What did Rowan realize when he saw the wolf pup?

  He saw himself. Not his current changed self, but the one five years ago.

  Helpless.

  Powerless.

  At the mercy of malevolent monsters.

  Forced to rely on someone stronger for protection.

  Both entrusted to a stranger in hopes of surviving.

  Both the sole survivors of a horrible slaughter.

  Even the monsters shared the same characteristics. Both had intentionally carried out their massacre. The black dragon had relished in its blood and carnage, and from the looks of it, so had the giant centipede. It was hard to tell the expressions of an insect, since, they did not have expressive facial appearances, but the way it acted was enough. The giant insect had not intentionally faced the pack leader head on. Rather it went after all the other members first.

  The giant bug had relished in destroying the weaker members. A cruel and vicious strategy against monsters that focused so much on the pack.

  You have to admit it was a good strategy.

  While not visible, the despair and frustration that the wolves faced as their family members were picked off must be heart wrenching. The more they watch their family get killed, the more hotblooded the rest of the wolves become, leading the rest to charge right in. Only the pack leader had remained calm until the very end, or rather his fury had been surpassed until the last moment of the battle/

  Loyalty, a trait that Rowan had no choice but to admire the wolf monsters for. He didn't like monsters in general, but these wolves had proven one good trait about themselves.

  If the wolf pup had inherited a bit of that loyalty, then this pup may just prove to be a useful companion in the future.

  Whine.

  “Quiet you, we’re not out of the woods yet,” Rowan hushed the pup in his arms as he walked back to the camp. The stench of blood was strong and it wouldn't be long before other monsters would be attracted by the smell. Rowan wanted to be long gone by then. Rowan would have liked to collect some parts of the wolves for his own personal use, but gave up on the idea.

  Using part of the pup’s family felt wrong. While the wolf pup couldn't see right now, it could still smell. Rowan didn't know how the pup would react to him using one of its member’s pelt as clothing. He had hunted wolves in the past, but they were not directly related to this wolf pack, so it should be fine. Not that Rowan was going to give up on killing wolf monsters anytime soon.

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  The monster body with the most useful parts and value would no doubt be the giant centipede and the pack leader as they were both the strongest members of their respective species. The more a monster body is saturated with mana when it is alive, the stronger the material it will give upon its death.

  Unfortunately Rowan's hands were full with the wolf pup and he did not plan to leave it alone.

  As he made his way back, his thoughts turned back to comparing the giant centipede and the black dragon. Both had a malicious gleam in their eyes when they carried out their killing.

  These monsters enjoyed it.

  They liked picking on the weak.

  The red dragon, on the other hand, was different. What it had done, was done for survival. It may have ‘played’ a little bit with its food, but it was never done with malicious intent. It had accepted its loss and death honorably. Rowan had a feeling that the black dragon and giant centipede would not have gone down quietly. They were the selfish kind of monsters that would do everything they could to ruin everything around them with their deaths. He had seen how monsters like goblins weren’t afraid to drag their own kind to deaths, and these monsters were the same.

  It was just that Rowan's attack had come too suddenly that the giant centipede had not been able to react. He was sure that if the giant centipede hadn't died from the first arrow, then the giant insect would have tortured him to death once it got its mandible on him.

  The human boy could only guess the reason why the centipede had slaughtered the wolf pack. The injuries it suffered from the tree still lingered and the wolf pack served as excellent recovery food. However, instead of killing the wolves quickly, it toyed with them the whole time. That was why Rowan was able to witness the battle and intervene in the last minute.

  It was just a pity that he couldn't use any materials from the centipede as he needed to quickly leave.

  In the end, the giant insect had caused its own downfall.

  It was fine to hate monsters, especially when cruel monsters like the black dragon and giant centipede exist, but do not let that hate cloud your judgment.

  That was the realization Rowan had come to after looking at the pup.

  His hatred was for the black dragon and that dragon only. The red dragon was unrelated. When Rowan wanted to kill the red dragon at the time, it was done out of hatred and not out of usefulness. The red dragon had wanted him as food. If he had killed the dragon, he would not have been able to use any part of its body. All the monsters in the Forest of Death kill for a reason, such as their own survival.

  There was no point in killing needlessly. It would only waste his time and energy.

  If Rowan killed the red dragon out of spite, then who to say it won't happen again? Granted that he was stuck in the forest right now, but Rowan didn't believe he would be stuck here forever.

  His body must have subconsciously realized that he was killing for the wrong reason and stopped him.

  Thoughts lead to action, action leads to habits and habit lead back to thoughts.

  A saying that Rowan heard long ago, and he forgot who told him. If Rowan killed out of his own personal feelings, then what's stopping him acting on his own again and again? Taking a life was not something to be taken lightly, especially for the wrong reasons.

  Wanton killing would only make him a murderer.

  Rowan knew the Forest of Death had changed him, but he still needed to keep the humane side of him. Otherwise he would become no more than a beast and at that point, he deserve to stay and die in the forest.

  As Rowan mused over these thoughts, he suddenly thought up a new question.

  What should he feed the wolf pup?