Darkness settles over the forest. Howls and roars can be heard. Nocturnal beasts are now active. All over the forest, the screams of unfortunate hunters, travelers, and beasts resound. Some die and some life. Only the strong and adaptable will advance.

Near the center of the forest, a small patch of open field can be seen. The destroyed forest shows signs of recovery but from the sky, the clearing is almost unnoticeable. In the center a hole extends into the ground and vines cover the surroundings, reaching into its darkness.

Right in front of the hole sits our protagonist as well as her companion Idan. Both are currently recovering their energy to prepare for the descent into the cave. Looking around Idan decides to ask,

"You know...I am curious. What they call the [Eternal Tree] is surrounded by five different territories of five local overlords. As far as I know, they are all at the level of Venerated. I doubt they can just stroll through their territory. The strength difference is massive but the beasts would not allow anyone to disregard their borders."

Pondering about his words our MC seems strangely taken by his question.

Suddenly a surprised expression covers her usually calm face.

"Now I understand," turning to Idan she continues, "They used something like an enchantment. It felt like their Aura was weaker than it should be. Their energy was under pressure and was forcefully contained into their bodies. I thought they might be particularly weak or humans are just generally bad with energy. When Emma carried me I tried to check her body for weapons and other things.

She had a necklace around, well, her neck and it was emitting pressure into her body.

I thought maybe they think this will strengthen their energy but it seems like it was a method with which they wanted to avoid the beast's attention."

"Well, I thought they might have been lucky. Speaking of this. You have to delay your advancement until we're out of the inner region. If you advance here they will notice and hunt you. Especially because of your Aura. It is very...enticing, to say the least."

"Enticing?"

"Very much so! Before that Aura appeared an Aura of Dread spread around your egg. That was probably a safety measure to remove predators from your egg. I think I was less affected due to my pure intentions and my improved intelligence. After that, a calming and soothing aura appeared. It spread through my body and I felt...at home. Very comfortable but I was also tempted to...eat you."

Hanging his head Idan seems to be ashamed because of his previous desire. It appears that he fears the outcome of his confession.

"At least you told me. So I am what? A tonic for beasts? And we don't know whether or not we have to include other races. This is getting annoying just thinking about it."

"We will have to go to the city. Despite this new problem, we cannot just skip that. We need information and weapons that are not 90% rusted. And I think this enticing effect of yours would work differently should it affect humans."

Idan instantly made sure to clarify their current situation. They are without sufficient knowledge and resources. A dangerous situation.

"Why do you think so?"

"Well for one cannibalism is frowned upon, or rather it's forbidden. And we beasts are more likely to eat what we like. I think humans would have other emotions stirred. It could be anger, sadness or whatever. We should experiment at some point but right now we should suppress your advancement and have your advancement in the outer circle or near the [Eternal Tree] and see how far you get before going to the town.

"I agree. But there is no use discussing this. Let's go down and get those flowers. I'd like to hunt some lizards as well. I have yet to fight."

Nodding Idan jumps on her shoulder and promptly they start their climbing trip down the hole.

After a few hard tens of minutes, due to a very careful descent. They arrive at the bottom of the cave. Looking around they try to find the way back. Sadly everything around here looks the same. Looking up at the slope made of dirt and stones, they try to deduce a direction to choose.

After some minutes of observation, they can exclude two directions due to obvious marks on the ground.

"We will have to choose by random or what?", frowning she scrunches her eyebrows and shows a dissatisfied expression. She did not expect this to get so complicated.

"I...don't think so. When we first arrived here the light was shining from our direction onto the hill of dirt. Currently, no light is shining onto the hill. I guess only at one point does the sun illuminate the slope. If we wait until the sun shines onto the hill we just have to follow the opposite direction."

"Depends on whether or not the light only illuminates the hill from one side, but I guess this is our best option. Let's rest. I think it was around 12 am when we went out. We have somewhere close to 3 hours till then."

The girl plops to the ground and relaxes. While relaxing she slowly rotates her energy through her core, intending to strengthen her body, rather than expand her energy.

Energy streams through her veins and strengthens her cells. Slowly her skin tone becomes lighter. Purified cells replace the old ones and slowly turn darker over time. Repeating the process, tens of times slowly her body loses energy and she grabs some fruits to replenish her nutrition and energy.

Slowly the energy gathers back into her core. Gathering all the free energy present in her body she sends it in what would be a humans kidneys. Slowly the energy gathers in the membranes and starts to strengthen them. Spreading deeper and further, the energy coats both kidneys and applies a rudimentary boost.

Output and filtering capability of the kidneys are raised by a small bit. Once she is able to purify her energy further and her energy gains in intensity she can once again strengthen her kidneys.

Satisfied with her accomplishment she opens her eyes and notices that the light is now shining onto the slope. Looking over at Idan, she can see him sitting and watching her.

"I was waiting for you. I did not want to interrupt your cultivation. I memorized the path we have to take as I was free and followed the path a bit. I am very sure this is the right one."

Wordlessly standing up, she nods at Idan to go and lead the way.

Following behind the squirrel, they slowly make their way forward into the bluish darkness of the cave.