A sound similar to cloth being ripped apart silenced the good chuckle we were having at my brother''s expense.


    We all turned to the source.


    Inspiration struck!


    There are four maxims in life commonly referred to as the four F''s. Fighting, fleeing, fornicating, and feeding. Failing to engage in any of them means the end of the perpetual cycle of life. Millions of years of code passed down from parent to child are thus interrupted. If one does not fight, then one is killed. If one does not flee, then one is killed. If one does not fornicate, then the lineage ends. If one does not feed, then one simply starves to death.


    It is simple, natural, obvious, mandatory, and expected.


    Those who never fight are weak. Those who never flee are fools. Those who never fornicate are sterile of heart. Those who never eat are unnatural.


    As society advances and culture enriches the souls, minds, and hearts of the people, these concepts see their status of maxim diminished, but nevertheless retain their nuance. Fighting is a prime example of this. A Performer needs not a blade. Neither does the Craftsman nor the Merchant. The fight, then, becomes abstract – of the mind, soul, or heart. Archers, Clerics, Scouts, Warriors, and Wizards, however, need the blade still. The ability to kill. In turn, those who do not, need those who do.


    It is simple, natural, obvious, mandatory, and expected..


    The ban on War by Her Excellency Filestra changed society. A single individual''s actions and words brought a shift to a second maxim: Fornicating. No longer do we need to produce children in large numbers to enrich the homeland. What once was a one-to-one affair changed to one-to-many.


    People continue to birth children, and will forevermore.


    It is simple, natural, obvious, mandatory, and expected...


    So long as mortals remain mortals, feeding is as imperative as it has always been. The unchanging maxim. Individuals exist who believe Higher Beings will guide us to a Higher Civilization, and by doing so we will ascend and abandon our need to feed, fight, flee, and fornicate. It remains a belief with no basis as no Divine or Eternal has promised such events. Some call it delusions, others call it conviction.


    Regardless of what might happen, all mortal life requires a form of sustenance.


    It is simple, natural, obvious, mandatory, and expected!


    So why, O heart of mine, am I deathly frightened of the scene before me?


    In the twilight realm that is Galeia''s bowels, deep within the All-mother, a manifestation of such maxims played out.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Oh, Natasha, born of purest E''er and Eternal whispers, your wrath is a force that would make even the Cosmic Chamber pause in awe. The Blood Fiend, a terror that haunts the bravest of Chasers, now succumbs to the inexorable might of a Higher Being.


    She was feeding.


    Why did I wish to flee when faced with it when it is simple, natural, obvious, mandatory, and expected!?


    Oh, Natasha, born from the All-mother''s womb, your appetite for the shadows is boundless, a hunger that echoes across the world!


    Until it ended.


    Insatiable hunger and burning ire won over transformed flesh. The origin of it retained full authority, it seemed. The one made to sustain such perfection would not be upstaged by a false imitator.


    Why was I frightened?


    Nature is endlessly beautiful and equally disturbing.


    The Protector wiped her lips, a satisfied smile on her face, then stood up. She took a deep breath, then let out a long, echoing, loud, and deep belch.


    Inspiration gone!


    “Quite the method to defeat a rapidly regenerating monster, right?” Elena commented, not a drop of surprise in her tone. “I hated seeing Perculis do that. To see a calm and gentle man eat monsters...” she stopped her sentence and hissed, looking away.


    Lady Lapia hummed. “I see why you chose to stay back,” she muttered in thought.


    “So... Is that why they''re called apex predators?” Pokh''Orra asked, glancing at Elena.


    The ancient Elf nodded. “One of many reasons,” she quietly replied, her tone implying there was more to it.


    “You''re looking too deeply into it,” Bonte sighed. “Munchies had bad timing, is all.”


    Lady Alyssa chortled, then covered her mouth and giggled.


    “The forbidden spaghetti,” Pokh''Orra wisely added.


    “That''s the second monster she''s eaten so far,” I muttered, still reeling with child-like rejection despite my age.


    It was a natural thing to do: Eat other things.


    “She spat the spider bits out,” Pokh''Orra reminded us. “I don''t think that counts.”


    “It does,” Bonte countered with a snicker. “I bet she tried, but... found it gross or something? There''s nothing wrong with it, anyway. We''ve been eating the Ugers from Mountroad''s dungeon for months now. This was straight from the source.”


    “Those were beasts,” Lady Lapia argued. “Not monsters.”


    My brother shrugged. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, then,” he concluded.


    Hanna, Natasha, and Yolin jogged around the chasm towards us while we chatted.


    “There''s not much difference,” Thelea supplied. “One uses E''er, the other doesn''t. Will you all shit yourselves when Natasha eats a person for the first time? Will you fight her? Or will you perish like a pig?”


    There was no precise answer to such words.