"Give me your energy stone."
A girl's voice called.
Then there was a loud sound like someone pounding a human chest and screams rose—
"I will kill you too, you stubborn wild man!"
"Save me… save me!"
the girl screamed again.
Lily immediately understood that a girl was hunting a beast. But she also felt fear — now that girl was in danger because a wild man had also come there.
Lili and Snehwal slowly moved toward the place from where the terrible noise was coming.
From a distance, they saw—a giant beast-man in a monstrous form was uprooting trees. With every roar, the whole forest trembled.
He was screaming and rampaging like an elephant, and a little farther away, a lion lay dead on the ground, its body still warm.
But it was still not clear whom the beast-man was fighting.
Lili's eyes grew sharp, and she started to step forward.
But Snehwal quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
His voice carried fear and warning—
"No! This is not our fight."
Lili's eyes hardened with determination. She said slowly but firmly—
"The path of a beast-man is always against humans.
Between us and them, there can only be life or death.
This one must have come tonight with a plan to enter the city!"
Snehwal looked at Lili. His face no longer showed doubt but determination.
"Really…?"
Then a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Alright then. I want to try something."
Lili looked carefully at his face and then softly smiled—
"Fine… try it."
Snehwal took out the wooden plate from his talisman, the one Master Jins had given him.
He let a drop of his blood fall onto it.
In an instant, the plate glowed—white energy rose from it and entered straight into his forehead.
Countless mysterious mantras were carved into his mind's consciousness.
Snehwal clutched his forehead as a light pain surged through his head.
But the very next moment, his eyes lit up with determination.
He stood tall and stared at the beast-man.
From his talisman, he drew out his bow and pulled the string—
And there appeared a mighty arrow of light-green energy.
Its power was so immense that the atmosphere grew heavy at once.
The beast-man's attention immediately shifted toward Snehwal.
Lili quietly watched all this.
In her eyes, at that very moment, there was an unspoken compassion and love.
As if in that instant, she saw in Snehwal not just a warrior, but her everything.
The beast-man roared in anger and charged toward Snehwal and Lili.
Without wasting a moment, Snehwal released the bowstring—his arrow tore through the air like lightning and pierced straight into the beast-man's neck.
In an instant, its roar broke.
It collapsed to the ground, and silence fell over the entire forest.
Snehwal took a deep breath, looked at his bow, then at the fallen beast-man.
A faint smile appeared on his lips—
"If the first level is this powerful… then how strong will the second be?
And the third… it will surely be extraordinary."
Snehwal put the bow back into the talisman, and just as he moved toward the vanmanush [wild man], suddenly a squirrel jumped onto the beast's stomach.
Its body glowed with white and golden light, and on its forehead was a small pink gem.
It shouted angrily—
"This is my prey! Why did you snatch it from me?"
Snehwal was stunned. His eyes widened and he said in disbelief—
"A… talking squirrel!"
Lily let out a small breath through her nose, as if this was nothing unusual for her.
In a calm voice she said—
"This is quite normal… but be careful, it could also be dangerous."
Snehwal laughed in a friendly way and said,
"I ask you this — step back, child, or I will make you regret it."
The squirrel shouted,
"You are a human and so cruel — you want to kill a squirrel?"
Trying to scare the squirrel, Snehwal smiled and said,
"I really like that pink gem on your forehead. I will take it out and give it as a gift to my dear Lily."
Lily gave a small smile — a sweet, rare kind of smile.
Snehwal then took a step toward the squirrel. At that the squirrel cried out,
"A deal… why don't we make a deal?"
Hearing this, Snehwal stopped and asked,
"What kind of deal?"
The squirrel walked proudly on the wild man's stomach and said,
"I will give you a method, which was once the best method. Not like the method you just used with the bow, but one that could even change a law at some point. One day it might also be useful in a battle, but it will take time."
Snehwal thought for a moment and then agreed. Lily was happy with this decision. She wanted the same.
The squirrel stretched out her hand and filled Snehwal's forehead with a light surge of pink energy.
Then she said,
"You will get a special opportunity as soon as you turn this method into a technique."