The moment those words left his lips, the abyssal which was already upon him bit down at his neck, but Ray sidestepped making it literally taste air instead.
Ray swung his fist into the head of the abyssal and if it wasn't for its claws which it dug into the ground causing it to skid backwards it would have been sent flying.
It shook its head to get rid of the dizziness and pain it felt. When it focused on the fight, Ray was already standing right in front of it.
Stunned by this, the abyssal swiped its claws forward but when it's claws made contact with the golden aura which was suddenly produced by Ray, it failed to go through.
Ray's aura was quite special and didn't work as simply as most people thought. When an attack makes contact with his aura, it didn't just act as a shield and protective skin but also as a repelling force similar to when the same poles of a magnet gets close to each other.
If the attacker wasn't strong enough they would end up being pushed backwards.
Ray grabbed the leg of the abyssal and pulled it towards him while sending out a punch. His eyebrow twitched slightly as the abyssal opened its mouth, biting the arm which he used to punch.
Waves spread across the area which showed the amount of force behind the abyssal's bite. But still yet it was unable to go through the aura, and the abyssal felt its mouth being forced open.
He felt disgusted by this even though he wasn't actually being touched.
His control over his ability was decent so he easily ridded the repulsive force of his aura on his palm enabling him to grab the abyssal's tongue.
Its eyes widened as it didn't expect such an action.
Using its tongue, Ray swung it across the air into the ground in the opposite direction causing earth fragments to be scattered away in different directions.
He repeated this action several times before tossing the abyssal away.
It crashed into several trees before coming to a stop.
He stared at his palm which had some of the abyssal's saliva.
He could control his aura to the extent were he could choose what shouldn't be repelled away and his combat clothes made this even more easier.
During his earlier days as an aberrant this posed a great challenge to him as sometimes he ended up pushing away the wrong things like his weapons and even worse his clothes.
He remembered a time when...
No! He didn't want to recall what happened that day. It was a memory he wished to get rid of.
"Maybe I'll get some gloves later." He activated the aura ability as all traces of the saliva was sent flying away.
Ray reached for his sword pulling it out of the scabbard. "Its time to die," he said with an icy gaze.
The abyssal which had always been the pursuer was beginning to contemplate whether it should run, and this contemplation is what cost it it's life.
Ray crouched down slightly with his sword held out.
"Aura sword arts, first form."
The aura around his body increased as the golden streaks on his clothes and sword brightened.
"Vwoooooom!!"
He dashed towards the lupine abyssal which had made its decision but it didn't have the chance to execute it.
"Single slash!" Ray uttered while swinging his sword towards the neck of the abyssal.
Just some centimeters away from making contact, Ray's eyes widened as he immediately changed his footing and the direction of his attack.
His sword came in contact with a 4 inches long bullet which was followed by an explosion which sent both him and the abyssal flying backwards.
The abyssal hit a large tree stopping its movement but Ray who didn't have anything strong enough behind him travelled much further.
The abyssal didn't care how it was saved but was grateful to whatever had saved it. So it shifted its gaze of gratitude towards where the attack had come from. But what met its eyes was another bullet which went in between them.
"BOOOOOMMMMM!!"
With another explosion the abyssal was blown into smithereens.
With her eyebrows slightly furrowed, Sylph stared at the man behind this who was completely covered in a black cloak with a large hood. Only his right hand which he used to hold the large one handed gun and the lower part of his face consisting of his mouth and jaw was visible.
She could see that his lips were curved into a large grin.
"Impressive! It seems that the rumors about you weren't exaggerated," he voiced out as Ray walked towards him.
He didn't have any injuries, only a scowl.
"Who are you?"
"Hahaha!" He chortled. "Don't worry, you'll be knowing soon, I'll keep it for myself till then."
"Then what do you want? Why are you here?" Ray halted few meters away from him.
"Hmmmm! I like you. You're not so foolish after all. You're more impressive than I thought. "
Because of the hood he had on, Ray couldn't make out of the expression he had but he knew what he was talking about.
He was saying this because Ray hadn't blindly attacked him after what he did to him.
As for the reason why Ray hadn't made any move, it was because his instinct warned him against doing so, and he always trusted his instincts. It was the reason why he had survived the meteor apocalypse.
He believed that the strange man in front of him was dangerous. So he was being more careful than usual.
"Curious are we? Unfortunately, I'm not here to answer questions."
He leaned on a tree behind him with folded arms. Ray couldn't tell were he had put his weapon.
"So you two are partners, interesting. Well you're records are quite good. I'll be looking forward to what you guys would achieve in the future. "
Even though the cloaked man didn't act hostile, the firm grip Ray had on his sword didn't waver.
The cloaked man shifted his gaze to Sylph. "You've really grown it's a surprise you survived it. Too bad she couldn't."
Sylph froze in shock when she heard this.
"Well it looks like you guys are busy, I'll be taking my leave. And oh…., no hard feelings for the attack earlier, my hands were itchy. You better get to work, that abyssal won't wait up."
With a farewell wave he began walking away, and under the obstruction of the trees and shrubs he went out of sight.
Both of them stared at the direction he walked off to with different thoughts on their minds.
'That guy sounded like he knew a lot. Who the hell is he?' And what was he doing here?' Ray wondered.
He didn't know if this meeting was by coincidence or he followed them, but by the way he talked, Ray believed that it was the latter.
He looked towards Sylph to see her lost in her thoughts with multiple expressions displayed on her face. He hadn't seen her display a strong emotion since they met but now she was displaying multiple ones. What the man said must have been really important.
"Are you all right?"
She slowly brought her gaze to him as her expression returned to normal. "I'm fine."
He knew this was what she was going to say. The reason he asked was because he wanted to snap her out of her thoughts to important things.
He was glad she didn't tell him. He had enough problems of his own and really liked independent people and he was glad she was one. Not like a certain somebody.
Ray looked towards the direction where the abyssal had taken it's last breath. Except for the damage the wasn't any sign that something was here.
It was a relief that abyssals vanished into particles when they died as it would be a headache to take care of their corpses.
They stayed quiet for some time before Sylph realized something.
"Do you remember what he said!" The look on her face was like a student who had gotten the solution to a math problem which was giving everyone in their class a headache.
Ray was in thought for some seconds before answering. "The rumors about me weren't exaggerated?"
She stared at him in disappointment not knowing if he was doing it purposely.
"Wrong! He said we better get to work that...…"
"The abyssal wouldn't….. wait….up." Ray completed her statement. The man had literally told them that there was another abyssal.
"Did you sense two abyssals back then?" He asked.
"No, only one." She was getting confused by this. If her sensing was limited by the strength of who she sensed, then she could say the abyssal was too strong for her to sense but it wasn't like that.
So she believed that the abyssal must have found a way to negate her sensing, somehow hide its presence or it wasn't in the forest in the first place.
"Come check this out."
She walked towards a squatting Ray who had his fingers placed on the ground.
"Look here." He pointed at a foot print, which was like that of a large paw with claws which obviously belonged to the wolf-like abyssal.
He walked forward with his eyes scanning the ground like a hawk, while Sylph waited quietly.
"Now look at this," he said pointing at another foot print. Sylph could see that they were different.
"This is the foot print I mostly saw where the animals were slaughtered. I'm sure that's our guy."
The foot print looked like that of a horse but much larger.
Abyssals of higher levels rarely killed those of lower levels, so it was very possible that they both dwelled in this forest.
"It went this way." He pointed at a direction.
"So what do you suggest we do?"
A smile appeared on his face. "Track it down of course. Follow me."
With this said, Ray streaked forward with Sylph flying behind him. The tracks were still fresh so it took them only some minutes before arriving at their destination.
"SHIT!!" Ray exclaimed in disbelief.