The forest was devoid of sound as Nova traveled deeper and deeper until, at last, a vast clearing came into view, with a large rock standing in the middle of it.

Nova stopped in place and stared at the sight before him, muttering to himself, "Is this what's in the middle of the forest?"

His eyes swept the clearing once, then twice, before he slowly began walking toward the rock.

'I came here to find the bloodstripe, but it's nowhere to be found. Did Letto give me the right location?' Nova thought as he drew within fifty meters of the rock, his vigilance sharpening the closer he got.

At that moment, he noticed what looked like the tip of a tail hidden at the rock's base. He froze, his heart pounding. 'Have I found it?'

He resumed walking, this time even slower than before. When he reached the twenty-meter mark, the tail twitched.

Tension surged through Nova. His body went rigid, his breathing slowing to a crawl. He didn't know why, but deep down he felt he had to be cautious with this tiger.

Moments later, the tail grew still, and Nova pressed forward again, entering the ten-meter mark, only for the tail to suddenly shoot up.

'It must've heard me,' he thought, watching intently.

From the other side of the rock, a head slowly emerged, followed soon after by the rest of its body.

Staring at it, Nova couldn't help but think, 'I made the right choice leaving Letto outside.' His body trembled slightly, yet his lips curved into a faint arc.

The tiger was only a little smaller than the bear, but its blood-red fur and the menacing look in its eyes were enough to make anyone shiver at the sight. Its tail whipped rhythmically against the ground, leaving dents with each strike, accompanied by the sharp whooshing of air being sliced apart.

When its pitch-black eyes locked onto Nova, his body went cold as a shiver ran down his spine.

'I need to get out of here. Even if it means temporarily giving up on the bone tempering liquid, I'm still too weak to deal with this,' he thought, slowly backpedaling, trying not to provoke the bloodstripe. But it was already too late.

The bloodstripe, after staring long enough, released a deep, powerful roar that shook the Central Forest. Every creature within it trembled in fear and prostrated to the ground.

Even Letto, waiting outside the forest, heard the muffled sound. He looked around in alarm, wondering if he had just imagined it.

Nova's eardrums rang violently, his steps faltering for a moment, but he steadied himself and continued retreating. 'Shit, how strong is this beast? Even if my Aura were at stage three, I doubt I could take this on, he thought, panic rising.'

When he finally felt he had put enough distance between himself and the tiger to make a run for it, he didn't hesitate. Pushing himself to his limit, Nova turned and sprinted away.

The sudden movement made the bloodstripe growl. Its paws struck the ground with a thunderous boom as it lunged forward, instantly closing the gap to Nova, who was already several hundred meters away.

Reacting to the deafening sound, Nova snapped his head around, only to find the tiger's face barely a meter away. For a beast of that size, it might as well have been a centimeter.

'Fuck,' he thought.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the tiger's claws lashed out, dozens of times faster than the bear's, leaving him no room to dodge.

Desperately, Nova swung his arms with all his strength, summoning a flurry of wind blades. They crashed against the tiger's claws, shattering one after another, until only a single blade slipped through.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The claws sliced across Nova's chest, carving five deep wounds that threatened to tear him apart and hurling his body through the air. But at the same moment, that lone wind blade struck true, slicing into the right side of the tiger's neck.

Nova's body was flung like a rocket, smashing through tree after tree, each impact tearing new injuries into his already heavily injured body. In front of him, the tiger roared, blood trickling from its neck, though far too little to be fatal.

Furious, yet with nowhere to vent its anger as Nova was already out of its sight, the beast cast one last glance in the direction it had sent the trespasser flying before retreating to its territory. It didn't take long for its mind to dismiss Nova entirely, but not the wound he had left behind.

Meanwhile, Nova's violent flight came to an end when his momentum finally faltered against a tree too thick to break. With a thunderous crash, his body slammed into it and became lodged deep within the trunk. A groan slipped from his lips before he fell unconscious.

What remained of his clothes were nothing but tattered strings. His body was drenched in blood, five razor-sharp gashes stretching from shoulder to waist. It was a miracle he was still in one piece.

Even as his regeneration kicked in, the claw wounds healed at a snail's pace, refusing to close quickly, while his broken bones, shattered by the brutal collisions, mended in minutes.

An unknown amount of time later, Nova's eyelids fluttered before finally cracking open. Blood filled his throat, and he coughed weakly, thinking, 'What just happened?' He struggled to recall, his mind blank, until his memories came rushing back.

'Ah, I almost died to the bloodstripe. I couldn't even defend myself against a single attack. To think I lectured the bear about hunters and prey… After living under that tiger's rule, anyone would grow fearless of others,' he thought, mocking himself bitterly.

He took a moment to steady his breath, inhaling and exhaling as he reflected on the brutal encounter, before lowering his gaze to his body. The five claw marks were still fearsome to look at, but they had healed enough that he no longer felt as though he might fall apart at any moment.

'I need to get out of here. I don't know if that beast is still searching for me, and if it is, I can't afford to stay still,' he thought as he slowly dragged himself free from the tree bark. Leaning against the trunk for support, he muttered, "Now, which way leads to the exit?"

He turned his head left and right, but the forest gave him no answer. Unable to discern a path, he sighed in resignation. "I'll just have to try each direction until I hear more and more sounds. That'll mean I'm getting closer to the outside."

Choosing a random direction first, Nova gently leapt down from the tree and began making his way forward, his senses sharpened as he focused entirely on every sound and movement around him.

Outside the forest, Letto glanced up at the sky and muttered, "It's already night. Did something happen to him?"

They had entered the forest in the afternoon, and now several hours had passed with no word from Nova.

Fidgeting, Letto paced in place, reasoning aloud, "How could something happen to him here? Sure, the journal warned that the bloodstripe was dangerous, but that was only for ordinary knights. And is there anything ordinary about that guy? I'm overthinking this." He shook his head slightly, casting those thoughts away.

When dawn finally broke, a lone figure emerged from the forest. Five long scars marred his chest as he stepped into the light, glancing around. "This should be roughly where I entered. I recognize the scenery." He let out a tired sigh. "That tiger really sent me close to the entrance with a single paw strike. If I hadn't picked the wrong direction three times, I'd have been out long ago."

Nova took a deep breath and quickly moved toward the spot where he'd left Letto. The grave injuries he'd carried were now fully healed, if one didn't count the scars etched across his chest.

A moment later, he found Letto sound asleep, soft snores filling the area.

'I almost died, and this guy still has time to sleep? Did he already forget not to let his guard down?' Nova thought, his brows twitching. He walked up to the ex-bandit, crouched beside him, and poked his throat with a finger.

Letto's eyes snapped open. His hand shot to the sword lying at his side, and with a roar, he swung blindly in the direction of the touch. But the blade stopped mid-swing, locked in place.

Turning his head, Letto froze as he saw Nova's hand clamped tightly around the weapon.

"S-Sir, you're back!" he shouted. "I knew that bloodstripe couldn't stop you, I didn't doubt you for a second!"

Nova rapped his knuckles against Letto's forehead and said flatly, "Do I look like a winner to you?"

Prompted by the question, the ex-bandit finally took in the whole of Nova's figure, and his jaw dropped. "What happened to you?!"

Shaking his head, Nova replied, "I'll tell you later. Right now, I have a question for you. Is there somewhere I can fight strong knights and mages?"

Though his eyes kept drifting back to the scars carved across Nova's body along with the trashed clothes and the dried blood all over Nova, Letto forced himself to think. After a moment, he could only shake his head. "I don't know."

Nova sighed, disappointed. 'He's done so much that I thought he knew everything.'

Seeing his expression, Letto quickly added, almost sheepishly, "If we go back to Larmida, I might be able to find out something."

Nova's eyes brightened, and he smiled. "I knew I could count on you."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.