"Roarrrrr" a level 12 Steel Boar opened out its wide mouth to reveal few large skull crushing teeth as it attempted to clamp down on Leo.
The later dodged with his refined reflexes and swung the katana in his hand at the mutated boar with a skin literally made of steel. "Where the fuck are these things coming from?"
While holding one Katana in his hand and the other still sheathed on his back, Leo moved with extreme nimbleness to dodge the boards charges and land strong counterattacks. Still the sword in his hand now appeared to be almost useless as all it could do was cause shallow wounds.
Charging forward with thundering footsteps, the board pushed leo to retreat several meters as he was starting to get frustrated.
[ Shadow Chains ]
The beasts shadow formed into two thick chains that wrapped around the boars legs to restrain its movements. Much surprisingly, after 5 seconds of struggling, those chains broke apart and the relentless charge caught leo off guard.
The two large tusks that were now the size of an elephants rammed straight into leos lower abdomen sending him flying back several feet. He crashed on a tree and broke right through it as blood was drawn.
The deep wound flowed with blood incessantly as he gritted his teeth through the pain. His Active blood rage skill could only be used twice every 30 minutes so his bleeding has no effect.
"My damn shadow skills isn't tough enough to hold it down and this damn swords can't even pierce it skin. To believe am actually getting pushed back by something on level 12 while am at the peak state needed to evolve".
Having no strong offensive firepower skill, leo was in a bit of a dilemma. Even though being just level 12, the extremely tough skin as well as unyielding tenacity was Leos nightmare. The level or rank of a creature didn't really mean it was stronger than others as the scientists graded them on the power their rune crystals could generate.
"Growlllll", hearing a growl behind him leo ignored his pain and leaped upward instrumentals avoiding danger as a Wild cat the size of a car had smashed it paws in his previous location.
"Shit! another one". The system stated that he needed to defeat the boss monster to escape this living hellhole. The sight of more monsters erupting out of thin air like his new instant materialization skill along with the fact that the more he killed, the highland the difficulty, Leo wanted to find the boss as fast as possible otherwise he would be overwhelmed by the incoming waves of monsters.
Leo even had a slight fear that this boss monster would have evolved twice and leo was not even at level 15 yet, seemingly stuck on this advancement path for the meantime.
[ Mutant Silver leopard Level 11 ]
"Enough".
With a roar like a monster leo put 14 points I to strength bringing it to 28. He originally wanted to save all 114 points of precious attribute points but seeing the situation as well as the fact he was enraged, he put the extra 14 into strength without hesitation.
Activating demon steps, leo moved at incredible light and fast speeds. Using his katana, he leaped over the Leopard and slashed violently at its neck. He flexibly dodged the occasional panic claw wipes and 10 seconds after, its head rolled on the floor.
The silver leopard wasn't as heavily defended as the boar leading to leo killing it easily, but at this point leo was exhausted. Leo sheathed the katana at his back and dashed forward using demon steps once more.
The short distant instantly disappeared as Leo made all sort of barrages and punches to all positions. If leo had thought it over well, perhaps he would remembered he had a gauntlet that he had stored in his Shadow realm but he was too immersed in the battle.
After a risky struggle going on for several minutes, leo came out on top with medium injuries but he didn't dare to stop and rest.
"Gotta find the boss..... Gotta find the boss monster..... were the fuck is it".
Leo was running through the forest at astounding speeds looking for the monster that he had to defeat to get out of here. He didn't even harvest the rune crystals of the Boar because he knew how hard pressed he was on time.
"This stupid system, if I don't get outta here soon, the difficulty will increase to the extent were I won't be able to show any resistance.
Due to his danger skill, countless warnings were going off in his head, he couldn't make out exactly what it was but he could feel that the mutated beasts were already above 250 at the moment.
Following the same danger sense that now seemed to be more accurate than a GPS, he moved through the forest until he got to a small temple, his horrid footsteps came to an abrupt stop as he smelled the air.
Yep it was blood, more blood than he had felt before like someone just took a bath in it. The pungent smell of blood warped the air like an aroma, a very disgusting aroma at that.
He was currently standing outside what felt like a faint energy barrier, it surrounded the place with a thick murderous intent like it was alive. His eyes showed slight hesitation then he moved past the energy boundary were the bloody smell assaulted his nose.
He could see dead bodies of different beasts all over the place ripped apart in pieces and some with their internal organs hanging out of their bodies and littered everywhere. The raging tide of monsters stopped their advance right at the edge of the boundary as their eyes held a glider of fear.
It was very clear to Leo that they didn't have the courage to take a step further as the existence within this temple was enough to make them all wary.
"What kind of existence is in there to cause these mad creatures to feel fear?"
Knowing he would not be able to turn around as that was his only way forward, Leo reluctantly moved on the blood stained steps and walked into the temple.
[ You have entered Sanctuary Tomb ]
"Sanctuary tomb" Leo shot and eyebrow ups he didn't even have the slightest idea what those words mean. The place was incredibly dark without any sources of light of any kind.
[ You have Entered Extreme Darkness, All stats +1/ Shadow Abilities are no longer Effective ]
The environment was too dark and Leo needed even a little bit of light to be able to manipulate his shadow, naturally his stats had gone up but his shadow abilities had been nullified.
Naturally Leo pulled out his Katana sword and held it firmly with both hands. He walked in the dark space for a while and realized that he could see just fine without any light. Attributing that to his demon powers, leo dared not be complacent and moved from room to room with high vigilance.
The dark area led down into an underground lair of some sort. Leo followed the stairs going forward in a spiral shape. The paintings that hung on the walls had pictures of fair men and women all with handsome and beautiful facial features like the superstars of Leos time. Needless to say, superstars were no longer at the top of society anymore.
What the youths nowadays thirsted for was power and the ability stones led to the new rising Evolved Humans and Hunters.
Upon reaching the ground floor and standing in a spacious area leos danger senses twitched slightly, then burst out with serious warnings letting him know he was in imminent danger.
Leo felt a gentle gust of wind blow past him, "So fast" Leos senses twitched and he swung the katana in a horizontal slash behind him with full strength.
"Clang" The sounds of two colliding metals filled the air, Leo's feet dug into the stone floor by 20 centimeters. The strong force of the mysterious figure that had appeared on his side was using its bare hands to contend against Leos katana and it was able to force him to a stalemate of clashing powers.
"Is that a... Human?" before leo could fully discern the figures facial features, the opposing parties strength suddenly increased and the stalemate broke apart with leo being sent flying several meters before crashing into another room through the wall.
"What the fuck is that thing?" Leo tumbled before using his sword to dig into the ground halting his momentum, he was in yet again another spacious area constantly looking at the hole in which he flew through on the wall.
The figure didn't try to be sneaky and walked straight through the hole while starring at Leo with unbridled interest. A normal person would be completely blind as this place was the epitome of darkness but even in that situation, leo could make out the figure standing in front of him was human. It looked like a blonde male with extremely handsome facial features. From his appearance, one would feel like his was in his mid-thirties and his body seeped with a murderous aura.
His face was expressionless but his eyes carried that look of curiosity and a little bit of disdain. His clothes made it look barbaric and those demonic red eyes along with that mouth that had specks of blood all over.
[ You have met with your first Second Order Vampire Halfling level 14 on the verge of an evolution ]
"A vampire" Leo wanted to vomit blood now, not just because the system has just told him that vampires existed but because this one that was supposedly a halfling and not a full vampire was actually able to send him flying like a duck egg. Furthermore, both of them were at the same level and it was at the peak close to its evolution. "Why is this thing so much stronger than me".
The genesis society had published a theory which was always taught to students in their classes. The theory stated that the creatures of the universe were all grouped in ranks, naturally this simple definition was for the public to easily understand and not to spread panic.
Above the ranks was an even higher level of classification which was called the classification of ORDERS.
Humans were classified below the first order, the bottom cannon fodders of the universe, so when humans first gain abilities, they were promoted directly to the first order giving them higher levels of strength and power.
But that was only possible as humans drew this power from the beasts they managed to hunt down so therefore, the monsters they constantly fought with were at a higher level of the first order. This led to a huge displacement in power because when the rune crystals were harvested from the main body of the monsters, their overall ability dropped by about 50%.
So despite the fact that a rune crystal was harvested from a level 10 beast and the same aura level was assigned to the ability user, the main power of the ability user would be at a level 5 if not lower. This meant that a level 3 beast could wipe out several level 4 ability users.
Mutated beasts were at the upper echelon of The First Order, Natural monsters were Creatures of the Second Order, Third Order monsters had the strengths of Mythical Beasts from birth while the fourth and fifth order was highly classified information.
"So this thing must be the boss monster". The slight wounds from the last encounter let him know that though they were at the same level, its physically stats were much higher than what Leo had at the moment.
"What are you?"the Halfling finally spoke after close to a minute of observing. Leo stood straight with his hands on his Katana, presently, he only knew how to hold and use one, a dual swordsman was a skill he didn't have as he wasn't an assassin or ninja.
Besides that, this Halfling question meant that he didn't know what he was, the Halfing vampire seemed impatient as it waited for Leo's response which wasn't forthcoming.
Leo had to kill this thing if he wanted to escape this place, the system didn't seem to add any other exceptions so he only had one goal here, the problem was if he could kill something with its physical stats much higher than his.
The Halfling seeing that leo wasn't going to speak got angry and let out a loud screech. He could feel that this existence in front of him was noticeably weaker than itself but Leo had a distinct character.
The vampire could smell something odd about him as he could pick up the smell of a human which made it drool and its fangs to come out on full display, but its more wary side smelt something much more sinister in this little thing that he couldn't identify.
Danger signs blew off in leos head, he immediately dashed forward using demon steps to increase his speed and make his movements unpredictable. Seeing this the Halfling let out a snort as leos katana was within view.
He blasted off the ground and leaped upward, Leos straight forward thrust came to halt as the Halfling made contact with the ceiling in one leap in the wide space. Leo's eyes shrink to a slit as the Middle ages Halfing flipped in the air and his legs made contact with the ceiling and what was worse was that his legs were stuck to the ceiling as gravity had no effect over him.
"Shit! this fucker actually knows Demon Steps" Leo exclaimed as he looked at the upside down Halfling who was looking at him with folded arms. In the next instant, he disappeared from his spot and appeared before leo and sent a punch at him. Leo hastily dodged to the side nimbly evading the punch, what followed were afterimages of the two of them moving at speeds no normal human could follow.
Clearly anyone who had the privilege to see this fight would know that Leo was at a disadvantage as his enemy was only using 70 percent of his capabilities while leo was going all out. He swung his Katana at the Halfling and used his other hand to send a punch to the head, both were flexibly dodged and a counter punch followed which leo defended.
The Halfing the made a double sweep with his legs which Leo managed to evade due to his passive skill. The sound of ringing went all out in his head as his danger senses warned him of the impending danger behind him.
Leo finally drew the other Katana to block a back attack that the Halfing had launched using it full speed to leave and afterimage in front of leo to attack from behind.
Despite leo guarding with his weapon, the Halfing has clearly had enough as its full strength shattered the Katana to pieces and its fist landed on the side of leos ribs. Leo spurted blood from his mouth as he was sent flying and crashed into a pillar.
[ Hp - 25 ]
Leo was extremely fatigued, just that one punch had hurt him badly and his Stamina was extremely low.
Leo gritted his teeth and added 20 points to stamina bringing it up to 28 which made his body feel energized, he then added 20 points to Agility and another 20 to strength bringing agility to 34 and Strength to 48. He wanted to keep his attitude points because the difficulty increased the stronger he got but now he had no other choice.
Leo burst out with new energy that startled the Halfling that thought he had placed him at deaths door. Sheathing back the Katana in his hand, Leo went for a direct attack as he knew his swords would be useless.
[ Passive skill Gluttony Activated/ 321 moves needed to fully adapt to your enemies fighting technique ]
"Alright! Let's fucking kill this thing" With a head on clash, Leo threw out a direct punch practically sealing off all chances of dodging, his battle intent had risen to an unprecedented level and if the Halfling pulled back now, it would be forced into a defensive situation.
Erupting with full strength, the Halfling dashed forward and launched its fist to meet force with force. The shockwaves from the colliding forces decimated the floors and walls, even the monsters above ground could feel the earth trombone slightly from the collision.
Both sides were blasted back several meters away before forcefully stopping themselves and engaged back into the fight with a clash of fists, punches flew everywhere and both sides attacked each other ruthlessly with the Halfling still gaining the upper hand.
"How is this possible, this filthy human wasn't my match a few seconds ago, how has it gotten so much stronger" The Halfling screamed in its head as a result of the numb feeling growing in its arm, but what was even worse was that he could feel his opponent adapting to his moves, the speed advantage it held was gone and now its fighting techniques were following as well.
[ 47 exchanges made/ 53 Exchanges made/ 125 Exchanges made .... ]
Leo didn't pay attention to the screen as a single moment of distraction could make him lose his life, he was now finally able to get on equal footing but still he could not hold any advantage.
Upon exchanging moves for a while now, the Halflings sense of smell was in full force, and upon making it discovery, it gasped out in shock.
"Sh-Shadow Demon!"
[ 325 Exchanges completed, You have completely adapted to opponents speed and fighting style, Additional Exchanges will enable you to gain the upper hand ]