Leon moved deeper and deeper into the forest, following the same clues that he got used to when tracking that adventurer girl down.
He could recognize the matters in which she moved, the means she used to avoid obstacles, the tiny hints whenever she attempted to cover her tracks.
As such, rather than crawling through every inch of space, Leon could walk almost upright. A mere glance was enough for him to pick up the right path amongst the many, just by judging the tear and wear on the fabric of the forest that indicated how often the girl traveled the path.
'Still, I wonder which side that girl is actually on,' Leon thought, immersing himself in his thoughts as he kept on moving deeper and deeper into the woodlands.
'It's pretty common for people to play the opposite of what they are,' he thought to himself.
A good guy that helped around the village would more often than not prove to be the thief that stole the undergarments of half the women in the village. On the other hand, a silent and socially retreated guardian would often turn out to be the only reason why the local village hasn't seen the presence of a bandit in years due to his vendetta against a certain group.
'Reality is rarely what it appears to be,' Leon summarised his thoughts only for his mind to pain Alice's face all over his thoughts again. 'But that doesn't mean she's necessarily the chaosbringer either!'
There was an innate wish ingrained deep in the bloodmancer's soul to see parts of Alice in that strange girl. A wish for the love that he was so brutally deprived of.
Not even being aware of this fallacy made it any easier for Leon to resist the temptation to ignore the potential clues and see the good in a positive light.
"Now that I think about it, chaos bringer?" Leon muttered under his nose. Then, he rolled his eyes. A small smirk appeared on his lips. "That's a pretty fun name!"
Small differences like that were bound to happen. Even back in his original world, there were many names used for different types of groups and formations that sabotaged, spied on, or even worked behind enemy lines.
And in this part of this particular world, rather than calling them spies, intelligence, or grey coats, they were amply called chaos bringers.
'I guess people of this world are direct with their naming sense, aren't they?' Leon thought, holding back a small giggle that attempted to make its way through his lips.
Then, both his body and his face froze.
Out of nowhere, Leon felt a nudge on the active mana he still kept around.
And a nudge far greater than what he felt when he noticed the presence of the girl in the forest. Greater than what he felt even when standing right in front of her!
'So that's the reason why locals fear the forests,' Leon thought, quickly climbing up a nearby tree and closing his eyes to focus on monitoring the strange ways in which his mana rippled.
Then, Leon jumped to another tree. He made three steps on the branch before leaning to the side and hanging off another branch. He then swung back and forth, ending the motion with a jump to yet another tree.
And then, he saw it. A monster bigger than any predator he had ever seen in his original world.
And yet, despite being born in a completely different place, it looked like an oversized version of an animal Leon was extremely familiar with.
'A bear?' he thought, staring at the massive body of the wild predator pushing aside both bushes and trees alike as it made its way through the thick parts of the forest. 'How the hell did it evolve to be so big?'
Soon, Leon realized one more interesting thing.
The seemingly random manner in which the beast moved... wasn't random at all.
It was his moves from before that were random. And what this beast was doing right now, was nothing else but perfectly tracking the path he took just a moment ago!
'It's hunting for me?' Leon thought, his eyes opening a little bit wider.
Then, a dark expression took over his eyes.
'This is a notion... I didn't have in quite some time,' he thought, grasping the handle of his enchanted short spear.
Yet, as if sensing a fluctuation in mana waves just like Leon did to track presences around him, the bear turned its massive head right to where the bloodmancer was hiding!
'Huh?' Leon raised his eyebrows when a beast four times the size of the bear he was used to stared right where he stood.
The bear suddenly raise on its hind legs as if in an attempt to make itself look even bigger.
Or maybe it was trying to reach out and smash Leon out of the branch he was squatting at?
'Welp,' Leon gulped his saliva down. Then, before the bear could swing its massive arm, he stepped forth. Yet, as soon as he started to fall, he turned himself around, grabbing the branch he was on previously before using the momentum of his fall to swing forth and leap away from the danger.
CRASH!
The sound of the entire tree breaking under the massive paw of the bear reached Leon's ears as soon as he landed several meters away.
The bloodmancer then swung around on the ground. He then spun back to face the beast while lowering his center of mass to make himself a smaller target.
"Hello cutie," he muttered with an excited smile appearing on his lips.
No matter what, years of slaughter turned his once calm and composed self into quite the battle freak. And between nuking an entire province and getting close and personal...
There wasn't even a single hint of doubt in Leon's soul as to which one he personally preferred.
"ROAAAR!" the beast uttered its cry. It then fell back on all fours. For a second, it stared right at Leon's smiling face.
And then, it began its charge.
"Not much of a teddy bear, aren't you?" he muttered, tensing up his legs and waiting until the last moment.
Then, Leon jumped as high as he could, allowing the bear to charge right below him.
The bloodmancer then landed, turned around, and finally put himself in a proper fighting stance.
"Don't worry, though," he muttered, running his activated mana through several formations on his spear at once. "I will make you into one quite soon!"