Silently moving alone down the stairs, Chris held the knife in his left hand with back-hand grip pointing forwards and his pistol ready and loaded in his other hand. The gun was pointing forward as well, resting on the wrist of his knife-held-hand.
Making a turn left as he came down the stairs he moved with ease and silence, making no noise as he stepped through the kitchen.
Having an inkling about where the noise came from he slowly opened the door to the dining room, whilst keeping his gun pointing forwards in anticipation of a sudden attack.
Giving the door a slight push, it creaked open as he stepped back giving himself a couple of seconds to react should there be someone on the other side waiting for him.
Not receiving any attacks he felt himself grow with a slight apprehension. He had expected whatever was on the other side to rush at him, resembling the characteristics of the reports from the news.
However, it seemed whatever was hiding in here was a cunning creature, whether it was a human or a different animal.
Now with the door fully open he could see the broken window just ahead with glass shards covering the floor below it.
As the window was fairly large it was difficult to decipher the creatures' mass. However, one thing he found strange was the darkness in the room. The moon should be shining quite brightly this night, but the moonlight seemed to barely make its way through as if a small veil had been cast around the room blocking of any light.
Moving with his gun and knife in the same manner as before Chris angled his upper body to the left as he tried to peer through the darkness and have peek to the right side of the room.
Seeing nothing but darkness, he tried to make use of the same strategy on the other side giving him the same result, plus having a door blocking most of the left side.
Chris trusted in his instincts and all though he had grown immensely since before, he decided not to step through the open doorway.
Rather he moved slightly more backwards, giving himself full view of the doorframe. Nothing coming in to the kitchen should escape his gaze.
And so he stood silently in a trained relaxed posture, showing a calm facade though he still felt a tingle of apprehension.
He knew he had to keep himself in check, confident in what's to come, but also ready and not underestimating whatever this animal was.
The silence in the room grew thicker, broken only by the sound of a controlled breathing. Each passing moment seemed to increase the tension, until it was almost suffocating. Like an invisible force pressing down on them. The slightest movement or sound would anyone over the edge. Chris knew something was about to happen, but didn't know when or from where it would come. The tension was palpable, and it was only a matter of time before it reached its breaking point.
Chris having been in similar situations before was still as a lake, betraying the heavy atmosphere. He was ready and the more the time stretched the more he felt himself growing in battle lust.
Growing up with a profession such as his own, he was usually in constant battles and tense situations.
He was truly a result of his environment in some areas. With most of his actions and training being tested through battles and missions, he had grown to like this atmosphere. Finding it exhilarating and giving him a rush of adrenaline as he was about to show of his skills.
Still holding his weapon up, Chris observed as the darkness of the other room seemed to creep into the kitchen. Looking similar to a black gas being released from its container.
Chris finally seeing some actions being taken, grew even more wary. With the dark mist covering every inch of his surroundings, he found himself unable to see.
Recognising this was some kind of skill of the animal he decided to close his eyes, deeming them a hindrance of perception in such an environment.
Focusing entirely on his remaining senses he bent his knees slightly in preparation for the next move.
Just as he was about to reposition himself, he heard quick skittering steps above him.
Sensing its direction he leaned backwards slightly adjusting his posture for a quick dodge.
Keeping his mind on full alert, he noticed as the last skitter step sounded a bit heavier than the others before it went quiet.
Knowing what such a sound could entail, Chris utilised his stance by quickly leaping backwards.
With his feet slightly above the floor he felt a sensation of wind slightly brushing his face as something large hit the floor of his previous location, resounding a large thud as it broke through the floor.
Hearing the sound of the large creature colliding with the ground, he quickly aimed his gun towards the area and firing 5 shots in a rapid succession each bullet imbued in as much mana as the object could store.
In his previous training, Chris had experimented with his weapons on how they reacted with his mana.
It worked in a similar manner as his body, it would strengthen and reinforce the bullet with the correct intent.
However, without an orb for the mana to collect and continuously pulse out mana the bullet would slowly go back to its original condition.
The bullet would explode if he overfilled it, and the gun also needed to be reinforced in order to fire the strengthened bullet.
Hearing a loud screech in the area he had fired, Chris yet again went on a rapid 5 bullet gun down.
Hearing an even louder and high pitched shriek, he believed it to be the final sound of the creature.
Opening his eyes slowly while activating 'mana vision' he could see the same sight as previously.
Nothing but dark mana particles obscuring everywhere filling the room. However after a couple of seconds it seemed to recede slowly towards the centre of the room a little further from where Chris had shot his bullets.
There he could see the creature lying in all its glory.
Its six legs sprawled on the ground, two of them with multiple bullet wounds still oozing out black gory blood across its hairy body while staining the floor in a dark colour.
Its many eyes now closed, seeing nothing more than Chris himself a couple of seconds before.
Observing the giant spider laying motionless he could see through his mana vision a large amount of mana pouring out of the creature.
It seemed to connect with the atmospheric mana. It looked similar to how the energy also reacted to his and the old couples mana orb.
As if the mana was adapting to its environment, changing to better fit whatever it could inhabit.
As if understanding something fundamental, Chris hurriedly walked up to the dead creature and sitting down with his legs crossed a couple of centimeters away from it.
With the last three days of training he could get into his 'mana absorption' state within 5 minutes and so he quickly began his meditation.
After 5 minutes had passed he felt the surrounding mana clad his body again.
However, this time there was an additional foreign mana besides the atmospheric one.
A mana he could sense was filled with dark particles pressing in even thicker essence than the atmospheric one.
As he let his body absorb he felt a huge pressure open towards his core, similar to seeing a dam being opened.
As the core kept simulating the abundance of mana he felt himself losing a grip on his bearing.
Quickly shutting of the 'mana absorption' he found himself working hard to contain the mana. Having accomplished a stronger connection with his new orb like limb, he felt himself straining it to the maximum in the attempt of condensing and compressing this newfound energy.
He felt his whole body sweating, staining his t-shirt and trousers. He could tell he was panting frivolously, but he couldn't care about any of that at the moment.
If he were to lose his bearings now, it would be the end of it. With such a large amount of mana raging within him he knew it would spell trouble should he let it slip.
With another minute passing he could sense the turbulent energy slowly calming down. Still condensing and compressing, his mana orb seemed to have gained a tint of black now as if showcasing the previously black mana.
He could feel pain spreading through his body as the black particles were joining the rest of his mana in refining him.
The intense pain coming from all over his body continued for a short while, tempting Chris to scream out loud in agony.
However, after 2 minutes of struggle he seemed fine again. Though he felt different yet again.
His senses were sharpened, he could feel the vibrations in the floor as he slightly moved, his hearing amplified, opening his eyes, his vision seemed even stronger than before as well.
He knew some of this was the result of the massive mana he had obtained from the creature, allowing his mana orb to condense even more, looking closer to a compact gas form.
However, he could that wasn't all. His senses and instincts felt more primal than previously, more prone to simple desires as food and survival.
Understanding the effects of his experiment, he knew he should be careful. Had he taken more of the spiders mana it could pose a heavy danger if he were to overwhelm his orb or if it was capable of affecting his mind, it could potentially make him lose most of his own self, giving in to nothing but his primal instincts.
On the other hand, he seemed more in tune with the dark particles of mana, his orb was now continuously filtering the atmospheric mana in a balance that was favoring those particles.
Slowly standing up trying to get used to his heightened senses he yet again heard the sound of skittering steps, together with very small vibrations.
Moving closer to the window he looked outside towards the large forest about a kilometer away. Activating his mana vision together with his new heightened sight he could see a horde of at least 30 spiders crawling towards him. Each one as big as a wolf.
'Fuck'