[Author's Note: Dear Readers, Hope you are all doing well and living sound.
I am considering leaving my time as a Author and focusing fully on my current job, Or Changing jobs?
So, I am sorry; but i maybe write some chapters late, in future?
Well, I am quite nervous as i don't know if i will continue writing it in future but...
Anyways, thanks for reading and i hope to continue this journey while also improving my skills.]
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The atmosphere at the Bug River assembly thickened; it curdled with unmistakable soreness.
The air, once filled with the proud banners of noble clans, was now saturated with a radiant, shivering despair.
The weak tribes—the deer, the rabbits, the smaller bird-kin—seemed to shrink as the "Predators" among them stopped pretending to be civilized.
The noble "warriors" began to growl, their pupils dilating as they looked at their neighbors not as competitors, but as meat.
The strange, colorful bird-host descended from the sky once more, its red crown pulsing with a sickly light.
"The sand has run out," the bird spoke, its voice dripping with a cruel, mocking amusement.
"To those who have secured an Origin Comprehension Realm partner: you may enter the secured boundary of the Bug River immediately.
You have proven you have the strength to hunt."
The bird paused, a twisted smirk forming on its beak.
"And for those who failed to meet this simple requirement... you are the first failures of this competition.
As this was explained, the jungle has no room for the weak.
You are not hunters.
You are the feast.
Which everyone else—you are permitted to eat."
The silence that followed lasted only a heartbeat.
Then, the world turned into a slaughterhouse.
"ROAR!"
A massive lion from the Golden Lion Clan—a being whose fur shimmered with the blinding light of the Origin—lunged forward.
With a single, bone-crushing snap of his jaws, he swallowed a fleeing deer-kin whole.
Blood sprayed across the white stone of the assembly ground, turning the "regal" setting into a soup of deep, dark red.
Nearby, a Sky Tiger moved like a blur of orange and black.
It didn't roar; instead it simply harvested.
With a single swipe of its claws, it disemboweled a giant rabbit, its eyes already scanning the crowd for its next target.
The air was filled with the sound of snapping bone, the wet tearing of flesh, and the high-pitched screams of those who realized they had walked into a trap.
"How vulgar," Vanessa whispered.
She stood at the edge of the carnage, her Cerulean robe untouched by the spray of blood.
She didn't look disgusted; she looked bored, as if watching a group of children fight over a scrap of bread.
Behind her, Dreleon stood like a shadow, his hand on his hilt, his "Void" perception tracking every predator that dared to look toward their unit.
Vanessa didn't join the feast.
Instead, she began to walk.
She moved through the chaos toward a corner where an elderly deer-kin was shielding his fawns with his own body.
His antlers were cracked, and his eyes were wide with a sorrow that went back generations.
"I can save your clan," Vanessa spoke, her voice calm and clear over the screams.
"But only if you are ready to participate in this hunt under my banner."
The old deer looked at her for a moment, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
He looked at the Golden Lion currently tearing his brother apart, then back at the cold, beautiful Princess.
"We spoke of this before, Princess," the elder sighed, a sound like dry leaves.
"At the time, I thought there was no way the Predators would dare eat us so openly. I forgot what the jungle actually is." He paused, looking at his shivering people.
"If I must sacrifice my freedom to save their lives... then so be it. I accept."
Vanessa didn't waste a second.
"Dreleon. Bring them into the perimeter. Secure their consent, and move to the next." she said, signing towards deer kin still being harvested.
Dreleon moved with the efficiency of a machine.
He didn't use his blade; instead he just used his presence.
He stepped between a snarling wolf-kin and a group of Deer-kin.
"Move," Dreleon said, his golden eyes flashing with a weight that made the wolf's instinct scream 'Danger.'
One by one, the "prey" tribes—the Water Fairies, the Single-Horned Rabbits, and the Deer-kin—rallied behind Vanessa.
To the other predators, it looked like she was gathering trash.
But they didn't see the clever behind.
By "saving" them, she had gained their absolute loyalty.
And more importantly, she had gained their Origin users.
Within the span of a few minutes, Vanessa's team had transformed.
They were no longer a small escort; they were a legion.
With the Sky Snare Crane hovering above and the elders of the Deer and Fairy tribes joining their ranks, they now possessed four powerhouses of the Origin Comprehension Realm.
The other Predators, who had been growing hostile as their "snacks" were snatched away, suddenly froze.
They looked at the four massive auras radiating from Vanessa's position.
The greed in their eyes was replaced by a cold, sharp fear.
They began to back away, creating a wide circle of empty space around the Princess.
"Now," Vanessa said, looking at the whirlpool forming in the Bug River.
"Let's depart."
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[Author's Note: Can anybody comment and tell me how was the journey till now?
Nothing much, just my curiosity to see a reader or say...
Someone reading something I made not expecting anything in return.
This type of thing is different, it's a feeling like you were just interested in a pebble on floor not knowing it was called Gold.]