Chapter 48 - 47- Alright, you’ve done it

Chapter 48: Chapter 47- Alright, you’ve done it Eva’s figure darted through the dense forest as roars echoed behind her. Her once-bulging stomach has flattened from running. She dodged to the left and a huge shadow climbed the trees as well. The leopard’s black fur blended into the night, its sharp teeth gleamed under the moon’s cold light. It lunged towards Eva, claws extended. "Rip!" Her clothes tore, and white-hot pain seared across her back as the claws raked her skin. Eva bit her tongue to stifle a scream, quickly drawing on the surrounding energy to heal her wounds. The torn flesh stitched itself together. But the leopard was more persistent than every other beast, pursuing her. As its claws lunged toward her, Eva’s green eyes darkened with anger. She was already full and didn’t want to waste meat. But the beast’s persistence forced her hand. She flipped backwards, sword drawn, and aimed for the disoriented beast. She stepped on its claws as her sword thrust into the beast’s chest. She frowned when only the tip could enter due to the beast’s tough skin. "Roar!!!" The beast roared furiously at her attempt. Eva’s face was inches from its own as its foul, bloodied breath blasted her, the wind forcing her cheeks to ripple. ( >〈< ༎ຶ〈༎ຶ ) Tears of disgust dripped from Eva’s eyes. She fought the urge to throw up. Another beast lunged towards her with her sword stuck in the leopard’s body. The leopard sensed Its prey was being eyed and dashed towards the beast, giving Eva a chance to unhook her sword and run. The beast duels it out, the leopard fangs sinking into the beast’s neck and tearing it open. Blood covered its fur, and it turned to the position of its prey and sniffed the air, running after her. "Tsk. Why is this beast stubborn?" Eva clicked her tongue in frustration. Wondering if she killed its offspring, others had stopped but it was the only one out to get her. "Alright, you’ve done it." Eva halted and turned back, prepared to face the beast and have a good night’s sleep. She didn’t even know when this so-called test was ending; she needed all the strength she could get. The leopard halted two trees away, letting out guttural growls as it sized her up with sharp, feline eyes. They stared at each other for a second before lunging forward at the same time. Eva’s body and swords were wrapped around with a green dome, her sword meeting the leopard’s claws mid-air. "Screech!" Sparks flew as the sword clashed with the leopard’s claws. The impact sent Eva hurtling backwards, slamming into a tree. "Bang!’’ The blow knocked the air from her, and her sword-holding hands went numb with pain. The beast didn’t give her time to collect herself and attacked; its fangs going for the kill. Eva dodged at the last minute, jumping on the beast’s back, her hands grasping its fur tightly as she absorbed its energy. "Roar!" The beast roared and slammed into the tree, trying to throw Eva off. But she held tight, crawling toward its head as the wind battered her face. Summoning her strength, she drove her sword into the beast’s neck, hammering the hit to sink it deeper. The beast whined painfully and twitched about before half of Eva’s sword was seen from the other side. It died and fell head-first to the ground; Eva quickly left its body so as not to be crushed to death by its weight. Eva clung to a tree branch, her chest heaving as exhaustion and loneliness set in. In her former life, she had the company of her zombie kin and the roars of their sounds, along with her books. She needed to finish the test and return to Ethan and Julian—her only family in this world. She promised never again to be deceived by food. *Yawn....’’ She fell asleep on the tree branch. *Next day.* "Swoosh, Swoosh!!" Eva frowned at the sound and opened her eyes to see a shadow hovering over her. Before the image could register in her mind, she was pulled up by a huge force. "Ehhh! Wait!" Eva screamed, her voice echoing through the forest as the eagle flew across the sky with its claws holding her shoulders. Eva could barely open her eyes from the force of the wind, she felt air entering into her stomach from her opened mouth. She felt so uncomfortable as her hair whipped painfully against her face. She peeked downwards to shield the wind in her eyes, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the height at which they flew. "Drop me! No, don’t you dare drop me! I’ll kill all your offspring if you let me go!" Eva screamed, quickly changing her words. If she fell from these heights, she would be crushed to a pulp. This was how Eva’s days started, she was able to kill the eagle and get down from the mountain cliff where she was placed for food. Everything in this forest seemed to be after her. Eva darted through the trees, pursued by beasts she had to kill or knock unconscious to escape. Weeks passed, Eva’s gaze turned sharp, her reflex honed to the max at everyday danger. Sleeping beside a tree, her pale skin tanned with her hair longer, her body toned up from the exercise she had to do everyday—escaping and fighting. A soundless beast crept on the ground, eyeing her sleeping form, and lunged at its sleeping prey, only for Eva to dodge while sleeping. Without opening her eyes, she slashed her sword forward and the beast’s neck was slashed open. The stench of blood woke Eva, and she wasn’t surprised to see a dead beast beside her. It had become routine. "When the test is done, I’ll burn this forest to the ground!" Eva screamed furiously into the air. She was hunted, even while sleeping, eating, or taking a dump. Does these beasts have beef with her? Every second of the day, they are after her as if she were the only source of food. Like they weren’t surviving fine when she was absent. She brushed herself off and sidestepped as a beast lunged past, slamming into a tree with a loud crash. Eva’s forehead ticked, she picked up her sword and moved towards the disoriented wolf. With the blunt part of her sword, she whooped it, "Stop attacking me! I’ll spank your wolfy butt until you learn. Learn from your kind!’’ Eva shouted at the presence hiding in the forest. "Wooo!" The beast’s painful cries made the other beast, hidden in the shadows, move back. They watched as Eva let out all her pent-up anger on the beast’s butt. They wondered if the human had lost it. Eva grew tired and released the unfortunate beast. She headed to the stream to wash up, stripping down and stepping into the water with a dagger in hand. Within two minutes, sharp-toothed fishes swarmed toward her, ready to bite. But Eva was prepared; with a swing of her dagger, she slashed every last one of them and quickly washed off before a school of other berserk fishes came. She dusted her clothes which seemed to be hanging on its last breath at the amount of tears and claws cut on it. She wandered the forest as usual, picking weird plants and fruits. She preserved the seeds of the fruits to plant them later when she got back and picked out the delicious ones for Ethan and Julian. Hearing the buzzing sound her gaze shone with determination. ’Today is the day, I’ll steal their Honey. No matter the painful stings you can do it ( •̀ᴗ•́ )و ’ She has been eyeing this honey for a while now but those bees were too dramatic. They stung her all over because she went close to it. She didn’t even think of stealing the Honey ( ̄『 ̄ ). Taking out a fur from her space bag, she wrapped herself tightly and dashed towards the bee nest; they rushed towards her, their buzzing sound echoing in the clearing as they attacked. Eva didn’t care and took the honey from the tree, she slipped it into her space bag and made a run for it. As she dashed forward a mechanical sound suddenly rang over the forest. "The competitor passed the Forest of Despair test. Transferring to the next location in 3...2...1." Eva disappeared under the bees angry buzzing.