195 Chapter 195: Fores (1/2)

The forest was...vacant? which was unreal.

Normally, even if she was still in the outer regions, there should have been lots of rabbits hopping around. But, alas not even rabbits were around making her furrow her brows.

Hazel stopped at the red line in front of her which indicated the beginning of the middle regions. She knitted her brows thinking whether she should try to go deeper or not. But her ears perked up when she heard the snarls and growls within the regions.

Taking a deep breath, Hazel crossed the line while unsheathing the dagger strapped to her waist. Her eyes wandered cautiously as she stepped further in, allowing the darkness to swallow her up.

Her heart was beating at a rather calm pace making her wary of her surroundings. The eerie silence and her footsteps echoing did nothing but give her goosebumps. Her hair on her arms stood up as she felt something staring at her intensely making her shiver.

Moving her feet in the snow, she studied her surroundings carefully and didn't find anything amiss. She could swear that she felt an intense gaze on her. Frowning, she turned to continue walking. Her heart was beating quickly as she tightened the hold on her dagger.

She moved through the darkness which gave a little light to walk forward until she came to a stop. Before her, was a plain opening in the middle of the densely clustered trees. She couldn't see well as she stopped by the trees and gazed at the spot.

For some reason, she was feeling a sense of trepidation as if stepping further in was akin to falling for her death. She hesitated to take a step forward until the winter sun came out from its hiding, shining over the opening.

A small pathway of light in the middle of the opening illuminated its surroundings. And, what laid around was snow and nothing else.

Furrowing her brows, she looked at the small shower of light in the surrounding darkness and moved forward.

Upon reaching the lit spot, she glanced up and saw the small gap between the densely packed trees allowing the little light to seep through the leaves. Shaking her head, she looked around and saw that apart from bushes, nothing was new.

'Were the beasts scared of something that they went to hiding?'

Even though the middle regions were less dangerous compared to the inner regions, the beasts at this level could still put up a draining fight. Feeling nothing out of ordinary, she decided to return to Usui. As she turned around and took a step, her feet hit something with a soft thud.

Knitting her brows, Hazel looked down at her feet buried and frowned. Bending down, she moved the snow away from her feet. Her body froze when she saw the wide eyes of a wolf staring back at her. Her fingers shook before she realized that the wolf was dead.

'What the-?'

She couldn't finish her thought when she finally grasped the soft footsteps behind her. Widening her eyes, she turned around swiftly her dagger in front of her, protecting her from the attack. Her heart skipped a beat when she glanced at those ferocious eyes screaming murder.

'Saber-tooth tiger?!'

'How come they are wandering in the middle regions?'

Saber-tooth tigers usually wander around in the inner regions and seldom come out of their comfort zone. But now, not only did it come down, it even killed off the wolf pack in the middle regions.

Hazel pursed her lips as she pushed the tiger which was trying to bite her. Shoving it away from her forcefully, she panted as she watched the saber tooth tiger threw her a menacing glare. His teeth were dripping blood as it roared startling the remaining birds hiding in the area.

Shaking its head, the saber tooth tiger growled before it launched at her. Hazel gripped her dagger tightly as she avoided its paws and moved further back. Her feet hit something and knew it was the dead bodies.

Her heart was hanging on a string as she watched the tiger crazily run towards her. It raised its paw to strike her down.

Hazel moved away from its striking point and leaped towards its back. But the saber tooth tiger figured her strategy as it turned around to bite her.