Just like the other eight members of Class A, Michael and Silva ventured deeper into the forest, searching for fragments of the Soul Stone. But all of a sudden, the two boys froze in their tracks.
Several pairs of glowing red eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness of the forest, their eerie light piercing through the shadows. Low growls echoed from the depths, quickly multiplying until the entire forest seemed filled with hostile beasts.
Michael and Silva immediately went on high alert, their bodies tensing as whatever it was that lurked in the darkness of the abyss slowly revealed itself.
Several beasts, numbering up to seven, stepped out of the shadows.
[You have encountered several C-tier beasts.]
[Shadow Panthers.]
The Shadow Panthers were massive black panthers with six glowing red eyes and two curved horns on their heads. Their bodies were covered in hard black scales, and their long claws were sharp enough to tear through steel. Black mist surrounded their body, making it an easy task to manipulate the darkness and blend in with the night.
"C-tier beasts huh?" Michael said.
"We’re in the second level of the abyss, so I wouldn’t be surprised if C-tier beasts were at least the minimum grade of Abyssal creatures that are at the bottom of the food chain."
The shadow panthers slowly stepped forward, one paw at a time, closing in on the two boys.
Suddenly, their movements changed. They sprinted sideways in perfect unison, their bodies blurring as they moved, then the next moment, all of them vanished into clouds of black smoke, leaving nothing behind.
"What?" Michael raised an eyebrow in confusion, but the next moment, his eyes widened. Almost instinctively, he leaned forward and crouched low, just as a powerful gust of cold air swept past the space above his head, as though something had struck at him from behind.
"What!?" Michael planted both hands on the ground and used them to propel himself into a forward roll. Then landed on his feet at a different angle, quickly readjusting his balance.
"Be careful! It might look like they’ve vanished, but they are still around!" Silva shouted as he quickly drew his sword and raised it above his head, blocking an invisible strike just in time. But the impact sent him sliding several meters backward.
"It’s the Shadow Panthers primal ability, manipulating the darkness to hunt like an assassin, since we can’t see them, we have to rely on our senses, the moment they strike, we capitalize on the slight opening they attack and kill them!"
"Yeah... But." Standing right in front of Michael, were four of the shadow panthers. And despite their ability to manipulate the shadows and conceal their physical presence, he could see them as clearly as day. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
If he had to guess, it was all thanks to his First Origin Evolution System, which had further enhanced his ability to adapt to darkness.
’Even though I can see them, their body isore durable than both the Serpent Warriors and Naga, that means... I can finally test this."
Michael stretched out both hands, and two short black curved blades with jagged edges and sharp tips materialized in his hands. Strange patterns ran along their dark surfaces, and the blades glinted faintly as Michael tightened his grip on them.
Two of the shadow panthers charged at Michael with their jaws wide open and sharp teeth bared. Without hesitation, Michael dashed towards them as well, tightening his grip on Naga’s Fangs.
Just as the panthers swung their large claws at him, he used his momentum to maneuver between their strikes, stretching both hands sideways as he passed them. The twin daggers sliced through their bodies, cutting deep into their sides.
[Special skill (Neural Paralysis) has taken effect.]
Michael continued running past them before coming to a stop a few feet away. Behind him, the two shadow panthers were divided in half, their bodies slowly to the ground. And he stood still as blood dripped from the blades of Naga’s Fangs.
[You have slain a Shadow Panther!]
[You have slain a Shadow Panther!]
"Two down."
The other two Shadow Panthers hesitated, in the first place, they couldn’t understand how he could see them.
The remaining two shadow panthers hesitated for a moment. But before they could react, Michael had already sprinted past them.
He came to a stop a few steps away, and the next moment, their heads slid off their necks and fell to the ground. Then their bodies followed shortly after, collapsing with a loud thud. Follow the newest chapters on NovelPing.
[You have slain a shadow panther!]
[You have slain a Shadow Panther!]
[You have received 4 Trial points!]
Michael flicked both daggers sideways, shaking the blood from their blades before they vanished into thin air.
As he turned around, he saw Silva standing over the other three shadow panthers, their throats slit open and blood pooling beneath their lifeless bodies.
"Well that didn’t take too long." Silva said as he sheated his sword.
"They are only C-tier beasts after all." Both boys nodded in unison, then ventured deeper into forest.
As they ventured further into the forest, Michael and Silva eventually came to a stop when they encountered two separate paths leading in different directions.
"Two paths, two choices that may lead to the fragments of the Soul Stone. We can’t cover both at the same time, we’ll have to split up." Silva suggested as both boys stared ahead at the two separate paths.
"Be careful."
Both boys nodded in agreement. Silva then turned and took the path on the left, while Michael looked down the path on the right.
But before he could take a step, that strange sensation washed over him once again. It was the same feeling he had experienced the moment he entered the second level of the Abyss, only this time, it was much stronger, much closer than before.
Whatever it was, it was somewhere down this path.
Michael narrowed his eyes, he had no idea if it was the energy of the Soul Stone, but then, the feeling wasn’t exactly a good one. If felt eerie, greatly ominous and uncomfortable.
"Only one way to find out." He sprinted down the right path.