Inside the dark misty forest, a man dressed in clunky armour ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Bullets of sweat dribbled from his forehead as he desperately looked for any semblance of light, while his side and back bled crimson blood.

[Shit! Shit! It's so dark!] The man thought to himself as he clasped his wound. [Fuck! It wasn't supposed to be this way!]

*Stomp* *stomp*

[!!]

The man looked back in horror at the sound of stomping that was slowly creeping closer to him.

[Oh god, oh god. Please help me!] He cried in his head as he tried to quicken his pace.

The injured man that was running for his life was called Bennett. A commoner born from a small, nameless village in the Carmine territories, his destiny was to inherit his father's small land and become a farmer. He would till it and toil under the sun until he grows old and die, or at least it was supposed to be.

Bennett wasn't someone who would just sit idly by and let his destiny unfold before him, no. He would go against it, he would fight it, he would forge his own destiny. So when a mercenary company came through their village, Bennett didn't even hesitate one second to run after them. He joined the group, much to the dismay of his parents.

The company was a relatively small group, all in all, including the logistics, there were 34 members. Bennett, not having any martial training, was forced to join the logistics group and take care of the warriors. Of course, it was a very important job, and the pay was also good, but Bennett couldn't help but feel discontent. He didn't join the group to be a utility, he joined it for glory.

After much discussion.. and pestering, Bennett was finally able to convince the leader to train him. Their leader, Red Claw, was a female Beastkin under the leopard tribe. She had a tall and hardy body, mostly common for beastwomen, golden hair, with black spotted ears on top, as well as a tail on her lower back. Frankly speaking, she was beautiful woman with a wild charm to her.

The beastwoman had ran away from Inbestia, right after her family lost a sacred duel for territory. Displaced and disgraced, Red Claw decided to change her name and start a mercenary company.

At first, Red Claw was extremely harsh on Bennett. She would beat him down to a pulp, all the while hurling insults on him. The other men could only look at him with pity as he usually laid down on the ground. This happened everyday for almost a year, until finally,

"It seems that you can hold your own now, I think you're ready"

Bennett could still remember the joy he felt when he heard those words from the beautiful beastwoman, of course it didn't dull the pain he was currently feeling, but he was still happy nonetheless. He was finally being recognized by the woman he had longed for.

Over the course of their training, Bennett had seriously fallen in love with Red Claw, and had, on numerous occasions, challenged her to a duel. For Beastkins, strength is everything, so any conflict they had would be solved by a ritual called Tak'gohan. In this sacred duel, the loser would have to accede to the winners whims. It was no different for deciding mates, males would usually challenge other males for the right of courting a female, or alternatively, the female could challenge the male and beat him into submission.

Bennett learned of this from their other companions, most of whom had challenged Red Claw themselves. But the leader wasn't a leader for no reason, she was endowed with the inherent strength, native to the Beastkins. All of them had challenged her, and all of them had given up after being beaten to a pulp, all except Bennett.

No matter how many times he was beaten close to death, Bennett would always come back and challenge her again. Over and over, for a whole year, until yesterday,

They had a job offered to them by an Allesian horse lord near the border of Carmine, a simple but good paying job. But tensions were rising between the Ducal house governing the realm and a young neighboring Horse lord. Because of this, they weren't given permission to cross the border.

Not wanting to let the opportunity pass, Red Claw decided to tread the Misty forest to bypass the border. Everything was going along great, they were ahead of schedule and their new recruits were already starting to pull their weight.

It wasn't until they encountered a strange monolith that Bennett started feeling strange. Like it was becoming hard to breathe, he looked at Red Claw and realized that he wasn't wrong.

Red Claw was turning pale, as the sweat dribbled from her forehead, she shouted out an instruction.

"Retreat! Everyone retreat! Don't think about looking back!"

Her desperate recall was foreign to Bennett, this was the first time he had seen their leader this flustered, or more accurately, terrified.

Just as they were running away, it appeared.

That thing ran down his comrades like cattle on a wheat field. A huge slug like creature, black as the night, that slithered and crushed anything it came into contact with.

Realizing that they couldn't outrun the creature, the men started to form a wall, wanting to confront the creature, with Red Claw as the vanguard. Bennett could only watch as the creature decimated everyone, shattering spears, breaking shields, bending swords, it was unstoppable. He could still clearly remember the look of horror and despair on the face of Red Claw as the creature devoured her slowly.

After that, Bennett ran as fast as he can, not minding the branches and leaves that were hitting him. A sudden piercing pain struck his back, he winced in pain as he realized that he had claw marks on his back and was bleeding, but he still ran nonetheless.

[What the hell?! That thing had no arms!] He thought to himself as he gritted his teeth.

"GRUAAAAAAAH *CLICK CLICK CLICK*"

The sudden roar and clattering sound that followed it pulled him from his thoughts.

[Shit!]

He was slowly losing momentum as his fatigue and blood loss caught up to him, and he feared that it wasn't long before the creature caught up to him.

And then, just when all hope was lost, he found it.

Light was piercing through a small opening in this dark and misty forest. Bennett, who had lost all hope, suddenly felt his strength return. Before him lies his last vestige of salvation.

He picked up his speed and endured the stinging pain he had, desperately clawing his way through the thicket.

[I'll make it!] He exclaimed in his head as he neared the clearing. [Vanos has not abandoned me! I'll make i----]

His thoughts were cut off when he suddenly fell and stumbled on the ground. Confused at what had just happened, Bennett desperately tried to get up, but to no avail. He decided to look back, and to his horror, what met his eyes were his entrails that decorated the forest ground.

His lower half had been completely severed, blood spurted from every direction as his intestines and other organs spewed out.

"Ahh.. aaa.. UwaaaAaAAHHH!!!"

He cried in agony as he realized his predicament. Distraught, Bennett desperately tried to pull back his spilled organs and put them in order.

[No, no no no no no no no no no] He thought as he grabbed his intestines and tried to scoop his blood. [I can't, I can't die here, I can't I can't I can't I can't.]

[I still have to earn big, I still have to beat leader, I still have to marry her. I can't die here yet.] He thought to himself as the creature stomped his head, splattering the contents everywhere, and devoured his upper half.