White snow blanketed the observer's vision.
It seemed as if the earth and the sky had merged into one, and even outlines of the mountains surrounding this momochrome domain were only barely visible.
A lone figure trudged through the scene, looking like a dot of black on a white canvas.
Leo breathed out again, his breath coagulating into ice crystals.
It had been three days since he had left the Misty Forest, four days since he left the territory of the Shining Sun Empire, and seven days since he left Redstone City.
He had been in this snowy tundra for a day and two nights now, and the unceasing white was really getting to him, as even most of the animals sported a white coat.
While he was navigating the valley he was currently in, Leo saw another figure from afar.
Getting closer, he saw it more clearly, and his expression changed.
His eyes seemed to be spitting fire as he felt the impulse to rush up and tear the figure to pieces!
It was an Aberration.
Calming down and closing his eyes, he took a few deep breath before opening them again.
Without hesitation, he narrowed the distance. As he got closer, his pupils shrank.
'Tier Three Aberration, Evil Blade.'
It was a type of Aberration that was among the stronger ones. It was stronger than the peak Official Warlocks of most Major Gods.
Its appearance was that of a grey, shapeless mass of flesh five meters in size, with more than ten several-meter long flesh tendrils, ending in sharp blades. It had dozens of legs, and was unexpectedly able to move at great speeds.
It was currently poking holes into a dead three meter tall humanoid figure.
'Should be a Barbarian.'
Leo was tempted to add all his Energy Points to his Stats but he stopped himself.
When Leo got into a ten meter distance of the Aberration, it finally sensed it presence, and turned around, meeting Leo's pair of eyes with six of its own.
Leo slowed down and got into a combat stance, drawing his sword.
The Evil Blade let out a loud roar and slashed a Leo, the blade leaving loud swishing sounds in the air.
Leo was able to block the incoming blade with his own. However, before he could regain his footing, nine more came at him at frightening speeds.
{SPIRITUAL OVERLORD TECHNIQUE - Ferocious Tiger: Symphony of a Hundred Claws}
Using his blade as a medium, Leo unleashed his second strongest offensive technique. He moved so fast, the sword created afterimages, which seemed to come alive in the air and actively blocked the attacks.
After a few hundred clashes, the beast retreated slightly. Not only were all of its attacks blocks, some of its flesh we're almost cut off, as Leo had found a few opportunities to counterattack.
There was a thin layer of sweat on Leo's forehead as he focused on the Aberration.
With another roar, black light appeared on all the blades of the Aberration.
'IT HAS A SKILL?!!!'
According to the Devil Encyclopedia, only Tier Four Aberrations and above could manifest Diavolos Essence in limited amounts as a skill.
It seemed this one had just crossed the boundary, and Leo was incredibly 'lucky' toeet it at this time.
With a whoosh, the blades came again, and Leo rose up his sword to block, but the black light extended and cut the sword in half.
Leo was shocked, trying to dodge.
*Swish**Swish**Swish*
The black light interweaved and sealed all his exits, seeming like they were extensions of the Aberration.
There was no escape!
'Am I going to die here?' Leo thought.
In this moment of life and death, Leo had an epiphany...
*BADUMP**BADUMP**BADUMP
The sound of a beating heart filled the air.
---Spiritual Overlord Technique (Level One ~ Level Two: Overlord Soul)
---
A corporeal five meter tall shadow appeared behind Leo again!
This time, apart from piercing red eyes, one could see a beating heart in the position of its left chest.
{SPIRITUAL OVERLORD TECHNIQUE - Fire-Bird: Extreme Flame Palm}
This technique's power was not even as great as Symphony of a Hundred Claws, but when he executed it at this moment, the five meter tall figure behind him did the same thing, its palm overlapping with his own.
Firey qi poured out of Leo's palm, and the figure behind him boosted the power by four to five times.
The black light was shattered instantly, burnt into black gas and dissipating quickly. The attack eventually landed on the Aberration.
Roaring in agony, the Aberration's body was set ablaze, the very core of its existence being burnt to oblivious. Before it was able to struggle, it was burnt to charcoal.
Only its blades were left behind, as the fiery qi mainly affected flesh and blood. The blades were n inanimate, so they were left behind.
Leo stood still, the figure behind him dissipating slowly, but not before it started at him with its piercing red eyes.
If Leo hadn't had an epiphany and improved on his technique in the last moment, he might have truly died here!
Thinking of the shadow that appeared, Leo was deep in thought.
Everytime he advanced in his technique, he felt as if he was nurturing a special lifeform, almost like a symbiote, but different.
The corporeal shadow had the effect of pressuring those with weak wills in the past, but now, it was able to provide direct amplifications to his qi attacks.
Based on the trajectory he had planned for the technique, the next time it advanced, it would be able to amplify physical attacks, or maybe even more than that.
'It is a representation of my martial will. So it will be called... Martial Spirit!'
Leo decided solemnly, not knowing that this name would resound around the world in the future.
Leo looked at his Energy, observing that the Aberration's death had given him two Energy Points.
His attention was brought back to the corpse.
Barbarians in this world we're almost nothing like humans.
They had bulging muscles and their pupils were smaller in proportion to their eyes. Not to mention, the part of the eye that's usually white for humans was red for them.
Their canine teeth were also something to behold.
Leo carefully felt the breath of the dead Barbarian, deducing that it was killed very recently.
"BANTI SHAM KI DANK!!!"
Leo's thoughts were interrupted by enraged shouts. He turned around, and approaching from some distance away, were a group of half a dozen Barbarian warriors.
One of them, slightly taller than than the others, was currently yelling at Leo, in an incomprehensible language.
Before the Gods took interest in humans, and the Outer World Invasion, the Barbarians were the natural enemies of humans.
According to legend, during the many wars between humans and Barbarians, the Barbarians turned the humans to staple food, eating anyone that they got their hands on.
Leo's body tensed up.