ray took out a bottle, but after opening it, he also put it back almost immediately.

“It can be anything, too, from ordinary juice to poison.”

The guy didn't even get the bow. If everything was more or less clear with the sword, then as for this type of weapon ... He did not even know how to hold it correctly.

Rising to his feet, Rey once again focused on the souls he had. He mentally chose the strongest of the souls of the forest dwellers.

He noticed the change instantly. Vision became almost as sharp as during the day, all the surrounding noise hit his ears, and the smell of blood, which the guy had not even felt before, was now so clear, as if it had been spilled right on his face.

“Even better than the animals. No wonder that hunter was able to see me."

Covering his ears with his hands, Ray saw that he now had short claws instead of nails. In all other respects, apart from a slightly darker skin, he was no different from a human. Another detail was the clothes that remained on him. This observation was quite interesting, because it meant that before changing form he would now have to undress.

Having folded things in the Inventory, Rey cast a last look of calm eyes at the devastated camp, in which only the dead carcasses of animals, six bodies of forest dwellers and a fire gradually dying out remained.

A few minutes later, the vague silhouette of a tildas could already be seen in the sky.

“I think it’s no more than a day’s journey to their settlement. With luck, it won't be too big." With such thoughts, Rei continued to fly in the same direction in which he had been moving all day.