The inside of the cave was dark, but not to the point Faust couldn't see.
He followed a trail of blood across the rock floor. The air was heavy with a strong, foul, and bloody stench. Eventually, he found a small, bloodied cloth sack on the ground. He picked it up and handed it to his goblin—it could be useful.
Soon, he stumbled upon a puddle of blood… but no bodies in sight.
"So much blood…" Faust mumbled.
"Almost fresh blood," Red replied.
Faust nodded, quickening his pace. The bear could return sooner than expected.
Following the blood trail, he eventually reached a grotesque sight: a pile of meat. Human, goblin, beastman, and various animal remains were all lumped together. There were even other bears among the corpses. There were dozens of bodies at the very least. This bear wasn't a normal bear—that much was clear. Not even the massacre Faust had committed at the goblin camp came close to this scale.
Faust's eyes widened. His stomach churned, threatening to bring its contents back up. He stared at the mangled human remains. They felt different from the goblins—completely different. Thoughts began to invade his mind, his heart pounding faster, sweat forming on his skin.
"Don't," Red's voice echoed in his head.
Faust quickly turned away, slightly shaking his head. Humans were too much for now. Just that one glimpse made him reconsider his entire goal—revenge. He wasn't sure if he could kill another human. What if it was too hard? Even if it wasn't, they were humans. Killing your own kind was different.
Killing goblins or animals was survival. Killing a human was murder.
Faust was just a kid. He wasn't a murderer.
He took a few minutes to recompose himself. In the end, his hatred for those who destroyed his village and murdered his parents was too strong. He hardened his heart and mind. He had survived until now for that sole reason. He wouldn't waver because of a few dead bodies. Instead, he looked again.
"Reconsidering everything because of a few seconds… what great willpower I have…" he muttered, angry at himself for wavering so easily.
But doubt still lingered in his heart. When the moment came, would he be able to do it? If he wasn't, his whole revenge would fail before even starting.
After analyzing the bodies a bit more, he walked out of the cave. He had found what he came for: the bodies. The sheer number of corpses either meant all these creatures lived nearby or that the bear wandered far and wide. Faust hoped it was the first option.
The cave was smaller than the one he inhabited. Just a single path, not even going underground. Only a few dozen meters deep.
Faust returned to his nearby camp. No signs of the bear.
He decided to observe the cave a little longer. He was intrigued by this "alpha bear"—as he'd decided to call it. If he was able to subdue it, his battle power would surge tremendously. From what he could tell, the bear was probably at least twice as powerful as the black creature he killed before. The corpses were proof of that.
Killing that thing had already been a burden. Fighting an even stronger foe seemed impossible. But there was a key difference: Faust suspected the black monster could actually think—it wasn't an animal; its actions during their battle pointed to that. On the other hand, the bear was just that: an animal. Even though it was powerful, Faust had the edge in intellect.
If humans weren't smarter than animals, how could they have survived in such an unforgiving environment?
Humans were the primal creatures. The ones who could defy their limits and triumph in a land filled with powerful beings—animals and other races alike, like the Beast folk.
Night fell. From his camp, Faust watched the bear return to its cave, dragging a deer carcass in its mouth. The deer was missing a leg and its head.
"Is it stockpiling food? Looks like it, at least," Faust thought.
He waited until he was certain the bear was staying inside. He had already planted detonation runes around the camp, using rocks. If he were attacked, he could at least try to buy time.
Then he went to sleep.
***
Humanoid shadows surrounded him. Some were colossal—over ten meters tall. Others didn't even reach his waist.
Fiery red strands of hair fluttered in front of his eyes. He looked at his hands—stained with a dark and warm liquid. His body was severely wounded. His pale skin was drenched in blood.
"Hehehe… does progress scare you all so much?" These words came from Faust's mouth—yet the voice was not his. "Is it the act of moving forward that frightens you? Are you afraid that the new seeds will tear down the old trees? Fear not—it's already happened."
"I'm persecuted for what? Hunted for what? For following my goal, my life's dream! Even if you kill me now, it matters not. I'll have no regrets. Dying for a dream… isn't that what every man should aspire to? I'm simply a dreamer."
"Shut up, you crazy monster!" A voice roared from the shadows. "Don't act innocent; your so-called dream involved the deaths of hundreds of thousands! You are not a dreamer, just a murderer. You bathed in blood and soaked the earth with it. The gods want you dead. You cannot change that. You won't be able to escape either. Just surrender, and I might give you a peaceful end."
"Killing is the ultimate act of love, of generosity. I don't discriminate. I kill what needs to be killed. If reaching my goal… if attaining knowledge requires death, then so be it. Be it a human, an elf, or even a demon—what does it matter? We're all puppets of the gods! But unlike you, I tried to cut the strings. I may have lived as one, but to die as one when I can see the tether and hold the scissors? Ignorance is the shackle you all wear willingly. Mine is already broken."
"ENOUGH! ATTACK!"
A rough voice boomed amid the shadows.
They charged him—thousands of them.
Faust leapt into the air, standing upon it as though it were solid ground. From the air, the earth, and the void, thousands of rusty chains appeared—twisted in impossible colors. They attacked and bound the shadows.
Some shadows broke the chains. Others were dragged underground. Some were torn apart by the chains, their limbs ripped from their bodies.
A chorus of voices erupted—screams, cries, insults, and pleas for mercy. A sweet, citrusy scent filled the air. The wind turned icy, enough to make one shiver.
The sky darkened. The wind howled as if it were a wolf.
Faust stretched his arms outward—like a maestro at the peak of his performance. Like an artist admiring their masterpiece. Like a mother reaching to embrace her child.
***
Faust's eyes shot open.
He stood up and scanned the area. He'd heard something. Had the bear found him?
He looked into the dark, his eyes flicking around every point of what was visible to him. After a few seconds, he spotted a small white creature.
A rabbit.
Startled by Faust's gaze, it darted away. His heart calmed, and he sat back on his boar.
The dream had felt different from the others. It was vivid. He could almost feel himself as the one in it. It had been a while since he'd had these dreams. He thought they'd stopped.
"These dreams…" he muttered. "Red was probably an interesting person."
Faust had already assumed these were fragments of Red's life, maybe his memories. He had some theories about what Red was, but none were concrete. He knew Red had red hair, pale skin, was male, and quite powerful. He'd tried to ask Red directly before—always ignored.
He went back to sleep. No more dreams came that night.
By morning, he watched the cave. The bear sniffed the entrance and left, presumably to hunt.
"What kind of traps would work against it?" Faust mumbled. "Explosions, maybe. But with the limited time I can spend inside the cave, it would take too long. Especially if I assume only full-powered runes will be effective—that means just two per day."
"Poison could work… but I don't know any. Fighting it directly? No. Definitely not. Maybe use the boar as bait, then lure it somewhere with a lot of runes? That would be easier to set up than inside the cave… but the boar would probably die."
His mind raced with ideas. His goal had temporarily shifted. This bear would be a great ally to traverse the forest, and in battle it would become his main force.
He set up more runes around the camp in case he needed to lure the bear. He didn't want to lose time.
As he finished the last one, he heard Red's voice.
"I could teach poison."
Faust instantly agreed. That was extremely useful right now; it could make all the difference.
"Loctus. Petulia. Ash seeds."
"Midnight flower. Olintia…"
Red spent quite some time naming and describing herbs, flowers, and seeds. Faust listened carefully, taking note of the easier ones to find, according to Red.
Then he left the camp, along with his boar and goblin, and began searching for them.