Glancing up at the bird Zaro smiled before responding, "Yeah... you're lucky you get to travel this easily around the forest..."

"It's a curse in disguise... I cannot land anywhere as my wings are not suited for traveling between trees," Sevilus sighed.

"Why were you there in the first place?"

"In the search for food, of course, the plains far from here are too dangerous for me to handle and I don't control most of the airs.p.a.ce even though I am amber-ranked. Once I evolve into an emerald... perhaps then I could compete with the other territories."

"Well, when I get stronger I'll let you hunt in my lands!" Zaro exclaimed proudly.

"You have no clue how strong the creatures are further inside the forest... we are almost here, prepare for landing."

This was very startling, Zaro couldn't even imagine how strong beasts could get! Sevilus' words were almost threatening him not to go deeper than he was. Understanding his sentiment, Zaro nodded his head and didn't speak anymore as Sevilus dropped him down.

"Thank you for the escape! I hope we can meet once again..." Sevilus winked before taking off back into the skies.

Zaro followed him with his eyes and screamed with excitement, this world was truly amazing! Also, he had gained a valuable ally which could potentially help him in the future.

After finis.h.i.+ng his little moment of happiness, Zaro decided to continue to hunt, although it was getting repet.i.tive it was an important task as he had to become stronger. With that in mind, he decided to search the terrain for any more rabbit holes as they were huge sources of experience!

Thus an hour pa.s.sed and he was snooping the ground constantly, he hadn't discovered any holes but instead, he came across a plant which was slightly hidden under the dense shrubbery. Zaro never paid attention to the various plants even though he had seen so many of them, as the meat was much more appetizing.

Yet due to his ever going curiosity, he decided to give vegetarianism a try... the plant was lime green in color and glowed slightly. It seemed like a regular green plant but Zaro could detect a lot of essence coming from it.

He used his paws to clear the area around it before using his front teeth to pluck the plant from the ground revealing a glowing white carrot-shaped plant. It had essence orbs floating from it once it was plucked and Zaro knew it was the essence escaping from the plant so he immediately ate it.

When he ate it he felt his organs being cleansed by the carrot-shaped plant! It felt like a wave of water traveling through his insides and improving the qualities of all of his organs. Suddenly, the plant began to transform into a gas inside his stomach causing his 'unawoken' core to expand and his throat was being cleaned out.

"This is amazing!" he shouted in disbelief.

Turned out that plants are used for improving one's health and increasing the strength of other things which can't be exercised through physical activity. He then realized how herbivorous animals became stronger in the forest and why their flesh tasted so good!

This was truly groundbreaking, so, while he sniffed around for rabbit holes, he also paid attention to any plants which seemed edible. In a short while, he found another plant of the same time! Then shortly after, another one!

Ecstatic with his fruitful venture in the forest, he casually strolled in the forest and lost his concentration which led him straight into a trap! The plants were mere treats leading to his eventual doom as he dropped straight into a pit underground!

His body slammed against the ground but luckily he was mostly uninjured and picked himself up, however, when he opened his eyes he couldn't believe the beauty of the cave he was in!

It was like a scene straight from a cartoon! The vines leading upwards had small fruit on them which lit up the entire cave, there was a small pond nearby and a tunnel leading further underground.

As he strolled forward, he couldn't help but be distracted by the several flowers and plants that were inside the cave. When he got closer to the pond, he could feel a large amount of energy being emitted from it! Eager to consume all of the treasures inside the cave, he suddenly felt a life-threatening presence emerging behind him.

Turning slowly his jaw dropped when he saw a large bird rise from behind a boulder with one wing stretching out while the other seemed to have been torn off. The bird was covered in scars and a half revealed emerald core was sticking out of its chest!

"Ss-sorry if I-I intruded into your cave..." Zaro mumbled with fear. A few seconds of silence pa.s.sed and then the bird lifted its head and screeched extremely loudly causing Zaro's ears to curl up, as a result, if not for the plants he had eaten, he would've lost his hearing for sure!

After the head-wrecking screech, the bird stared straight at Zaro which was currently having a mental breakdown.

"You." the bird spoke in an extremely low but demanding voice.

"Y-yes?" Zaro lifted his head as his heart raced extremely rapidly.

"Die for me."

Zaro gulped before speaking, "Of course..." he moved his body slowly towards the pond as if he was going to drown himself before bolting as fast as lightning towards the tunnel.

"s.h.i.+t, s.h.i.+t, s.h.i.+t, s.h.i.+t, s.h.i.+t!" he was running as if he was going to lose not only his life but his soul and his entire existence in the world! After running for so long, jumping rocks and stalagmites he suddenly stopped because he didn't hear the bird chasing him.

He crept back slowly and used his smell to sense the bird then suddenly a loud clank was heard as the bird's talons smashed against the rock and it started moving rapidly towards Zaro.

Zaro let out a nervous screech and then dashed forward once again as the bird chased him angrily. He could hear the bird smas.h.i.+ng through walls of the cave as it only had one wing and the sound of rocks getting crushed only terrified Zaro even more!

"When does this Cave end! Oh s.h.i.+t, it's a cave! Don't end, don't end, please!" he began sulking.

Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared as he traveled deeper in the cave and he was surprised to see daylight s.h.i.+ning straight down at a bunch of corpses! As he approached the light, looking up, he saw his only chance of escaping! A vertical tunnel leading straight down to death!

Using his claws, he scaled up the vertical tunnel without a second thought and appeared inside a tree trunk!? He flipped to his side and began exhaling heavily, he had just escaped death, by a creature that only had an emerald core!

After he calmed down, he opened his eyes only to see a human! No, a fairy?!

"Quiet down little pup... the Forest War Hawk won't hurt you anymore."

Zaro was silent, his jaw dropped as he stared blankly at the fairy.

"Where... am... I?"