Clarence practiced the spell a few times after learning it and noticed that the strength wasn't particularly high, but even if it only stalled the enemy for a few seconds, he was confident in dealing a fatal blow.
The spell was named incapacitate, like the name suggests, it incapacitates the enemy or if the user wants, it can be used to incapacitate a certain thing or area with higher efficiency.
Clarence moved out of the cave after cleaning all his traces and chose a random direction to walk in. After nearly half an hour, he finally spotted a rank two bull.
He was currently running his mana through his body instead of the golden blue energy, but the bull still couldn't sense him, indicating that his past few days of hard work in increasing the amount of mana had paid off.
It also enhanced his senses to some extent, though it still couldn't compare to the golden blue energy.
Clarence walked forward until he was within the bull's range of sense without making any preparations. The beast charged at him with apparent hostility as soon as it detected someone intruding its territory.
Clarence, without losing his composure, brandished his daggers and just as the bull was close enough, he executed the dagger technique after side stepping.
The bull couldn't change its course of charge this close to its target, which resulted in it not being able to follow Clarence. But it could still sense the danger in the dagger technique, causing it to snap his head upward.
Although it appeared to have eluded the attack, Clarence saw an opportunity when its neck was exposed to him in full view. Quickly seizing the opportunity, he simply stabbed with extraordinary speed at the bull's neck.
The unfortunate bull had no chance to retaliate as it died a simple death with a hole in its neck.
'That….. was too easy? I suppose that although the battles I had with rank one beasts didn't have any significant benefit, it still helped me gain experience, make appropriate decisions and keep a calm mind.'
Keeping the corpse in his spatial bracelet, Clarence continued his search for rank two beasts and soon spotted one a few minutes later.
Same as with the bull, Clarence was able to make quick work of it.
'They almost feel too easy. I suppose it's alright for me to search for groups of two or three.'
Clarence played with the daggers in his hands as he was walking, occasionally executing a move or two.
A few moments later, he spotted a group of long tailed monkeys circling around a spot. They were apparently focused on something, probably because they haven't discovered him yet or they would've chased him as soon as they spotted him.
After looking around for a bit, Clarence realized he was in the part of the jungle where he killed those two monkeys; the few rows of cleanly cut branches further confirmed his suspicions.
'Ah, these monkeys, why don't they leave me alone?'
He took out a few objects from his hidden pockets and set them up in the nearby areas. He then held a dart in his hand and coated it with the poison of the rank five snake he killed.
It was one of the reasons that the rank five snake carcass could only be traded for rank four daggers as the whole body of the snake was badly mutilated.
Most of its scales had fallen off with only a few in the vital areas barely hanging in. Adding on to that, Clarence had harvested its poison sac and teeth, which are few of the most important parts of its body.
After gripping the dart in his hand, he threw it with an insane speed at the forehead of one of the monkeys.
The reason he exchanged the darts was because they were easier to throw and faster than daggers. They also pierce through surfaces more easily than other weapons of the same rank, given that all weapons are made under the same conditions.
The dart was already dangerously close to its target by the time the monkeys sensed, thanks to its terrific speed.
Before its body could even react to the fatal threat, the dart had already pierced its forehead, the rank five snake's poison coated on its tip further ensuring its death.
The monkeys, who had dispersed to a degree after sensing the dart, had their eyes turn red as they witnessed their comrade's sudden death. They moved around their heads looking for the culprit to no avail.
One of the monkeys, who had a healthier build than the others, was most likely their leader, as he made some hand signals before scattering the monkeys in different directions..
A little away from the scene was Clarence lying on a branch, watching the situation unfold.
'One down, four left. This is going to be tough. I just told myself to only look for a group of two to three. And here I am, already provoked one with five. Doesn't matter, I'll test my limits again.'
Once a person experiences a close call with death, he will either cower from the situation forever for his life or either get back up and try courting death again.
Clarence belonged to the second group. In fact, he enjoyed being in dangerous situations, feeling the adrenaline rush through his veins, and pushing his body beyond limits.
Since five, which was now four, was above what he decided to fight, he had already begun channeling the golden blue energy through his body.
With his range now covering a much wider area, he could see the situation of the monkeys and what path they took.
He pursued one in particular by jumping from branch to branch. When he felt like going any closer would alert the monkey, he took out his five-bladed shuriken and threw it at the monkey with an incredible spin.
The monkey noticed it and swerved to the side to dodge the nearing shuriken, but unexpectedly, the shuriken curved in at that crucial juncture, catching the monkey off guard.
It drilled into its chest, tearing its insides to the shreds before half of it protruded from the monkey's back.
Clarence quickly dashed forward and stabbed the monkey in its neck just to be sure. He then turned around after putting it back in his spatial bracelet.
'Three more to go.'