"I see..." Lloyd's gaze lingered on the several dozen pairs of red eyes looking at him from the shadows. Despite them being in the shadows, Lloyd did not have any problems seeing them.
Narrowing his eyes at the sight of so many wolves, a smile eventually emerged from the corners of his lips.
"No point being sad about it, right?" He asked no one in particular. In the same instant, his eyes began to glow with a bright purple color.
*ROAR*
Simultaneously, a wolf's body began to merge with the shadows. In the next instant, it was already behind Lloyd, yet not a tinge of worry could be seen on his face.
With a cold smile, Lloyd quickly ducked to dodge the incoming claw before slicing upwards.
*Shing*
Two halves of the wolf dropped onto the ground, and the shadows began to consume them as they slowly began to melt away. At the same time, Lloyd felt power emerging inside him, confirming the theory that killing in the void would still give him strength.
'In fact... Isn't this much stronger than what I got from the wasps? Granted, the wasps are a little weaker, but every wolf here gives the same amount of energy as a quarter of the wasp queen...' An excited smile stretched across Lloyd's face. This was it. This was what he was waiting for.
It was an opportunity... An opportunity for him to become stronger and know no bounds in his improvement.
It was a step in the right direction.
Filled to the brim with excitement, Lloyd activated [Shadow Enhancement] and shot forward with all the power he could muster in his legs.
In an instant, he appeared in front of one of the wolves while slashing downwards.
*Shing*
*Swoosh*
Hearing the wind parting to his right, he slightly turned his upper body and slashed horizontally, killing another wolf with a single strike once again.
[Shadow Enhancement] not only made Lloyd physically stronger, but it also made it very easy for him to blend in with the shadows and move around without being noticed. However, he knew that the instant he kills one of the wolves, the the rest of the pack would spot him and, in a rage, attack him relentlessly.
Yet, in the end, they were simply animals that hadn't reached the first commandment yet, making their thinking process slow and weak at best.
Outsmarting them was a piece of cake.
Blending in with the shadows, Lloy quickly used [Shadow Movement], something that allowed him to instantly melt away and submerge himself with the shadow under him.
This was another problem with the ability [Shadow Movement], and it was the fact that the user would immediately 'melt' into the shadows. This did not mean that they could not be hit, though. In fact, anyone using this ability would be quite vulnerable in the state between entering and leaving the shadow.
However, this was the least of his problems at that moment because, through his eyes, everything was being calculated despite being at a much slower rate if he were to use [4-Dimensional Thought].
Everything from the speed of the wolves to the distance he could travel was within his calculations.
Before the wolves could reach him, he was already in the shadow and was beginning to move around.
*Swoosh*
2.5 meters behind the 5 wolves that had tried to attack him prior to his use of [Shadow Movement] appeared a blob of a shadow. In the next instant, a figure shrouded in shadows and darkness jumped out, and the moment his body had become impermeable, a sword cut through the air and aimed straight towards the heads of the five wolves in front of him.
*Woosh*
*Shing*
In an instant, 5 heads flew into the air while blood splattered all over the ground. The resistance Lloyd felt as his blade cut through 5 throats was unimaginable, yet he was capable of doing it with the last bit of power he had left in his arm.
Scenes like this continued to occur again and again until, finally, Lloyd found himself in front of an enemy that was slightly more troublesome than the others.
After killing so many of the wolves, Lloyd realized that the wolves he was fighting could have been killed by an unawakened version of him, making the scene where he gained a gash in the middle of his chest even more pitiful.
However, now in front of him stood 3 wolves that emanated an overpowering bloodlust than almost made Lloyd lose track of his senses. The pressure they gave out was enough to suffocate anyone at his power level, but Lloyd quickly regained his composure and stood with both hands gripping tightly to his katana.
Closing his eyes and letting out a steamy breath, Lloyd opened his eyes once again; however, this time, his eyes were like a pair of violet stars that shone within the darkness.
An imposing aura seeped out of his body and caused the wolves in front to take a step back as their auras clashed with his.
This was [Monarch's Aura], a passive racial ability that, until now, had never activated.
Despite the imposing name of the ability, to Lloyd's disappointment, all it did was clash with the auras of the three wolves.
'Passive my a$$! What is this, some kind of game? Isn't a passive ability always supposed to be on? Yet now, when it activated, it barely did anything.' Lloyd gnashed his teeth and looked at the 3 wolves with anger flaring in his eyes.
Little did he know that the [Monarch's Aura] was doing much more than he ever thought it would be capable of.
Moving around without hindrance, Lloyd shot in the direction of the three wolves with his blade horizontally to his side, ready to create a cut with the flick of a wrist.
While the wolves were startled, they quickly regained their witts and began to let out loud howls, bearing their teeth at the incoming enemy.
*Clang*
*Step*
*Step*
A low metallic ring echoed in the silent forest before Lloyd was forced to take two steps back.
As if having hit an immovable enemy, the blade shook slightly before stopping after a while.
*Swoosh*
Another wolf moved, and within one move, it cut through the air while its claws appeared mere inches away from Lloyd's face.
*Clang*
*Clang Clang Clang!*
Deflecting the incoming attack, Lloyd had to block several more attacks as the wolves seemed to take turns attacking him while slowly surrounding him on all sides.
Forced into taking several steps back, Lloyd let out a low grunt while knitting his brows as he realized he was being forced onto his back foot.
He knew that if everything carried the same way, he would eventually lose, and the biggest mistake he had made was to allow himself to be surrounded.
Looking around warily, his grip around his katana tightened while a bold plan began to formulate in his mind.
'Right now, they are way too close for me to use shadow movement. I'm certain they will attack me the moment I attempt to submerge into the shadows, so that is a no-go...'
Suddenly, a small smile appeared on his face as a few words echoed in his mind.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Lloyd pushed off the ground and immediately charged at one of the wolves.
Slightly startled, the other wolves froze, yet the wolf Lloyd was charging at was quick to react.
Claws suddenly protruded out of the paw, extending its paw upwards before it began to swing it down diagonally.
Lloyd let out a small smile while running straight at the claw covered in shadows.
He was waiting for the right moment...
The moment to dodge, and the moment to strike...
*Swoosh*
Tilting his head and torso to the side, Lloyd watched as the razor-sharp claws narrowly missed him. Simultaneously, shadows gathered around Lloyd's hands, and in the blink of an eye, his hand blurred, trialing over the extended foreleg, before blood spurted out and covered him from head to toe.
*ROAAA-*
The wolf's roar stopped mid-way before being replaced by the sound of gargling.
*Thud*
Before anyone could understand, the wolf in front of Lloyd dropped to the ground after drowning in its own blood, a fine and almost invisible clean cut trailing from one end of the neck to the other.
"Attack a weak point in the encirclement, creating a breakthrough, and then move through that gap to freedom."
Those were the words that echoed in Lloyd's mind as he created his plan that was, in all reality, quite simple.
With a single glance, Lloyd identified the weakest wolf and attacked it without holding back. Now that there were only 2 wolves left, they could no longer try encircling him.
'At best, they can try to chase me and have one of them cut me off, but I wasn't going to run away in the first place.' A wry smile stretched from the corner of his lips. It was subtle to the point where no one would see it at s first glance, but it would have made anyone who looked closely feel a chill in their mind.
That smile was terrifying.
Looking down at his hands, Lloyd closed his eyes as his lust for power was satiated by the dopamine pumped into his mind. The feeling was refreshing, while the cold and powerful energy that entered his body made him feel as if his muscles were being given enough energy to hold an entire building above his head for several days.
His grip around his sword only tightened while his eyes looked at the two monsters in front of him.
A wild aura filled with killing intent blasted out of Lloyd, before his figure blurred, and the sounds of metal clashing began to echo within the forest once again.
As the sounds continued, more and more monsters began to be attracted towards the battle area, yet not one creature dared to take part in the battle as they all watched from afar.
The battle against the two wolves lasted almost 45 minutes, and it was finally in its last moments.
Deep scars could be seen on the ground.
Injuries littered the bodies of all three of them, and while Lloyd was having it much better since he had no vital spots or blood in his body, he was not spared from injury as several cuts and cracks could be seen on his skin.
However, one thing had become prominent after the fight, and it was that Lloyd was dominating.
Despite the wolves' shadow abilities, they barely found themselves ever hitting him directly as he would dodge, swerve, deflect and block all the attacks that came his way.
He would have won long ago if he was fighting against one monster, but now that he was fighting against two, he found it much harder to attack and defend at the same time.
Being littered with so many injuries made the wolves sluggish, and after a while, Lloyd finally found himself capable of taking advantage of their decrease in speed with one final-
*Sching*
In an instant, one of the wolves' visions split, and its two halves fell onto the ground.
Taking a step back, Lloyd narrowly avoided the enraged attack of the other wolf, yet that very attack spelled its demise.
*Sching*
Lloyd's blade cleaving through the wolve's neck echoed in the surrounding forest, and absolute silence followed before a distinct yet familiar sound entered the ears of every creature that spectated the battle.
*Thud*
The battle was over in less than a second, and Lloyd, covered in both blood and gore, stood tall as its clear winner.
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