In a short while, Vritra had devoured the entire body of the Chameleon Hollow, including the shattered pieces of its mask.
The battle against the giant-level Chameleon Hollow was dangerous, but the rewards were highly satisfying. Although Vritra's body hadn't grown in size—still just over ten meters—his spiritual pressure had nearly doubled, his strength having increased significantly.
At this moment, Vritra was confident. Even if the Chameleon Hollow revived and they fought again, he was confident he could win, even without using his Hollow Flash to destroy its tongue beforehand.
Meanwhile, the small yellow dog Hollow had finished eating a large piece of meat that was rounder than its entire body. The dog now appeared much stronger than before.
"Woof woof woof!"
The little yellow dog barked joyfully at Vritra.
"You say you can help heal my wounds?"
Though the dog's barking sounded like an ordinary dog, Vritra somehow understood it perfectly. Following its instructions, he gently picked up the dog and placed it on his shoulder.
The yellow dog then jumped from his shoulder to his back and began licking the two blood holes that were about to scab over. In an instant, the wounds healed, the scars vanishing as Vritra's back returned to its original, smooth condition.
"You've got this skill, huh? Well then, stick with me!"
"Woof woof woof!"
The little yellow dog happily barked in response and obediently perched on Vritra's left shoulder.
Vritra used his tail to pick up the two bone spikes that had caused him significant injuries and swiftly left the area with the dog.
...
In an underground cavern formed by hardened sand, the little yellow dog lay asleep in a corner, seemingly still digesting the flesh it had eaten earlier.
Vritra stared at the two large bone spikes in his hands, deep in thought. During the earlier battle, these bone spikes had caused him serious injury. He had intended to eat them, but his current teeth weren't strong enough to digest them. A single bite had almost broken his teeth, so he decided to keep them.
Now, as he examined them, he realized the bone spikes resembled the sharp spikes from Kilian's neck. He wondered how the Chameleon Hollow had obtained them. Thinking back to when he had punched the Chameleon and been poisoned, Vritra decided to keep these bone spikes as weapons.
Every man on Earth has a martial artist dream, and Vritra was no exception. In his past life, he had spent some time learning swordsmanship from a master, paying a significant amount for lessons.
He never imagined that the sword techniques he had once learned for fun would now come in handy.
Vritra reflected on his swordsmanship lessons in his mind.
"The eight basic sword movements: thrust, slash, swipe, hook, cloud sword, point, break, and intercept."
Clearly, the bone spikes were best suited for thrusting techniques. Thankfully, in swordsmanship, quality matters more than quantity, so as long as Vritra mastered the thrust, he could use it effectively against lower-intelligence Hollows.
Vritra raised one bone spike with both hands, holding it level with his body. He thrust it forward with a powerful motion, and the air whistled as the wind swirled around him.
He continued practicing thrust after thrust, refining his technique as time passed.
"Ah, being a Hollow is definitely more convenient than being human!"
In his past life, due to long hours of work and little physical exercise, even a few sword flourishes would leave him exhausted. But now, Vritra had been thrusting thousands of times without any sign of fatigue.
The little yellow dog, now awake, watched in confusion, not understanding why Vritra kept attacking the air.
...
In the sand sea of the Hollow Realm, Newborn Land.
"Croak!"
A five-meter-tall, red, bloated frog Hollow was chasing after a small yellow dog Hollow the size of an ordinary dog. Seeing that the dog was too fast to catch, the frog Hollow was about to give up when, for some unknown reason, the yellow dog suddenly slowed down.
This gave the frog Hollow a chance to catch up. The yellow dog, however, suddenly stopped near a sand dune.
The frog Hollow let out a strange cry and leapt toward its prey. But as it landed, a sharp bone spike shot up from the sand, impaling it.
"Zzzzt!"
At the same time, a violent electric arc surged through the bone spike, shocking the frog Hollow with excruciating pain.
"Croak!"
The frog Hollow cried out in pain, glaring at the yellow dog as if it wanted to tear it apart. But the little yellow dog quickly turned around and jumped out of the frog Hollow's belly.
Vritra leapt out of the sand, his bone spike slicing through the frog Hollow's waist with one swift motion.
"Nice job, Little Dawg!"
Vritra began dividing the spoils, tearing off the frog Hollow's hind leg and handing it to the little yellow dog. He also began to eat.
In recent days, they had been working together to hunt. The little yellow dog would lure the enemies, and Vritra would deal the killing blow. They had hunted over a dozen Hollows, including five strong ones. Their hunting efficiency was several times faster than when Vritra had worked alone.
Thanks to the recent battles, Vritra's thrust technique had become much more proficient. He had also learned to attach his Thunder Flash to the bone spike, allowing him to defeat a similarly ranked frog Hollow in one hit.
The only issue was that the bone spike, originally the perfect size for the giant Chameleon Hollow, was a bit too long for Vritra's current size to use as a sword.
But that wasn't a problem. Vritra felt that his spiritual pressure had reached a critical point, and he only needed to consume one more newborn Hollow to evolve into a giant Hollow.
Once that happened, his body would grow, and the bone spikes would fit him perfectly.
With that in mind, Vritra decided not to waste any time. He would make his move today and advance into a giant Hollow!
"Roar!"
Just as he was about to leave, he encountered a newborn Crocodile Hollow charging at him aggressively.
"Well, this is convenient!"
Seeing the crazed Crocodile Hollow, the little yellow dog, who had been perched on Vritra's shoulder, jumped down, staring at the Crocodile Hollow as if wondering why it was rushing to its death.
Vritra didn't hesitate. He thrust the bone spike forward, impaling the rash Crocodile Hollow and turning it into a skewer!
After the quick kill, Vritra didn't immediately eat the Crocodile Hollow. Instead, he took the corpse back to the underground cavern. As he was about to evolve into a giant Hollow, he needed a safe space to do so, to avoid being ambushed by enemies of the same level.
....
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