Ken stood up and stretched his body as he got ready to move out. His Greek god physique that he obtained after his metamorphosis was now refined and has an ivory tone to it like it was handmade by the artisan god himself.
He got dressed and equiped goggles then walked towards the entrance with his sword and flash bombs. He deconstructed the blocked entrance but stands there looking at his hands as if he'd seen something new.
' Purple black mana color with small lightning sparks?!. I already know about the colors of the lightning but I thought it was from the wolf but it looks like my mana color changed completely... well whatevs' .
He shrugged it off like nothing happened which was unusual for his former self but he didn't notice it, he continued onward with confidence after blocking the cave.
About a kilometer from Nagumo's general direction he stopped for a brief second when he was turning his head about whiles walking but moved on. Eight meters away from the dark area ahead of him, he threw something forward and closed his eyes. A great burst of pure light illuminated the area which lasted a few seconds.
"Hisssss!"
An pained and angry hiss echoed with the reveal of a snake monster akin to a giant puff adder. The monster wiggled around in pain with it's eyes shut tight as it's been blinded. Ken decided to not let it recover as he moved speedily toward the monster to cleave it's neck in one move but the monster countered with an unexpected tail swing moving at an equally great momentum.
Ken switched his posture by placing his right foot back and placed his sword vertically in front of him in an attempt to block. But he miscalculated as the tail broke his sword and hit him straight in the lower chest area.
Ken reacted immediately by jumping back with his forward left leg inorder to mitigate the damage it might have caused but was crushed into a wall.
The monster then spewed a needle like thorn attack to Ken, who rolled to his right and managed to dodge but was meet with the head of the monster who came with it's mouth opened, wanting to swallow him whole.
' Damn it!!, how is it attacking me with it's eyes blinded. All my abilities are not long range and I can't use matter manipulation magic to change anything without touching it ye..... wait! change.....matter. Of course the highest form of energy, of change state of matter'.
All these thoughts flowed in microseconds, as Ken used [Crushing steps] on the ground.
The force in the opposite direction lifted him over the monster's assault and he air walked far from the monster's body. Immediately he landed Ken pointed his index and middle finger of his right hand at the charging monster.
Small wind and huge electric currents moved and gathered in front of his fingers. A second later, a beam of coloured light and heat energy impacted the monster's head from his direction; bursting it's entire head.
Ken walked toward the dead monster with a pained look and thought to himself.
' This monster could see me with it's eyes shut and has to be on par with the bear monster that ate Nagumo's arm to be able to break about five of my ribs and cause me internal injuries. This has to be the rare 'Black Manhunter' that stocks it's prey in dark places, strikes them with a neurotoxin thorn and feeds on them while their they're alive but this one is huge and it doesn't explain why it can see me...' .
"I will find out during dinner. But thank science that I was able to escape this one and figure out the plasma state of matter on time. With this I finally have a long range attack. It's not original but i will call it [Plasma Beam]. It seems I can't go to Nagumo in this state" proclaimed Ken as he chopped off a huge chunk of meat with his broken sword and dragged himself to his cave.
=============
In the big man made cave, Ken laid on his back resting on his 'parachute' after eating the last of his reserved food. After five days of rehab and resting, his injuries all heal and his stats increase.
His overall average stats is 700 and he gained new abilities which explained certain things.
' So now I have [Hide presence] [Toxic touch] and [Heat sense]. [Heat sense] is a great skill to the extent of seeing enemies even with my eyes closed just like the snake monster'.
"Now that I've healed and become much stronger it's time to monitor Nagumo's growth to make sure I can always subdue him" said Ken with a cold smile.
Ken had been changing with each monster he kills and eats without him noticing.
He walked out with his goggles and only his plastic bag containing flash bombs, explosives, empty water sacks and bottles. He reached where his first battle took place and saw that only the monster's carcass is left. He stares briefly before moving forward with a creepy smile in his eyes.
He came to Nagumo's area and used [Hide presence] while searching for him but to his unexpected surprise he witnessed him hunting his first prey which was a group of Twin-tailed wolves. He quietly watched the whole trap and bait process and thought,
' Wow, okay now am impressed. He endured almost two weeks of starvation which is more than I've done before and is now starting to hunt. Now that's what I call a weak person's endurance. I guess that's a flaw and a strength? '.
He left the area to refill his water sacks and took a dip in the underground river while washing his clothes since he knew it will take hours of stalking before the monsters took Nagumo's bait. Even though he hadn't sweat or smell nor feel really hot or cold since becoming a hybrid, he was very uncomfortable for not bathing for so long even with his past habits.
After a few swims, he was prepared to move out but saw his reflection and was dumbfounded. This is the first time seeing his golden eyes matching his blueish white hair and the creepy thin lines after his metamorphosis.
A sudden realization came to him as saw the brief coldness that flash deep in his eyes. He now knew that having a comrade and companions was necessary so that he doesn't lose himself.
He dried his clothes using evaporation and went to Nagumo's hideout and fill a few bottles with mana liquid. He then spied on Nagumo and murmured.
"Get strong quickly, Hagime-kun".
....