Winter was slowly coming to an end, but not before the season increased its intensity by multiple folds.
The first thing Liam did when finishing with his underground business was head towards the forest.
His blades practically begged to be used.
Night had cloaked the sky, flickering with bright stars barely visible through the cold mist.
Liam spread out his senses throughout the region. Growls, screeches and hisses loudened in his ears, and he could sense what creatures those sounds belonged to.
The further parts of the Ucladd Forest contained rougher and much more demanding terrain. It housed dungeons, glades and caves, which no doubt housed a plethora of powerful magical beasts.
Liam took the liberty of accepting a magical beast extermination mission while he was at it — adding to his stingy-with-time personality.
He needed to eliminate a pack of Rank-2 Blizzard Hounds located at the foot of a snowy tor.
He avoided unnecessary fights with weaker beasts until he arrived there, instantly sensing the dozen-some wolves under a rough collection of giant boulders.
The Blizzard Hounds had bright white fur, which glowed as they buried themselves under the snow — underneath the white tufts, was tough, purple skin.
They were roughly 2 meters in length, with a tall stature. Somehow, their low growls were audible through the howling wind.
'They have powerful noses, so I'll have to be quick.'
Magical beasts oftentimes lived in habitats that supported their innate abilities. In this case, the snow provided a nourishing effect to strengthen their bodies.
Further up, he could see the dark entrance of an alcove, multiple hounds blocking its entrance — sleeping around it.
Liam's eyes fell on that entrance and slightly narrowed.
'I sense danger from that cave. Though, it shouldn't be anything too serious. Maybe a peak Rank-2 Blizzard Hound as the alpha. Rank-3's can't be found in this location either.'
Without delaying another second, Liam silently approached the wolf pack.
There were few trees surrounding the mountain foot to traverse through, leaving him with just a direct confrontation.
He tightened the grip on his blades and dashed towards the closest sleeping hound, who's snout twitched with a strange smell.
As the wolf slowly opened its eyes, a shadowy blade met its neck, tainting its white fur crimson and spurting gobs of red.
The smell of blood quickly alerted the other hounds, their growling growing louder as they sniffed the air.
Meanwhile, a smile grew on Liam's face, uncaring of the thunderous barks and howls shot his way.
'It cut through it so easily! There's no doubt about it. I need to learn this forging method.'
His eyes turned cold as he scoured the beasts.
The wolves instantly swarmed him, spreading around and giving him little space.
However, they didn't get very close.
They couldn't.
Each time they tried to, a streak of blood flew in the air, and a wolf head quietly thudded on the snow.
From thirteen, only six remained.
The massacre continued one-sidedly, with Liam slowly pushing through towards the cave.
Suddenly, the wolves changed tactics.
They jumped back and kept their distance, their claws lengthening to razor-sharp icicles.
Swiping their claws, dozens of sharp, finger-sized chunks of ice shot at his figure.
Liam evaded most of those attacks, yet purposely allowed some to hit his non-vital spots.
Streams of blood warmed his body and stained his clothes, but contradictingly nourished it.
'I nearly forgot about my tempering method. I'll have to get creative with how I advance now.'
Liam strengthened his arms with small amounts of 'Ora', just enough for him to kill the remaining Hounds.
One last thud resounded, before Liam began extracting the beasts' cores.
'It's a shame I don't have enough space in my ring. Rank-2 beasts sell quite well.'
Liam shifted his gaze towards the unguarded alcove.
Sensing the danger, he sat cross-legged and instantly began to refill the expended 'Ora' — preparing for the worst.
When he finished, he slowly entered through the hole.
Right as he did, sounds of wet chewing entered his ears, in addition to a stronger, more demanding growl.
The floor was dyed crimson with dried blood and viscera, littered with half-eaten Blizzard Hound corpses.
Further up, a giant lump of black fur had his back towards him, yet radiated immense danger — enough to make Liam's hair rise.
However, there was no trace of fear in Liam's eyes — just his mind and body's natural reaction to a powerful threat.
Liam's grip on his blades tightened as the black 'lump' turned around and arose, revealing a vicious, 3 meter wolf that could make an adult man cry with one look.
It's snout and face had been marred — the healed scars indicating the beast had gone through a fierce clash time ago — resulting in one of it's eyes being blinded. Most probably the previous alpha of the pack.
As it spotted the tiny human invading its territory, it let out another deep growl, vibrating throughout the cave — even applying pressure on Liam's mental sphere and causing him to scowl.
'Rank-3!'
Liam instinctively knew the wolf was Rank-3.
Magical beasts in this rank could apply physical and mental pressure, even if they weren't species that focused on that aspect.
Noticing the grey markings under the wolf's eyes, Liam instantly thought of a species name from Lloyd's bestiary.
'Shadow Lykos of the darkness element! Not only is this kind of beast rare like most darkness beasts, they're also strong and highly dangerous.'
Liam could freely leave.
Well… not so freely, but an escape was almost certainly possible if he tried.
The Lykos growled again. A warning, Liam assumed.
Amazingly, even the Rank-3 beast wanted him gone.
Not only had Liam invaded its territory, he had also interrupted its meal. Under any other circumstance, it would've already pounced without warning.
Yet it was injured, and intelligent enough to avoid a meaningless fight.
Liam clenched his blades, forcing out a deep breath, before smirking.
"Let's test our limits, shall we?"