When Yeshua looked at Grey, his vision suddenly blurred.
"What's this?!" Yeshua was alarmed. He knew he was not poisoned but why was his vision blurring?
Then, Yeshua felt his body gradually weaken. This time, he knew that he was poisoned by Grey. This weakening was the effect of Grey's poison. But how was he poisoned?!
Grey looked at Yeshua and witnessed the poison taking effect. "This is why I said that you're naive. You just focus on my attacks and forget to observe your surroundings. In a battle, Alterers use their senses to observe not only their opponent but also their surroundings. If you fight like this in the wilderness, you won't even know how you died."
Surroundings? Senses?
Then, Yeshua realized that he really focused on the savage attacks of Grey. He did not pay much attention to his surroundings. Although his Alter Beast had good senses, he focused all his attention on Grey.
This was his first battle. Despite the bestial instinct that allowed him to control his Alter Beast, Yeshua still lacked experience.
Trying to understand his situation, Yeshua studied his surroundings. But he could not find anything out of ordinary aside from the wind wafting with an acrid smell.
"This acrid smell...!" Yeshua then realized. He was really careless!
Grey's Alter Beast was an Acrid Rat with poison affinity. Why was it not called Poison Rat, then? Simple. It was because its poison could not only take effect using his claws and tail but also through the air. The poison's acrid scent would waft in the wind and poison the ones who smelled it. It was just that it would take a while to take effect.
Yeshua only focused on the claws and tail of Grey forgetting the acrid scent. Though he was distracted by its unpleasant smell when the two of them were closed, he did not think much about it and just thought that it was because of his sensitive nose.
Grey's savage attack also distracted him as he needed to evade them, so he would not be directly poisoned by his claws or tail.
Now that he thought about it, Grey acted enraged and wild, and then he would suddenly calm down and talk to him. He even used his Hefty Slam at the beginning of the battle. It seemed that all of those actions were calculated so Yeshua would be wary of his direct attacks. Then, Grey talked to him in between their battle to buy time for the poison to take effect!
This Grey was really sinister!
(I thought that it's like when the villain keeps on talking with the hero explaining his entire plan and showing his villainy, then the hero will have a chance to kill him using a secret attack! That's what I read on those web novels! What is happening to me now? Those authors! You really destroyed my youth!)
"Now, you realize. You thought that with your speed, you can easily dodge my attacks. That's true but don't forget that I also know it. This is not my first battle and I have more experience than you." Though the rage was still present on his face, Grey's wildness was replaced with sinisterness.
Grey did not wait for Yeshua's answer as he charged at him!
Yeshua felt the weakness of his body as the acrid scent poisoned him. He felt that his agile body became heavy and slow as he activated Wind Dash. Even his control of his ability was affected!
Before he was poisoned, he could put distance from Grey if he wanted but now it took all his concentration just to dodge Grey's charge.
Grey smashed his claws at Yeshua. Yeshua was able to dodge the claws but he was bashed by Grey's shoulders!
"Argh!"
Yeshua's body was blasted a few feet away as he grunted in pain. His body could not help but tremble from the impact. This was the first attack that hit Yeshua since the two of them transformed into their Alter form.
Then, Yeshua realized that the effect of the poison was getting stronger. His legs that were quick before were heavy and trembling. His vision was blurring as his senses were turning numb. If this continued, Yeshua would surely be defeated!
"The air is already permeated with poison. Unless I don't breathe, I'll be continuously affected by the poison. I must leave this place first to escape from the poison," mumbled Yeshua as he tried to escape.
Yeshua's wind abilities were only limited to increasing his speed and creating wind blades. He was only a low level Alterer so he could not completely control the wind to shield him from the poison permeating the air.
Yeshua activated his wind dash and elusive shadow to escape from Grey. The air around him blurred his figure as the wind increased his speed. He would run away first since he did not know how to deal with the poison.
Seeing Yeshua was trying to escape, Grey sneered. "Oh? Do you think I'll let you escape? Heh."
Then, Grey's body accelerated as he leaped at Yeshua!
Hefty Slam!
Yeshua felt a strong force from behind him. If it was before he was poisoned, he could surely dodge it but he was weakened now. His body was not as agile as before anymore, so it took him a moment to evade the boulder crashing from the sky!
Boom!
The ground cracked and exploded as Grey's hefty and hard body slammed to it!
"Ahh!"
Yeshua was not safe from the impact. He was blasted by the remnant force as he was not able to keep a distance from the attack. The force of the impact was like a hammer hitting his body as rock debris punctured him!
Yeshua was really injured this time. Blood was flowing from the wounds caused by the rocks. He was coughing as blood trickled from his maw. It was obvious that the impact reached inside him. He could feel that some of his bones broke and punctured his organs. He was not only poisoned but also seriously injured now!
It was good that the AI was able to adapt the Forest Wolf's Hardened Fur to increase his defense and covered him with bristled fur. If the AI was not able to increase the defense of his Alter Beast from poor defense into weak defense, the injuries he would get would be more serious.
That attack was very strong and showcased the difference between the cultivation of Yeshua and Grey. Even if Yeshua had an elite rank Alter Beast, the poison weakened him allowing Grey's attack to reach him.
Yeshua had weak defense and Grey had his devastating attack. As long as the attack did not hit him, Yeshua could match Grey. But Alas, Yeshua was not able to completely dodge it!
The damage Yeshua's body received made this battle dangerous to him!
"Hah hah, this really hurts! Every part of my body is aching and this pain is making me angry! Argh! Grr..." Hard breaths accompanied Yeshua's voice as he felt the pain riddling his body.
Vicious light suffused Yeshua's yellowish wolf eyes and growls filled with suppressed rage escaped from his throat as he looked at Grey menacingly.
Yeshua knew that this was savageness affecting him. Though he could also feel it when he transformed into his Alter form, his mind was affected this time because of the pain.
Yeshua controlled himself to not lose control. Enduring the damage he received, Yeshua decided not to hold back this time!
Looking at the still recovering Grey, Yeshua angrily said. "You like using your Ulti, ha. Then, receive mine this time!"
Yeshua's roar resounded in the forest as the wind gathered to his maw. He was charging the wind in his mouth and forming his special attack!
Tornado Blast!
"Roar!"
Swirling blades of blue wind were released from the wolf maw of Yeshua. It was crashing at Grey and breaking everything on its path. The tornado was getting wider while it moved forward until it reached around five meters. The tornado then blasted towards the sinister rat leaving a trail of debris!
When it reached Grey, the blasting tornado moved upward surrounding him. Grey received the attack and felt the sharp knives slashing his body. Grey's resounding roar accompanied the violent tearing sound of the wind. Blood was spreading in the wind as Grey's flesh was being torn!
"This strength?! How can a new Alterer have this strong ability?!"
Grey could not believe the strength of this ability. He felt that Yeshua was only at level 1 stage 1 soul temperance. The prior attacks and dodges of Yeshua made Grey feel that the boy was not a normal level 1 stage 1 Alterer, but Grey did not think that Yeshua could unleash this devastating attack!
Using Hefty Slam made Grey vulnerable to counterattacks as it also disoriented him. Coupled with Grey's slow movement, Yeshua was able to land his Tornado Blast and put Grey in this painful experience!
After a while, the wind calmed down leaving a devastated place. The cracked and crumbled ground produced floating dust and debris as the remnant wind swirled them around the place.
Yeshua was breathing hard. He unleashed his special attack while injured so he also felt his body screaming in pain. Looking at the result of his attack, Yeshua only now realized what kind of destructive strength Alterers have.
Grey could be seen standing in the middle of the crashed ground. It was the result of his Hefty Slam and Yeshua's Tornado Blast. Every part of his body was bleeding from his head to his feet. Despite that, Grey was firmly standing. His furious eyes were looking at Yeshua like he wanted to tear him apart.
Then, Grey opened his mouth and roared. This roar was filled with an uncontrollable savageness that made Yeshua shivered!