Leo felt good. Better than good. The strange warmth from absorbing the bear-monster's energy left him feeling more solid, more present.
[Vessel stability has increased by 7.3%. Energy reserves at 15%.]
"Energy reserves?" Leo thought. "Was I low before?"
[Affirmative. Initial state was critically depleted. The encounter has provided a necessary resource.]
So, he had been starving without knowing it. He didn't look back at the Gloom Bruin. In the Dark Forest, pity was a death sentence, and though he didn't know why, the instinct to survive was primal.
He turned to continue his journey, but he was too late. The encounter had been a beacon. A pack of Shadow Jackals emerged from the mist between the trees—not just two or three, but a full pack of eight. They were wiry, sinewy creatures with fur that drank the light and eyes like hot coals. They moved with a skittering, unnerving grace. They ignored the crippled Gloom Bruin. Their focus was on the new thing, the green slime that smelled of pure, untainted energy.
[Alert: Multiple biological entities detected. Profile: Shadow Jackal Pack. Threat Level: High.]
The pack didn't hesitate. They operated on a single law: the strong eat, the weak are eaten. They saw prey.
Three of them lunged simultaneously from different angles, fangs bared to tear into him.
Leo's reaction was instantaneous and absolute. It wasn't malice, it wasn't cruelty. It was a fundamental law of his own existence: a threat is energy.
As the first jackal's jaws sank into his form, he pulled. Its life force—a small, hot spark—was extinguished in an instant. The creature collapsed into a lifeless husk, its body crumbling to dust almost immediately as its energy was wholly consumed.
The second jackal, mid-lunge, met the same fate, its momentum carrying its desiccated corpse skidding across the moss.
The third, attempting to breathe a cloud of corrosive shadow mist, found the mist absorbed before it could even leave its maw, its own internal energy violently siphoned out through its throat.
The remaining five jackals skidded to a halt. The entire assault had lasted less than three seconds. Three of their pack were gone, utterly consumed. The scent of easy prey had been replaced by the void-like aura of an apex predator.
A low whine of pure, instinctual terror escaped the pack leader. There was no fight, no strategy. Only the need to flee. They turned as one and fled back into the shadows, their skittering footsteps fading into a panicked scramble.
Leo was alone again. He had not moved from his spot. He felt the three new sources of energy settle inside him, making him feel even more substantial.
[Host has absorbed [Shadow Essence]. Reflex and cohesion parameters have increased.]
He looked at the two piles of dust that were already being carried away by the wind, and the third crumbling body. He felt no remorse. In this place, it was eat or be eaten. He had simply chosen to eat.
A simple, logical conclusion formed in his mind.
[Sage, what is the strongest thing here?] he asked internally.
[Data is limited. Based on localized energy readings, the Gloom Bruin was the apex predator of this immediate territory.]
Leo processed this. The biggest, scariest monster around had tried to kill him and was now a helpless lump. A pack of hunters had been annihilated.
A profound, world-shaking realization dawned on the amnesiac slime.
[Oh,] Leo thought, the truth becoming clear. [I think... I'm safe here.]
With this new, comforting knowledge, Leo continued his wobbly journey deeper into the Dark Forest, no longer a potential victim, but the new, unwitting king of the food chain.