Woosh—!
Not giving him any time to rest, the Corrupted Leopard started its assault again. But this time he was able to counter perfectly.
However, in front of the Corrupted Leopard's superior speed, it simply flashed to another spot when it realized that it was countered.
And before Lucas could deflect the Corrupted Leopard away, its sharp claws were able to mark skin, pouring out blood.
Reacting much faster, Lucas swung his sword to one of his blindspot. Like a play re-enacted, the Corrupted Leopard appeared, got deflected, simply vanished and succeeded in attacking in another blindspot.
From a different perspective, it seemed like a hopeless fight where Lucas struggles to even graze the beast while the leopard easily desecrates him slowly.
However, that wasn't true at all. He was learning as the fight progressed—little by little, even if the Corrupted Leopard was faster than him, he could gradually predict where it would attack.
Though filled with desecrated wounds, he wasn't in a hurry to end things yet. He wanted to learn more about the beast ability. Thus, he let the fight continue on.
In truth, midway through the fight, if he had focused he could have easily deflected the Corrupted Leopard's attacks. But he was slowed down because he wanted to see how the Corrupted Leopard uses its energy.
When the Corrupted Leopard leaped into the air and transformed into a flash of a shadow, through the Voidshadow Iris, he could see some sort of dark energy that covered the Corrupted Leopard move.
He was studying it—how it moved, operated and affected the Corrupted Leopard's movements.
To others, that feat might be impossible simply because the Corrupted Leopard moves too fast. It was impossible to observe the movement of its energy when only a blur appeared.
But to Lucas—it was not a problem. Even for a second. As long as it appeared before him, he would remember it and take note of it inside his mind.
By doing that, slowly but surely, he was understanding the concept of soulforce and how the Corrupted Leopard uses it.
***
After a while, Lucas' body was already full of wounds and claw marks. To any other eye, he already looked like a dead man.
Perhaps he would turn out to be one as the Corrupted Leopard has finally lost its patience. It raised its claws and bared its fangs, preparing for one last big attack, it flashed towards Lucas.
Woosh—!
Lucas' aura-forged sword, seemingly able to read the future, suddenly swung to where the Corrupted Leopard would appear.
The Corrupted Leopard wasn't deterred.
At first it seemed like a coincidence, however the result was the same the second time. The third time. The fourth..
Then the Corrupted Leopard realized its attacks were no longer being a threat. Without a moment of hesitation, it vanished and retreated to the back.
Lucas, seemingly distracted by something else entirely, chose to ignore it and merely stood with a bated breath.
"..Hm, so that's how it is. I understand now."
Lucas muttered while he closed his eyes and nodded to himself.
"It's similar to aura, but it isn't aura. Just like how I thought it to be. How needlessly complicated. Let's try then."
Without pause—inside him, the dormant pure, dark magical energy moved from its hibernation. Under his control, he manipulated it similar to how the Corrupted Leopard's own energy operated.
However a major difference was that Lucas was also trying to incorporate Void Plunge throughout the whole process, effectively raising the technique to a new level.
The Corrupted Leopard from a distance suddenly felt its hair stand. It backed off slightly, ready to escape at any moment from the scene unfolding before its eyes.
Woosh—!
However, before the Corrupted Leopard could even move away, a formless sword suddenly came crashing down on its body, smashing it to the ground.
Boom—!
The Corrupted Leopard couldn't even react—a shadow darker than its fur and speed superior to its own.
As though the grim reaper itself, a formless blade came from the shadow's hand and descended to its body.
"So this is how you use 'soulforce' huh? It feels unfair to only know about it now,"
The shadow figure—Lucas, chuckled with a wide ecstatic smirk.
"What an amazing power!"
***
Lucas restrained himself from laughing as he felt childish excitement and thrill surge over his body.
This was his euphoria, his joy and ecstasy in desolation.
No other experience—not a single thing has came even close to the euphoric sensation he felt of opening Pandora's box.
His curiosity, seemingly endless and unbound, seeked to devour and digest everything. Every piece of knowledge in existence. His soul and body echoed the same.
"I'll call it…"
Lucas calmed down a little and thought for a moment.
A 'soul art' made from the combination of Void Plunge and a dark-based movement technique.
"...Void Steps."
That name sounds about right. The technique was making his very movement be the void itself.
To describe it more clearly, when he uses the "soul art" his whole body gets wrapped around the void, turning him part of it and also making everything around him have a feeling of time slowing down.
But it wasn't that time itself slowed down, but rather he just became so integrated with the void that it made his thoughts and actions so extremely fast that even time felt slow.
It transformed his very being into a fragment of the void. To put it more aptly—the very void became an extension of his body.
As long as he thinks of it, he can go wherever he wishes in just one step. That was the power of the void. It was omnipresent.
But of course, there were limits to it. For example, not only did it consume a lot of his 'soulforce' energy it also caused a huge strain in his mind if he used it past the five seconds mark.
Lucas' eyes twitched.
Calling it a huge strain is a massive understatement—using it felt like his mind had gone through multiple dimensions, broke itself and repaired itself.
A mix of dizziness and mind breaking sensation filled his psyche. But thanks to his masterful control of his own mind, he managed to resist it and soften the dizziness, enough for him to function.
However, besides that, the most limiting aspect of the technique was that it can only be used within a five meter distance. Anymore than that, he can't even touch, much less sense.
It was extremely limited.
Not to mention that he can only stay at that kind of state merely for eight seconds max, anymore guaranteed evaporation of consciousness.
Simply staying at such a state for seven seconds almost destroyed his mind, if more, he would most likely die of his psyche being overloaded.
Regardless, the creation of this technique marked his first success in this world.
"Truly. What a fantastic power."
Lucas echoed out a sigh while shaking his head. It was a power fundamentally different from aura—a power with unfathomable depths and limitless capabilities.
Although he was able to manipulate it, his understanding and knowledge of it was not even at the very basic level.
To put it more aptly, he only knew how to use one technique among the infinite uses it was capable of.
He had a long way to go… and that fact was what made him most excited. The limitless possibilities it contained. If he was able to achieve miraculous feats simply by manipulating it…
Lucas' eyes glinted in excitement.
…then what if he completely masters it?
While he was in deep thought, the Corrupted Leopard struggled to stand up with a bated breath.
'Huh, although it was fast… it's physical endurance seems to be on the low end of the spectrum…
Lucas temporarily stopped his attacks. He looked down at his hands before looking at the Corrupted Leopard.
'Should I kill it? No, not yet… I can still use it as a specimen to experiment with. As things stand, I'm still a bit too weak to use this technique to its full potential, I need to experiment more.'
Lucas lips curled, smiling softly. If he was correct, these beasts' intelligence shouldn't be any different to normal ones.
At that moment, the Corrupted Leopard's feral appearance turned distraught, as though afraid.
Though Lucas smile looked sincere, the Corrupted Leopard felt terror instead. Its dark fur stood erect as a chilling sensation brushed through its body.
Woosh—!
Before the Corrupted Leopard could react, Lucas vanished into the darkness, reappearing behind its back.
He gently caressed the Corrupted Leopard's neck, as though feeling its skin before inevitably cutting it into half.
He inserted aura within its body, transmitting his own intentions and surface thoughts to the Corrupted Leopard's mind.
In that instant, the Corrupted Leopard felt its deep seated primal instinct for survival echo.
"Fear. I can feel your fear through your body. You fear me, is that right?"
Lucas suddenly stopped his hand and stared at the void-like Leopard with a curious expression.
"But I'm not exactly fearsome. In fact, you don't have to be so afraid—I'm a very merciful man. Even now, I'm giving you a chance to live. But you have to understand, my mercy ends with things that aren't mine…"
With a dramatic sigh, he continued.
"..So if you want to live…"
Without waiting for him to finish his words, the Corrupted Leopard abruptly kneeled and slammed its head to the ground, as though surrendering.
Surprised, Lucas smiled. His hand softly patted the Corrupted Leopard.
"Good cat,"
The Corrupted Leopard whimpered.