Chương 17: Ruler of the Forest

Bjorn finally saw the stupid caterpillar sitting right at the edge of the riverbank and felt his blood begin to boil. The damn thing wasn't even trying to hide anymore. It just sat there like it didn't have a single worry in the world. Maybe other people would think it was ridiculous for him to hate a caterpillar this much, but Bjorn didn't care at this point. This little bastard had done nothing but make his life miserable ever since he first encountered it.

He just wanted to smash the thing flat and be done with it. And now, after all this time, the only thing standing between him and the caterpillar was this river. Worst part was how the river turned out to be a much bigger problem than he expected. The moment Bjorn stepped into the water, the current slammed into his body surprisingly hard, nearly making him lose his footing. He growled and dug his claws into the riverbed as he forced himself forward. He was a giant magical frost bear for goodness' sake.

He had already seen how absurdly powerful this body was, and yet this river was somehow giving him trouble. To make matters even more annoying, his frost mana reacted the moment the water touched him. Small chunks of water instantly froze around his fur before turning into tiny shards of ice that bounced off his body. The cold didn't bother him in the slightest at least, but it wasn't helping either. Bjorn lowered his head and continued pushing forward as the river crashed against his chest.

However, as he slowly drew closer, a more logical part of his mind began to feel that something was wrong. The caterpillar wasn't moving at all, and that probably meant it was trying to do something. Bjorn already knew this thing wasn't normal of course, but he couldn't imagine what it could possibly do against him aside from run away. As if trying to prove him wrong, the caterpillar suddenly fired several strands of silk toward him, but Bjorn had been waiting for that.

He quickly raised his forepaws and blocked the incoming attack. The sticky silk wrapped around his limbs for only a moment before frost rapidly spread across it, freezing it all solid. With one sharp pull, he shattered the frozen silk into pieces. The caterpillar immediately fired more silk, but Bjorn simply swatted it aside with one paw while continuing to push through the river. The distance between them was shrinking. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he finally reached the annoying creature.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt something strange. To be specific, he felt this weird pressure on one of his legs. A burst of pain soon shot through his leg, sharp enough that Bjorn could have sworn something inside it cracked. Water alone shouldn't have been able to hurt him like this. He was a Frost Bear after all, and he's shrugged off a lot worse than just some river current. But, the feeling only grew worse, spreading deeper through his leg until every step sent more pain through his body.

He tried to move it anyway, and although it hurt, Bjorn could still move it. That was good enough for now, since he only needed to force himself a little bit more. He was definitely going to get closer to that stupid caterpillar. The little thing hadn't even bothered to move. Bjorn almost couldn't believe his eyes. Was it really so dumb that it was waiting for him? Then the caterpillar spat another strand of silk. The thread smacked him right across the nose.

On reflex, Bjorn snorted, freezing it in an instant before knocking the brittle silk away with a swipe of his paw. But soon, another strand of silk came, and then another. Bjorn kept smashing the frozen strands away, grumbling as more and more silk covered his head. One string stuck over an eye, blinding him for a moment. He reached up to tear it away, but he stopped as his injured leg suddenly gave out.

Pain detonated through his leg, far worse than before, as though the fracture on the bone had finally given way completely. Pain shot up his body, stealing the strength from his muscles as his leg folded beneath him despite his desperate attempt to remain standing. His balance disappeared, and the slick riverbed only made things worse as he slipped and fell face-first into the river. He barely had time to react before the raging current dragged him downstream.

Against all odds, it seemed that I succeeded in at least surviving that bear. Precisely where the river ultimately led, I did not know, nor did I particularly care at this point. The current had been remarkably powerful, and it should be more than sufficient to sweep even a creature of that monstrous size downstream. If fortune favored me, the waters would eventually drown the beast given enough time. I would have preferred to witness the fruits of my strategy with my own eyes.

However, after escaping the bear and putting everything I had into using Psy-Crush, I had only managed to fracture a single one of the bear's legs. Despite that somewhat modest result, I was currently utterly exhausted. Crushing the bear's leg through Psionics had proven to be challenging. The resistance offered by such a powerful magical beast had been extraordinary, to the point that I strongly suspected I wouldn't have managed to accomplish the feat through my own strength alone.

The powerful river current had almost certainly contributed to my success as it applied additional strain to the creature's body. In other words, the river allowed my Psionics to achieve what would otherwise have remained beyond my capabilities. It had been a calculated gamble when the idea first entered my mind, and I could not honestly say I had expected it to succeed with absolute certainty. Fortunately, the plan unfolded almost exactly as I had envisioned.

If Psionics could subtly amplify forces already acting upon a target, then perhaps the applications of such an ability extended far beyond simply pushing or crushing objects. Should I eventually regain a humanoid body, I might be able to augment the force behind my own strikes or even enhance the momentum of my movements. For the present, however, my priority was simply recovering enough strength to move to a safer location before some opportunistic predator decided that I would make for an easy meal.

I stayed still until I possessed just enough strength to crawl away. Under ordinary circumstances, I would have sought refuge high in the trees. Unfortunately, my encounter with the bear had pushed me well beyond my limits, and I felt utterly exhausted. For now, I settled for the next most suitable refuge, disappearing beneath a dense thicket of bushes. There, I remained still while I patiently recovered my strength. Several minutes passed before my patience was rewarded in a most delightful fashion.

[You have killed: Bjorn the Frost Bear (Level 21)] [Experience Awarded] [You have Leveled Up! 20 >> 24] [Strength +4, Agility +2, Vitality +6] [You have been granted a Bonus Reward for defeating a Reincarnator] [2 Trait Points Awarded] While I would have greatly preferred witnessing the bear's demise firsthand, the System's confirmation was satisfying enough. The river had faithfully completed the execution after I had rendered the creature incapable of resisting its currents.

More importantly, four levels from a single opponent was good progress, especially considering that my current evolution supposedly progressed at a slower pace. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Another detail soon captured my attention. This was the first opponent I had ever defeated whose name had been recognized by the System.

From what I could recall, named creatures were generally more powerful than ordinary monsters of comparable level, as obtaining a name typically required fulfilling certain conditions. Yet, Bjorn's status as a Reincarnator appeared to have satisfied those requirements already. Speaking of, the System did identify this Bjorn fellow as a Reincarnator. That word confirmed that he had once been someone else, just as I had. The realization inevitably gave rise to many questions.

How many reincarnated souls existed within this world? More importantly, how much of their former lives did they remember? Had the gods offered them the same bargain they had extended to me? And did the gods just offer these bargains to everyone, or were there specific criteria for the types of people they chose to deal with? Also, the reward that I received from killing Bjorn also struck me as somewhat odd.

If the gods had gone to such lengths to pluck souls and reincarnate, then encouraging those very souls to slaughter one another seemed counterproductive. One would naturally assume they wished to preserve these carefully chosen individuals rather than incentivize their mutual destruction with. Unless, of course, that was precisely the point. Perhaps this entire arrangement was little more than an elaborate contest in which only the strongest participant was expected to survive.

Not that I found the prospect morally troubling in the slightest, of course. Such concerns were hardly worth entertaining when greater matters were at stake. What irritated me was the knowledge that I was not only the sole reincarnated soul in this world, and that the System had also neglected to inform me of the benefits that came from eliminating fellow reincarnators. Had I known from the beginning that their deaths would yield additional rewards, I would have made hunting them a priority.

But, I could hardly allow such an oversight to hinder me now. Perhaps some future Trait or Skill would grant me the means to distinguish ordinary magical beasts from reincarnated creatures, at which point the search would become considerably simpler. After all, if fate had seen fit to place other potential rivals within my reach, it would have been irresponsible of me not to remove them. Questions and grievances aside, however, there remained one thing that demanded my attention.

I now had three Trait Points, and unlike last time, I had every intention of spending them. [Displaying Available Traits] 1. Soul Awareness 2. Acid Glands 3. Phantom Veil (Cost: 2 Trait Points) Well, it appeared my previous assumption had been correct. By refraining from immediately spending my Trait Points and instead accumulating them, I had unlocked access to Traits that demanded a greater investment.

If the System required additional Trait Points to purchase them, then it was only logical to assume they were more powerful than the ordinary options it usually presented. Naturally, I intended to verify things for myself. [Soul Awareness] You can now sense the soul of the nearest mortal, regardless of distance. [Acid Glands] You have developed glands that produce a potent corrosive acid. You can now expel this acid as a ranged attack.

[Phantom Veil - Cost: 2 Trait Points] By remaining still, you can actively choose to become both invisible and intangible. Most physical attacks will pass through you while this effect is active. The effect ends if you actively move, perform most actions, or are hit by a magical attack. With three Trait Points to spend, I possessed enough to acquire Phantom Veil alongside one of the remaining Traits. At first, I found myself thoroughly impressed by its description.

Becoming both invisible and intangible was a powerful ability. But, my enthusiasm diminished somewhat after reading the rather restrictive condition attached to it. The effect would end the instant I moved or performed most actions, making it ill-suited for direct combat. At least in its current form, it seemed that I would be unable to combine it with Psionics or any other offensive skills.

Also, as a Trait rather than a Skill, it also seemed unlikely that I would ever be able to improve the ability through repeated use. Even so, dismissing such an ability outright would have been foolish. There were many situations where complete invisibility and intangibility would be useful. Escaping, avoiding ambushes, infiltrating dangerous locations, or simply waiting for an enemy to pass by all came to mind.

The defensive applications alone more than justified the cost, and while I found it mildly disappointing that the Trait offered little offensive potential, its utility made acquiring it an obvious choice. That left only Soul Awareness and Acid Glands. Ordinarily, an additional offensive capability would have been difficult to refuse, particularly given my current lack of methods for dealing with heavily protected opponents. Yet the more I considered Soul Awareness, the more interesting it appeared.

The description for Soul Awareness contained no limitation whatsoever regarding distance. If interpreted literally, I would always be capable of sensing the nearest mortal, whether they stood a few feet away or hundreds of miles away. For the first time since my reincarnation, I could potentially gain a means of locating civilization reliably. If fortune favored me, I might even encounter a traveler with a wagon or something similar.

Concealing myself among their belongings would allow me to traverse distances far greater than I could reasonably manage on my own, all while expending virtually no effort. Now, I did notice how the Trait neglected to specify what kind of mortal I would detect, but such details were largely irrelevant. At present, any intelligent creature would do. While my time in this forest had proven surprisingly productive, it had never been my intention to remain here indefinitely.

There was an entire world awaiting beyond these trees, and I wanted to see it for myself. Naturally, should I encounter anything worthy of my attention along the way, I would investigate. But otherwise, I intended to leave this forest behind.

[3 Trait Points Spent] [Trait Acquired: Soul Awareness] [Trait Acquired: Phantom Veil] [Remaining Trait Points: 0] All that remained was to locate a suitable mortal to follow, preferably one inattentive enough to unknowingly transport a particularly magnificent caterpillar hidden among their supplies. And thanks to my newly acquired Soul Awareness settled, I soon perceived the soul of a mortal moving somewhere within the forest.

As much as I wished to pursue the mortal immediately, there was one matter I intended to settle first. Besides, I had little doubt that the mortal would eventually stop to rest. For now, I needed to practice Mana Suppression, more as a precaution for the future. Anyone capable of even the most rudimentary mana circulation could, in principle, learn it.

The concept itself was simple: rather than allowing mana to circulate freely through the body and radiate outward, one merely had to turn that flow inward, compressing and containing it until the presence of one's mana core decreased. Because although only other magic users can sense the presence of another mana core, it would still be beneficial to me if I could hide myself a little better from mages and the like.

I was, after all, planning on entering civilization eventually, and I'd rather not risk some random mage detecting my presence and making a fuss. The higher forms of Mana Suppression were considerably more troublesome, of course, since true mastery required more than merely forcing one's mana inward. But those higher forms of the skill would have to wait. For now, the basic technique would suffice for now, and it should at least protect me from average magic users.

I focused my attention and turned inward towards my mana core. Normally, mana flowed outward from it in a steady current, circulating through my body. Now, I would make it disappear as I drew the mana inward. At first, the sensation was unpleasant. My mana resisted the sudden change in its flow, surging against my control like a great river forced into a narrowing channel. I tightened my concentration and compressed it further, coaxing the power back toward the core. The glow of my core dimmed, but just barely.

This was not enough, so I tried again, and again. On the third attempt, something finally clicked. Rather than forcibly suppressing my mana, I simply… contained it. The distinction was subtle, but important. The mana itself still remained within me, but less of it escaped from my mana core and bled into the rest of my body. I was sure that a more talented mage could still sense me, but this should be good enough for now. [New Trait Acquired: Mana Suppression]