Chapter Thirteen: Night in the Rainforest (Part Two)

A wave of putrid wind rushed toward her face! Catherine couldn't help but narrow her eyes slightly. She recognized the gigantic beast before her—a level-four magic beast: the Savage Bear! The range of these bears was incredibly vast; wherever there was a forest, be it tropical rainforest, deciduous woods, or coniferous forests, their tracks could be found. Throughout her long career as an adventurer, she had encountered them more than once or twice.

At that time, however, she had been a high-level mage! Though she had not specialized in offensive magic and thus couldn't kill such a thick-skinned, muscular level-four beast head-on, she could always escape with the aid of various support spells. In fact, she had once demonstrated on a program how to use wind magic to sneak up on a Savage Bear and prank it from behind. Because of that, she felt little psychological pressure when facing such creatures.

But this bear was especially massive—larger than any Savage Bear she had ever seen. Its entire body was covered in russet-red fur, almost a foot long, no doubt providing exceptional defense. It stood five meters tall, its forearms thicker than a grown man’s thigh, and the claws extending from its outstretched paws were thirty centimeters long. They weren’t sharp, but were smeared with blood, dyeing their originally white color a pale red.

Catherine quickly assessed her current strength—what Ling Mo would call a “beginner martial artist.” When those predators had leapt at her moments before, she had felt she could just about hold her own against the tawny leopard, but stood no chance against the raptor. And the raptor, at the mere sight of the Savage Bear, had fled in panic…

Alas! Not a chance—time to withdraw!

Heaving a heavy sigh, Catherine sprang into action. Using her relatively uninjured left arm, she swung her blade in a wide arc and hacked off the entire right hind leg of the eviscerated forest sheep. With her right hand, she grabbed the severed leg, slung it over her back, gripped her knife between her teeth, and with her left hand seized a nearby vine. Imitating the great ape she’d seen earlier, she swiftly climbed up the tree.

The Savage Bear lumbered over with heavy, resounding steps. It was slow, forced to watch as Catherine brazenly stole a hind leg from its kill—its rage mounting to the extreme! It didn’t care that Catherine was the one who had slain the prey. If it saw it, it was its! And this shameless thief had made off with its favorite hindquarter tendon! Unforgivable!

But it was always a step behind. By the time it arrived, Catherine was already high above, climbing with the leg on her back. The bear stretched a paw in vain, unable to even brush the soles of her shoes, and snorted furiously. Catherine climbed some ten meters up, and, once certain she was at a safe distance, waved the forest sheep’s hind leg back and forth in a taunting gesture at the bear below. The Savage Bear roared in fury, ramming its massive body repeatedly against the trunk. Yet in this brutal magical rainforest, trees thick enough for three people to encircle were not so easily broken. The whole tree barely trembled, standing as solid as stone.

After a while, the Savage Bear seemed to tire of ramming the tree. It lowered its massive head, apparently ready to give up. Catherine, seeing this, ceased her pointless taunt, found a stable perch among the crown, crossed her legs, set the forest sheep’s hind leg in front of her, and prepared to skin it with her small dagger.

She hadn’t yet decided where to make the first cut when a wave of overwhelming danger surged through her heart—the source was directly below her! Startled, she craned her neck to look down.

The Savage Bear had stood upright, both front paws braced on the trunk, its enormous head tilted skyward, jaws wide open. From her vantage, Catherine could even see the beast’s trembling tongue. Then, from its bloodstained maw, a dazzling russet light burst forth—and a thunderous roar exploded right at her ears!

Boom! Catherine felt her very brain shake to pieces—her head buzzed, vision blurred into double images, the world spinning and tilting beneath her. She was plunged into a dreadful dizziness. With just a sliver of clarity, she clamped her legs tightly around the branch, determined not to fall and become a tasty meal for the Savage Bear.

Even after that attack, the Savage Bear was panting heavily, watching Catherine in the tree with anticipation, hoping she would tumble down as so many of its prey had. But the damned thief swayed and rocked atop the branch, refusing to fall—even still clutching the forest sheep’s hind leg!

After more than ten seconds, the Savage Bear finally gave up hope. Realizing the thief was not coming down, it let out a low whimper, lay down, dragged the two sheep carcasses together, and began to feast with gusto.

It took Catherine quite a while to recover from the vertigo, and she was shaken. Just from that single roar, she had been stunned for a full three seconds! If she hadn’t climbed so high, safely out of the bear’s reach, she would already have been torn to shreds.

Not daring to relax again, Catherine surveyed her surroundings with alertness. That extra glance revealed something amiss: at some point, the great ape that had climbed the tree earlier had crept closer. It skillfully hid itself among the dense foliage, its black fur blending perfectly with the night. Now, both Catherine and the ape were tens of meters above ground, separated by only one tree—less than ten meters apart!

Noticing Catherine’s gaze, the ape grinned, flinging at her the cleaned sheep’s head it had been gnawing, and with a roar leapt directly toward her from seven or eight meters away! It knew full well that this creature, similar in size to itself, had a badly injured right arm. Her awkward posture might fool other beasts, but not one of her own build! She was no match for it now!

Hah! Seeing her cold, steady gaze, the ape scoffed. An empty bluff! She couldn’t possibly intimidate a genius like itself! Flames blazed anew from its fists; it aimed to settle the fight in a single blow. Even if it couldn’t seriously injure her, it would at least seize the fat, delicious leg she carried!

As expected, she dodged, and the ape’s flaming punch struck the branch instead. No matter—now they both stood on the same bough. In such a treetop battle, it had every confidence it could defeat this “little monkey.”

Ha! This little monkey lacks any combat experience! To dodge my next punch, she actually jumped? Still struggling in vain? But what’s with this feeble axe kick? Is she trying to make me laugh? An overhead kick can be powerful, but from such a short drop, she’s just making herself an easy target! Seems I’ve lucked out—she’s a complete rookie! Originally, the ape had only intended to snatch the leg, but now it decided: it would kill and eat this “little monkey.” Just block her blow, and then—

Wait—what’s happening?

The ape easily intercepted Catherine’s kick with its arm, ready to counterattack, but suddenly the branch beneath its feet snapped clean through with a sharp crack. Impossible! Such massive branches should withstand even its full strength—how could that little monkey have such force? But it would never know the answer. Catherine, taking advantage of the rebound, leapt to an even higher limb, twirling an oddly-shaped “tooth” in her hand and regarding the ape with mocking amusement. The ape, having been struck by her foot, plummeted downward with the broken branch—directly into the waiting jaws of the ravenous Savage Bear below.

With a furious roar, the ape tried to struggle, but within seconds its cries were abruptly cut short. Soon, blood splattered the ground, staining the earth red. After a while, a chilling, crisp crunch echoed through the night—the sound of bones being crushed.

At last, all danger was removed. Catherine let herself relax, leaning against the trunk and gulping a few breaths. Then, with a few swift strokes, she skinned the leg and tore into the meat, devouring it hungrily. For a moment, the woman in the tree and the bear below created a strangely harmonious tableau.

After a few hearty bites, Catherine was amazed. As expected of a level-three magic beast’s flesh—it was incredibly filling! She’d only eaten a few pounds, yet already felt a burgeoning sense of fullness, despite having spent all her energy in the recent battle.

After another mouthful, she felt nearly eighty percent full. No longer in a rush, she began slicing thin, nearly transparent strips from the leg with her dagger. The slices were glossy and vividly colored, instantly whetting the appetite. Catherine tasted one and nodded in satisfaction: though it was from the same leg, eating it this way greatly reduced the gaminess compared to tearing at it with her teeth.

Below, the bear was still busy devouring the three carcasses and would be occupied for a while. Catherine licked her fingers and, bored, opened the barrage chat in her interface—only to find it completely blank. Not a single message. The entire livestream was empty, and she wondered aloud, “Huh? What’s going on? Where’s the chat? Is my device broken, or did SharkStream ban my channel?”

No sooner had she spoken than her entire view was flooded with a deluge of messages—lines and lines of “66666” and “The streamer is freaking awesome!!” and similar exclamations. Rows of giant exclamation marks and multicolored gifts swept through the chat, reflecting just how excited her viewers were.

“Holy crap, that was amazing! Streamer, you’re a legend!”

“That was just too intense! I was so on edge I didn’t dare send a single message—afraid I’d miss something epic!”

“Now that’s a fight!! Up-close, hand-to-hand combat is the real deal—makes spellcasting duels look as wimpy as a girl’s slap!”

“Wake up! The streamer IS a girl!”

“Such close-up, clear footage of level-three and four magic beasts brawling—I bet no other site on the MagiNet has anything like this. You’re a trailblazer!”

“Had to use double Eagle Eye just to follow that raptor’s moves! If I’d been there, I’d be dead in a second!”

“Viewer ‘Filthy Rich’ tipped the streamer three Meteor Showers! Message: That whip-like right-arm swing to kill the sheep was just too cool!”

“Viewer ‘Iron Straight Guy’ sent a Meteor Shower! Message: Can anyone explain how that branch broke? I was too busy watching the Blazing Ape and missed it!”

“When the ape jumped over, the streamer was already subtly slicing the branch with her little knife—what a sly one!”

“Not observant enough, you guys! Need to work on your Eagle Eye! She started cutting the branch when the ape threw the sheep’s head!”

“Viewer ‘Cutest in the World’ sent a Meteor Shower! Message: Streamer, you’re amazing! But be careful—when the ape jumped I thought you were dead for sure. If you die, I’ll have nowhere to buy my potions!”

And so on…