3 Proof of Being Human

The demonic bear roared in agony.

Yu Ling's fangs dug into its unarmored neck, and her talons reached up to claw at its eyes before digging into its throat like meat hooks. Her tail wrapped around the bear's torso tightly, holding on even when it stood up in an attempt to throw her off.

For a moment the woman seemed stunned, but she recovered quickly. Taking advantage of the opening, she charged towards the demonic panther with a war cry. The winged panther had instinctively jumped away from the now berserk bear, and its side was exposed. When it realized the woman was approaching it from behind, it roared and tried to swipe at her with its scaled wings, but it was too late. The blade of light hacked off its wing and slashed at its side while it was howled in agony. The demonic panther flew through the air, crashing into the trunk of a tree before sliding down lifelessly.

Meanwhile, Yu Ling was starting to be very grateful for her unwanted tail. The demonic bear was going berserk from the pain and had stood up and charged multiple times in an attempt to get rid of the unwanted passenger on its back. However, because of the fact that its eyes had been damaged, it ran into trees multiple times. It tried clawing at her, but when she sensed its muscles moving for an attack, Yu Ling would wrap her tail around its arm and pull it back. She was getting more and more used to using her tail. The thought was making her somewhat depressed.

The taste in her mouth was disgusting. Especially after she realized what her last "meal" was, the taste of blood made her want to throw up, especially when it was mixed with fur and raw flesh. However, she started to realize an anomaly from the first moment her fangs had sunk into the demonic beast. Something warm seemed to enter her body from the blood in her mouth. It was somewhat...comforting. It was as if warmth was spreading throughout her body, like a hot cup of cocoa during a snowy winter night. The taste was disgusting, but for some reason, she didn't want to let go.

She started to sense the warmth flowing through the body of the demonic bear below her. It pulsated and flowed wildly, dissipated through its flesh. But it was slowly being gathered towards her, entering her body through her fangs.

This feeling...it was wonderful!

She could feel the strength spreading through her body. She had the feeling she could get addicted to this feeling. Her fangs sunk in deeper, more hungrily.

After a while, the bear's movements started to slow. Then it stopped and toppled towards the ground.

Yu Ling hurriedly retracted her claws and jumped off, crashing to the ground and rolling away before stumbling back to her feet. With a grimace, she spat out the fur and blood in her mouth as she backed away. The demonic bear was still alive, but it was weakened. Wheezing, it stood back on its feet weakly. The energy she had sensed from it was now considerably weaker than before.

Could it be that energy was the key to its power?

She swirled her tail and licked off traces of blood from her lips. That warm feeling from before was starting to fade, but it still felt as if she could feel the world more clearly now. Colors were more vivid, sounds were more clear, and she could almost taste the flavors of the forest on the wind. She had never had never felt so strongly before.

Fortunately, the woman she had helped had already finished off the winged panther. "Die, beast!" she roared. The blade of light extended like a lance as she charged. The bear, weakened and blinded as it was, stood no chance. It was impaled through its side and fell back onto the ground with a whimper.

Yu Ling let out a sigh of relief. It was finally over.

But before she could feel relieved for long, a flash of light headed her way like a strike of lightning.

Her survival instinct kicking in, she lunged to the side. The lance of light flew past her side and bore a burnt hole through the trunk of the tree that had been behind her. If she hadn't dodged, that hole would have opened up in her chest.

"Wait!" Yu Ling yelled. "Wait, I mean you no harm—"

"Demon!" the woman yelled. "I will not fall for your lies!"

"No, no—Wait! I'm not—" The blade of light disappeared then reappeared in the woman's hands as a sword as she charged towards her. Yu Ling could only run while desperately trying to avoid the sword that was headed her way. How was such a beautiful woman who seemed about her age so brutal?! "Just listen to me, please! I'm human. Human!"

"...What?" the woman paused, then jumped back to open up the distance between them, but she didn't lower her sword. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You? A human? But you..."

"Really! I'm really a human!" Yu Ling exclaimed almost tearfully.

"Oh? I've never seen any human that looks the way you do, demon." The woman said derisively. "I don't know what you're planning, but even if you know the human language, I—"

"No, I mean, I fell unconscious, and then when I woke up I was already like this, but really! I'm a human!" Yu Ling insisted.

The woman studied her silently with narrowed eyes for a long while. "...Proof?"

"What?"

"How can you prove what you're saying?"

Yu Ling was stunned into silence. It was a perfectly reasonable question, but she found that she had no answer. How could she prove that she was human? She never thought that one day, she would have to prove her own humanity to someone else. However, the way she looked now, she was definitely more monster than human. Not to even mention the horns on her head or her fangs, the armored tail that was like an extra arm to her was already adequate proof to the contrary.

Could she explain that she had the soul of a human, but for some reason had entered the body of a demon?

Even she herself found that hard to believe. Not to mention, how could she prove something as intangible as a soul was that of a human's? If it wasn't because of her current experience, she would have doubted the existence of a soul at all, not to even mention somehow proving that her soul was a human one.

Perhaps she could prove her humanity by using her knowledge of human society? But from the looks of it, this was a completely foreign world with completely foreign rules. She didn't even know how humans in this world lived. If she used her knowledge of the world she came from as "proof" of her humanity, it might actually have the opposite effect. And who knows if demons were able to obtain knowledge of human society as well.

Prove her humanity? How?

She couldn't come up with an answer.

The woman was getting impatient, so Yu Ling had no choice but to say something. "I can't prove it," she admitted. "But didn't I help you just now? Would a demon do something like that?"

"Demons are cunning. Who knows what you're planning," the woman said. However, there was some uncertainty on her face.

Yu Ling sighed. "I just woke up not long ago. My memories from before are kind of hazy, but I am really a human. When I woke up I was already like this, but my name is Yu Ling. I'm actually a twenty-three year old student. After I woke up, I heard the sound of fighting so I climbed a tree to hide, but I didn't expect that it would come so close. Then it seemed like you were in trouble, so I..."

"Yu Ling?" the woman muttered. "What a weird name. A student, you say? Of what?"

"Chemistry. Uh...That is, I studied things like the composition of materials and creating new ones, as well as studying the interaction and reaction between elements and matter at a molecular level. My focus was more on biochemistry which is involved more with the study of organic matter and processes, but—"

"Alright, stop." The woman's eyes seemed to have glazed over like a dead fish. "I don't understand a word you're saying, but this 'chemistry'...In other words, that sounds like alchemy?"

"...You could say that."

"Hmm....Never knew demons did alchemy too. Maybe all alchemists are demons? That would explain a lot..."

Hey. What kind of logic is that? Yu Ling was speechless. She had a feeling that if this person was on Earth, she would definitely fall into the category that hated studying.

The woman pondered for a while then studied her again. "Alright. I'll believe you if you leave the forest with me."

"What?"

"You're unwilling?" She narrowed her eyes dangerously. The blade of light seemed to shine more brightly.

"No, no of course not..." Yu Ling hurriedly added. "But why would leaving the forest with you prove that I'm not a demon?"

The woman didn't answer, just looked at her silently. However, the tip of her sword lowered slightly before it was pointed in a direction. "Head that way. Walk in front of me. If you even try anything, my Spirit Blade will open a hole in your chest."

Yu Ling glanced at the blade pointed at her and pondered for a while before she did as she was told. She supposed she should be glad that she was even given a chance to prove herself, but...truth be told, she wasn't confident she could pass this test, since she had no idea what it was. She would play along for now until she could find an opening to get away...and perhaps it would be a good opportunity for her to find out more about this world.

The two made their way through the forest carefully. As they walked, Yu Ling paid careful attention to the energy from the Spirit Blade behind her and tried to find an opening where she could run...but unfortunately, the woman behind her didn't let down her guard for a second.