Early morning, when the starry sky no longer displayed its twinkling splendor, all I saw was pitch darkness. The stars were no longer visible, and thick clouds covered the night sky instead.

Luckily, maybe because I'm a fox now, I'm blessed with night vision, which allows me to see in the dark. It wasn't as clear as day, but I could still observe my surroundings even though everything seemed to be shrouded in darkness.

To start my journey of finding a habitable territory for humans, I plan to start my journey at the beginning of winter. After all, it was bound to be a long journey, considering that this place was the pole of the world. So just in case the trip is going to take more than a month, leaving early is important. I don't want my natural defense, winter, to disappear before I reach my goal. That's why I have to prepare from now on.

But even though I said I should be prepared, all I was preparing for was mental preparation.

Is that all? Isn't there anything else?

Of course. To begin with, I didn't have a bag. Do you wish I had an item box, spatial storage, or stomach storage? There's no way I'm going to have it.

If it's stomach storage, maybe I can have one, in a normal sense though. That's right, breakfast first before leaving. It is useful stomach storage and is very important before embarking on any journey. I don't want to start my journey on an empty stomach. Even though it was only a short start, later on, I was able to find my own food in the wild by hunting. And as for self-defense weapons, as I said, I'd be relying on waterways and snowfall as my natural weapons and protection. It was the maximum defense I could think of when combined with the magic techniques I had. Of course, I definitely don't want to get too involved in any fight. So I'll try to go the stealth route.

When I came out of the cave and looked up at the sky again, I saw several white dots falling while dancing in the air. One of them danced and spun until it finally fell on my nose. I stared at the snow slowly before finally returning to my thoughts.

In an environment that was still shrouded in darkness, I stepped out of the nest and ran down the mountain while the snow was dancing in the background.

In my plan, during this trip, I will follow the flow of the river as a guide. So, my first stop, which also serves as a departure point, is the lake that I usually visit. Because however, the lake has a small extension to the south, which results in the lake also acting as the headwaters of the river.

The lake was formed as a result of the melting of ice on top of the mountains, which then collected in a crater of the mountain and formed a beautiful blue lake. So, the north side of the lake is just towering ice cliffs, while the east, west, and south are tundra ecosystems, of which the south is land that drops slightly until it reaches flat land.

Every winter, the surface of the lake freezes too, creating a great place to skate, at least for me. But the surface of the lake that was visible when I finally arrived was still a calm surface with slight waves.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Regardless of the lake's condition, I continued to move and finally arrived at the head of the river.

What was in front of me was a wide stream of water that continued to head south. It is an extension of the lake, which is my guiding river. On either side of the river is the tundra ecosystem, which only has grass and shrubs without any woody plants. Instead, many boulders are protruding from the bowels of the earth, including in the river itself.

I'm currently standing on one of those rocks, which act as if to separate our family's white fox territory from the habitat of other creatures, such as the Arctic wolf. I've never met them and I don't know what the difference in position between us is in this world's food chain.

Unlike the other members of my family, I am the smallest and weakest of my two siblings. Well, it's also my own fault for being too restrictive or picky about food. In other words, I just pick up the boomerang I throw. So I, who still have a small body size and look weak, might be seen as something that can be preyed upon by other carnivores.

After getting back mentally prepared, for the first time, I stepped outside my comfort zone. Through the bushes that grew thickly on the bank of the river, I continued south following the course of the river.

I run at a medium speed, a speed that is not too fast to drain my energy, which is about 50 kilometers per hour. I'm pretty sure that my maximum speed could be around 80 kilometers per hour. But since I wanted to move stealthily, I imitated the behavior of rats in how they move in silence.

Mice move by paying attention to how they react to environmental conditions. If it's safe, the mouse will come out and if he hears the noise of another creature, he will quickly find a place to hide.

Mimicking the mouse, I also silently paid attention to the surroundings while silently moving through the bushes. Bushes don't cover me forever, so I have to be extra focused on paying attention to the environment around my three senses, hearing, sight, and smell. Fortunately, there is still a bonus about dark environmental conditions, so I can be more camouflaged in the dark.

After a few kilometers I noticed that the further south I went, the lighter the snow became.

Unlike up in the mountains, which had thick storm clouds, the further I headed south, the clouds gradually thinned and the snowfall became lighter.

Well, since it's still early in the season, it's only natural. Even though it reduces my defense, in this way my hunt for food will be easier with the fresh tundra ecosystem.

Like now, just as I was getting hungry, I saw a kind of rodent come out of its burrow and start walking towards the water. I, who is still quite far away and in a hidden state, certainly won't be noticed. So I took advantage of this opportunity to get closer and catch it.

And, *Snap*.

It's easy for me to take it and then kill it. After it died, I pulled it to a hidden place to prey on it. Not to forget, I also collect grass to serve as a base so my food doesn't touch the ground.

I always don't want to get my body dirty, so I usually go to the lake or melt some ice to take a bath. This time, during the trip, another reason I wanted to always be near a water source was also because of this. After all, water is known as the source of all needs. Glad that there is a water source around me.

But when I was soaking in the river, my ears caught the rustling sound of grass rubbing against each other from afar. The rustling sounds were also getting louder and louder as if they were moving and coming closer. And indeed, when I tried to focus my gaze on the source of the sound, I saw a slender black silhouette galloping toward me.

I immediately got out of the water, jumped over the river rocks, and landed on the other side of the river to make it easier for me to avoid the wolf coming from the opposite side.

Even though it was still far away, the wolf already looked big, much bigger than me. I don't want to sell the fight. So I want to run away at full speed, as fast as I can.

But when I saw how the wolf was chasing me, was it possible?