At a section of the outer Dark Forest, a young boy riddled with injuries firmly gripped a sharp bone as he stabbed a demonic beast. As if expecting something, the boy stood still. He could feel a hot energy building up in his stomach region. Excited, he was. He could feel it bubbling to new heights in his body, but such excitement did not last long as before the hot energy could reach its peak, it dissipated, fading out of existence.
After waiting for a while and still receiving nothing, he got furious. Frustrated, he dug his bone sword deeper into the beast's body. Blood splashed on him as he killed the beast.
"Why?! Why?! Why can't I progress?! After killing the flaming corpse rat, I proceeded to hunt other beasts, but I still couldn't breakthrough! I tried fighting feral demonic beast as I did previously, but it didn't work. I tried fighting two...three...four. None of them worked!"
Jake said, with a distressed face. Before this, he had tried to break through, but to no avail. During every battle, he would feel the same hot rush he felt when battling the flaming corpse rat, but it would disappear before it could reach its peak. It was like a huge wall was repelling it, blocking it from success.
Jake knew very much what that meant. It was a sign of a trash talent. As said by Master Luca, an ordinary person would feel a barricade every time they tried to breakthrough. It was the limit of their talent.
His mouth wide open, Jake had realized that he might never break through again, and even if he did, it would be at least six months from now. The sad realization shocked him.
He didn't know what to feel. His mind was blank. He stayed in the same exact position for an hour, not thinking of anything….just standing.
Jake began to feel an itch on his skin. It was a raging feeling, begging him to destroy. His emotion muddled, Jake acted on it. He was distressed, so he went back to the only thing he found comfort in. BATTLES AND KILLING.
Picking up his bone sword he got from the flaming corpse rat, an angry Jake looked for prey.
….
There was a strange occurrence happening in the Dark forest.
A trail of blood and corpses was left in the dangerous forest. Tracing it, one would find a figure completely drenched in blood. He was facing two feral beasts, two yellow line snakes. The snakes were of average human height, coupled with green skins and yellow stripes, and elongated and sharp fangs.
Yet, this figure wasn't terrified, instead, he was abysmally quiet. However, his blue eyes shone ferociously like an ice storm.
Up against the two snakes, Jake did not bother analyzing as he wouldn't be given enough time for that.
Before the snake could attack, Jake took the first move. He rushed at the left one. Trying to get a good stab at it, but the snake dodged. The other snake took the opportunity to bite him….
Jake smiled; he had been waiting for this. The snake had dark green scales but beneath its mouth, the scale became brighter, indicating its softness.
Anticipating the attack, Jake swiftly laid down, before the snake could bite him. He could see the under of the beast. Striking it at the lightest spot, the bone sword went through it like butter.
Jake dragged the sword down the snake's skin, opening a very large wound.
"Crap!!" Jake sensed a movement. It was the other snake trying to save its partner. It whipped its tail at Jake, blasting him away.
The snake snuggled its partner. Looking at the amount of blood drawn, it realized its partner was going to die. So to spare it of any pain, it bit its partner's neck, killing it.
Its eyes full of mourning as it cuddled its dead partner.
Jake watched everything. He could have attacked the snake, but he didn't. The snake's actions had earned his respect, so he decided to wait for it to be done. Though Jake was the one that killed his partner, he didn't feel bad about it. In the Dark Forest, it was the law of the jungle; the strong killed the weak. If he hadn't killed the snake, he would have been dead.
After mourning, the snake-eyed Jake with a vicious glint, earning Jake's smile.
He rushed at the snake. This time, the snake was expecting him. It opened its mouth and sprayed out a white liquid. While Jake tried to evade it, a drop of the liquid fell on his skin. It eroded Jake's white skin, turning the spot entirely black, making Jake scream in pain.
'It's a good thing I dodged. If just one drop can do that, what would happen if the entire liquid touched me?'
He soon got his answer when he glanced at his previous spot. The leveled ground was melted down, making it look like a puddle.
'This ability of the snake is very dangerous,' he thought warily.
However he wasn't deterred, while the acid spit was a game-changer, it could be used to his advantage as he was sure it had a cooldown. Though he couldn't estimate the cooldown period, it didn't matter. As long as he attacked now, the cooldown would be irrelevant.
Dashing at his opponent, Jake brought out a hidden bone dagger from his body. It was gotten from one of the beasts he had previously killed.
He held the dagger in a reverse grip.
'The snake only has three attacks; bite, tailwhip, and acid spray. The acid spray is currently unavailable--' he thought as he got closer to the snake.
'--I'm too close to it, so tail whipping me would not be wise. And that leaves it only one option--' Within close proximity, the snake dived at Jake, opening its wide mouth.
'--Bite, but that's what I was hoping for.' Holding his weapons with opposite grip styles, Jake steadied himself.
He waited for the snake to widen its mouth to the utmost point before he acted. With a fast burst, Jake stabbed the upper section of its mouth with his bone sword and the lower section with his bone dagger.
He forced both weapons through the snake's flesh. The snake shook a little before it died out.
"Huff--Huff--" Jake breathed deeply after the kill.
The only reason he had managed to kill it was because it wasn't versatile. It only had a few attacks and one of them took a long time to recharge. Nevertheless, if Jake hadn't pierced it through its mouth, it wouldn't have died. Jake's weapon cannot damage its scales, hence his search for weak points.
All in all, its lack of developed intelligence was its true weakness, but still, he had to commend it. The fight was tough.
"Hmm, I have been killing for a while. Let me take a rest," Jake had passed his rage's state. He could see that if he continued, his injuries might get worse. He needed to recuperate.
*Roar!!!*
Jake became alert at the sound of the loud roar. Looking at his surroundings, he could see some trees falling, paving the way for what was coming.
The last tree to fall was the closest to him...and finally Jake saw the beast...up close.
'Huge and humanoid. Black eyes. Furry spiked hide. Oh no, the curved spiked ape!'Jake mentally cried.
When searching for information on the Dark Forest. He had chanced upon one particular information; the king of the outer forest. The outer forest was the sector occupied by feral beasts. What was shocking was that the king of the sector wasn't the strongest feral beast, but a feral beast called the curved spiked ape!
Realm 0 cultivators that survived encounters with this beast all said the same thing," Dangerous."
It was so terrifying that 90% of the survivors only escape with broken limbs.
...And now such a beast was in front of him!!
'Hmm, something is wrong,' Jake noticed that the beast was smaller than the curved spike ape, yet it had similar features. The curved spiked ape was said to be as tall as a tree, yet this one isn't. Jake could tell that it wasn't yet a Grade 1 beast, it was a feral beast!
"Could it be its child?" As he thought, Jake became more sure of his guess.
The young ape glanced at Jake with a demeaning expression, displaying its sufficient intelligence.
"Ho, ho, ho, ho," It beat its chest as it chanted.
Dashing straight at him, the ape threw its fist. Jake crossed his arm, trying to block it, but…
"What?!!"
The force held in the fist was not small at all, blasting Jake a distance of one mile. It made a dent on his arm. Jake could even feel his arms bent.
Adjusting himself, Jake readied himself for another attack. Surprisingly, he could not find the ape. Having a bad feeling, Jake looked up and saw it.
The damn ape was in the air….. about to slam Jake to paste. Jake abruptly jumped away.
*Boom!*
The attack left a huge pit on the ground.
'So this is what it feels to be on the other end,' Jake lamented on his bad luck