Becoming a Monster

Chapter 447: Chapter 447: The Other Forest

The forest dimmed gradually as the sun lowered. The sounds of training faded one by one until everyone began to rest.

Although Noah had noticed the stares from the cats and dogs, he didn’t confront them about training alongside him and the others. The benefits of making them stronger were obvious.

But he believed it should be them coming to him, not the other way around.

He desired an army of his own, but subordinates who felt entitled to his protection, his cores, or his guidance would become a burden long before they became an asset.

And worse, subordinates like that would eventually betray him if those benefits were to stop. He didn’t just need strong soldiers, he needed loyal ones.

This time, as Fenrir and Kratos went out to hunt, they didn’t share their spoils with them either.

The message wasn’t cruel, but it was clear.

If they wanted a place here, if they wanted strength, protection, and the chance to grow, then they would have to step forward on their own.

That night, when they approached Noah to go hunting, fear still lingered in their chests.

It hadn’t even been a full day since they were the ones being chased through the trees.

The memory of the goblin’s shrieks and sinister predatory smiles hadn’t faded. Every step toward the territory’s edge felt like walking back into that moment.

But none of them showed it.

Not while they were still in Noah’s presence. If they wanted a place here, then they had to prove they could at least fend for themselves. Then they weren’t just mouths waiting to be fed.

So this time, the cats and dogs worked together to hunt for their food. It wasn’t like before. When they joined forces, they fought together, but there was no cohesion between the two groups, no communication.

This time, they prepped beforehand, assigning roles to individuals and planning for potential encounters.

The dogs formed two units. They were both the hunters and the defenders. With their hounds, they could find prey at a frightening pace.

However, they couldn’t distinguish the identity of their prey until they encountered it. It would take some time before the hounds could differentiate the scents.

Alexandria took command of the outer perimeter, leading a small team of cats to scout ahead and circle wide. Their task wasn’t just to look for prey, but to watch the shadows

The scouts weren’t strictly necessary when it came to goblins. The dogs would instantly recognize that rancid, sour scent. It was burned into their memories.

But goblins weren’t the only predators that roamed these woods.

That was where the other unit came in. They were the failsafe against the unknown factors.

Their collaboration was better than before, yet that didn’t mean their trauma was forgotten. The distance between them and Noah’s territory never grew too far apart.

Their first night hunting yielded small gains, but it was enough to be considered successful. The prey they found was small, but it was enough to last them the night.

They did not celebrate. They ate in silence.

From a distance, they watched as Fenrir and Kratos returned with heavier carcasses, creatures the cats and dogs would not have dared to approach alone. The difference in strength was obvious.

Seeing this, both Dog and Alexandria didn’t speak it aloud, but the decision was already made. Tomorrow, they would seek Noah.

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The next day, dawn broke quietly over Noah’s territory.

But far from the rooted wall, where the land began to diverge into uncharted territory, another forest stirred.

And within that forest, a familiar presence wandered alone.

The chieftain walked slowly and cautiously. The ground beneath its feet was damp, but it wasn’t morning dew; the feeling was thicker.

The air there didn’t carry the scent of moss and soil. It reeked of iron, both sweet and bitter.

The troll wasn’t new to the smell; the scent of blood was a cologne that it wore daily.

The trees were nothing like the lush giants that stood in the forest it had left. These trunks were pitch black, their bark cracked. The details were those of a dead tree, and yet the trees here looked more alive than the ones it knew.

Red glowed faintly within the cracks of the bark like veins. In the past, the troll had believed the crimson light was energy pulsing through the trees, but it learned that it was the very source of the smell.

From a distance, it appeared to be nothing more than an energy source, but as one drew closer, the substance revealed itself to be tangible. And when touched, the surface yielded slightly under pressure, and blood clung to its skin like a dark smear.

The touch alone wasn’t enough to disturb its shape, and the indentation slowly sealed over, as though the tree itself were clotting.

The silhouettes of these trees were warped, twisting unnaturally toward the sky as if their growth wasn’t guided by the sunlight. And the leaves were worse.

They were broad, plush, and almost soft in appearance. These leaves were black, with their surfaces webbed with blood-red veins. The entire leaf was filled with blood. The smell it gave off was enticing.

If the bitter iron smell came from the tree’s bark, then the sweet scent drifted from its leaves.

However, the troll wasn’t brave enough to eat one. Because it feared what it could become.

Its head snapped up when it heard a rustle within the forest. Even shadows made it wary. Back in its forest, it was one of the strongest, but here, it’d be lucky to even find food that wasn’t capable of fighting back.

The chieftain continued to move forward until it finally came upon its destination.

It came upon a tree unlike the others.

This one towered above the rest, its trunk thicker, its bark darker, so dark it seemed to swallow the faint crimson glow that pulsed beneath its surface.

The veins within it throbbed more slowly, more heavily, like the heartbeat of something immense slumbering inside it.

But it wasn’t the tree itself that held the chieftain’s attention.

It was what hung from it.

A massive corpse had been impaled through the chest and suspended against the trunk. The creature had jagged, bone-like spikes protruding along its spine and shoulders, most of them snapped off entirely.

Its maw was perhaps larger than its head, with rows of fangs exposed. Just like the spikes, its canines were missing.

Even in death, it looked powerful.

The chieftain didn’t recognize the creature at all. It only compared it to the species that was slightly similar to it back inside its own forest.

A wolf.

However, this predator could have easily turned their forest into its hunting grounds if there were a pack of them.

The troll didn’t question the reason for the corpse’s location. Its gaze slowly lifted to the reason.

Hanging from the branches above were fruits.

They were swollen and dark as night. Veins branched across them just as they did the leaves. Some were smaller. Others were nearly the size of the troll’s head.

The smaller ones, however, were a transparent red while a deep shade of darkness grew within them. By the time they turned ripe, the outer coating would become completely black.

And the scent...

The sweet scent in the air thickened there, intoxicating and heavy. It was richer, like power condensed into flesh.

The chieftain recalled what it needed to do the moment its eyes landed on them.

It strolled forward, hesitating when it reached for the fruit.

There would be no going back after this.

For a moment, the chieftain recalled the life it had before, and then it thought about the life it would have to give up. Was it willing to throw it all away?

Its eyes grew hazy when it recalled the creatures that brought it to this.

Hatred stirred within it, its body answering on its own as its palms crushed the fruit within its hands.

Its life and its future were already taken away. It couldn’t live with itself if it didn’t reciprocate its pain. No, it wanted to return the favor with its own hands.

When the fruit ruptured within its hands, dark fluid spilled over it and onto the ground. The substance was warm and heavy, sticking to its hands like sap.

The scent intensified instantly. The sweetness became suffocating. For a heartbeat, the chieftain almost gave in to the urge to eat it.

But then it felt the ground rumble, followed by a war cry. It didn’t take long before it could hear thundering steps coming its way.

The trees shook as something massive forced its way through them. Then it emerged.

A colossal boar-like beast burst into view. It was nearly half the chieftain’s height, yet far broader. Like the corpse hanging from the tree, it was monstrous compared to the boars from the chieftain’s forest.

Its body was built from dense muscle. Curved tusks arched outward like hooked blades, and two thick horns rose from its skull.

The boar’s teeth were not meant for roots or bark. They were those of a creature that fed almost entirely on meat.

Steam rolled from its nostrils as its eyes locked onto the chieftain.

The chieftain did not move. It hadn’t expected this.