Orion assessed the situation quickly.
They had gone several hours without encountering a single monster. That alone told him
enough. Judging by the distance they had covered in silence, whatever lay ahead commanded
an enormous territory. In the Jade Forest, territory size correlated almost directly with strength.
Smaller predators avoided larger ones instinctively, and ecosystems reshaped themselves
around apex hosts.
Large territory meant a strong host.
He was confident in his own abilities, but confidence didn't blind him to reality. Monsters didn't
fight like people. They didn't rely on technique or training in the way humans did. They relied
on instinct, environment, and abilities that often ignored conventional logic. The academy had
drilled that lesson into them relentlessly: strength wasn't just mana output or brute force. A
poorly understood skill, activated at the wrong moment, could kill someone far stronger than
its user.
The safest approach was obvious.
