Exiting the narrow cave that had led him into the valley, Ku Lo took a look around.

Steep cliffs towered above his head and covered the side of the forest he was in with shadows.

Back when the competition began, they had been led into the cave system that served as the sole entrance to the valley, but branched along the way, giving the participants an unknown starting location separated from their allies.

Thus, finding Gingge was his first priority. 

But with no clue of her location, focusing solely on that could turn out to be a waste of time later on.

He took a look around.

Both trees and ground were heavily snowed, but neither the unblemished surfaces nor the silence surrounding him betrayed any traces of the beasts he was supposed to hunt.

Trying to stay as silent as possible, he walked into a random direction. Snow crunched under his feet and he started to hear the gurgling of a creek. 

It was almost frozen over and wound through the forest, following its slight slope.

Uphill, he could see a cragged rock wall, so unless the water flowed exactly at it’s foot, this direction would likely be a dead end while the stream seemed to trail down the valley.

As such, he began making his way downward.

The slope wasn’t always this gentle, forcing him to half slide down steeper parts or take detours when the water crossed ledges.

Approaching a particularly high protrusion, he found himself looking down at a small natural pond formed by the creek. And by the water, he saw the first species of beasts.

Visually, they resembled deer, but their antlers were of a crystalline blue and nearly all of them had some, though in varying sizes.

Unfortunately, the water was between them, meaning that he would be discovered long before he reached the group.

Thus, his best bet was to stay further away and get around the pond. He wandered to the far side of the valley and climbed down a boulder.

Through the trees, he could see the deer again, still drinking and unaware of his presence. But a clearing surrounded the lake, so he would have to step out into the open soon.

Ku Lo dashed forward with his sword in hand, striking at the nearest animal. The blade dug into its neck, killing the deer before it could react. 

But the others had inevitably noticed his presence and made a run for it. Except one, that instead charged at him with the shiny, spiked antlers pointing at his chest.

He could easily evade, but his weapon was stuck in the dead body, so he had to let go of it.

Dashing to the side, he could feel the air brush by him and turned to look at the deer.

It slowed down, but continued to move away from him. 

Ku Lo returned to the dead and dragged his sword out by pressing his boot against its neck, hurrying after the escaping Qi beast.

It hadn’t gotten very far, but seeing it switch between charging at him and running further out, he came to the conclusion that this was intentional. It wants to lead me away from the others.

But as it became aggressive the moment he tried to leave, he decided to face it.

This wasn’t the first time for him to fight with his life on the line, but seeing the crystal spears that coldly reflected the sunlight close in on his chest somehow got to him more than it had in prior fights. He wanted to escape. But by power of will, he held his ground.

When the deer’s charge was about to reach him, Ku Lo jumped to his left and dragged the now bloody blade along its legs.

More stunned than permanently incapacitated, the deer fell over. To finish it off, he stabbed into its side and leveraged the sword out sidewards. 

He stood over the carcass. Killing it like this had splattered his robe with blood. He would have to switch it out later. Or rather, as soon as possible, this stench makes me want to puke!

The Qi core had to be somewhere in its body. Gingge had told him that the heart was the most common spot.

But he had no time to cut the body now. The other deer would only escape further. He put the whole thing in his ring and returned to the pond to retrieve the other deer and follow the tracks.

Just, by the time he got there, white, wolf-like silhouettes had surrounded his prey and were eating at it.

Upon noticing his presence, they retreated from the body and spread out.

Even though he felt traces of Qi in the air that betrayed their nature as Qi beasts, there was nothing apparently changed on their body like the deers’ crystal antlers.

Ku Lo noticed that they had torn a hole in the deer’s chest, but left everything else alone.

One of them howled. After a moment, the sound echoed from further away.

The two others had shudders run though their bodies and they approached him with lowered backs and guttural growls.

Well, at least the prey comes to me… He jumped at the wolf that howled. But before he could get to it, another jumped at him from the side.

When he targeted the attacker, the remaining wolf intervened. 

Between the two, whoever had his attention would stay away while the other tried to get to him. If he attacked the howler, both went on the offensive.

He made out more silhouettes approaching. 

One wolf bit into his blade, disregarding the metal cutting into its mouth. A mad glint flashed in its eyes. From up close, he could see the creature's muscles convulsing as though it was undergoing cramps. But it struggled back as though that didn’t happen to its body.

Sprinting to the nearest tree, Ku Lo dragged himself up as fast as he could. By the time he looked down, five had gathered by its foot.

Relying on the stem’s toughness and his own physical ability, he lept over to the next tree within reach. 

… 

The valley turned out to be more vast than he initially thought, as he had yet to meet any other humans. And recently, even the beasts had gotten scarce.

But with the wolves somewhere behind him, turning around wasn’t an option and if whatever held the regular beasts off put up a decent fight, he might be able to become the fischerman reaping the rewards.

As he progressed onwards, the trees thinned out, making way for rocks and coarse gravel.

He jumped from stone to stone, having passed half way through the clearing when his footing was destroyed by a sudden quake.

Spinning around while landing, he saw one of the boulders he had just stepped on moving. With pebbles breaking off everywhere, a large anthrazit bear peeled itself free. Many large chunks grew from its body, giving it an appearance similar to a mountain, albeit much smaller.

It shook its head and turned towards Ku Lo, who prepared to circle this new Qi beast and attempt to guide it into the pack of wolves on his tail.

The bear began moving towards him, causing the ground to tremble with each step, but burdened by its own weight, the speed was anything but impressive. Perhaps he would even have to slow down so it didn’t lose sight of him.

He had almost reached the forest and futilely looked for traces of his steady pursuers when a rumbling sound from the bear drew his attention back.

With a deafening roar, it shook its body, causing the rocks to shatter and fly all around it. As the dust settled, a large, but almost normal-looking bear became visible. And it was running after him with alarming speed.

Ku Lo turned around, sprinting into the trees. From a distance, he could hear wood snap and the dull quakes caused by the beast's movements.

A hasty peek over his shoulder revealed that it was gaining ground. How is a massive bear faster than me just with its… restraints gone?

On the other hand, there was still no sign of the wolves. Did they give up?

He hoped not, as with no distraction to stall the bear, he would have to fight it sooner or later.

But aside from backtracking his escape route, there was little he could do.

Trunks and branches passed through his vision, the ever growing sound of destruction in his back.

Besides that, he was alone and the bear was getting dangerously close. 

Spotting a boulder suitable for his plan, he ran towards it and used it as a footing to jump to the side.

Due to its inertia, the bear crashed head first into it. But right before impact, the chunks previously attached to its body reformed at an unnatural speed. 

By the time it could shake the stone off again, Ku Lo had already made a run for it.

Yet he felt a slight strain in his left leg from the jump. He wouldn’t be able to repeat this often, especially if he didn’t want to throw away his chance at fighting early.