It was a starry night illuminated by a gigantic full moon in the sky. Within a forest surrounded by tall and ancient trees and abundant wildlife, numerous almost imperceptible shadows existed, seeming to blend with the nighttime darkness. They floated in the sky without causing any disturbance or emitting any fluctuations.
The night stretched on, and the shadows split into groups. There were hundreds, quickly forming groups of tens that seemed to scour every inch of the forest. Just minutes away from the new day, a group of shadows found a trail on the ground, and several quickly descended.
On the ground, something strange, resembling a beacon radiating power and vitality, was buried, creating a peculiar fluctuation. The shadows slowly dug with only their Qi, revealing a skeleton with six arms and six wings, radiating power completely out of the ordinary.
Just looking at it made the dozens of shadows feel their Qi freeze, and their souls stir. The level in those bones and the pressure of it... it could only belong to a cultivator of unimaginable expertise!
PUF! PUF! PUF!
In the same second, the sight of all the shadows turned red. Then, their true forms were revealed, and they found themselves pierced by... wooden spears? They thought in fear.
Then, they tried to move... but their eyes shifted to an earthy tone, and terror struck them. Their lives began to drain away; they were struck without feeling anything approaching and poisoned without noticing anything within their bodies.
It all lasted two seconds, and they had no time to make any sound or send any signal before losing control of their bodies. The last thing they did was instinctively move their eyes to a tall tree ahead. There, they saw a figure illuminated by the moonlight.
It was a creature completely covered in fur with a long tail swaying gently. Its eyes were yellow like a lion, soft and white fangs escaped from its thin mouth, and its body was lean with a strange proportion. But all its fur was purple with white tips. It seemed like a feline with an animalistic aura, but at the same time, it gave off a strange impression... then everything went dark, and death arrived for them.
The feline creature looked up at the sky and saw the sunrise, then leaped from the tree and approached the humanoid bodies impaled on all fours.
It moved calmly, and as it walked, its fur strangely retracted as if pulled back into its skin. Then, its form became smaller and thinner. In a few seconds, the figure stood on two legs and began to walk like a human. Finally, all its fur disappeared, leaving only its tail and ears.
The figure heard movement approaching and quickly retrieved something from a ring that glowed on its finger; it was clothes that this expert used to start dressing, covering two protrusions swiftly. It was in that second that a round figure emerged as the sunlight began to bathe the forest.
It was a human in the form of a whale... or maybe a whale in the form of a human? It was hard to tell. He waved and spoke calmly. "Indeed, you are quite strange. But your creativity is commendable."
Liumi quickly covered herself and waved with a strange smile; then, with tired eyes, she spoke. "Unfortunately, the usage time of my bloodline is very limited, and I can’t enjoy many of its benefits."
The whale said softly. "Indeed. You are something close to a feline; your body becomes agile and powerful along with your instincts. Something suited for a hunter and fighter, but you... have no talent for direct combat."
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"But the connection with nature that you gain has brought you ideas, and you have blossomed your talent with your intelligence. The Grassrunners should be a bestial race, with a talent for Yang elements. But you have a connection with the laws of the earth that is neutral. It’s almost as if you were born into the wrong race." They finished looking at her and approached calmly.
She just smiled strangely. Indeed, her natural talent with the earth and lack of affinity for direct combat went against everything in her race; she was a strange anomaly. It was like a sea creature that had no affinity for water and was born with a talent for using fire, which was almost the complete opposite.
The whale collected the bones of Hexaalis. It was the creature at the peak of cultivation that died at its hands in the last main quest. He had no great use for the bodies of Hexaalis and the necromancer demon, and now found some use for them.
The whale turned to her and sat down. "Eat the meat and rest. It was a perfect ambush. They will take a few hours to search and notice something is wrong."
Liumi sat down and pulled out large pieces of meat. It was precisely the skin and flesh of Hexaalis. Despite being at the peak of the world, his physique was weak; Alm and Bruno removed all the QI and energy, leaving only a power inherent to refining the heavens that he received through elevated cultivation.
On the other hand, Liumi, although not a beast, her race developed characteristics close to one. And by eating something powerful, she could recharge her bloodline. Without QI and energy, it did not improve cultivation, and this was not considered related to demonic beasts. It was just like eating recovery pills for beasts.
They had been in the forest for five days, and the two were getting to know each other slowly. Alm and Bruno took advantage of her honest nature, asking little by little about her race and abilities. They knew a bit about Grassrunners from their universe, but they couldn’t trust things from another universe entirely.
Each Grassrunner has a striking characteristic similar to some beast, depending on their personality and genetics. But it is only a natural and convergent adaptation to the beast, having no connection to it. For example, Liumi has feline characteristics, but it’s just the appearance. When she activates her bloodline, these features surface and she gains agility, speed, and concentrated attack, similar to a large feline.
But Liumi clearly doesn’t like, doesn’t know, and doesn’t have any talent for direct combat, taking advantage of that. But her bloodline, in addition to giving her bestial characteristics, connects her with nature by merging with it. Her QI, soul, energy, everything becomes one with the forest, giving her a completely invisible and untraceable camouflage capability in the forest.
Moreover, she can sense all the plants, all the animals, and can gather the QI around the forest to heal herself or use it for other means. Of course, all of this is very good, but Liumi can only use it for a few minutes. And she has to be in a forest for her real power to be displayed. Only the High Grassrunners can truly remain indefinitely in this form.
With Alm and Bruno slowly asking things about her and making her feel more comfortable, it didn’t take long for her to talk about her race currently. She said that her race survived to this day because the Black Elf clan of the sect, called Noctryn, took them in.
In return, her small people have a debt from birth, where they pay using their powers to search and find valuable things in nature. They are not almost slaves, living to pay for their freedom. After a few hints, it became clear to Alm and Bruno that the Grassrunners live in the Skyward Forest, the secret central place of the sect.
Liumi seemed to feel a certain pain when remembering some things, and didn’t want to talk much about the past. So, Alm and Bruno started using another tactic. It was precisely the special meat they gave her. That seemed to be a delicious treasure for her, and she ate joyfully.
While she ate, they forced the conversation. And seeing her innocence and honesty, they first began to talk about themselves. Liumi seemed to get along well with Ruri, so they told a bit about how they met her in the Divinestone clan and their relationship of a tough and demanding master.
She ate, and her eyes shone as she listened, demonstrating a genuine interest in the narrative. After several attempts and days in the forest, she finally opened up about herself, trusting them to a great extent.
Liumi never liked hunting and fighting, mainly due to her poor talents in those areas. Therefore, she developed a method of using wood to create weapons and attack from a distance, a way to survive and pay off her debt.
From an early age, she showed a talent for forging. When she activated her bloodline, she could connect with wood and create weapons; that was her specialty. Her strange power was linked to the laws of the earth, allowing her to forge spears that attacked from within the earth itself. By merging her bloodline with the natural environment, she became imperceptible and strange.
One day, her master, the former leader of the forging institute, discovered her in the forest and took her in, teaching her the art of forging properly. Thus, she managed to develop and pay off her debt by creating and selling weapons.
Subsequently, she joined the forging institute, living for a decade with her master until his death from old age. Before his departure, he appointed her as his successor, making her the new leader. For at least a decade, everyone in the institution was forced to accept this decision.
Alm and Bruno felt a certain sorrow for her. It was evident that Liumi harbored feelings for her master, and witnessing his death left a deep mark on her. However, she chose to live up to his expectations, accepting the role of the leader of the forgers. Her talent was only average compared to the best forgers, so the other members of the institute held great animosity towards her.
After fifteen days in the forest, Liumi already trusted Alm and Bruno completely, and they couldn’t harbor any animosity towards her. Gradually, she began to share everything she knew, describing the Skyward Forest in detail without reservation. The area was inhabited by divine beasts and rich in natural treasures, but it was also home to creatures even more powerful than the sect leader. It was an equally divine and dangerous place.
The Grassrunners were exceptionally accepted by the sect, living in the Skyward Forest without a direct connection to the main hierarchy. Through them, the sect could explore the area more deeply, finding rare herbs and items. Naturally, everything found was handed over to the Noctryn clan, but the Grassrunners paid a fee to the sect, and it could acquire the items if it wished, upon payment. It was a mutually beneficial agreement.
Liumi shared intimate information, including names and characteristics of just over a hundred Grassrunners inhabiting the area. Alm and Bruno were surprised to learn that these were all the living members of their race on the planet. Periodically, some of them managed to pay off their debts sufficiently to ensure their release but offered this opportunity to their children. This way, they could be freed to attempt the entrance test to the sect officially.
A month passed quickly with them in the forest, advancing deeper and deeper. They moved cautiously, taking advantage of Liumi’s abilities and the deadly venom of the behemoth’s blood to eliminate all assassins sent after them.
They retrieved the bodies and their spatial rings, discovering that many were external elders, with some internal among them. After nearly five hundred victims fell into their trap, they had recovered all the millions of burnt crystals to acquire more knowledge.
At this point, Bruno was already considering the moment to pass on the entire Grassrunner heritage to Liumi. At twenty-one years old, she laughed and enjoyed herself freely in the forest. She ate the meat she received in portions; it was so powerful that she couldn’t handle it, so it wasn’t even close to running out. She spent most of her time either chatting or jumping between trees, like a child who had been burdened with many responsibilities and temporarily found herself free from that weight.
At some point, she seemed to have returned to the time she lived with her master at the institute and even forgot they had to return. The whale allowed her to do whatever she wanted while keeping a quiet watch over the surroundings, passing the time serenely.
However, one night, something changed quietly. Liumi started to appear uncomfortable. Alm and Bruno examined her, but found nothing wrong with her body, even sneakily probing her soul.
That night, she slept deeply without apparent reason, experiencing a strange instinctive fear. With the closeness of the two, Alm and Bruno allowed her to sleep beside them, holding her hand to comfort her as she rested.
’If Ruri saw this, I don’t know what her reaction would be...’ Bruno thought absentmindedly, before startling himself. ’Why the hell am I worried about Ruri?’ Alm remained silent, thinking exactly the same thing as Bruno, for a brief moment.