Chapter 14: Dungeon II
slash
thud
A silvery light flashed through the beast's neck, followed by its head smoothly dropping on the cold white floor. Blood gushed out from its now beheaded head, painting the floor crimson red. The head was covered in snow-white fur, long and luscious.
It was a snow whisperer, a mountain cat species that mainly lived in snowy mountain peaks. They had incredibly agile bodies with thick white fur covering their skin, protecting them from the bone-chilling cold.
They mostly camouflaged on the snow, waiting for prey, and sneak attacked them using their razor-sharp claws.
Flickering his sword lightly, he dusted off the blood and calmly stepped forward. Although the cat whisperers were stealthy and deadly, they were beast-rank creatures and stood at the bottom of the food chain.
The creature ranking in the 'Voidstar Chronicle' novel was simple and straight.
The weakest rank was beast-rank creatures, followed by terror-rank, tyrant-rank, titan-rank and finally behemoth-rank.
The difference in strength between each ranking was immense, signifying the power scale of these creatures.
Beast-rank creatures were the weakest bunch, with a negligible amount of mana inside them. Even ordinary humans with armed weapons were capable of dealing with them.
Terror-rank creatures were significantly stronger and were capable of harnessing and utilizing mana as a weapon. Comparing terror rank with beast rank was like comparing an ant with an elephant.
Tyrant rank was the ranking where the creatures became truly troublesome. The Bloodeye wolves from the Mournshade forest were the perfect example of tyrant-rank.
Don't underestimate them just cause Uncle Ben massacred them easily, it was a unique situation since Uncle Ben was one of the empire's strongest individuals. The Tyrant rank creatures were powerful enough to be called City-destroyers capable of destroying cities alone.
Titan-rank creatures were capable of destroying kingdoms, yes literal kingdoms through their overwhelming mana. Due to mana strengthening, their bodies were exceptionally tough and highly resistant to physical and magical attacks.
They were also highly intelligent and capable of communicating with other races, displaying incredible wisdom. Only individuals like Bernard, Armes, Alexander, etc were capable of restraining and defeating such creatures.
Sadly, They were too cunning and avoided battles against such individuals, making them a source of fear and despair for ordinary folks. Forbidden zones like Mournshade Forest and Silver Mountain Ranges were personally guarded by such creatures, making them quite troublesome.
Thankfully, they weren't just mindless beasts and understood the consequences of going against any major races, further displaying their incredible wisdom.
The most powerful creatures in the entire lower plane were behemoth-rank creatures, standing at the top of the food chain. They were immensely powerful and each one was capable of destroying an entire continent within a span of minutes. They displayed immense wisdom and also the ability of human transformation, granting them unrestrained access to anywhere around the world.
They were truly the most powerful creatures, feared by even the major races including humans, elves, merfolks, etc
'Good thing most of them died in the Voidal War and the remaining ones are in deep slumber tending their wounds from the aftereffect of the war. They are a dangerous bunch but for now, my strength is too lacking to stand against them. Before they wake up from their slumber, I must become strong enough to stand against them and if possible, destroy them.'
Adding another mission to his long list, he quietly passed through the dense forest, keeping the presence-hiding artifact always active and beside him.
'Till now, I haven't sensed the presence of any terror-rank creatures yet. Is it a good thing or a bad thing?'
He was already deep within the forest, pacing toward his destination aka the top of the mountain. A sense of unease crept within his heart, causing him to stop momentarily.
'Are my senses warning me of the incoming danger?' He pondered, confused by the peculiarness of this forest.
It was silent…eerily silent. The birds chirp, and subtle movements of snow rabbits and other animals, everything had vanished, leaving behind an unusual silence.
"What's happening?"
A sense of foreboding arose from within his heart, confusing him. His senses suddenly caught sight of something massive, rapidly approaching him with immense speed.
"SHIT!!" A sense of revelation dawned into his mind as memories of the novel flashed amid the growing confusion.
This situation reminded him of the time when Lucian strolled through this massive mountain range in the novel.
He had also encountered this particular predicament, causing him to later face off against a terror-rank creature. He had already become quite strong at that time, ending the fight shortly but, Cassian was nowhere strong enough to fight against such a creature yet.
He was just a Starseed Initiate, the lowest rank. Only astral-rank individuals were capable of going toe-to-toe against them.
Don't compare this situation with the Bloodeye wolf incident. The Bloodeye wolf cub despite being terror-rank at that time was gravely injured, unlike the creature that's approaching him.
'Do I have no choice?' He clenched his fist tightly, feeling the raging heartbeat within himself. His senses were screaming with fear, whispering to him to flee immediately.
fuu
Taking deep breaths, he relaxed his tense nerves and started analyzing his current situation. 'Running is pointless against that creature. It had an incredibly sharp sense of sight and smell, adding with its extreme speed, this creature was deadly.
I have three choices:
First, I could test the water and prob the creature's strength. If possible, I could find its weakness and defeat it by exploiting it. This might have worked for other creatures, but this one could instantly kill me.
Second, I could use an offensive type artifact, killing it through its power. But again, the creature approaching me is incredibly fast, making it harder for me to aim at it.
Third, I could use a defensive-type artifact and protect myself for a while. This one is the safest one but, with the amount of mana I currently possess, I could at most withstand five or six attacks. Once, my mana is completely depleted, I'm dead either way.'
He didn't ponder much and swiftly decided the safest option for now. A small amulet appeared on his right hand out of thin air. He clenched the amulet tightly and circulated his mana inside it.
A translucent barrier slowly formed around himself, turning into a protective cocoon.
His gaze was fixed on the creature approaching him as he continued to channel his mana inside the amulet.
bang
The massive creature appeared before the barrier, striking it heavily with its sharp paws.
The barrier shook slightly but managed to withstand the attack without even a single crack forming around it. Sadly, nearly one-fifth of Cassian's mana was depleted from that single attack.
[STATUS SCREEN]
Name: Snow Leopard
Race: Cat (Awakened)
Energy Source: Mana
Elements: wind, ice
Rank: Mid-Terror
Cassian's eyes narrowed upon gazing at the status screen before him.
'Now I understood why the presence-hiding artifact didn't work against it.'
He had expected it to be powerful but mid-terror was way out of his league.
Every creature has low, mid, and high sub-rank amongst the true ranking. This one was a mid-terror rank snow leopard. A powerful and agile beast from the cat family.
In simpler terms, you could describe snow leopards as an upgraded form of cat whisperer.
They were incredibly agile, stealthy, and deadly, capable of instantly killing their prey in a single swipe from their razor-sharp claws. To add, they had extremely precise insight.
The leopard's menacing eyes landed on Cassian, causing him to be covered in cold sweat all over his back.