Chapter 5

The wounds the king of the forest had inflicted on my body before his death stung painfully. Decay happened slowly in the the freezing temperatures of the snowy forests; the huge body wouldn't rot for several weeks.

The king of the forest's corpse could fill the bellies of a large wolf pack to the brim for multiple weeks.

After a few disappointing bites of warm flesh I lost interest in the huge corpse.

'Perhaps your den will be more interesting.' I thought to myself.

Since I awoke in this world I had been searching for traces of human kind. The most notable find so far was the cracked handle of a blade. I kept it safe within my den.

The brown bear was the ruler of this icy region. Through one way or another any strange or interesting object was most likely to end up in his possession.

Unsurprisingly the king of the forest's den reeked of fur and blood. Shards of bone littered the floor and scraps of various furs were scattered everywhere.

'What's that?'

Beneath the heavy rotting odours there was an enticing sweet scent.

I sniffed. The soil had a rich and earthy scent.

That wasn't it.

Night was beginning to blanket the forest but darkness alone couldn't block the keen vision of a wolf.

'This cave goes deeper?'

I sniffed again and the sweet scent became stronger in my nose.

None of my senses perceived any danger in the cave, no living creature was present. Considering the tyrant nature of the huge bear there was no way he would share his den with other animals.

The urge to discover the truth melted my hesitation. Tensing my muscles in readiness to turn and run I stepped deeper into the cave.

'A flower?'

Swathes of purple flowers bloomed on the walls of the cave, casting a faint violet luminescence in the dwindling light.

There was something uniquely beautiful about the way they swayed, despite the non-existent breeze.

Patches of the purple flower had been torn from the walls. The culprit was easily identifiable by the deep claw marks in the ground.

I hungered intensely for the purple flowers and their unknown properties. Biological instinct drove me to eat them until my stomach bulged. Human thinking soon deduced the reason for the brown bear's gargantuan size. Up until it's death, perhaps for all its life, it had been consuming the glowing plants in this cave.

Rather than harming it, the purple plants had instead strengthened the bear until it stood as a titan amongst it's species. Had I come years or maybe just months later, the brown bear's strength might've surpassed the limits of what I could handle.

'With these flowers the forest will be able to nurture a new ruler in a few years.

The unique charm of the purple flower manipulated an animal's instincts to regard them as a precious treasure. The thought of destroying even a single one sent shivers down my spine.

From the purple flowers the king of the forest had obtained tremendous benefits. In accordance with the simplistic mind of a wild beast, the brown bear should've swallowed up all of the strange flower. This would allow it's strength to soar to new heights.

Instead the king of the forest chose to merely nibble at the edges of the glowing fauna.

'Poison.'

I snarled at the purple flowers. Had I not acted cautiously the sickly sweet smell might've silently taken my life.

Suddenly I felt something sharp press against my paws. The second the feeling registered I twisted my body and turned to run as fast as I could.

I didn't make it more than a few steps before coming to a halt.

Within the cave the soil was soft and rich in minerals. As my claws dug into the fragile unfrozen earth, showers of soil flew into the air.

The objects were smooth and white, varying in shape and size but all gleaming like gemstones.

'Bones.'

The sickening smell of blood, the occasional roaring of the huge brown bear despite its hibernating state.

Plants required all kinds of minerals to grow and in the barren snowy forest only the most enduring trees could survive.

For the swathes of purple flowers to bloom even in the harsh yearlong winter, an immense amount of nutrients would need to be provided.

'This cave...is a graveyard.'

I didn't know the depth of the mountain of bones I was standing on.

I could picture the scene of brown bear cub discovering the secret of the cave. It would've excitedly bounded forth, drops of its saliva moistening the earth as it's long tongue slapped against it's face.

Then perhaps the cub would've frozen with fear. Horrified it watched tens of ferocious wolves tearing hungrily at the purple flowers on the cave walls.

Standing taller and broader than the young cub, the wolves howled with delight at the feast presented to them.

The hungriest of the wolves sauntered to the trembling bear cub and raised it's claw and then-

The first wolf collapsed to the floor. It's eyes still shone with the excitement it was feeling the moment before it died.

Like dominoes the other wolves soon toppled to the ground. The stronger alpha maybe had the chance to cry out a warning to it's kin.

This scene must've been imprinted deeply within the mind of the brown bear.

By suppressing it's instinctive desire to fill it's stomach to bursting with the delicious plant, the brown bear was able to consume just a small quantity of the glowing fauna.

The sweet and entrancing plant truly could bring about great change in the bodies of the animals who consumed it. Unfortunately it's toxicity would rob them of their lives before they could experience any form of strengthening.

Their bodies would become food for the voracious appetite of the glowing flowers.

'Danger truly lurks around every corner.' I thought solemnly.

The king of the forest had been guarding the purple flowers and relying on them to become stronger. If it provided the flowers with regular nourishment the entrancing smell they emitted to attract prey would reduce to an almost unnoticeable level.

Wild beasts feared the wrath of the huge brown bear and frantically avoided it's den.

In this way the king of the forest successfully kept the secret of the purple flowers all to himself.

Eyeing the entrance to the cave from several meters away I memorized its appearance. Perhaps in the future I would return.

'After this fusion I'll be invincible to ordinary creatures. Then I can set my sights on the legendary beings of this world.'