The monster that stepped out from behind the tree wasn't alone
From the treeline, more monsters emerged four, five...and eight total eight of them Each one a grotesque variation of the first, as if the world itself had coughed up malformed beasts and handed them a hunger they couldn't understand. Furred bodies, plated limbs, glowing red eyes they moved in a low, crouched circle, steam hissing from their backs, tusks twitching wildly.
I flexed my fingers in the air and the atmosphere had grown dense, not just with moisture but with tension. A palpable pressure their eyes locked onto me not Jaipa, not the surroundings just me and only me
It was the perfect opportunity to test how much I had improved since coming to the Forest of Absolute. A pack of monsters would be the most efficient way to know
I stepped forward slowly taking steps, my gaze sweeping across them and my cloak fell back, revealing the twin handles at my back
"Don't get full of yourself," Jaipa muttered from behind a moss-covered stump
"I wasn't planning to..."
The first monster lunged toward me, low and fast, trying to sink its tusks into my gut My foot pivoted sideways, and I let its momentum carry it past me. One step, and I was behind it, my blade halfway drawn.
And with a sound of flick
The air split with a hiss. Its head fell before the body even realized it had died and red blood sprayed across the leaves
Wow ! It's really is red " i had my doubt on this matter, as for me and jaipa we had a conversation on our way hear i wasn't agreeing on his thoughts that the monster blood would be red but now after witnessing it with my eyes i feel like i wasn't being myself
And as the second and third monster came together me
I moved in a blur of motion my body dropped low as claws sliced through where my neck had been twisted, planting my hand against the ground, and launched upward, my knee cracking into the jaw of one. It reeled back, dazed.
The other swiped blindly parring the strike with the flat of my blade, then slid in close and jammed the pommel into its throat
A strangled snarl for a moment then silence ruled the forest
Two more rushed in one from the left, the other from behind
I spun, cloak flaring, and i gathered my Tai energy surging through my limbs, through the blade, then the air cracked with a resonant sound
I stepped forward once that was all I needed one controlled motion that cut through both in a single arc the ground trembled and darkened with their blood
Five monsters were down
Looking aside three monster circled me now, warier, but they weren't fast enough to evade my gaze
The sixth made the mistake of blinking. Within that blink, I was already in front of it My foot slammed into its knee, shattering bone as it fell, I drove my blade through the base of its neck in one smooth, downward thrust another turned to flee
I let it go for a second
Then I hurled my second blade straight through its back, pinning it to a tree like an insect. I was fully immersed in the battle now, realizing how weak these creatures were compared to the monsters in the world of 48H. A single Flyhum from that realm would be ten times stronger than these beasts. The thought occupied me briefly.
Amd then the last monster charged, howling toward me for a second i didn't move, knowing its weakness, but kept my guard raised as it approached just as its claws reached for me, I raised my hand
I concentrated my Tai energy on my palm, compressing it, then released a burst of focused power
Its entire upper half exploded backward, ribs and sinew flying like broken glass. Its lower body crumpled forward, still twitching
Haa... it's quite good ! I just wanted to try doing it but I had no idea it would be this effective "
" That kid is indeed something else ! "
A second later, silence settled over the grove eight of the bodies lay strewn in uneven piles blood soaked on the roots, steam rising above it
I turned to Jaipa with a cold voice " what do you think how did I look when I get full of myself..."
He stared, slack-jawed. "You're... a little terrifying sometimes"
I retrieved my blades and wiped them on one of the corpses
" Don't say that.... it's hurts..! " I said while collecting all the monster cores
" Haaaaaa stop it...You sound too creepy "
After a brief conversation we moved deeper into the forest, and the monsters kept coming. The more I fought, the more I realized these creatures couldn't compare to the monsters in the world of 48H.
They came singly, in pairs, in small hunting packs. They screeched and clawed and roared, but the outcome was inevitable their fear of me
They were uncoordinated, raw more beasts than soldiers
And I was built to kill them in the name of survival
After fighting for a while, it became a rhythm of me dodge, strike, channel Tai energy and end the life
The deeper we went, the more they appeared. They emerged from nests hidden in the roots, dropped from trees, clawed out of underground dens eventually, I lost count somewhere after forty. Jaipa stopped bothering with commentary after seventy
By the time the final wave hit us, I wasn't even panting
Just watching them while moving like a well tuned instrument
Tai energy coiled around me, sharp and clean
"The more Tai energy I used, the better my control gets. I can concentrate it more densely now than before."
"This seemingly meaningless book... I think it's proving somewhat useful for me and my survival for future"
My movements became more fluid with time, as if I was getting the true measure of my body, my blades becoming extensions of thought. The slaughter wasn't born of panic but precision like solving a violent equation with each strike
One last corpse hit the earth with a crunch and the forest fell still again
Red haze curled through the branches, recoiling from the massacre
Lowering my blades
"One hundred," Jaipa muttered behind me "At least."
" This monster of a kid," Jaipa thought " He just slaughtered a hundred of them without breaking a sweat. I almost pity those creatures... but on other thoughts when did he become this strong ? "
Jaipa was merely a spectator despite his physical presence, watching Rudra with growing astonishment. Such thoughts would come to anyone's mind witnessing this display, but the truth was simple Rudra had grown far stronger than before.
Admits of it all suddenly my attention was drawn by something else
A distant sound at first
Not just a sound...A scream a high-pitched human scream that, from the tone, I could tell it belonged to a girl
"Help!"
The word rang deep through the forest, warped by distance but unmistakable.
Following the sound, I arrived just in time to see another monster. But with one glance, I could tell this wasn't something I could yet face even from here, I could feel the distortion in the air around it...