*Chapter 10 — The Hunter in the Sky*
Arin did not move. He remained beside the wolf's corpse, staring at the dark forest ahead.
His body was exhausted. His side still hurt. His palms were torn open. His injured leg throbbed with every heartbeat. And the aftereffects of Bloodthirsty still lingered in his mind.
The killing instinct had faded, but not completely. It was like an animal sleeping somewhere inside him. Waiting.
Arin closed his eyes and took several slow breaths. Only after his thoughts became clear did he open his status panel.
*Rank:* Awakened
*Strength:* 25
*Vitality:* 27
*Agility:* 17
*Spirit:* 17
Arin stared at the numbers. This was his stats after absorbing the second wolf.
His lips curled into a tired smile. He had improved. But looking at his battered body, those numbers didn't feel like much.
Two battles. Two victories. And he was already beginning to understand the price of growth in this place.
_If every increase is going to cost this much..._ His gaze moved deeper into the forest. _Then I need to become smarter._
Strength alone wouldn't save him. Speed alone wouldn't save him. Even his Unique Spiritual Trait wasn't enough. If he wanted to survive, he had to learn how to use everything he possessed.
Arin stood. He took one step. Then another.
A sharp breeze passed through the forest. Arin stopped. Something was wrong. The leaves above him were moving. But there was no wind.
His eyes slowly lifted. Nothing. Sanguine Sense spread outward.
Blood qi. Something was there. Above him. Very high.
Arin's pupils contracted. He jumped.
BOOM! A black blur crashed into the ground where he had been standing. The impact shattered the soil.
Arin landed several meters away and immediately raised his guard.
A bird stood in the crater. No. A beast. It looked like a hawk, though it was much larger than any hawk Arin remembered from Earth. Its body was roughly the size of a large goat. Its feathers were dark brown, almost black. Its talons dug into the earth. Its eyes stared directly at him.
Arin felt its blood qi. Dense. Very dense. But its spiritual aura was only that of an Early Awakened beast.
Another physical monster.
The hawk suddenly spread its wings. Arin's expression hardened. "What's your trait?" As he had guessed, almost all the exotic beasts inside this mysterious realm had traits, and it was said to be rare in the outside world.
The beast answered. Not with words. With wind.
BOOM! A violent gust exploded from beneath its wings. Arin was thrown backward. He twisted in midair and grabbed a tree branch. The wind ripped several leaves from the surrounding trees.
Arin looked at the leaves. They weren't falling. They were spinning. Then— One cut through a nearby branch. The thick branch fell.
Arin's face became serious. _Black Wind._ The beast wasn't simply producing strong air currents. It was turning the wind itself into a weapon.
The hawk launched itself into the air. Arin looked up. The creature disappeared into the canopy. His heartbeat quickened.
Sanguine Sense. He searched. Blood qi moved above him. Fast. Very fast.
Arin suddenly jumped sideways. A black streak passed where his head had been. The hawk's talon scraped across his shoulder. Blood sprayed.
Arin landed badly. The hawk climbed back into the sky. _Too fast._ He couldn't keep watching it with his eyes. He had to predict it.
Arin lowered his stance. The hawk circled. He waited. Nothing. Then his Sanguine Sense picked up movement.
Behind. Arin turned. Too late.
The hawk's wing struck his chest. BANG! Arin flew backward. He hit the ground hard enough to crack it. His vision shook.
Before he could recover, the hawk released another blast of black wind. Arin rolled desperately. The wind tore through the ground beside him. Dust and broken leaves exploded into the air.
Arin coughed. _I can't fight this thing in the open._ The hawk had complete control of the sky. Every attack came from an angle he couldn't comfortably defend. And whenever he tried to approach, it simply flew away.
Arin looked around. Trees. Branches. Dense foliage. His eyes narrowed. _Then I'll take away its sky._
He ran. The hawk followed. Arin jumped onto a tree. The beast descended. Arin immediately jumped to another. Then another. He moved deeper between the trees.
The hawk's attacks became more difficult. Its wings couldn't spread fully between the trunks. Its speed dropped.
Arin waited. The hawk swooped. Arin ducked. Its talons missed. He grabbed its leg.
The impact nearly ripped his shoulder apart. "Got you!" Arin pulled. The hawk screeched. Its wings beat violently. A burst of black wind exploded between them.
Arin was thrown backward. His grip broke. He slammed against a tree.
The hawk turned in the air. Its eyes locked onto him. Arin saw it coming. He didn't move. He waited. Closer. Closer.
The hawk opened its talons. _Now._ Arin jumped upward. The talons passed beneath him. He twisted in the air and grabbed one of the hawk's wings.
The creature screamed. Arin's body was dragged through the air. The ground disappeared beneath him. For a moment, he was hanging from the beast. Then the hawk slammed him into a tree.
CRACK! Pain shot through his ribs. His fingers almost released. Arin held on.
The hawk rose again. Arin was dragged higher. _If I fall from here..._ He looked down. The forest floor was far below. _I'll die._
The hawk twisted. Arin's body swung outward. He almost lost his grip. One hand remained. The hawk beat its wings. Black wind gathered.
Arin knew what was coming. He couldn't survive another direct blast. His mind raced. Then he remembered something. The blood in the hawk's body.
Arin focused. His Sanguine Sense penetrated its body. The creature's blood qi was moving rapidly. He couldn't control it. Not fully. But he could interfere.
Arin forced a tiny amount of blood inside one wing to clot. The hawk's wing faltered. Its flight became unstable. They dropped.
Arin released the wing. He fell. The hawk recovered. Arin didn't.
He slammed into a thick branch. CRACK! His body bounced off it before crashing onto the ground.
For several seconds, he couldn't breathe. The hawk descended. Arin slowly opened his eyes. The beast was coming to finish him.
His body screamed at him to move. He couldn't. His fingers twitched. _Move._ Nothing.
The hawk drew closer. Arin gritted his teeth. His blood began to burn. Crimson energy spread through his veins. His heartbeat became violent.
Bloodthirsty.
Power surged through his body. Arin shot upward. The hawk's talon missed his face by inches. Arin grabbed its leg. He pulled with everything he had.
The hawk crashed into the ground. Arin landed on top of it. The beast immediately released black wind. Arin's skin tore. Blood sprayed from his arms. But he held on.
The killing instinct flooded his mind. _Kill._
Arin's fist descended. Bang! The hawk's beak cracked. It struck him with its wing. Arin nearly fell. He grabbed its neck. Another punch. Bang! The hawk screamed.
Another. Bang! Its movements became weaker. Arin's vision turned red. His thoughts began disappearing. The beast beneath him no longer looked like a creature. It looked like prey. Something to tear apart.
Arin raised his fist again. Then stopped. His arm trembled. _Enough._ He remembered what happened with the wolf. He couldn't allow Bloodthirsty to take control again.
He forced the crimson energy down.
The hawk suddenly moved. Its talon pierced his abdomen. Arin froze. Blood poured from the wound. The pain snapped him back into reality.
"YOU—!" He grabbed the talon. The hawk tried to pull away. Arin clenched his teeth. He couldn't keep fighting. Not like this.
He reached toward the blood flowing from his wound. Then toward the blood inside the hawk. His Spiritual Trait connected the two.
For a brief moment— Arin felt the creature's blood. Its fear. Its exhaustion. Its heartbeat. He forced the blood inside its throat to clot.
The hawk's struggle weakened. Arin drove his fist into its skull. Once. Twice. A third time.
The beast finally stopped moving. Arin collapsed beside it. He stared at the sky. His chest rose and fell violently. His hands were shaking.
"I almost..." He swallowed. "...lost myself again."
Arin turned his head toward the hawk. He activated Blood Devour. The beast's blood qi began flowing into him. His wounds slowly stabilized. His exhausted muscles regained some strength.
But this time, he didn't enjoy the feeling. Every victory was teaching him something. And every lesson hurt.
After several minutes, he opened his status.
*Strength:* 26
*Vitality:* 28
*Agility:* 19
*Spirit:* 18
Arin stared at it. Another increase. He looked at the dead hawk. "One more."
He pushed himself to his feet. The forest was getting darker. Night was coming. He needed shelter. Immediately.
Arin moved deeper into the forest. He didn't travel far. Something caught his attention. A scent. Blood. But not fresh blood. Old blood.
Arin followed it carefully. He eventually found a small mountain. At its base lay a dead serpent. A mamba. Its body was dark and thick. There was one wound. A clean cut across its throat.
Arin stopped. His instincts screamed. _That wound was too clean._ He looked around. No tracks. No struggle. No broken branches. Nothing.
Whatever had killed the mamba hadn't fought it. It had simply killed it.
Arin crouched. His Sanguine Sense spread outward. Nothing. No nearby blood qi. No beast. No movement.
He waited. Five minutes. Ten. Twenty. Nothing.
Only then did Arin approach the corpse. He touched it. Cold. Dead for a while. His eyes narrowed.
_Something in this forest is stronger than the beasts I've been fighting._ He didn't know what. And he wasn't interested in finding out. Not yet.
Arin activated Blood Devour. The mamba's remaining blood qi entered his body. His stats rose again.
*Strength:* 28
*Vitality:* 30
*Agility:* 18
*Spirit:* 17
Arin looked at the numbers. His Agility and Spirit had actually dropped slightly compared with the previous increase. He frowned.
_So Blood Devour doesn't simply make everything rise. The beast's strengths influenced what he gained._ It wasn't free power. It was assimilation.
_What I consume... becomes part of me._
Arin looked at the dead mamba. Then at the dark forest. He needed somewhere to sleep. Somewhere defensible.
He eventually found a shallow cave higher up the mountain. He checked it carefully. No blood qi. No scent of another beast. Only darkness and cold stone.
Arin entered. He sat against the wall. His body finally began to relax. He pulled out the remaining food he had managed to carry from the ruined village. It wasn't much. He ate slowly.
For the first time since arriving in the Mysterious Realm, he had enough peace to think. The necklace rested against his chest. Clear. Cracked. Almost completely drained.
Arin touched it. "You brought me here." His eyes narrowed. "So what exactly are you expecting me to find?"
The necklace gave no answer. Only silence.
Outside the cave, the forest grew darker. And somewhere far away... something moved through the trees.
Arin didn't know it yet. But the mysterious creature that had killed the mamba was only the beginning.