Four people were moving along a narrow gap between two giant roots.
From a distance, their path might have looked like only a small groove on the forest floor, but for them, the walls on both sides rose like multi-story cliffs.
Thick layers of moss had grown on the roots’ surfaces, and their hanging strands were stretched down to the ground.
Some of those strands were thicker than a human arm, and with every gust of wind, they moved in the air like green snakes.
Ravian was walking at the front.
Every few minutes, he would stop, place his palm on the soil or the root’s bark, and carefully look around.
Sometimes he would check the direction of the moss growth, sometimes he would measure the soil’s moisture between his fingers, and sometimes he would listen to the sound of water flowing somewhere far away, behind several natural walls.
Sera and Nemi were moving in the middle of the group.
Sera was still injured in her shoulder, but she didn’t let the pain slow her down.
Nemi also looked at the hidden sky behind the treetops every few steps, as if she still expected the Giant Sky Bird to come down from the mist and catch them in its claws again.
Lian was at the back of the group, not because he was weaker or slower, but because [Predator’s Instincts] had not been turned off since the moment they had entered this part of the forest.
The feeling of danger did not appear as a clear and direct warning.
It was more like a cold pressure at the back of his skull; a vague feeling that told him something in that green vastness was always watching.
Maybe a monster in the mist, maybe an insect on the tree trunk.
Or maybe a creature so large that they themselves had not yet realized which part of its body they were walking on.
Lian did not take his gaze off the back of his companions, but all his senses were focused on the surroundings.
He saw every small movement of the moss, heard every change in the sounds, and felt every faint tremor in the ground.
The Forest of Giants seemed endless from above, but from the ground, it was infinitely worse.
Here, there was no smooth and simple path.
Every mass of moss was like a dense thicket that had to be pushed aside with hands.
Its soft stems reached up to their chests or even shoulders, and the dew drops on their tips would burst like water bags when they touched their clothes.
Sometimes, just to cross over an exposed root, they had to climb for several minutes.
A root that from a distance seemed like nothing more than a bump on the ground, when they got close to it, turned into a ten-meter-high wall.
The hollows between the soil looked like valleys to them.
Once, Nemi placed her foot on a part of the ground that was hidden under a layer of rotten leaves.
The surface beneath her foot collapsed, and she fell up to her waist into a dark crack.
Ravian had to grab her with his tail and pull her out.
A few minutes later, a drop of water separated from one of the tall leaves, the falling drop was the size of a human head.
Upon hitting the ground, it burst like a barrel full of water, and a wave of mud and moss splashed over all four of them, and Nemi wiped the water from her face with annoyance.
"It was just one drop?" Ravian said without turning back.
"You were lucky. Some leaves collect water for several days."
Lian looked up, the leaves were so far away that they were lost in the green mist.
"And if one of them falls down?" He could swear that this was one of, if not the worst, environment he had ever seen in his life.
Everything in this hell was larger than them, and if they weren’t careful, they would get crushed.
"Then it’s better not to be under it." Ravian was silent for a moment.
Before Nemi could say anything, a loud sound was heard from a distance, as if a mountain had broken, a few seconds later, the ground beneath their feet trembled.
Sera quickly placed her hand on the root wall.
"What was that?"
"Probably a fruit." Ravian listened to the sound.
"A fruit?" Lian looked at him in disbelief.
Another wave of tremor passed through the soil, this time a few rotten leaves fell from the root’s surface.
Ravian shrugged.
"Some of them are larger than the tribe’s houses."
At that same moment, a shadow passed over their heads, Lian immediately looked up.
A flying insect, with a slender body and several-meter-long wings, passed through the columns of light.
The sound of its wings was like a massive piece of fabric tearing in a storm.
The creature didn’t even look down, it disappeared into the mist in the blink of an eye, they were used to these scenes.
The four continued on their path.
With every step they took, it became clearer that this forest was not made for creatures of their size.
Here, they were neither hunters nor even prey, only small particles that could disappear into the cracks of a tree’s bark.
Almost like parasites and very tiny worms.
About an hour later, Predator’s Instincts suddenly intensified.
Lian stopped in his tracks, raised his hand, and the other three immediately stopped.
"What is it?" Ravian turned back.
Lian didn’t answer, he lowered his head slightly and placed his foot more firmly on the soil.
A tremor.
At first it was very faint, then it came a second time, heavier.
Then a third strike, this time the soft soil beneath their feet moved, the sound of footsteps was heard from somewhere behind the root wall.
Each step was slow, but the weight of what was approaching forced the entire ground to respond.
"Something big is coming." Lian said quietly.
Ravian listened for only a moment, and the color of his face changed.
"Inside the crack." He pointed to a narrow space between two roots.
The four quickly placed themselves inside it.
The crack was like a natural corridor for them, but its entrance was hidden behind moss and hanging strands.
Ravian placed his finger in front of his lips, and the sound of footsteps grew closer.
The ground trembled every time, particles of soil fell from the crack’s ceiling onto their heads.
Then a massive shadow passed in front of the entrance, at first only one foot was seen.
A thick foot, covered with gray skin and layers of moss, its width was more than the bodies of several humans.
The claws sank deep into the soil with every step, and when lifted, they brought up masses of mud and roots.
Lian moved forward a little and looked outside through the moss, a massive creature was passing in front of them.
Its body was like a combination of a turtle, a deer, and a buffalo.
Its four thick legs carried its twelve-meter-long body, and a heavy neck had come out from under a layer of armor-like skin.
Two wide and curved horns had grown on both sides of its head, but the strangest part was its back.
The back of that creature looked more like a piece of the forest than the body of a monster, a thick layer of soil had gathered on its shell.
Moss had covered its surface, small mushrooms had grown out of the cracks.
A few bushes had grown on its sides, and even young saplings were placed on its back.
Insects were moving among those plants.
A few small birds were sitting on one of its horns and cleaning their feathers without worry.
The identification panel appeared before Lian’s eyes.
[Mossback Grazer]
[Rank: Normal]
[Level: 22]
Lian stared at the number for a moment.
Level 22.
Such a creature on Earth could single-handedly bring down the walls of a small city.
But here, it was only a calm herbivore that was busy digging a layer of fungus off a massive tree trunk.
"Don’t stare at it too much. This one is calm." Ravian whispered under his breath.
The creature lowered its head and scraped a mass of moss with its wide jaw.
"Just don’t get in front of its foot." As if to prove his point, the Mossback Grazer lifted its foot.
The shadow of its sole fell on the crack, for a moment, all the light disappeared.
Then the creature’s massive foot landed on the ground only a few meters away.
The impact was like an explosion, soil and moss were lifted from the ground, and a wave of mud rushed into the crack.
Nemi covered her face with her hand, Sera clung to the wall, and even Ravian was forced to take a step back.
The Mossback Grazer continued moving without the slightest reaction, it didn’t turn its head, didn’t smell them, and didn’t even notice that a few living creatures were hiding right next to its foot.
A few seconds later, its heavy tail passed in front of the crack and scraped a mass of moss from the wall.
Then its steps became distant, the ground still trembled for a while after it left.
Nemi slowly came out of the crack and looked at the creature’s massive footprint.
A deep pit remained in the ground; large enough for the entire group to stand inside.
Lian came out of the shelter, his gaze fixed on the creature’s path as it moved away.
He could kill it, Level 22 was not considered a real threat to him.
If he attacked the leg joints, he could limit its movement.
Then with Glacial Reaper Claw, he could enter through the soft part under its neck.
Maybe it would take a few more hits than the smaller monsters, but the result would not be different.
However, his hand didn’t even go near his weapon.
Killing that creature had no meaning, its body was so large that its blood would fill the area.
Its smell could attract predators against whom Level 22 was nothing more than food.
Power did not only mean the ability to kill, sometimes real power was understanding what was not worth killing.
Ravian looked at him, probably reading the same thought from his silence.
"It’s good that you didn’t attack it, it would have been very dangerous and crazy."
"What made you think I wanted to?" Lian took his gaze off the footprint.
"Even though we are not the biggest hunters in this forest, my tribe is still a hunting tribe, I could see that you were looking at it like prey." Ravian gave a faint smile.
Of course, he didn’t think Lian had the ability to kill that monster, how could creatures as small as them kill those giants?
He just thought that Lian’s species probably had some kind of combat instinct that was activating.
"Show the way." Lian nodded but didn’t continue the topic.