"Fuu... Goddammit!"
Spitting out a bitter curse, Dan continued running while evading the Jackal’s relentless pursuit.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The creature’s paws hammered against the forest floor behind him, rapidly closing the distance. The damn bastard was practically on top of him, its jaws wide open as saliva dripped between its fangs.
’Why the hell did I think fighting this thing was a good idea?!’
He had seriously underestimated the difference between knowing how an enemy fought and actually being capable of dealing with it.
For the past hour, he had been hunting these things to build up experience and had already managed to kill several Fanged Hares and a couple of weaker monsters. He had grown careless.
That was the only explanation.
After all, the previous creatures had been so weak that killing them had almost felt like hunting ordinary animals.
This Jackal was different and, worst of all, actually seemed intelligent.
Gritting his teeth, Dan ducked beneath a low-hanging branch. But this failed to slow the Jackal down as it swung its crude claws through the space he’d occupied a moment earlier. He stumbled but managed to regain his balance, somehow.
As if that wasn’t enough, three more Jackals were rapidly approaching and gaining on his tail.
’Crap!’
His stamina was draining rapidly, while the Jackals seemed capable of chasing him all day.
Running wasn’t going to cut it anymore. No matter how he sliced it, fighting seemed like the only option right now, but stopping in the middle of the forest would only get him surrounded and put him at a massive disadvantage.
He needed somewhere he could control and fight without worrying much about his own safety.
Pondering his options for a moment, Dan suddenly glanced toward the terrain ahead. His eyes widened upon noticing something he could use.
A massive fallen tree blocked part of the forest ahead, its roots exposed from where it had been ripped out of the ground. The gap beneath its trunk was narrow, while the surrounding trees created a natural bottleneck.
Seizing the opportunity, he changed direction and sprinted toward the fallen tree and the clueless Jackals immediately followed.
Dan ducked beneath the exposed roots and rolled through the narrow gap before scrambling to his feet on the other side. The Jackal pursuing him wasn’t nearly as fortunate.
Its body was just too large.
"Yip?!"
The creature slammed into the roots with a dull thud, momentarily stunned by the collision.
Dan spun around and black mist erupted from his shadow.
[Darkness] responded to his will, spreading across the ground like liquid ink before surging upward. Several thick vines and twisted roots were suddenly wrapped in darkness, changing as Dan imagined them tightening.
The Jackal struggled to free itself. Unfortunately for the lowly beast, however, strength didn’t matter much if it couldn’t move.
"Got you."
Gripping the naginata, he stepped forward and cleaved through through the Jackal’s exposed neck. Blood sprayed and its head soon rolled across the ground with little delay.
[You have slain a Level 3 Jackal.]
[EXP acquired.]
[You have gained 25 EXP.]
There was no time to read the messages nor celebrate the short-lived victory.
"Rrrr!"
Another Jackal immediately leapt over the fallen tree.
Dan barely had enough time to raise his Naginata before the creature’s claws came crashing down. In the next moment, his hands trembled from the tremendous impact.
Gathering his strength, he twisted his body, allowing the claws to slide past him. The Jackal landed and immediately turned around. However, the creature failed to account for its positioning and ended up in an awkward stance, with its right leg slipping between the exposed roots of the fallen tree. Before it could recover from its blunder, Dan thrust the curved blade of the Naginata through its skull.
The Jackal’s body jerked violently before going limp.
[You have slain a Level 3 Jackal.]
[EXP acquired.]
[You have gained 25 EXP.]
’Two left.’
Without much hesitation, Dan quickly pulled the blade free and waited for his next opponent.
His breathing was becoming heavier, and his arms were beginning to ache from the repeated clashes. He couldn’t afford another prolonged exchange.
Growing a little desperate, he aimed for his next target, drew his arm back and threw the naginata straight for it.
Accompanied by a fierce whistling noise, the weapon spun through the air, its curved blade catching the faint light filtering through the canopy. The Jackal attempted to dodge but it was too late, unable to take a single step as the blade pierced straight through its throat.
The creature stumbled several steps before collapsing onto the forest floor. But the final Jackal was already charging, closing the distance as it intended to avenge its fallen brethren.
Dan’s eyes narrowed.
His Naginata was still embedded in the other Jackal’s corpse. In normal circumstances, this would have been a problem since he would be unable to reach his weapon on time and be left defenseless under the enemy mercy.
Fortunately, another option presented itself in the form of a skill.
"[Darkness]."
Black mist erupted around the fallen Naginata, dissolving the weapon into a cloud of darkness before shooting back toward Dan.
In the blink of an eye, it reformed within his hand. But Dan didn’t recreate the entire Naginata.
Quite frankly, he was running low on energy and doubted he would be able to manifest the entire weapon again. Instead, he decided to account for this by changing it into a more manageable shape, rapidly condensed the darkness into a short, razor-sharp knife.
Thinking on his feet, Dan moved faster than the eye could follow and stepped directly into the Jackal’s path.
The creature lunged at him with its jaws wide open. It was a powerful yet predictable assault that Dan evaded by twisting his body to the side. At the same time, he grabbed the Jackal by the side of its neck and drove the knife upward.
Stab–!
The blade pierced through the underside of its jaw and straight into its skull, silencing the creature at once!
Though he stabbed the beast a few times for good measure.
A familiar voice whispered:
[You have slain a Level 3 Forest Jackal.]
[You have slain a Level 3 Forest Jackal.]
[EXP acquired.]
[You have gained 50 EXP.]
[You have leveled up: Level 3 → Level 4.]
[Spirit +2, two allocatable stats gained.]
[Your darkness grows...]
"...Hah. Finally."
Tired and battered, Dan collapsed onto his back, the knife dissolving into wisps of black mist before disappearing just like that. His chest rose and fell as he stared blankly at the canopy above.
But despite his exhaustion, a grin slowly crept across his face.
Level 4.
He had gone from barely being able to survive against a single Jackal to killing four of them in succession. Of course, he hadn’t exactly defeated them through sheer strength.
But wasn’t that what mattered?
A battle, in essence, was all about winning and winning some more. The winner survived while the loser kicked the bucket; the Law of Nature. It wasn’t anything complicated.
Dan couldn’t help but feel a little proud of himself and his quick adaptability to tough situations.
"Status."
He summoned the Interface.
[Name: Darian Lee]
[Race: Human]
[Class: ■■■■■■■■]
[Level: 4]
[Experience: 10 / 400]
Personal Attributes —
[Strength: 11]
[Dexterity: 11]
[Constitution: 10]
[Perception: 10]
[Spirit: 17]
[Allocatable Stats: 2]
Mystery: [Darkness]
Staring at his information for a moment, Dan casually allocated both of his available stat points to Spirit.
[Spirit: 17 → 19.]
It was a worthwhile investment.
Considering how high his Spirit was compared to his other attributes, it wasn’t difficult to deduce that Spirit had a significant influence on his skill set. Every time it increased, [Darkness] seemed to expand alongside it, becoming more potent and versatile.
Therefore, ignoring it would be foolish.
’Once my Spirit reaches a certain point, I should focus on Dexterity and Perception next.’
Strength and Stamina were important too, but they were more straightforward attributes.
Dexterity, on the other hand, would directly complement his fighting style, while Perception could help him detect enemies before they had a chance to catch him off guard.
As for Spirit... that was his trump card.
Without [Darkness], Dan would have never been able to defeat those Jackals. In fact, he probably wouldn’t have survived the first encounter.
Then again, he couldn’t become overly dependent on it.
Having a powerful ability was great and all, but relying completely on it would only make him weaker in the long run and shorten his growth.
What would happen if his Spirit ran out?
What if [Darkness] suddenly stopped working?
Or what if there was someone out there who could directly interfere with people abilities?
To fully prepare for all these scenarios and situations, he needed to be capable of fighting even without a higher power.
’I’ll have to work on that too.’
After settling on his decision, Dan dismissed the Interface. He then glanced at the corpses scattered around the fallen tree and frowned.
...There was something he needed to check.