LOVE and Death

****(POV)

I can feel pain coursing through my whole body. My skin and my clothes are such a bad shape that an onlooker would have trouble understanding how I am still alive. My entire being is washed red, that I know.

Luckily, I somehow managed to evade any serious injury. All of it will heal up by itself given the strength of my physique.

This disaster zone forest is no joke. It was too close, way too close.

At first, it was only a few monsters, but then there was a legion of them.

Then came the wolves. Fast, strong, bloodthirsty. They tried their best to devour me.

Their teamwork impeccable. I did not even manage to take a single one down, not even the rank 2 weaklings. Every time I would try to deliver a killing blow, I would have to abort the action or get killed. It all seemed surreal. Such beasts showing such sharp judgment almost impossible. That's when I finally noticed it. A humongous creature sitting in the far back. Howling what I assume to be orders.

I felt it then. My chances of survival if confronted with such an opponent would be 0. Its majestic air only losing out to its dominant presence. That's when I realized my naivety and folly. I came proudly swaggering only to leave beaten down and so damn close to death.

The only reason why I survived is that the wolf king did not bother finishing me off personally. I got defeated and yet I came nowhere close to the core of the forest.

This disaster zone is a nightmare. I truly wonder what insanely powerful being lords over it.

There must be one. Otherwise, the humans would have taken over it already.

For the first time in my life I feel insignificant. As I come across some travelers heading in, I ignore them and keep walking. The whole time I am thinking about my place in this world.

I was told my potential and achievements are impressive, but does it truly matter? It won't if I get killed by some truly strong being randomly.

It is my first time feeling such a loss. I'm used to being weak. I used to be at the mercy of the powerful higher-ups back then. But at that time I could rely on my networking abilities to carve myself a relatively safe spot in the world. I knew the path to head into. Get a higher position in the faction and train wholeheartedly was my plan.

Then came the secret realm and this whole new world. The Goddess I am serving seems worthy. Her followers are problematic, however. I need to get stronger. Way stronger.

I came here chasing after that fake, but I should probably put that on hold.

I need to get stronger foremost before anything else. Otherwise, even me surviving in this world might not be guaranteed. He will be lucky this once, but my safety comes before hunting a bug. In any case, there is no strong hatred between us, he simply deserves to die for impersonating me.

That can come later. I am in no hurry.

I wonder what my next plan should be. Cultivating seems different here. People don't put as much emphasis on meditating to increase their power and tend to go for a more practical approach.

Something along the lines of keep fighting until you get good at it.

I guess the disadvantage being the accumulation of what they call mana slower, the upside being an extremely solid foundation. It somehow aligns with how I always went about it. Also why I never had any issue challenging opponents that were stronger than me at first glance.

I need some serious training. Should I go for personal power or strength in numbers?

There is a limit to personal power, but without it, anyone can simply assassinate you and it is the end.

Training a force might be doable, but it would probably prove hard. The higher-ups of the Moon Keep seem pretty incompetent.

Let's go with the first option.

How should I go about it…wait I have company?

I can hear hurried footsteps in the distance. Seems to be a large group.

Probably the ones I saw earlier. Why are they hurrying this way? Did they perhaps notice the state of the beasts in the disaster zone? A beast surge I think he called it.

I see them appear on the horizon. They are coming this way fast. I side-step to let them pass through in advance, that's when I notice it.

Their expression is off. They reacted to my presence. Something is different from earlier.

Before they were mostly disgusted or showing pity about me being there. This time there is a hint of ...bloodlust?

Strange I do not know any of them. But I am sure I am their target. Call it a sixth sense. It has never failed me before, that much I am sure.

I need to act and fast.

But not right now. There are 12 of them: 5 swordsmen, the other seemingly other professions. One has a tiger next to him. Probably a beast tamer of some sort. There are 2 archers. That leaves 4 with unknown abilities. Probably mages or other mystical things. These will be my first targets.

They seem to be rank 3 or similar. Looking at them they don't seem that united. Getting a group of rank 2 would be pointless, I doubt anyone coming for me would have that many rank 4. The temporary leader is probably that guy I heard speaking earlier. That makes it 5 targets.

"Hey there friend, do you know anything about the savage archaic forest, we were wondering about the places to avoid!"

So we are going for some chitchat before starting the fun, I see. I can play along.

"You guys should definitely avoid the whole forest altogether. The monsters are extremely restless for some reason. By the way, why do you guys want to cross the forest at this time?"

"Oh, you know just simple stuff we are just traveling. It is something we truly LOVE…"

That was definitely a keyword meant to start the attack. I felt the intent behind it. A heartbeat later they are unleashing many attacks toward my position. Shame for them it was too late.

Half a heartbeat prior, I had already sidestepped, my sword finding its way into their leader's throat. His surprised and confused expression is hilarious, but I have no time to enjoy the moment.

I use his fresh corpse as a shield.

It all rains down on it and tears it to shreds. Meanwhile, I dash toward my next target. A slash later, there are 3 main targets remaining. I see a fireball forming shape, some guy chanting in some weird language, and another pointing at me. Various warriors are trying to surround me, and archers are raining volleys of arrows at me. I'm used to these things; any cultivator would be.

I jump at the chanting one. A sword in his mouth stops him abruptly. Then I grab a dagger at my opponent's waist. It seems to be nothing more than a personal cooking knife, but it flies fast and accurately. A finger falls off. Really hope that pointing was truly necessary for the activation of that spell. That leaves the various others to deal with and that one mage.

I can feel the heat already. It shoots toward me at a breathtaking speed. A few warriors do all they can to limit my mobility. I have no choice but to summersault in the air to evade their coordinated attacks.

I realize this was the plan all along. Now in mid-air, I have no way to leverage power to avoid the upcoming fireball.

I would need the ability to move without a foothold.

The thing is I do have such an ability.

They screwed up.

I will my sword to move, dragging me along. That is what the flying sword faction is all about.

It drags me far enough for the fireball to hit empty air. Actually, it does roast some parts of their allies, talk about useless. This is why having numbers without coordination is pointless.

A few moments afterward I plunge my sword in the mage's heart. The guy lacking a finger gets finished off while I'm at it.

That leaves this fight a 1 vs 7. Truly not a fair fight.

For them, it isn't.

In raw power I have them beat individually and their teamwork is sorely lacking.

They say nothing is more dangerous than a true sword practitioner.

I am such a being.

Needless to say, the rest of the fight goes smoothly. I keep evading all of their attacks and I dish out some decisive killing blows from time to time.

These guys not even as strong as the rank 2 wolves I met before. It is all about cohesion.

Fun fact the tamer in their midst has a truly enjoyable end. Well, for me anyway, not him.

I use his body to shield myself from his tamed creature. Yep, killed by his own power. Talk about an ironic way to go.

As I look at the various corpses, I truly wonder how retarded these guys are. They expected this useless bunch to deal with me.

Seriously?! There is no way I would die from …. well, I would have had I made a single mistake.

Hum, I can feel that my cultivation base went up slightly. I am almost about to breakthrough to rank 3.

I resume walking. This time wondering where my next target will be.

This time I need stronger opponents.