Chapter 4 - Into The GreenWoods [1]

"Let's see what this feels like in action," he said with a grin."Huff... Huff..."

Zynos stood over the corpse of a massive snake, its body cleaved cleanly in two. His chest rose and fell as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, glancing down at the blood pooling at his feet. The snake's faint aura confirmed it—it had been in the initial stage of body refining.

"System," he said between breaths, "show my attributes."

The familiar mechanical voice echoed in his head.

[NAME: ZYNOS ZPHRAX]

[CULTIVATION: INITIAL STAGE BODY REFINING]

[STRENGTH (STR): 9]

[AGILITY (AGI): 6]

[ENDURANCE (END): 4]

[INTELLIGENCE (INT): 25]

[CHARISMA: 9 (MAX 100)]

[LUCK: 2]

[BLANK POINTS CAN BE CONVERTED INTO ATTRIBUTES]

Zynos smirked as he stared at the stats. "Heh, system, how many blank points to break through to the next level?"

[2 Blank Points for the next stage of body refining and 5 to reach the peak stage.]

His grin widened. "Alright, use two blank points for the breakthrough."

[DING]

Suddenly he felt a wave of warmth spread throughout his body. His muscles tightened and his tendons felt like they were being tempered by fire. That feeling was invigorating. He stretched his arms and leapt.

"Alright, let's test this," he muttered, With a grin. He leapt through the trees, his movements swift and fluid, Until he spotted a pack of wolves below.

There were three of them, All of them were at mid stage of body refining. Drawing the sword his mother had given him, Zynos steadied his grip. With a roar, he launched himself toward them.

By the time the nearest wolf sensed danger, his blade had already pierced through its lower abdomen.

AWOOO!

SLASH!

Zynos grinned, the thrill of battle surging through his veins. With the sword in his hand, he ducked l to avoid the jaws of the third wolf. His muscles, strengthened from the breakthrough, felt like the

With a roar, Zynos spun, his blade slicing cleanly through the air.

SWISH—THUNK!

The wolf that had clawed his back let out a sharp whimper as the sword severed its foreleg. Blood sprayed onto the forest floor, but the beast didn't retreat—it leaped again, jaws snapping, madness in its glowing eyes.

"Persistent Bitch" Zynos sneered, sidestepping with a suprising agility. With a swift thrust, he drove his sword deep into its open mouth, the blade tearing through its throat and emerging from the back of its neck.

CRACK! 

The wolf's lifeless body hit the ground.

AWOOO!

The remaining wolf, its eye bleeding from Zynos' earlier slash, growled and lunged, its claws aiming for his neck. Zynos barely managed to parry the blow with his sword, but the impact sent him skidding back. His wounds stung, and he could feel the blood dripping down his back.

"Not bad... but I'm better," he muttered, smirking.

With blinding speed, he kicked off the ground, closing the distance before the wolf could recover. He slashed his sword down with all his strength, cleaving straight through the wolf's skull. The blade didn't stop until it hit bone, splitting the creature's head in two.

SPLAT!

Zynos landed heavily on the blood-soaked ground, panting as the final wolf bared its fangs, circling him warily. This one was smarter, slower to engage.

"I've got no time for games," Zynos growled, raising his hand. Gripping the sword with both hands, he crouched slightly and focused all his energy into a powerful leap forward.

The wolf snarled, attempting to dodge, but Zynos anticipated the move. He twisted mid-air and delivered a kick to its side, The beast was sent flying crashing onto a tree. Before it could recover, Zynos was upon it, driving his sword through its chest.

The wolf thrashed violently, its claws scratched his hands. With a loud cry, he twisted the blade, tearing through its heart.

THUD.

The wolf collapsed, A pool of blood formed beneath it.

Zynos slowly stood up, wiping the blood off his face with a sleeve. He glanced around —the torn bodies of the wolves were scattered around, painting the area deep crimson. He chuckled darkly, sheathing his sword.

"Not bad for a warm-up," he muttered, cracking his neck. His back arched, and his wounds burned, but the exhilaration of victory coursed through him.

 "Too bad I didn't bring the dimension ring, Could have stored their bodies" Shaking his head

He leapt back into the trees, he smiled as he again heard a familiar voice in his head.

[DING]

[IRON LEVEL QUEST DETECTED!]

[KILL HUNDRED PEAK STAGE BODY REFINING BEASTS]

[TIME LIMIT - 1 WEEK]

[REWARD- APPRAISAL]

Zynos raised his eyebrows and he was surprised. This was actually a lot harder than the given rank and the reward seemed..plain/

"Whatever, I'll just kill a more beast till tomorrow and return" He thought and continued running and jumping through the forest.

Zynos darted through the forest, his senses sharp, looking around for beasts. The thrill of such combat excited him.

After a while he encountered a boar which was the size of a large car. It charged violently towards him. Zynos sidestepped at the last second, driving his blade down into its back. The boar let out a final screech before collapsing.

Not long after, two black panthers stalked him from the trees. He caught their glowing eyes right before they pounced. One lunged for his throat, but Zynos spun and slashed its side. The other came from behind, claws outstretched. He ducked and drove his sword into its belly before it could land a hit.

Later, he faced a massive rock lizard. Its scales were not normal, they were tough enough to withstand his attacks on its body head on.

By the time the sun rose, Zynos stood over dozens of corpses of beasts he had slaughtered. His body was wounded all over and blood stained his clothes. But he had a grin on his face.

"Status"

[NAME: ZYNOS ZPHRAX]

[CULTIVATION: MID STAGE BODY REFINING]

[STRENGTH (STR): 18]

[AGILITY (AGI): 17]

[ENDURANCE (END): 19]

[INTELLIGENCE (INT): 25]

[CHARISMA: 9 (MAX 100)]

[LUCK: 2]

"Hahaha this is just me swinging my sword without any techniques or arts" He laughed out loud.

Then suddenly his gaze sharpened as he looked in a certain direction "You can come out now" He said with a smirk,

A silhouette emerged—a strikingly beautiful woman with huge busts was walking towards him