Kurushimi was meandering through the forest thinking about just one thing,

-I haven’t eaten anything at all since I came here…

Kurushimi, using her skill Fangs, had sucked plenty of blood in her time here. It seemed that the drinking of blood kept her both fed and hydrated at the same time, which was oddly convenient.

But… In between the rancid dog blood and the lack of warm food that she had previously taken for granted, Kurushimi didn’t care if her hunger and thirst were taken care of. She wanted to eat something that tasted good.

Of what she could eat currently, her location was greatly inhibiting her. In this forest, there would be no shops around to buy food. There would also be no places she could order food from. Which means, she must procure food herself. Something she never had to do in her 18 years of life. At this realisation, Kurushimi began to brainstorm methods to acquire food.

-So first, the most obvious method would be to cook and eat the canisfangs…

Kurushimi thought about this, then thought about how bad their blood tasted. With that in mind, Kurushimi wasn’t too motivated to taste their meat.

-Next, would be to find some fruit or edible plant…

Kurushimi had actually seen a few plants and even fewer, but still some, fruit during her journey. But in this different and dangerous world. She couldn’t identify a single one of them. So whether they weren’t good to eat or poisonous… she had no clue. She had never been poisoned before and she definitely hadn’t died from poison. And she even more so did not want to try it. With that in mind, Kurushimi decided not to risk death because she wanted to eat. Especially when the purpose of eating isn’t her survival but her simple satisfaction. It simply isn’t worth it.

-Then… Maybe if I were to find some other kind of creature and cook it?

Finally, she thought about finding some other animal. If she found something else, it may have decent meat she could eat. But the problem was if she could find one. So far, she had only come across canisfangs, canisfangs, and more canisfangs. Although, at the same time she is currently in a forest. So it wouldn’t be strange to see another animal... With that in mind, Kurushimi suddenly heard a strange sound.

The sound was a shriek of sorts from an animal. But, to Kurushimi’s surprise, it sounded different to the shrieks of the canisfangs. More like a…

“JAJAJA”

Bird. Like some sort of bird. It came from a little bit away, in the direction Kurushimi was headed. If not for the fact that it had made noise, Kurushimi would have collided with it en route. After hearing the bird and potential solution to her current problem, Kurushimi slowed down in an attempt to sneak up on the new creature.

After crouching around a bit like a predator that had found its prey, she eventually caught sight of the creature. It was still far away but of what she could make out, it looked like a bird or a chicken of sorts.

《Used skill: 『Farsight Lvl. 1』!》

Kurushimi’s vision was amplified many times, allowing her to get a clearer view of it. As she saw what it was, Kurushimi was incredibly surprised.

-That, that looks like a dinosaur…?

Stuttering with her eyes wide she observed the little animal as its head snapped about looking around itself. Kurushimi didn’t know much about dinosaurs but it looked kind of like a microraptor. Though not the exact thing as she had seen from images online. A bit like how the canisfangs looked like dogs but were fairly different from dogs.

Rather than the feathery microraptor, it was covered in scales. Even its wings were scaly. A combination of unserrated and partially serrated teeth stuck out from its beak. Scaly wings protruded from its arms and legs, along with a diamond shaped scale donning its tail. Other than that, its other features were remarkably similar to the microraptor.

《Used skill: 『Appraisal Lvl. 1』!》

《Pullumskāl Lvl. 9》

After using Appraisal, Kurushimi discovered the creature's name to be a ‘pullumskāl’. Its level was one higher than Kurushimi's own. After confirming the level of the pullumskāl wasn’t too high, Kurushimi decided to take the opportunity given to her and hunt it.

Kurushimi got a little closer to the pullumskāl, but was careful not to get too close so that it wouldn’t get alerted. Seeing that she was close enough, Kurushimi swiftly jumped up a tree and got the high ground as she had done with the canisfangs before.

She then closed one eye and precisely aimed at the pullumskāl. Kurushimi prepared her magic with the intent of capturing her target.

《Used skill: 『Shadow magic Lvl. 1』!》

Kurushimi’s shadow writhed about until a single tendril shot out at a high speed towards the pullumskāl. Kurushimi only needed to connect the tendril with the pullumskāl’s shadow to have successfully gotten it.

Just as the tendril was about to reach the pullumskāl’s shadow, the pullumskāl’s eyes suddenly twitched and snapped in the direction of Kurushimi. Kurushimi jumped slightly at her compromisation.

The pullumskāl rapidly jumped out of the way, effortlessly dodging the shadow tendril Kurushimi had shot out. It then speedily ran off using the trees and foliage as cover.

[Kurushimi: Ahh shit, it’s getting away!]

Kurushimi had been momentarily spooked by the pullumskāl. But apparently its intimidating look was merely a bluff as it immediately began to run after dodging her tendril. Kurushimi was a little ashamed that she actually had been duped by an animal just now…

Kurushimi hastily jumped down from the tree and ran across the forest floor. She hurriedly spun around a tree in an attempt to regain sight of the pullumskāl. And when she did, to her horror, the pullumskāl had already nimbly jumped up the trees and had begun to use its scaly wings to glide away.

Kurshimi’s pride and stomach united in that they didn’t want to let the pullumskāl escape. She ran forth with no hesitation to chase the pullumskāl, using all her levels she had pumped into the AGI stat to their fullest.

Despite its scaly wings, the pullumskāl seemed only capable of gliding and not powered flight. It was likely that the pullumskāl would continue to fall downwards until it reached the ground. Kurushimi aimed to catch the pullumskāl at the end of its descent.

The pullumskāl jumped from tree to tree, moving through the forest in a continuous series of long, looping glides. The pullumskāl was a fair bit faster than Kurushimi; Although, with no way to regain its height and the only way being down, the pullumskāl was getting ever closer to the ground.

[Kurushimi: I’VE ALMOST GOT YA NOW!]

Kurushimi shouted as she smiled, watching the pullumskāl get closer and closer to the ground. The pullumskāl let out a shrill cry in response. At the end of the chase, the pullumskāl finally had hit ground before turning behind a tree.

Kurushimi had already caught up and turned the corner as well, expecting to meet the pullumskāl face to face for the first time.

Though, what she met wasn’t quite its face but several rows of teeth.

“GYA?!”

Kurushimi let out a shocking scream from the sight and sudden counter attack from the pullumskāl.