Damn! This thing is strong as hell, Gray gritted his teeth as his thoughts raced.
No way!
Mid-air, his widened eyes caught a massive shadow looming over him. Before he could react—BAM!—a colossal force slammed him into the ground. The immense weight of the Phantom Tiger pinned him down, its massive frame crushing his chest.
Cough! Blood spilled from his lips.
I can't breathe… The sharp, stabbing pain in his chest confirmed it—several ribs were broken.
The tiger snarled, its maw opening wide to reveal jagged, razor-sharp teeth capable of shredding steel. Panic surged through Gray as the beast loomed closer, its breath hot against his face.
"Get away fucker!" Gray used all his strength to push the beats away but his efforts seemed to be futile as the tiger didn't even move an inch.
'Use all the remaining Origin Essences to raise strength.' Gray mentally commanded, there was no point in hesitating any longer. If he dared to waste his time now he might not be able to live for long.
[+2 Origin Essences added to strength]
A blue window flashed before his eyes. Almost immediately, a fiery heat coursed through his veins, fueling him with newfound power.
But Gray was not in a position to pay attention to the changes happening inside his body.
The surge of sudden strength gave enough confidence to fight against the heavens itself.
"Take this.." Gray shouted and plunged the sword in the beast's wide opened mouth which was dangerously close to his face.
The sound of tearing flesh echoed in his ears, followed by a bloodcurdling howl. A geyser of crimson erupted from the beast's mouth, painting Gray in its sticky warmth. The tiger thrashed wildly, momentarily stunned by the deep wound.
The Phantom Tiger was caught off guard as it didn't expect its prey which was already on the chopping board to suddenly burst out with such terrifying strength.
It growled in pain, no matter which animal or monster it was, most of the time their mouth was the most vulnerable area, moreover the sword seemed to have penetrated deep in its mouth.
Gray didn't dare to relax, next moment he forcefully twisted the sword and pushed the tiger away.
"Die!" he roared, slashing at the tiger again and again, ignoring the blood splattering onto his face. With each strike, his fury grew, driving him to attack relentlessly until a notification finally rang in his ears.
[Ordinary Adult Phantom Tiger killed.]
[+3 Origin Essences Gained.]
Even after hearing the notification, Gray continued to attack like a mad dog with blood continuously splashing on his face.
Kacha!
It was only when he heard the sound of his sword cracking due to immense force did he stop, the poor sword wasn't able to bear and finally cracked into two.
It was surprising the sword was able to last for long considering the fact that Gray almost used it like a hammer without any form or technique.
Bam!
The adrenaline also seemed to have worn off as in the next moment he fell to the ground on his knees with blood leaking out from the corner of his lips.
Tap!
Tap!
Drops of blood continued to slide down his throat and fall to the ground, Gray took a deep breath to stabilize his heart and commanded.
"...Huff… Transfer the three points to Strength," Gray wheezed, his voice barely audible. The system complied instantly.
[+3 Origin Essences added to strength.]
'With these points, my Strength stat should be at 6,' he calculated. Yet, his body was battered, and his wounds still ached. 'Transfer 10% of Strength to Health.'
[Absolute Control experience +10]
As soon as Gray thought, he felt his body getting stronger in real time, blood also stopped flowing out of his mouth.
"Indeed as expected…"
The game that Gray had played, higher health denoted to faster healing, so without hesitating he had decided to transfer points from strength to health.
"Let me take a look at the status window."
[Spiritual Force - 0 (Unawakened)
Strength - 5.4
Agility - 0.5
Health - 1.35
Stamina - 0.75]
….
While Gray was looking at his status window, Rose was looking at him.
"He got stronger once more." Rose muttered under her breath, her crimson flashing with perplexed emotion. Even with her knowledge she had no idea where Gray strengths came from.
Her heart was filled with even greater curiosity.
…
After resting for a few minutes, his body recovered somewhat allowing him to move freely.
"It's time to go." Gray thought and decided to move closer to the main battlefield.
Gray wiped the blood off his mouth with his hand, and steadily walked while holding the broken sword in his hands.
Venturing deeper into the chaos, he had barely walked for a couple of metres when he encountered two lone phantom tigers chewing on the body of a young man slightly older than Gray himself.
Hearing the sound of footsteps their ears twitched and they raised their heads or looked in Gray's direction.
Gray immediately grinned and rushed ahead.
[Two Young Phantom Tiger killed]
[+1 Origin Essences Gained]
He easily killed the two tigers with his broken sword, after killing them he didn't waste his time looking at his handiwork.
After two fights Gray had realized his own shortcomings, he was relying too much on brute force alone.
Gray eyes flashed with solemnity, he decided to set a new goal for himself, which was to unlock his second skill today itself.
Thinking upto this point, his footsteps unconsciously quickened in excitement, the first skill itself was so awesome how powerful his second skill was going to be.
….
As he got closer to the battlefield, the rate at which he encountered the tigers increased drastically.
He was encountering a bunch every hundred metres, although Gray easily killed them with his overwhelming strength he was starting to feel tired.
But once transferred ten percent from strength to stamina, his breathing immediately started to become stable.
Overjoyed! Gray increased his pace and in barely another ten minutes he was near the main battlefield.
At this point he was already inside the Blood Moon forest, or the place where he fought against the Earthly Knight.
Even before he could really reach it, sounds of intense battle rang in his ear.
"Stay strong and kill every single one of these beasts." a soldier desperate cry echoed.
"Quickly kill this beast, it is running in the city's direction." another shouted.
Gray's blue eyes narrowed as he surveyed the battlefield. The sight before him was far more brutal than he'd anticipated.