“You dare glare at me?!”

Hiten tightened the hold on my neck. My ears twitched, betraying the panic I tried to hide. Damn, I had to learn to keep these reactions in check, lest my head would come flying someday.

“Gahk. Al—guh—Alright. I can—ahk—I can’t speak! Pain!”

“Yes, you’re in pain. And more will come unless you start speaking.”

Can’t … breathe … curse this brute!

That was just irrational, ordering me to speak while slowly removing my means to do so. Up till now, I have only witnessed pantherians as they do battle and how they try to survive, but I guess I lacked information on how they deal with other things outside of battle, especially on how they handle those who they consider as inferior species.

But, well, Hiten suspecting me and doing something like this was well within my expectations.

Pointing my finger behind Hiten, I triggered one of the most basic instincts of beasts and monsters— “fear for the strong.”

“Va—ughhk, Vine!”

“What?!”

The grasp was instantly removed and Hiten, turning back, went into battle mode again. The stripes on its body started to faintly glow, raring to go berserk again. That’s just how much trauma the situation earlier brought—a successful provocation of a beast following the law of the Forest.

“Grrrr. Why you—”

But of course, there was no vine in that direction. Mustering what little bravery I had left and stopping the urge to run away, I inhaled as much air as I could and firmly said the words that would save me.

“I know how to defeat that vine monster!”

For a moment there, Hiten did not utter a word. But the blaze in its eyes and the faint glow of the stripes on its body tells me that I am not safe yet.

Where is it?! I thought about following up on my plan, but it was then that Hiten finally spoke.

“You think I’ll let you fool me twice?”

I managed to get a glimpse of how fast Hiten’s hand moved and how it moved to claw my head off. Following through with my plan, I shouted again.

“It’s my blood!”

I closed my eyes while saying those words. Even though I had predicted a high chance that Hiten wouldn’t kill me after hearing what I said, I could not remove the fear that, on the off-chance, the pantherian’s hand would still follow through with the murder.

At the same time, when all is quiet again, I opened my eyes and one of Hiten’s claws was just right above the skin on my neck. I looked at Hiten’s face and still saw the same look given me earlier. There is still that condescending look for the weak. Fortunately, I was able to control my facial expression this time, and with death avoided, I spoke again.

“My blood can kill the monster. I will prove it to you by jumping off the river.”

There was a change in Hiten’s eyes. For a moment, it grew, then it went back to normal again. Even though Hiten tried to hide it, there was shock evident on its face, even for a short time. This gave me the confidence that I got through to this pantherian, and true to my predictions,

“Do it.”

I won’t die by just jumping off the river. Although I had never experienced it, the books mentioned that Ratussians are adept at swimming, since some of our kind live near swamps or muddy waters. Generally, we Ratussians can live anywhere as long as we remain hidden from our many predators.

But that is not what I want, I needed something more valuable than not dying today.

“I will do it, but you have to answer two of my questions.”

“Heh. You think I can’t just rip you off and use it against that monster?”

“But do you know how to use my blood? You think you can just spray it and the monster will die?”

“Guh.” Hiten was struck with that statement, most likely this pantherian raised my value now because of that idea.

I’m not sure how intelligent pantherians are, but it seems Hiten is not much of a thinker. This would make things easier for me as long as the cards are played right.

“Do not worry, my questions do not involve you or any of your species. I will just be asking the location of two things; you just need to tell me where to go.”

Then I saw Hiten make a smirk, I don’t know if it’s supposed to be hidden but Hiten’s face immediately returned to normal afterwards.

Ah, I see. Most likely, Hiten was trying to outwit me, thinking that after I tell how to kill the monster, I’d be useless, and my blood would be taken. It is likely Hiten thought of this idea after hearing that I will be leaving the premises after teaching the method of murder.

What a wonderfully easy fellow.

“Where do you want to go?”

“How would I know that you are telling the truth? I know your disposition; you can just lead me somewhere and kill me there.”

“And how would you know you’ll still live even if I let you go? If you’re smart enough to make a deal with a pantherian, you should know how this Forest is a like a monster itself, no matter where you go, you would die.”

“I have my ways.” You don’t need to know something when you’re going to die anyway.

“Ways, huh. You are quite interesting for a Ratussian, you’re supposed to be just crawling from the swamps and bogs, yet you’re a beast that has clothes, and you can talk straight. Others like you are just food and slaves to us, you know?”

The shaming was so intense that I had to inhale deeply to control myself—my mouth, my expressions—from revealing the emotions boiling inside me. Reminding myself of the victorious outcome of this plan, I continued to entertain this idiot.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“So, how would I know if you’re telling the truth?”

“Hah. Alright, I will swear on my Signus that I will be telling the truth.”

Just as I was trying to remember the familiar word, Hiten ripped the skin on the left part of its chest. It was a surprise how Hiten did not even flinch at tearing its own flesh, you can see the layer of raw muscle from the spot while blood instantly poured out of the incredible wound.

Ah. I remember now, so that’s a Signus.

[ Signus. A symbol of dominance or leadership on all major tribes inside the Forest Macabre. It is a tradition to etch a symbol on the body of the tribe’s chief, in respect to the Origin Beast that is worshipped as a god and believed to have created the Forest. The Signus are different for each tribe in different aspects; like the method of etching, the material used, and the appearance of the Signus itself. The Signus, as it acts as a symbol to the connection of the Forest and its inhabitants, holds an extremely high value and can be used in agreements and pacts.]

After the skin was ripped off, Hiten showed it in front of me and a symbol suddenly emerged from it. The symbol had two long and thin inverted triangles standing parallel to each other, each having a vivid color of red.

“This is the Signus of my Crimson Fang tribe, as the chief of the tribe, it is in our tradition and pride that oaths done in using the Signus as the symbol of witness are irrevocable and inviolable.”

Oho, he was a male. I remember from the books that the Crimson Fang only designates males as chiefs, I pondered through the question of Hiten’s gender earlier because male and female pantherians only have small differences. The books said that their differences lie in their strength and temperament, and that did not help me since there was no situation usable for comparison.

“With this, I am making an oath to you that I will be telling the truth to those questions as long as it is within my knowledge and capabilities. Weakling, I hope you understand the gravity of this and not be thinking of underestimating the value of the Signus.”

“Do not worry, just by the fact that you tore your own flesh, I already took this seriously.”

And Hiten handed me the Signus. At that point, I’m not too sure whether I would be grateful or grossed out because this is the first time I encountered this kind of custom. Yet just by touching the skin and looking at the symbol, I began to understand what it truly means to have something to take pride on. This seemingly useless piece of skin emanates a sense of life force that is honed and polished by years of tradition and belief.

What if Ratussians have something like this?

I was distracted for a moment. It was until Hiten talked to me that I was snapped back to the current situation.

“Oy weakling, I already swore an oath, don’t waste my time any further.”

“I understand. Where should I go in order for me to reach the Scarlet Rose and the Engraved Sanctuary.”

Hiten’s eyes narrowed further, it was understandable as the locations that I needed are not common. In fact, the Engraved Sanctuary up until now is not believed to be real. But I need those locations in order to improve my chances of survival and development, lest I were to proceed with my revenge.

“Those are quite interesting places you want to go, weakling. And I guess you won’t be answering me if I ask why.

The Scarlet Rose can be reached if you travel alongside the Hallowed River and turn left once you encounter a group of roots blocking your way. From there you just have to proceed straight until you see thick fog, that is the general territory of the Scarlet Rose.

For the Engraved Sanctuary, the only direction that I can give to you is to go East from here. There are many illusionary defenses set by the guardians of the sanctuary that its technically impossible to find its exact position, and that goes even for a native tribe chief like me. It will be up to your luck if you try to find it.”

Those instructions were sufficient enough. All I need to do now is to create a plan once I get to those places.

Since I got all of the things I need, it’s time to wrap up my plan.

“I understand. Thank you for those directions, now I will do my part of the deal, please listen and watch carefully.”

I tried to look as sincere as possible there, but I guess it was not effective since the look of Hiten didn’t change from that of suspicion and disdain. I guess it doesn’t matter, it was not as if it will have an effect on what will happen next.

I kept the Signus with me and turned around. After walking a few steps,

“I hope you’re not thinking of escaping, especially with my Signus with you.”

I stopped and faced Hiten again, there is now a considerable distance between us. So far, everything is going smoothly according to plan.

Now, I just need to stall for time.

“Please, I am not dumb enough to try outrunning a pantherian.”

I smiled. This time, intentionally. It’s because I can somehow sense it, the movement of my greatest weapon right now. I can hear the bubbles of the water, and unlike earlier, the feeling that I have was not of fear, but of relief and satisfaction. It is a first ever since I got in the Forest that I am happy for a situation that I am in.

I then cut my finger and let my blood flow. I was used to this right now that it was not painful anymore and I have also adjusted to the effects of blood loss. But what’s more entertaining right now was the expression that Hiten is showing.

“You, that blood. ITS THAT FORSAKEN BLOOD!”

The seething anger on his face was priceless. What was more satisfying was the fact that even though he wanted to kill me, he couldn’t because he remembered the experience of being exposed to this blood. At this point, his anger wasn’t really about discovering the culprit, but about the fact that there was nothing he could do. The next words that he uttered were so heavy, I think even that Giden would be intimidated.

“I swear to the Origin Beast, I will kill you, and I will be killing you in the most brutal way. You dare do a sacrilege to an oath with my Signus! Be sure to prepare your last words, weakling!”

“Not unless you die first.” I was brimming with confidence as I said those words.

His anger visibly faded and replaced with a smirk. He let out a snort at the confidence displayed to him.

“Hahahahaha, and how would I die? Don’t tell me you will be the one to kill me?”

And the weapon that I was waiting for erupted from the waters. Just like earlier, multiple vines immediately attacked Hiten from all angles. Of course, I held onto the cloth that I have for my safety, even though I’m pretty sure this monster already knows that it should avoid me, I won’t take my chances.

Hiten, on the other hand, was experiencing the same thing that Giden did before. Just by looking at the fight, Hiten was obviously on the losing side. Against those rapid, weighty attacks, it was really hard to stand your ground, even for a pantherian chief.

Honestly, the best strategic action here was to leave right away and ensure no risk of getting dragged to a meaningless fight. But the reason I hadn’t done so was just to see his face as he got dragged down into the river. I wanted to see the face of the “strong” at its weakest. How they will look once faced by reality that they were outdone by a “weakling.” I need to see that look.

However,

Why is he not activating his berserk?

I noticed this during the fight, and it somehow ignited my curiosity. Why is Hiten not using his berserk? Is there something like a limit to how many times it can be used? Or is it using something up from within the body? Wouldn’t it work if it got exhausted? This information may be valuable if I had to deal with another tribe of pantherians and other beasts that can do berserk.

Questions like these started to pile up again, and before I could even think of a plan to extract information—

“GRRRROOOOOAAAAAARRRR!! IF I DIE HERE, I WILL MAKE SURE YOU JOIN ME, YOU CURSED RATUSSIAN!”

And there it was, the berserk state of Hiten. Yet, something seems amiss, the stripe’s glow was not as shining as before, and instead of blazing eyes, Hiten’s were something akin to someone unconscious, with only white as its color.

Hiten then started to run toward me. Yet even before taking two steps, he stopped. No, it was just like Giden—he was stopped. The vines that were attacking him was able to get past his defense and stabbed through his body. This time, though, there was only one vine. It pierced through the part where the Signus was torn apart.

There were so many questions from that last scene; was the strike alone in that part of Hiten’s body enough to kill him? Was it a weakness? Why was the berserk different? Or was it really berserk?

Before I could even sort out the questions, there was a looming feeling inside me while the vines started reeling in Hiten.

I was disappointed.

The expression I had been waiting for did not appear.

Instead, a look of fierceness and determination was all I saw.

There was no helplessness, no fear, no defeat.

I was not victorious.