The alarm rings. I wake up, only to realize I’ve snoozed it three times.

  More time lost. Less than twenty-two hours until I meet with Houonas and the old geezer.

  I still feel like trash. But trash with a mission.

  Answering nature’s call, I head to the bathroom—handle the essentials, brush my teeth, and wash my face.

  A quick stop in the kitchen. I make breakfast, finishing anything that might spoil soon. Leftover dinner, now with extra cheese, and yogurt to round it off.

  This place feels... alien. Different. Broken. Fake. Has it changed, or have I? Best not to dwell on it.

  I pull on my most rugged clothes—flexible jeans and a hoodie.

  My gaze falls to my left arm. Bare. Exposed. The wounds are already fading, something that should've taken days. Something is happening to me. The bio-normal stars, I bet.

  The wounds weren’t that deep, but still... incredible. I let myself admire it for a moment before finishing up.

  My hoodie, old as hell, has its black color faded, but the zipper still works like butter.

  Its familiar comfort is exactly what I need.

  I leave my bedroom with a camping bag and a suitcase. Stuffing my socks into my pocket, I walk to the kitchen.

  Some things will have to stay, but I pack anything that can last—bread, ham, juice boxes, and whatever else I can find.

  Some go into my camping gear, some into the suitcase.

  I also take some bottles and plastic food containers. It’s macabre, but the idea of blood flasks as makeshift Molotovs could work.

  Even though I hadn’t used them... in _that_ situation.

  Not like they weigh much anyway.

  I could take my computer, but damn—what the hell would I do with it in this fucking succession?

  God, I hate this, but I’ll have to come back. Better to skip the village, though—the forest is where I need to find shards. Maybe there are already some in the normal forest.

  I put on my socks and running shoes from the shoe rack near the door.

  Time to go.

  Leaving my home, I take one last long look. Maybe it’s the last time. Maybe not. Either way, I know I won’t live here anymore.

  I take my tile relic from my shoulder bag.

  Damn, I must look like a fool walking around with so many bags.

  Whatever.

  To my surprise, while checking the tile relic, two more heirs have fallen. One in the sewers—that place must’ve been hell itself. Imagine the smell of a sewer in a vampire castle!

  The other in the training grounds. If power or some aspect of the heir had something to do with it, the sibling from that place must’ve been a hell of a fighter. I just hope it wasn’t that Fion guy.

  Although, maybe there are worse heirs. I’m just going by the info Darefei gave me.

  Would he or any of the siblings be working with the guys who husked the villagers?

  Worse yet, should I lose hope of rescuing even one of the kidnapped?

  What would it matter if I found only crazed husks of people?

  If I’m strong enough, maybe I could bind them and try to find a cure.

  A way to save them.

  Time to focus on getting stronger.

  My way back to the palace would’ve been better if I didn’t have the emotional weight to carry with me.

  Also, pulling a suitcase down a hill, like at the airport, isn’t a good idea.

  Each crash is a new chance for the suitcase to break.

  But I’m already loaded with bags. This way, I could easily let it fall and fight if needed.

  I could also drop it if I carried it, though.

  Alright.

  Carrying it wasn’t that burdensome, and the noise diminished.

  Reaching the palace, I see the remains of the dead beasts, the light of the sun... and another sun. What a weird thing.

  It doesn’t feel that hot, though.

  Maybe it’s because it’s so small—it must be far away but near enough for the main sun not to outshine it. Ah, yes, they also aren’t _my_ sun, if Darefei is to be believed. I don’t see why he’d lie.

  I don’t know much about space to begin with.

  Although my spelltrees, as they say, are constellations, the entire thing looking like space. I just know some tidbits from documentaries, random curiosity, and God knows where.

  I should watch the sky more often. Not that I’d expect a new, smaller sun to show up.

  My mood and conscience dampen the surprise, but I try to focus my mind on the task at hand.

  I for sure wouldn’t carry this suitcase into the forest.

  Climbing one ladder was already hell, but I make it. I drop the suitcase there. If someone finds it, what can I do?

  If only I knew about wards, but that’s for the two above. Having two Dominion’s Digits who know wards is enough.

  Now, to the skin forest. Maybe I can finally find some shards. The common forest didn’t have anything.

  I didn’t use the stick, though. Dammit, I forgot about that.

  Before climbing down, I take three bottles with me—they look like condiment containers for ketchup but with screw caps on top.

  They’d still work in their morbid way with some blood.

  First, though, time for some shards.

  Maybe the hunt will take my mind off things, at least for a while.

  Walking toward the skin forest makes all my instincts scream at me.

  Like a bull walking into a slaughterhouse.

  In a way, my body could be right.

  No choice, though. Dying now or dying later. My plan is not to die at all, so risk is part of the game.

  I can’t help but touch the bark of the weird trees. They feel soft, like suede—fuzzy. The color is a little darker than the leaves.

  Taking a leaf from the ground, it has the same texture but is flexible, cartilaginous.

  Why would anyone want plants like this in a garden?

  It’s not the only thing, though. As I go deeper, the curved stick finally starts moving, and new life shows up.

  Grasses, a shade of purple, sway as the wind blows, trying to take any place the skin trees don’t claim.

  It’s not the only one. Weeds in shades of violet and red.

  Flowers leaning more toward blue than violet.

  And each of these plants houses life.

  Some have little ant-like creatures I’ve never seen before. Their colors are beautiful—some have more legs, others fewer, different sizes, different antennae. Some even have wings.

  Larvae move, eating the leaves.

  Flowers bloom even on the skin trees, vines penetrating their trunks.

  Various animals I saw in the corpses during my first trip to the palace appear. This seems to be their natural habitat.

  Little critters show up—some eating insects, others eating plants or strange fruits from the weeds.

  It feels like an imaginary world made real—alien. If it’s a dream or a nightmare, I’ll make sure to survive either way.

  Finally, the stick starts moving more. Following it like a compass, I reach the spot. The compass spins in my hand like a spinner. I put it in my pocket, where it presses against my leg, wanting to turn.

  Ignoring it, I start digging, keeping a vigilant eye around me. The overworking in my mind helps lighten my guilt.

  Soon, a shining shard appears, but I get a surprise—a seed gripping the shard tightly with its roots.

  It feels weirdly beautiful. The shard is a vibrant green, shining brightly—no doubt it’s a spark.

  I don’t have gloves for this. But I have something better.

  I activate my bloodclaw. My skin turns a reddish tone with a metallic sheen, my hand growing slightly larger—not enough to be called a mutant, but enough to draw attention.

  My nails sharpen, their natural pink almost turning red.

  If they work as before, it’ll take an hour for them to return to normal.

  The energy they consume is minimal—efficient.

  Using my nails to cut the roots is harder than I expect. Either my nails aren’t sharp enough, or the roots are just that strong.

  I consider consuming the shard with the roots still attached, but I’ve had enough surprises.

  A dozen seconds later, I have the green shard in hand. Without a moment to contemplate, I consume the spark. Ten more bio shards to the count.

  It feels like a treasure hunt. If I were in a better mood, I might’ve even found it fun.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Sometimes the shard is intact; other times, a critter or insect seemed to be trying to move it.

  There was even a small, scaly creature with six legs that ran around with a shard on its flat head.

  In that case, I thought it's better to let the critter be.

  The deeper I went into the forest, the more wildlife appeared.

  Weirdly, most were carcasses—some still fresh.

  Some predators, too. Finally, I see one of the metallic felines with their young. They look at me from a distance.

  Every time one of the pups tries to approach me, the tiger would gently bite it and bring it back.

  I couldn’t remember if they were survivors from the past clash. It seems so long ago, but it hadn’t even been a full day.

  A better, worse time.

  They didn’t keep me company for long, running away after a few minutes.

  All in all, I got three more bio sparks, five sparks, three simple basic shards, and one magic spark.

  I used all the basic shards on the divinity cluster, enough for another star—still no change in me or the constellation.

  Then, something strange happens—a tremor, strong as an earthquake.

  A thunderous boom following.

  My stick points in the direction it came from.

  Walking toward it, the number of carcasses increases, as if a plague had swept through the wildlife.

  Soon, I saw the truth—an archer leaping through the trees as if flying.

  It took me longer than I care to admit to make out the blurring archer. Red clothes, white hair, the face a total blur.

  Each move sent an arrow piercing a gargantuan turtle. Its black body is covered in red crystals, eerily similar to the hammer the orange wererat once wielded.

  Nearby, a group of tigers guards the turtle and the surrounding shards.

  Every second, a vine tried to grasp one of the shards—all of them cores and above.

  The archer ignores the weaker ones.

  It is like a dance. Finally, as the archer nears me, I see her figure—a woman in red leather armor clinging to her lithe body, pale skin, and fair white hair in a ponytail. Even her closed mouth couldn’t hide the fangs protruding like a predator’s.

  I hid behind a tree. I need no more information—she was an Erythocetes, whether an heir or a supporter.

  Worse yet, she is probably here stealing the shards I came for. Why the shining things are all near the turtle eludes me.

  That is a problem, though. Who should I help—the creatures or the vampire?

  The fight seems heavily one-sided in the archer’s favor, only because the giant turtle and the tigers had no way of reaching her.

  Stretching its neck, the turtle cuts a trunk in half with its mouth. The thick wood fell to the ground, causing another tremor.

  I held onto a nearby tree for dear life as the archer flipped through the branches like they were steps on a staircase, unaffected by the tremors.

  The battle resumed. Suddenly, a shining arrow flies with a sonic wheeze, piercing the turtle’s neck and sinking deep. That’s when I notice it wasn’t the first one.

  There are so many arrows in the turtle that it looks like the turtle has always had red feathers sticking out of its exposed head.

  How the turtle is still alive is a wonder.

  Should I wait until one of them is half-dead?

  The choice presented itself when one of the tigers appears, its body bleeding, covered in slashes and cuts. One leg was pierced bone-deep by an arrow—the same kind the turtle had been hit with.

  It looks ludicrous on the tiger, like a broomstick stuck in its leg.

  Again, the tiger made the same gestures as before, the message clear as it points at the archer before slashing its paw across its own neck.

  Would I work with the tigers again?

  Like I have a choice. Still, they ran away from the battle before. I can’t count on them.

  The plan is simple—try to kill both of them.

  First, I need more info to work with, though.

  As a potential enemy heir, the better thing is to watch the woman fight. Her death dance went on and on with eerie grace.

  It remindes me of the elves in fantasy—agile and one with the forest.

  The fact that she is a vampire only makes it more surreal.

  Slowly, I begin to see that the vampire wasn’t just an acrobat. The winds changes direction at her will.

  Arrows gain speed and strength after leaving the bow.

  And how the hell did she have so many arrows?!

  If that wasn’t enough, vines sprout around the turtle, thick, oversized. The thorns sometimes even drew blood from the turtle’s legs.

  What else could she have in her arsenal?!

  The turtle’s wounds, aside from the bone-deep arrows, regenerates in seconds, as if they’d never been there.

  I’m totally not prepared for this.

  Especially with all the mental baggage I’m carrying.

  Fuck, no. Focus on the battle. One more vampire to kill. Don’t see them as humans—they aren’t. They’re my enemies.

  Just focus on surviving.

  My mutated adrenal glands starts pumping hormones into my bloodstream, adrenaline spiking.

  I have one shot. The archer hadn’t noticed me—which made sense. This damn tiger only found me after trying to run away, as they like to do. Smart creatures. Better to flee than die, indeed.

  I pump some energy into my bloodclaw spell. I feel no difference in my already changed arm, only a sense of reinvigoration on its form.

  Now, how the hell will I reach this vampire? I’m not even sure... yeah, maybe the Blazing Ray. Not in the small quantity I tested, but with almost all the energy I had.

  It seems like a stupid plan, but this archer isn’t a genius either, dancing in circles just because the dumb turtle can’t anticipate her moves.

  A bloody waltz that, by grace and technique, will end with the turtle dead and me as her new dance partner.

  I’d analyzed these two enough. I can do it!

  Waiting for the cycle to restart, I found the perfect spot to hide for this one shot.

  An outcropping of stones near the base of a tree—it looked man-made but long forgotten, weeds covering most of it.

  It wasn’t the only outcropping— others were nearby. Maybe part of an old structure? Dammit, focus.

  My blood floated upward, just at the edge of the bush. If the archer can see it, I have no idea. I pump more and more energy into it, two arms’ worth of concentrated energy already lost to form a coconut-sized orb of blood.

  I keep pumping more and more.

  Using my tech spell on my heart, I slow my blood flow a little more, my focus entirely on the next shot.

  Soon, the vampire appears. I activate my blazing ray. The surrounding air ignites, the bush erupting in flames. My legs instinctively jumps me away from it, but my mind and eyes stays locked on the vampire.

  The damn vampire changes direction midair. Even with the increased speed of the ray, fueled by most of my energy, it will only graze her leg.

  I held my breath as the shot neared until a weird... silvery vine? Grabs her leg, pushing her directly into the blast.

  Did she just commit suicide?

  Her body starts to fall. The turtle bits her whole, not even giving me time to use my burning blood spell.

  Slowly, the turtle returns to the pile of shards, seemingly to sleep.

  Weird.

  It didn’t go as planned, but whatever. Time to get some shards from the turtle.

  Walking as silently as I could, I approach the turtle and focus on grabbing as many magic shards as possible.

  What I want right now is energy!

  I lost track of the quantity, pumping shard after shard—cores and the rarer nexus.

  Until I felt my 12th magic star. A change happens in my body—the energy concentrates further, the gaseous substance becoming more substantial, more humid.

  I don’t want to waste the essence of the core shard in my hands, better make another star connection.

  Before I could start a new one, I see a shadow. I try to roll out of the way, only to have my left hand cut as I defended myself. Something slices through my shotgun’s sling, and Marlene fall to the rocks.

  My connection with the shard is cut, the object disintegrating, its essence dissipating into the air.

  My eyes didn’t deceive me. A fucking tiger had attacked me while the turtle is sleeping contentedly.

  Fucking tiger assholes. They start circling me like I am prey, ignoring the turtle nearby.

  Did they fight to near-death for these shards? Probably. But I was the one who took the shot that killed the damn vampire.

  These assholes would’ve been dead without my help. And they’re fucking wrong if they think I’m out of fuel.

  My body is drenched in energy, my magic constellation confirming I’d reached another milestone. The rune-like connections of the normal stars felt even more complete.

  These fuckers are smart, though. They approach me slowly, leaving no space for me to escape, watching my every move.

  Fuck, I can’t use my shield artifact like this. These assholes will slash me in a blink.

  Better do the next best thing. I pump divine blood into my right hand, the wet feeling of blood slipping through my fingers.

  My own blood on my left arm would have to do.

  The tigers didn’t wait. Five of them jumps at me. If they got me, fine—we’d all burn together.

  Would I explode if I used burning blood on my body? Damn, that made me think of the bombers in the war. Sickos.

  As I feel their breath nearing me, the flash of death approaching, I see it again—the weird vines. Now I could see them clearly. They are slightly translucent, silvery.

  In less than a second, a bunch of silvery, translucent vines and amorphous bodies appear, wrapping the wounded tigers like stuffed animals.

  They are taller than a kid—probably just over a meter—but more than three times as wide.

  Soon, I heard bones creaking as their feline bodies are slowly crushed, the tentacles pushing it in, finishing the job soon after.

  What the actual fuck? These creatures are fucking slimes!