Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Bearly Finished

It took almost an hour to get to the edge of Almer Forest. I could have moved faster, but I had to make a few detours whenever I saw any predators in the distance. I have no idea when my luck will run out, so the sooner I find a new form, the better. I don’t know exactly if or where I could scavenge any corpses, so I think it will be best to head in the direction of Tycoed. Mother is likely there, and even if she isn’t, I’m likely to encounter some other nature druid. It's the most common alignment and class combination among the Dryad race.

I flew above the forest canopy and spotted Coeden way off in the distance. It was a dozen times the height of any other tree in the forest, and its branches made the treetop look like a great big green dome. The city of Tycoed was built upon its branches, keeping its residents out of reach from whatever predators managed to get close. Coeden was also the reason why Norbury was in what was considered to be a low mana zone. She sucked up most of the mana for several miles around.

I flew from tree to tree in its general direction, and got lost in the ambiance. This was the furthest I’ve ever gone from the village on my own, and it was so peaceful. The light filtered through the canopy into beautiful sunbeams, the leaves swayed gently in the breeze, and not a voice disturbed the silence. Maybe it’s just my Dryad half talking, but something feels right about being here.

The foliage grew denser the further into the forest I flew, and it only enhanced my sense of belonging. I have no idea how many hours I spent flying, and only escaped my trance when I spotted a single limping wolf in the distance.

It could have just been a packless disperser, but there was also a good chance its pack had been attacked, and it was just running away. If I could find the site of the attack, I might be able to scavenge their remains and shoot my way straight to the top of the local food chain.

I flew rapidly in the opposite direction the wolf was moving, and found what I was looking for. Scattered throughout the area were the corpses of eleven wolves. Feasting upon one of them was a massive bear-like creature. It was slightly larger than a grizzly, though it looked more like a black bear since it didn’t have a shoulder hump. It had crimson fur, spike-like vents running along its back, a slim stomach, and legs that seemed to almost pop out of its skin with muscle. It expelled a fine, gray mist from the spikes atop its back.

I kept my distance from the beast, but something nagged at me. This thing was clearly a monster, and there really shouldn't be any monsters in the vicinity of a mana well like Coeden…

And how dare it violate my territory. This thing was committing slaughter just near my village. What next? Will it start eating people? I have to put a stop to it. I have to kill it, and any who get in my way.

I flew as fast as I could towards the beast, and started biting it over and over. The thing didn't even notice. It was just casually chomping on its meal, not caring at all about my presence.

Now that I think about it, why am I attacking it? I know I have no chance of killing it, yet I feel blinded by anger. I also get the feeling if it wasn't here, I'd be attacking whatever else I could see with indiscriminate rage.

My attention turned up to its spines, and the gray mist it was exuding. If I had to guess, whatever is in that cloud was the cause of my rampant rage. How dare this thing mess with my mind!

I spent another few minutes attacking its back unnoticed before I was able to pull myself away. It took every ounce of willpower I had to stop myself from turning back and going at it once more, and the feeling persisted for almost a minute after I had left the smog.

What was that bear monster? I'm unfamiliar with the details of most monsters, but I've never heard of any local monster that causes rage in those around it. What was it called? It seems wrong to call it just a bear monster, but I don't have an actual name for it. I guess since it uses rage as a weapon, I'll just call it a barBEARian. Ha! Classic.

I was extraordinarily lucky to have survived the encounter with the barbearian. If it had cared to at all, it would have swatted me like the bug I am.

That being said, I still have to go back. It might not to eat all of those corpses in one sitting, and I have to get to them before another scavenger does.

I headed back towards the slain wolves, and the barbearian was still there. I watched and waited for it to leave whilst I was a short distance from the edge of its mist. I waited a few minutes for it to leave, then another for its mist to dissipate, before flying towards one of the wolves that it hadn’t bothered eating. I’m in luck. If it were just a little more hungry, it probably would have finished eating all eleven wolves, and there wouldn’t be a great deal of remains to scavenge.

As I flew closer, I noticed the wounds on this wolf didn't look like it had come from the bear. If I had to guess, the wolves succumbed to the bear’s rage-inducing mist, and slaughtered their own. The lone wolf I saw earlier must have been the last one standing.

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My current locust form was not greatly suited to eating such a massive amount of meat. But I have a plan.

I crawled under the wolf, bit it from below, and began to shift into the Ostean Giant Flytrap. I could feel my mouth sliding wholly around the wolf before I fell unconscious. When I awoke an unknown amount of time later, I found the wolf corpse hadn't fell out of my mouth. It would take a few days, but hopefully this would enable me to shift into a wolf later.

I want to use this time where I am constantly regenerating mana to try to test my space alignment. But without sight, I won’t be able to verify the results of my efforts. Once the sun set, I tried to dream of the subspace marble once more, but again I dreamed of naught but memories. The scene matched the last dream, but this time, instead of hiding in the evacuation shelter as my fellow villagers fought and died to protect the village, I was with them. I ripped and tore and smashed the elven bandits in various beastial forms. My mind filled with thoughts of rage and revenge and slaughter, and once the bandits were all killed, I continued my assault on the very villagers I was fighting for.

I awoke once more, afraid of my own dream, yet still angry. This wasn’t me, but then what was it? The answer became obvious as I felt something sniff at me. The barbearian was back, and it was looking for yesterday’s prey.

I know I should just open my mouth and let it drag the wolf out of me. Nothing I could do would keep the bear out, and I know no way of digesting in time. But my mind just can’t work that way at the moment. It's mine! I stole it!

The bear pried my mouth open, and vastly overpowered my attempts to keep it closed. It bit onto the wolf and pulled. I held on as tightly as I could, but was losing the contest of strength.

An idea came to me. I imagined my subspace as I had before when placing the book back inside. The dimension was compressed wholly into a single point, yet full-sized within. It was like a small tear between pockets of reality, yet overlaid across its vastness. I envisioned the wolf compressing its essence, retaining its place in the outer plane, but phasing into the dimension of my subspace.

My mana rapidly drained as the wolf phased, turning transparent, then to dust in its own shape, before fizzling out of existence. The bear chomped down, but tasted only the empty air where it had been.

I opened my mouth wide, mocking the bear with the sight of its missing prey. I felt a rumbling; likely the monster’s roar. I mentally prepared for it to lash out at me in anger, but the blow never came. It turned and left, uninterested in the meatless plant before it.

It was gone. I had won.

I waited an hour to make sure the bear was far away before I attempted to transform again. I wasn’t sure if this would even work with the beast in my subspace rather than my "stomach", but it's certainly worth the try.

Once more, I envisioned myself as something more than I once was. Once more, I lost consciousness. Once more, I transformed.

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