I turned my head and looked back at the river one last time before entering the thick forest, I tried my best to avoid leaving any tracks, I laughed at myself for focusing this much on covering my footsteps as if the only way to track me is through my footsteps.

If I remember correctly, I once heard my mother talking about some tracking magic that the hunters usually use to track and locate their prey, but thankfully, we don’t have any at the moment who knows how to use it in the village.

All this running and hiding make me feel like some criminal in some mystery movie, I hope they can’t find someone as clever as ‘Detective Conan’ though, or I will be doomed.

As I was walking and thinking about these stupid things, I heard a noise a few meters away from me, I halted my steps and ducked down and hid behind a tree with only the top of my head until my eyes sticking out from behind the tree and looking at the direction of the noise, my heart was beating faster and faster with every second of waiting.

I gulped harshly and grabbed my small dagger tightly when the bushes nearby started to shake. Fear, excitement and anticipation were all mixed emotions fighting inside me, what if it was a dangerous monster of some sort?

This area beyond the river is out of our village’s territory so it is totally expected to find some really fearsome creatures here.

I could feel my body covered in cold sweat, I crouched to make my body as small as possible and widen my eyes as much as I could to make sure that I could see any sudden movement, after a while, my eyes started to burn which made me remember that I forgot to blink.

‘Holy shit, this waiting is killing me more than this creature’ I thought as I blinked a few times to damp my dried eyes.

I waited for one minute, two minutes, five minutes. The bushes kept moving from time to time with some strange noises mixed with the sound of sticks getting broken. I looked at my dagger and decided to creep slowly and see what creature was that, from the looks of it, it can’t be big, otherwise I would have seen it from behind the bushes.

I steeled my heart and moved slowly from behind the tree, my dagger was secured tightly in my right hand while my left hand was holding a big leaf to use as a shield. Oh, come on, don’t laugh at me, I know it can’t shield anything at all, the best thing it can do is buy me a second if I suddenly throw it at the creature to make my run.

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I moved my feet slowly one step at a time while scanning the area around me for the best route if I needed to flee, or which tree was the best to climb if escaping was not an option.

Finally, I reached the bushes and sneaked my head over them to see the creature who gave me all this thrill. It has a black tall fur with glowing red eyes and a sharp and long golden horn, its claws are short and its ears are hanging long on both sides of its head.   

‘You fucking rabbit, you almost gave me a heart attack for nothing’ I shouted angrily in my head, I was angry and relieved at the same time, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a coward, but I still had no idea what this body of mine was capable of.

When I was a baby imp, I was like any other normal baby who hardly can walk and speak and with no strength at all. After I evolved, I had to run away before I could check anything, you can call me cautious, I need to know myself before I can throw myself into fights.

Seeing this black rabbit-like creature made me remember how hungry I was, so without delay, I pounced at it from behind the bush. The rabbit raised his ears suddenly and ran like the wind. I tried to follow it with my fastest running speed, but of course, it was futile. In only a few seconds the rabbit disappeared between the trees.

I stood there with twisted lips as I realized that I have a big problem, I have no idea how to hunt or make traps, I never hunted anything before, not even a chicken in a farm.

I walked for about two hours until I found a tree with some fruits similar to apples, I swallowed my saliva and climbed the tree, I positioned myself over a thick branch and decided to take some rest while eating. I ate three of them without worry because I remembered seeing some of them in my parents’ house, I hummed in content pleased with the sweet taste.

I stayed over the tree for about half an hour enjoying the cool breeze and the strange nature around me, I picked another three fruits and wrapped my scarf around them as much as possible, unfortunately, I can’t use the bedsheet because of the mushroom I smashed on it earlier, otherwise, I could have brought some more. I climbed down the lovely tree and started to walk again.

For the past a few hours I didn’t stop walking, though I didn’t cover a long distance because I kept my guard up all the time, I also was searching for a safe place to spend the night.

When the sun was about to set, I managed to find a big hole in an old tree which I can fit myself in, I collected a few branches and big leaves and arranged them to cover the hole’s entrance, in the hope of protecting myself from any searching eyes for their next prey.

The hole was relatively small, I could hardly stretch my legs but it was better than staying in the open, so I was just happy that I found it.

After I settled in the hole and covered the entrance, I ate two of the apple-like fruit while remembering what my mother told me yesterday. Every demon can see their stats after their first evolution which will happen automatically when they become one year old, and to see your stats you must say the magical word ‘status’, so I mumbled “Status.”