A couple of weeks had passed, and Raze had settled into a harsh rhythm of survival. He followed a strict strategy: if a beast was Stage 1, he'd stalk it, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. If the beast was Stage 2 or higher, he'd vanish without hesitation, retreating before it even noticed his presence. This calculated approach had kept him alive, but the weight of constant vigilance wore on him.
Despite the danger, his confidence had grown. He'd honed his use of invisibility to the point where activating it felt second nature. Raze had come to understand its limitations: the ability reflected light around him, making him visually undetectable, but other senses—smell, heat, and even the faint presence of his mana—remained detectable. Many times, a beast's snout had passed uncomfortably close, sniffing for the anomaly it couldn't see. His heart had hammered in those moments, but somehow, he always managed to escape.
"If I had a luck stat, it must be maxed out," he mused with a smirk, though the thought didn't entirely comfort him. He'd been lucky so far, but he knew better than to rely on luck alone.
The forest had become more familiar to him over these weeks. He recognized certain patterns: the calls of birds signaling danger, the rustling that indicated a scavenger nearby, the smell of a predator marking its territory. Yet, despite his growing awareness, the forest still felt vast and endless, its canopy stretching overhead like an oppressive green ceiling.
As he walked through a patch of dense underbrush, his ears pricked up. A voice.
Raze froze, every muscle in his body going rigid. It was faint, but unmistakable—the voice of a girl.
His first instinct was to dismiss it. People didn't survive in these woods for long, and the sound could be a trick of the forest. But the thought gnawed at him. What if it was real?
Cautiously, he activated his invisibility, the familiar ripple of energy washing over him as he disappeared from sight. He moved slowly, his steps as quiet as a shadow's glide, brushing aside branches and leaves with deliberate care.
The voice grew clearer as he approached. It carried a tone of urgency, perhaps fear. His heartbeat quickened. For weeks, he hadn't seen another human face, and while the idea of encountering someone filled him with equal parts hope and dread, he couldn't ignore the tug of curiosity.
"Let's see what this is about," he muttered under his breath, taking another careful step forward.