Exactly five minutes had passed, and Atticus had ventured deeper into the crimson forest.
The ground was covered with freshly fallen crimson leaves, making it look like a sea of blood.
Atticus only moved through the shadows, appearing and disappearing instantly. He avoided stepping on the leaves or doing anything that would draw attention to himself.
He was moving quickly, and just after five minutes, he had encountered many master rank beasts.
However, unlike before, they were either in groups or not far from each other.
'Looks like the beasts of the forest don't hunt each other balantly,'
The absurdity of this situation baffled Atticus. The best scenario for him now was to encounter a territorial beast. They would be incredibly powerful, given that they could defend their territory against others, but Atticus could look for a chance to ambush and catch them off guard.
But he hadn't seen any. 'Maybe I'm calling it too early,' Atticus thought and decided to keep searching. He had only been searching for five minutes after all.
However, despite moving stealthily for a longer time, nothing changed! He had seen numerous unknown, enormous beasts, but none in the situation he was looking for.
It was like the beasts were living in harmony, or more likely, they refrained from attacking each other due to something.
He could feel the tension in the air. Beasts were violent by nature; the fact that they were all this docile despite the hostility was very questionable.
An outside force was at play.
Atticus believed this assumption was correct. However, as he moved through the forest, he abruptly stopped.
'Wait… where am I going?'
Atticus instinctively turned his gaze towards the high peak in the distance. Because he had been lost in thought, Atticus had somehow been heading deeper into the forest, no, he had been heading straight for the peak!
'The pull is getting stronger,'
Atticus could feel it. It was calling to him with more intensity than when he first got here.
He took a deep breath and regained his composure. 'That was close, I almost let my guard down,'
He couldn't let that happen again.
Atticus observed his surroundings and saw that he had inadvertently moved deeper into the forest than he had planned. Compared to the outer forest, the trees seemed bigger and thicker, and their red leaves were even redder.
It was hard to explain, but the trees felt alive. Atticus felt uncomfortable, as though he was continually being watched. He also noticed that the beasts were scarcer here.
As Atticus was about to turn back, he suddenly noticed a presence approaching his location. He paused and immediately hid in the shadows.
A few seconds passed, and Atticus watched silently as a moderately sized beast approached.
Its size was truly moderate compared to the other beasts Atticus had been seeing, but something felt off about it.
It was slightly humanoid but had limbs of weird sizes and shapes. Both arms were very thin, ending in three small, long fingers.
Its legs were unnaturally huge and long, taking up most of its form. Its head was spherical, ending with a thin neck and a minute mouth. Its eyes were large and completely crimson red, and its whole body was covered in yellow chitin-like armor.
The beast radiated an aura of a predator and walked slowly. The trees rustled in response to its presence as though worshiping it.
There was one quality Atticus immediately noticed: it was a master+ rank.
'A very strong one,'
Atticus was finding it hard to believe that this was a beast. Every movement seemed deliberate, a type of focus only a truly intelligent being could achieve.
'I have a bad feeling about this,'
Atticus' feelings soon proved true as the humanoid beast abruptly turned its gaze and looked at the exact shadow where Atticus was hiding.
'Shit!'
Atticus immediately panicked but quickly regained his calm. 'Calm down, it might have been a fluke,' although he reassured himself, Atticus' hand had already moved to hold his katana hilt.
However, in the next instance, Atticus and the humanoid creature's eyes met, the rustling of the leaves immediately quieting down.
Atticus suddenly felt danger coming at him from every direction, his instincts screaming at him like a blaring horn.
The fire molecules swirled around him in waves, and his figure abruptly combusted and appeared a few meters away from his original position.
In the next second, thick roots erupted from different directions, their surprisingly sharp ends piercing where Atticus had previously been.
Atticus' piercing blue eyes, which had turned frightfully cold, collided with the humanoid creature's crimson eyes once more. Despite feeling the need to kill this dangerous creature, he didn't retaliate.
He was alone here; there was no second chance. He couldn't afford to make any stupid decisions. What if he couldn't kill the beast with one strike?
The commotion just now had been abrupt and loud. He could feel multiple presences heading this way.
He had to escape.
The air molecules engulfed his whole body, and he erupted upwards into the sky with intense speed.
The beast finally moved. It seemed as though it didn't want Atticus to escape. However, it was a simple movement. It raised one of its tiny arms up, and the earth around it shook.
In the next second, a staggering amount of roots shot out from the trees and ground, each root moving with bullet speed towards Atticus.
Atticus' gaze narrowed, the sense of danger returning. The trees were each very tall, and he hadn't been able to escape from them yet.
As the beast acted, he found the whole space around him covered with sharp roots threatening to pierce him from every possible angle.
However, if there was one thing the elements were good for, it was varied, weird, and impossible movements!
Atticus had spent weeks mastering the elements in the elemental sanctums, but he hadn't once forgotten about his most favored movement art, Elemental Mimicry.
The nature of his movement shifted, akin to a swift breeze weaving through a dense forest. Atticus moved.
His movements were a blur, swift and speedy as he twisted and turned in the air, narrowly dodging each thick root.
Atticus reached the sky, escaping the reach of the tall trees. However, he couldn't get any respite as multiple intense screeches rocked the space.
Atticus' gaze turned cold as he saw a large number of massive flying creatures shooting through the air towards him.