Sprinting across Nimmer Forest, Cely slowly but surely went deeper into the forest. She didn't go toward there in a straight line though as that could cause her to easily meet a Champion Class monster.
She was only nearing the peak of Tier 1 and couldn't afford to meet Tier 2 or even Tier 3 monsters. Even with her terrifying ability, she would still be badly injured fighting them. It would also attract nearby monsters and if another Champion were to appear she would be finished.
She still wanted a challenge though, so low-Tier 1 monsters like Shadow Unicorn won't satisfy her. She would have to find Betas or Gammas to really have a small fight. This is why she still slightly approached the center of the forest.
Not long after she came across some overgrown frogs... a solid 3 meters in height. Their colors were bright and they screamed poison, but seeing them, desire overflowed Cely as her body melted quickly and sank into the ground.
Not long after, the same thing as with the Shadow Unicorns happened to the frogs, only that they were devoured one by one in a very sadistically painful way. Having had her meal, she started absorbing all the remaining Life Energy and blood she got and her cultivation heightened again, reaching the eighth Stage of the Qi Refinement Realm.
It was too fast, and she could feel her foundation slowly loosening as she continued. But the damage that was currently there was reversible and she could feel that she could still continue for a bit before it became dangerous. It was honestly baffling to her. Even she, the one who devoured them, didn't fully understand the concepts and complexities of this heaven-defying ability.
Although the frogs were highly poisonous and could easily cause her despair if she were a normal cultivator, she still easily resolved it using her devouring ability from her bloodline.
Feeling more auras approaching the area she was in, Cely's face behind the mask twisted into a crazed grin. "More prey.", she mumbled, her voice sounding neither male nor female anymore.
A blackish and crimson aura swirled lightly around her seeming to intend to erupt at any moment but still being restrained. Her body dissolved lightly into roots that swayed eagerly around her. This made her appearance even more foreboding.
The monsters that arrived in the clearing she was currently in however didn't care. Shadow Unicorn, Singen Lizards, Bread Equine, and multiple more monsters swarmed the valley in small groups. All of them had cultivations ranging from the early to the later stages of Tier 1. Seeing this the bloodthirsty and twisted grin on Cely's face widened unnaturally so far that it extended around half her head.
̶̧̢̬̲͈̝̭̣̥͌̌̓͂͠͠ͅ ̴̮̦̤͋̋͛̈́̈́Ḯ̷̖̝̼̎̌͆̀͗͊̕ ̶̡̱̣̲̩̼̪͖̯̆̊̒̔̃̓̿h̶͎͕̪̯́̌̓ȃ̴̡̖̜̥̘̮͂v̸̢̨͈̟̥͕̘̙̗͉̉̈́̆̈́̐ę̷̳̥̮͙͓̺̂̈́̒́͑̿̀͝ ̴̛̬̻̤͙̭̿́̄̃͂̾̾͑͋ḃ̴̦̟̼̻̹̈̅̑̏̽̃͛͋̉ę̶̬̹͇̥̝̀͌͊͊͆͌̍̃̎͘ͅè̴̡̨̛̤͎̺͉̳̘̪͆͆̓͝͝͝ͅn̶̨͈̣̖͙̪͎̱̼̯̅̇ͅ ̴̨̨̫̬̱̫̫̽̐̆̓̇͂̇͝͝͠w̸̡͈͍̯͕̮̫̘͓̰͕͑̒͛ȁ̸̤̗̮̖̺̊͘͝i̵̧̢̯̰̤͔͉͇͊̐̎͆̌̇͊̚͜t̴̡̡̛̻̳̩̙̫̎̓̽͛̀̀̈́̚͠ͅi̸̹̤̠̼̠̮̺̬̮̽͗̒̈́̈́̏̚n̶̛̦͕̖̯̞̪̹͉͚̹̈́̓̇̔͆̀̈́̌̀ǧ̴̺̜͋̽̇̕ ̴̤̔́̅̈ ̵̻̿
A twisted voice that seemed neither gender sounded, before Cely's figure disappeared from her spot and appeared in front of one of the Singen Lizards, a green-colored lizard creature that is specialized in brute strength and had great outer defenses.
At this time the white mask that she normally wore on her face had disappeared showing her beautiful face.
Her crimson eyes were shining with an eerie crimson light that seemed to only see the prey in front of it, her mouth was twisted in a grin spanning half her head. Her mouth was filled with silvery-white roots that seemed to wiggle around sporadically, making the already grotesque smile seem even more terrifying.
Without waiting for the lizard to react, she plunged one of her hands into the creature. Her hand sliced through the hard scales like a hot knife through butter. The lizard let out a miserable sound, but before it could retaliate, it exploded into a mass of white roots, having been devoured in no time.
Seeing this, the other monsters that just appeared wanted to run, but they didn't have a chance anymore.
Ẁ̴̢̬͎̜͈̙̭̮͕̀̕͝h̶̬͓͖̘̣̻̺̹̾̊͋e̷̦̩̳͍̹̹͒̉̃̐̃̊̃r̷̲̟͙̬̻̩͋͌̈́͌̔̾̏́̕͜͝e̷̼̰͙̹͂ ̵̛͚̖͓̪̺̓̋̅̀͝à̴̧̢̛̩̪̼͙̲͚̦̪͛̈́̏̈́͊̀̚r̵̡͖̝̻͕̤͎͓͇̀̾̒̾̉̂̍e̷͕̠̖̭̙̦̓̇̈́̽̐̂͘͘͝ ̵̛̲̱̱̟͕͐͌͛́͐͐̄̾̕ÿ̵̜͚̹͎͉͎̣́̑̐͆̌͠ͅo̶͚̜̪̙̍u̷͎̹͇̲̠̯̍̎̀̀͛̿͠ ̵̙̞̮̝̓̇͐͆͘g̸̡͉͇̟̙̍̈́̽́̒̑̎͌̉̃̚o̷̢̧̗̱͈̣͎̟͉͚̬͋̈́̉̄̾͝ì̵̱͓͇̦͈̑̾̑͌́͗͗̀̕͠ͅn̷̠̣͕̤̗͕̋̀̇̂̾̓̉̃̈́̉͆ͅḡ̴̞͓̦͔͈̫̫̲́́̚͘̚͠?̷̨̡̨̭̘͙̫̮̍̉͗̔͛̊͜
The twisted voice sounded again, sending chills down these creatures back, but they couldn't even react before uncountable numbers of roots shot out from the ground entangling any and all monsters and living beings present.
The Bread Equine, a type of horse monster which was extremely bulky with hooves that seemed specialized in trampling and a mouth full of sharp teeth, tried to bite through the roots, but they were too fast, and instead of biting through, they took the opportunity and shot through the upper maw of the Bread Equine right into its skull, killing it instantly.
Similar situations occurred all across the plain and a few minutes later all the monsters were completely engulfed and devoured by Cely's roots, which started retreating.
Meanwhile, Dan who had been watching everything from the start gulped seeing this scene.
"I now know why his Majesty warned us not to make her our enemy.", he whispered looking at Cely basking in the feeling of her hunt as her cultivation began to increase rapidly. And, a few minutes later, she broke through again.
And her cultivation continued to rise until it stopped only halfway from the next Realm.
Having calmed down, Cely put the mask back on as her aura retreated.
"Hello there.", she heard a friendly but also slightly nervous voice from behind her.
Turning around, she created a bit of distance between her and the one who appeared there. It was a tall Wolfman with dark gray fur.
"Ah, sorry for scaring you. My name is Dan, who are you? I haven't seen you around here before.", Dan introduced himself, lying a bit in the process.
"Cely.", Cely answered with vigilance looking at Dan who smiled at her.
"Cely, I see. You don't seem to be from around here, do you have anywhere to stay? If not, I could lead you to the nearest city.", Dan laughed as he tilted his head slightly while looking at her, waiting for an answer.
As Cely looked at Dan, she felt a strong sense of danger. This man was strong, although she couldn't tell how strong exactly.
If he would have had any kind of bad intentions, he would have long made a move. With this in mind, Cely slowly relaxed.
"I am not from around here, no. I would feel honored if you could lead me to the nearest city as I really have no place to stay.", Cely said, although she did want to see the city, not because she wanted a place to stay, but for equipment and knowledge about the world she was currently in.
Although she did gather some from Maria, it was mostly fragmented and useless.
"Great! Let's go then.", Dan grinned, his sharp teeth shining slightly in the sun, as he turned around without waiting for her.
As Cely saw Dan walk in that direction slowly, her vigilance completely disappeared. 'He is friendly.', she thought a small smile appearing on her face as she followed behind the tall Wolfman.
The journey back took about a day as Cely was by far slower than Dan who had arrived at her position in just a few hours. Still, the journey back was relaxing and while walking back, the two had a pleasant conversation about their experiences.
Dan mostly complained about his job as the head of the COG (Council of Grimm) and also about some of the recent events in the area, like the increased monster activities, a few bandits that have made themself cozy near the main road leading toward Xilia, a nearby city.
He also talked about his wife and how they would have children in the not-so-distant future. Lastly, he talked about the past of Grimm, how his great grandfather Edward van Dennisen had been a General back then who had led the military of Grimm but as he saw how the Duke had abused the populous, he rebelled with a good amount of higher-ups and uprooted the Duke and all his supporters before stabilizing the city as a free city, unbound by the Demon Kingdom in the west and the Central Kingdom in the east.
Listening to all of these things quietly Cely had become closer and closer to Dan without even noticing. She even wanted to start talking, but before she could do so.
"We are here.", Dan said with a smile looking at the large and majestic city walls up ahead.
Looking at the height and grandness of the city, even Cely was surprised.
She had arrived at the gates of the free city, Grimm!