“Shit, shit, shit.” a handsome blonde man cursed as he urged the horse beneath to speed up. He was Thomas Cainhurst, the second son of Baron Cainhurst of the Aurum Empire. Just an hour ago he had been jovially joking with the Adventurers he hired that this Black Jade Forest was not as deadly as all the rumor made it out to be. They had been traveling through this forest for nearly two weeks yet, they had only encountered monsters that even Thomas’s slave could defeat and kill, and she wasn’t a Combat Slave, let alone have any combat-type Skills. 

At the time the seven Rank-5 Adventurers he’d hired as guards were also in high spirits, believing the rumors about the forest’s danger to have been greatly exaggerated. The lack of caution caused by the majority of the journey progressing so smoothly had been the cause of the dire situation Thomas now found himself in. 

The Adventurer’s he’d hired had immediately fled when one of their members was killed instantly by an ambush set by a panther-like monster. The leader of the Adventurers had quickly recognized that it was a Rank-4 Shadow Cat, just a few steps away from Rank-3, when it would become sapient and able to take human form. 

If the six surviving Adventurers had not rashly panicked at the death of their comrade, it wouldn’t have been impossible to cause the Shadow Cat to flee, and there was even a chance they could have killed it. However, since the six had split up and fled, Thomas had known that fleeing was the only option and had quickly done so, hoping that the monster would have pursued the fleeing Adventurers instead of him. 

What Thomas hadn’t expected was that the monster was incredibly fast and was able to accurately track all of those who fled. Every half hour or so, a pained scream filled with terror and unwillingness would echo from somewhere else in the forest, signaling that another had fallen to the monster.

Just as the sixth scream resounded through the forest, Thomas’s mount, a Rank-6 Warhorse collapsed, its energy completely spent, from running at maximum speed for so long. Tumbling through the dirt Thomas couldn’t help but regret his decision to avoid the border checkpoints to save himself a hefty amount of coin. Pushing himself from the dirt Thomas looked around and realized that he could actually see the edge of the forest not too far in the distance. However just as Thomas began to run, the sound of a tree being shattered echoed behind him along with the heavy footfalls of the monster. 

Blasting apart trees as it barreled forth, the massive panther-like monster locked its eyes on Thomas, each of its strides bringing it ever closer to him. Cursing to himself, Thomas could only run as he shouted an order to the slave girl that had barely managed to kneel. “Vell! Draw the monster away from me!”

Were Vell a normal slave, the clearly suicidal order would not have been enforced, however, Vell’s Slave Seal was one that had been outlawed long ago, at least in the civilized lands of the Humans. Despite Vell’s desire to simply flee and let Thomas be killed by the monster, her body moved against her will and unsheathed a dagger strapped to the saddle of the collapsed horse. Brushing the dirt and other debris from her void black hair, Vell stood with the small blade clenched in her hand, readying herself to face the incoming monster.

It took only a moment for the monster to reach Vell, its claws attempting to rend her into bits. Despite the fact that Vell’s Status was devoid of anything combat related, she was actually quite familiar with how to fight with a knife, allowing her to narrowly avoid getting hit and leaving a few cuts on the monster. The moment the monster left Vell’s reach she began sprinting in the opposite direction of Thomas, believing that the monster would ignore Thomas.

As Vell began to sprint away the monster suddenly swung around, its claws leaving deep impressions in the ground as it stopped for a short moment before bolting after the young woman that had attacked it. The monster had been hunting and killing them for sport, and was enraged that the frailest of its prey had managed to wound it, even if those wounds were barely scratches to it. As the monster was quite quick, it took only a few seconds before Thomas could no longer see.

Relieved that he had bought himself some time, Thomas ran as fast as he could, greatly lamenting the losses he had sustained. As a talented youth he had already bypassed the entrance exam and been accepted into the Hall of Gilded Heroes, one of the most powerful guilds in the Human lands. As long as he survived and reached the guildhall, his future was bright, yet the thought of his future did little to ease the pain he felt at the loss of not only all of his belongings, but of Vell as well.

Had Vell been any other slave girl, Thomas would have thought nothing of her death, she wouldn’t be the first slave he’d driven to death after all, but Vell was special. Thomas didn’t have any basis for this, nor was it an emotional attachment, his instincts had simply told him so. While not a perfect method, Thomas’s instinct for valuable things was fairly accurate, being right about 80 percent of the time. However, regardless of what kind of benefit Vell might have given, it was more important to stay alive, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy any kind of benefit if he died after all.

A frustrated roar echoed through the Black Jade Forest as the Shadow Cat chased Vell, its rage increasing the longer the chase lasted. The monster was unable to understand how Vell was evading it. She wasn’t fast enough to outrun it, nor was she strong enough to fight against it head on, yet somehow, she had managed to evade death and dragged the chase on for nearly half an hour.

Vell too was actually quite amazed at her ability to survive the chase, however, she doubted that she would last much longer as the monster had already left several deep wounds on both her back and arms. 

Just as Vell felt that her legs were about to give way the thundering steps of the monster chasing her suddenly stopped. Turning around, Vell saw the Shadow Cat pacing left and right, seemingly unwilling to step forward. Confused at the sudden development, Vell tried to slow her breathing, taking advantage of the monster’s hesitation.

Before Vell could even catch her breath however, the Shadow Cat’s eyes filled with fear and it immediately turned and fled. Vell had no time to ponder over why the monster had suddenly turned tail and run, since just as a sense of relief washed over her, a heavy pressure suddenly surrounded her body, as if she had become the focal point for the local gravity. Unable to withstand the pressure, Vell’s senses quickly faded and she was soon rendered unconscious, but not before she heard a few words. 

“Damn, just a descendant.”