Wind elements gathered downstream of the creek.
Inside a hidden cave.
Accompanied by a "crack, crack" sound.
Tiny cracks split across the surface of the eggshell.
Then, a bright white light diffused from within the eggshell.
A monster roughly as tall as a human youth poked its round head out from the eggshell. It had pure, snow-white fur mixed with black stripes, and its large golden eyes were watery and bright. This was the cub of the legendary forest overlord known as the Godwind Tiger King, a monster classified by the Guild as Rank A...
Although monsters possess the ability to 'Evolve,'
this ability also carries corresponding risks.
'During evolution, consciousness falls into a slumber, leaving one unable to respond to surrounding dangers.'
'Level will be reset to zero after evolution.'
So, while evolution certainly allows monsters to ascend to a higher level,
not all monsters choose to evolve.
Among them, monsters with excessively low intelligence are basically incapable of evolving.
The Godwind Tiger King stepped out of the eggshell.
The eggshell formed from mana now transformed into elements and merged into the Godwind Tiger King's body. The White-Eyed Tiger, which originally had absolutely no magical talent,
possessed extremely high magical abilities after evolving into the Godwind Tiger King. It is said that the Godwind Tiger King's speed is second only to some flying monsters among all creatures; they are born darlings of the wind.
After the Godwind Tiger King completed its evolution,
it immediately entered the forest to begin hunting.
The forest, which had been gradually returning to prosperity after the departure of a certain witch, faced a new blow. Moreover, the Godwind Tiger King was an excellent hunter; prey would often have their lives taken silently before they could even react.
One week later.
The Godwind Tiger King, having reached level 10, finally left its birthplace.
Tracking the scent of its former enemy, the Greedy Moon Wolf King, it entered the depths of the mountain range... into a certain forest.
The girl dressed in animal skins stared at the fairy before her with a face as cold as frost.
Tsukasa looked at the prey that Miss Fairy had sent away. Feeling that she couldn't let things continue like this, she finally couldn't help but bring it up: "Miss Fairy, I've already made it very clear. While I appreciate your kindness, I currently have no intention of going to the Fairy Village with you."
Although she had indeed been tempted before,
her rationality ultimately suppressed that temptation.
After all, even if she already believed ninety percent of Miss Fairy's words,
there was still that final ten percent of distrust.
Furthermore, there was no concrete evidence to prove that what Miss Fairy said was true. At least, Miss Fairy hadn't produced the kind of evidence that would thoroughly convince her. Although she hadn't and wouldn't make such an impertinent request, Miss Fairy must have already known her misgivings through mind reading.
If Miss Fairy really cared about her as much as she appeared to,
then why was she unwilling to provide evidence?
Even though she believed Miss Fairy was telling the truth,
and knew there was no reason for Miss Fairy to deceive her,
it was still inevitable that she would harbor suspicions about Miss Fairy's words.
"Mm, that's why I'm adventuring together with you like this, Little Si."
"...Then could you please go back?"
"Eh?"
Hearing Tsukasa finally bring this up, Eidor was momentarily at a loss.
Although she had long known that Tsukasa would bring this up eventually, she hadn't expected Tsukasa's patience to be so thin, unable to hold back for even a short week.
Though she couldn't think of a good solution yet, it was impossible for her to go back on her own.
"Go back? Go back where?"
"Stop pretending. To the Fairy Village, of course."
"Will you go back with me?"
"No."
"Then I'm not going back either."
Tsukasa was reaching the end of her rope with Miss Fairy's playing dumb.
She did indeed respect the strong.
That was why she had always shown respect to Miss Fairy before.
That was the attitude the weak should have toward the strong.
But she couldn't endure it anymore.
Not all weaklings are willing to be slaughtered at will.
At the very least, she was the type of person who would jump up from the chopping block and resist when being butchered.
"Then, could you please stop interfering with my cultivation?"
Tsukasa's mood could be seen through the fact that she no longer used honorifics.
If Miss Fairy's answer was 'No' now,
then her response to Miss Fairy's pestering would definitely be 'No' as well.
Even though she recognized
that Miss Fairy was very strong,
and doing this was no different from seeking death,
between a slow, agonizing death and a quick one, she would choose the quick one.
"Why must you kill these children?"
Eidor knew this issue was bound to explode.
But she still felt that Tsukasa's methods were very problematic.
Using slaughter to raise one's level was simply too much of an evil path for a cultivation method.
In the past, only truly wicked Demons would use such methods.
"Because I want to become strong."
Tsukasa could not understand Eidor.
Because the path laid out before her was the only one available.
Besides, killing monsters to level up was the law of this world to begin with.
In that case, where was the problem with her actions?
Eidor, who was stopping her, was the one with the problem.
"But this is definitely strange..."
"I've already explained the essence of the System to you. This way of increasing strength is inherently wrong."
Eidor believed that a way of life relying on that System was fundamentally incorrect.
"But this is my only choice."
Tsukasa also had her own difficulties.
Besides, even if she had a choice,
she would likely still choose the path of the System.
Killing monsters to level up was the easiest way,
because it narrowed the gap in talent and ability between individuals.
As for the question of whether slaughter was evil,
regrettably, she was not the type of person overflowing with a sense of justice.
Her sense of justice had perhaps been lost long ago when she transmigrated.
"Right now, every living creature in the world is living according to the rules set by the System. I don't have the power to break those rules."
"If you continue to interfere with me,"
"then I will resist to the end in my own way."
Tsukasa stated her stance without reservation.
Furthermore, she was very suspicious of Eidor's intention in stopping her from leveling up.
After all, she didn't know if the fairy's'saintly' act was genuine or a facade.
Besides, monsters were already killing each other.
Eating or being eaten was the rule here.
Eidor didn't stop the predation between monsters, so why should she specifically stop her alone?
This made her suspect that Eidor was doing this intentionally to force her into submission,
so that she would obediently agree to go to the Fairy Village with her.
Eidor read Tsukasa's inner thoughts.
Her expression became slightly unnatural for a moment.
"Are you really sure you want to live in this world?"
Tsukasa's heart felt heavy.
Could it be that she had just guessed the truth?
---------------------------------
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