After running for a full 30 minutes at full speed, while paying maximum attention to avoid any dangerous animals along the way, I had become a bit tired so i decidet to stop here. Thankfully, I had arrived at a deeper part of the forest with towering trees so i didnt have to worry about the eagle anymoe.
Looking around, I could see the crowns of the massive trees, blocking most of the sunlight from hitting the ground, which made this part of the forest particularly dark and gloomy.
But I had no choice but stay her for now and i needed to find a place rest, so I began searching for a suitable spot.
After finding a large bush, I checked it twice to ensure there were no animals inside, as I didn't want to be taken by surprise like last time. Confirming there were no animals, I went inside to rest for a bit and gather my thoughts. And I couldn't stay in the open; it would be very dangerous, as this place was filled with beasts moving around.
As I entered, I started reflecting on what had just happened. It was another really close call. This place is truly too dangerous; I have to be more careful in the future. Thankfully, I escaped this time with my life intact, but I had to sacrifice my prey just to barely make it, which filled me with anger and worry.
Indeed, in this world, being weak is a great sin, one that I don't want to possess.
And I knew exactly how to rid myself of this sin; with my heavenly devouring ability growing stronger, it was only a matter of time.
"Just you wait, big bird. I'll come back and make sure you pay for all the losses I have suffered by turning you into my meal to help me grow even stronger!"
After venting my anger for a few more minutes, I calmed down. I needed a calm mind right now, as I was in the deeper parts of the forest where encountering powerful beasts was just a matter of back luck.
Before I had another encounter with some beast that wanted to make me its meal, I needed to grow stronger. With my heavenly devouring ability, I just needed to find animals to devour and turn them into my strength!
Immediately, I had the thought of taking advantage of my ability and eating a lot of ants and insects. With my current size, there weren't many insects that were my match.
But I was pretty sure it wouldn't be that easy, and if I could grow stronger just by eating ants, then I would really be too overpowered.
And in such a deep part of the forest, finding normal insects like ants wasn't easy, as this place was where the stronger types of animals and insects resided. I confirmed this while I was running; I had felt powerful vibrations from time to time, which I swiftly avoided, indicating that this place was indeed dangerous.
But even if I couldn't find the same small ants like before, finding some bigger and stronger ones wouldn't be too hard. With my body that can generate 250 kg of strength, I was confident in facing even the more powerful insects from this side of the forest.
So, with a plan in mind, I exited the bushes and started moving carefully, feeling the vibrations in the air and preparing to run away if I felt a strong one like the vibration the eagle had made.
After crawling around for some time, I saw my first possible prey.
It wasn't the big ants that I had thought about, but a big green frog.
It looked to be around 40 cm in length, which would serve as a great meal for me right now, just enough to be finished fast and give me lots of energy to grow.
The frog was sitting in a place where the sunlight broke through the canopy of the trees, enjoying its time while basking in the sun.
This frog was clearly not very smart, sitting in such an open space; it was literally serving itself on a silver platter for all the beasts in the forest.
Well, it didn't matter how stupid this frog was since it would be turned into my food anyway.
So, I started slowly moving closer to the frog. Thankfully, the area around where the frog was sunbathing had a few small bushes and strange plants that gave me some cover to sneak up on it.
When I was about 20 meters away from the frog, using a bush as cover, I suddenly noticed a big ferocious black wolf appearing from some tall grass, running at full speed toward the resting frog.
The wolf was huge, around 1 meter tall and 2 meters long, something I wasn't confident in facing right now!
I immediately cursed in my mind; another prey was stolen from me because of my weak strength!
Or so I thought, not knowing that my life was saved by this wolf. Because after the wolf pounced on the sunbathing frog, the frog immediately opened its mouth while still keeping its eyes closed in relaxation. Then, from its fully opened mouth, a lightning-fast tongue sprang out with a sharp object on its tip. It then immediately pierced the chest of the still mid-air wolf, and with a strong pull, the wolf was sucked into the frog's mouth!
"What the heck is that thing?!"