Sprinting across Nimmer Forest, Cely slowly but surely went deeper into it. She didn't go deeper in a straight line, though. That could easily lead to her bumping into Tier 4 and higher monsters. Instead, she approached the center diagonally to walk through as many lower-strength enemies as she could before meeting stronger foes. Realistically, she could survive an encounter with a Tier 4, but it would not be easy to fight it with her current strength and unfamiliarity with this body.
She was only at the peak of Tier 2, and that with her foundation beeing relativly week right now, she couldn't exert the maximum this body had to offer. She can beat Tier 2 and even Tier 3 relatively easily, but Tier 4 would be a struggle.
'I really should have learned to diversify myself more back then.', Cely lamented, while heading ever deeper. She had only ever really learned her personal claw combat style, so, she was unfamiliar with what this body had to offer.
She still wanted a challenge though, not only to increase her use of this body, but also to absorb more power. Yes, her foundation was unstable, but no, it was nowhere near where she had to stop yet. Cely was certain of this, since she had seen countless cultivators and other cultivation systems advance through realms, and what should, and should not, be a good foundation.
After some time, she came across some overgrown frogs... a solid 3 meters in height. Their colors were bright, and they screamed poison, but seeing them, desire overflowed Cely as her body melted quickly and sank into the ground.
Not long after, the same thing as with the shadow unicorns happened to the frogs, only that they were devoured one by one in a very sadistically painful way. Having had her meal, she started absorbing all the remaining life energy and blood, her cultivation truly pushing against the Foundation Tier, Tier 3, now.
It was too fast, and she could feel her foundation slowly loosening as she continued. But the damage that was currently there was reversible, and she could feel that she could still continue for a bit before it became dangerous. It was honestly baffling to her. Even she, someone so versed in research of laws and the abnormal, could not truly deceipher how this devouring worked.
Feeling more auras approaching the area she was in, Cely's face behind the mask twisted into a crazed grin. "More prey.", she mumbled, her voice sounding neither male nor female anymore.
A blackish and crimson aura swirled lightly around her, seeming to intend to erupt at any moment but still being restrained. Her body was dissolving partly into roots that swayed eagerly around her. This made her appearance even more foreboding.
The monsters that arrived in the clearing she was currently in, however, didn't care. Shadow Unicorn, Singen Lizards, Bread Equine, and multiple more monsters swarmed the valley in small groups. All of them had cultivations ranging from the early to the later stages of Tier 2. Seeing this, the bloodthirsty and twisted grin on Cely's face widened unnaturally so far that it extended around half her head.
P̵̻͑R̴͔̃E̸̮͒Y̶̯̑
A twisted voice that seemed neither male nor female echoed from Cely's figure as she disappeared from her spot. Appearing in front of one of the Singen Lizards. A green-colored lizard creature that specializes in brute strength and has great outer defenses.
At this time, the white mask that she normally wore on her face had disappeared, showing her beautiful face.
Her crimson eyes were shining with an eerie crimson light that seemed to only see the prey in front of it. Her mouth was twisted in a grin spanning half her head, filled with silvery-white roots that seemed to wiggle around sporadically, making the already grotesque smile seem even more terrifying.
Without waiting for the lizard to react, she plunged one of her hands into the creature. Her hand sliced through the hard scales like a hot knife through butter. The lizard let out a miserable sound, but before it could retaliate, it exploded into a mass of white roots, having been devoured in no time.
Seeing this, the other monsters that had just appeared wanted to run, but they didn't have a chance anymore.
Ṋ̸̑O̵̲̎ ̶̺͝Ḙ̸̂S̵̭̓C̷̻͝A̶̰̋P̶͎̕E̷̥͘
The twisted voice sounded again, sending chills down these creatures' backs, but they couldn't even react before uncountable numbers of roots shot out from the ground, entangling any monsters and living beings present.
The Bread Equine, a type of horse monster which was extremely bulky with hooves that seemed specialized in trampling and a mouth full of sharp teeth, tried to bite through the roots, but they were too fast. So instead of being bitten through, the tendrils took the opportunity and shot through the upper maw of the Bread Equine right into its skull, killing it instantly.
Similar situations occurred all across the plain, and a few minutes later all the monsters were completely engulfed and devoured by Cely's roots, which started retreating.
Meanwhile, Dan, who had been watching everything from the start, gulped at seeing this scene.
"I now know why His Majesty warned us not to make her our enemy.", he whispered, looking at Cely basking in the feeling of her hunt as her cultivation began to increase rapidly. That violent, black-red aura was still swimming around her, on full display. It was the solidification of the intent to kill. The hallmark of those who have swum through oceans of corpses.
Watching this, Dan was surprised that, after a few minutes of standing there, he suddenly found Cely's aura to be breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Wide-eyed, Dan watched in awe as that barrier broke like a piece of paper in front of Cely, deciding it was time to show himself.
Having calmed down after the breakthrough, Cely reformed the mask back on her face, as her bloodthirsty aura retreated.
"Hello there.", she heard a friendly but also slightly nervous voice from behind her.
Turning around, she created a bit of distance between her and the one who appeared there. It was a tall Wolfman with dark gray fur.
"Ah, sorry for scaring you. My name is Dan. Who are you? I haven't seen you around here before.", Dan introduced himself, lying a bit in the process.
"Cely.", Cely answered with vigilance, looking at Dan, who smiled at her.
"Cely, I see. You don't seem to be from around. Do you have anywhere to stay? If not, I could lead you to the nearest city." Dan laughed as he tilted his head slightly while looking at her, waiting for an answer.
As Cely looked at Dan, she felt a strong sense of danger. This man was strong, although she couldn't tell how strong exactly. Honestly, that was remarkable, considering even in her current state, even a casual immortal should not be able to do that unless they have a very powerful technique or a treasure to hide their cultivation.
Understanding that, should Dan have had bad intentions, she would not be having this conversation, made Cely relax.
"I am not from around here, no. I would feel honored if you could lead me to the nearest city, as I really have no place to stay.", Cely said, although she did want to see the city, not because she wanted a place to stay, but for equipment and some more in-depth knowledge of this area of Neal.
Although she did gather some from Maria, it was mostly fragmented and useless.
"Great! Let's go then.", Dan grinned, his sharp teeth shining slightly in the sun, as he turned around without waiting for her.
As Cely saw Dan walk in that direction slowly, her vigilance completely disappeared. 'He is friendly, ' she thought, a small smile appearing on her face as she followed behind the tall Wolfman.
The journey back took about a day as Cely was by far slower than Dan, who had arrived at her position in just a few hours. Still, the journey back was relaxing, and while walking back, the two had a pleasant conversation about their experiences.
Dan mostly complained about his job as the head of the COG (Council of Grimm) and also about some of the recent events in the area, like the increased monster activities, a few bandits that have made themself cozy near the main road leading toward Xilia, a nearby city.
He also talked about his wife and how they would have children in the not-so-distant future. Lastly, he talked about the past of Grimm, how his great-grandfather Edward van Dennisen had been a General who had led the military of Grimm but as he saw how the Duke had abused the populous, he rebelled with a good amount of higher-ups and uprooted the Duke and all his supporters before stabilizing the city as a free city, unbound by the Demon Kingdom in the west and the Central Kingdom in the east.
Listening to all of these things quietly, Cely had become closer and closer to Dan without even noticing. She even wanted to start talking, but before she could do so.
"We are here.", Dan said with a smile, looking at the large and majestic city walls up ahead.
Looking at the height and grandness of the city, even Cely was surprised.
She had arrived at the gates of the free city, Grimm!