CHAPTER 13: ENCOUNTER

I responded with a firm nod, forcing myself to stay focused.

"Skill..."

"Divine Thread..."

’I’ve leveled up and now have a bigger Arcane reserve, so I can keep this skill active for a longer period of time...’

Arcane energy pulsed from my body and into the surrounding ground around me, shaping in the form interlocking threads that had a golden glow to it.

The system surveyed the surroundings as par the skill and watched out for any form of killing intent directed towards me. That way I can tell if we would be attacked or not.

"What do you know, the noodle kid is useful after all..." Jet mumbled from the back of the line.

Seconds after I activated the skill, details about the area and its lurking monsters flashed before my view.

~Killing Intent detected~

~Target: 2 shadow creatures:

~Type: Sabertooth Lynx Shadow creatures.~

~Weaknesses: Light based attacks and are vulnerable in the air.~

I didn’t panic, according to the feedback we were tagged right from the get go. These Shadow creatures were quietly waiting for the right time to attack.

"Two or more Sabertooth Lynx Shadow creatures lurking in the dark, possibly from all angles..." I said with a stern and direct voice.

Ketara raised an eyebrow which I interpreted as though she was impressed, "Oh shit, the kid isn’t bad. Let’s see if you can handle yourself when they start snatching their giant teeth at you."

As if they were paying attention to her words, a pair of Sabertooth lynx materialized from within the mist, their eyes glowing a malevolent green colour that spewed killing intent, their fur was thick black and had the usual shadowy edge to it, then they had this huge two canines that looked sharper than my sword.

"Speak of the devil..."

Ketara was the first to react, swinging her club in a powerful arc that forced one of the creatures back. The second one darted towards me, moving faster than I anticipated and pouncing into the air.

"Levi, watch out!" Dasheen’s husky voice was audible in the dark misty surrounding as my eyes caught the creatures claws heading directly for my face.

In an instant, I sidestepped barely doding, and my body instinctively reacted as I brought my sword down in a swift strike.

The Arcane infused blade grazed the creatures side, and the creature hissed before retreating briefly.

"Is that blade Arcane infused? So they can’t heal right?" Valeria asked me as she noticed the creature wasn’t healing from my attack.

If it was a normal blade that didn’t have some level of Arcane infused in its very hammering process, the creature would most likely heal from the attack quickly.

"Yes," I replied with a nod.

Jet drew back his bow and loosed an arrow that struck the exact creature that attacked me earlier on the leg, temporarily pinning it to the ground.

I seized my chance, dashing forward to deliver a decisive blow. Sending some Arcane energy through the blade, I planted it right on the creature’s neck, decapitating it from the rest of its body.

It was one swift purple motion and the head of the creature fell to the floor, and then it dissolved into shadowy mist leaving the Anti-arcane stone embedded in its head.

"Not bad," Jet said with a slight nod of approval as he alined another arrow into his bow. Ketara grunted in satisfaction, while Valeria offered a soft smile.

Dasheen on the other hand was heaving with pride, clapping me on the back. "See? I told you the boy’s got something... wait to you see his great serpent summon"

Ketara paused in shock, "Wait, great serpent? He has summons too?" this caused her to have a split moment of distraction and she payed dearly for it.

The other Shadow creature saw its opening and pounced on her, using its massive claws to attack her and slash right across her breast. She was too slow to react, but just as blood began to burst out from her injury, a shimmer of green light emanated from within her wound, the blood retracted into her body and the wound sealed causing her to look like she wasn’t even harmed.

"Tch! You big teeth bastard!"

She lunged at the creature with speed and swung her club right down on its head, smashing it several times over until the creature was no more.

My eyes were wide with shock to her sheer strength and that healing power just now was from Valeria, the speed, and efficiency to healing ketara spoke great measure of her healing powers.

I quickly realized just how skilled my colleagues were, and as the expedition pressed on, each battle gradually becoming more intense as we dove deeper.

Ketara’s raw strength and Jet’s semi accuracy combined to create an unstoppable offensive system, while Valeria’s healing magic kept us in tip top physical shape and prevented our injuries from slowing us down by instantly healing us.

Dasheen, with his mix of swordsmanship and explosive power, danced through the fights with a grace that left me in awe.

But as we encountered stronger monsters, I was beginning to feel the drag of my low Endurance.

My stamina was dwindling faster than I’d expected, and every battle seemed to push me to my very limit.

At one point during the mission, a hulking Dire Wolf type Shadow monster burst out from the trees with a roar that could shake the ground.

Dasheen and Ketara engaged it head-on, but it soon became clear they needed more power and support.

"Levi hit it from the side! Go for its legs!" Dasheen instructed, barely dodging a swipe from the beasts’s powerful paw swipe.

I was too tired to even swing my sword and unfortunately, healing magic has no effect on low stamina if not I would have Valeria return me back to tip top state.

I was hoping to face this gate head on without my Arcane pet— Naga, so that I could gain experience with my swordsmanship. But, now it was looking like I couldn’t defend myself as I was becoming increasingly slower and slower by the second.

So slow that as I going for the hind legs of the Shadow creature as Dasheen instructed, I exposed myself to the brutal kick of its hind legs. And with a subtle backwards thrust of its legs the Shadow creature sent me flying my opposite direction into a hard, sturdy tree.

The impact snapped the tree in half and for a second there I actually thought it was my back that made such a sound.

"Gaahhh!!!" I gasped out of shock, pain and realization that even though I was stronger than my previous self, I was still not strong enough.

"Levi!!!" Valeria yelled out to me as I tried to make my way back to my feet.

Supporting myself with my sword, I was able to get up on one feet and in that instant I felt the pain in my lower back disappear and a surge of relief pulsing through my body. The blasting headache in my head stopped instantly and my nose bleed seized.

"Thanks Valeria..." I muttered as I stood tall with my left hand balled up into a fist and my other hand gripping my sword tight.

Aside from our healer who was posted at a safe distance, the others were still locked in chaos. Jets’s arrows sliced through the mist, whistling past the dire wolf’’s hide but ultimately failing to hit its target.

Ketara wrestled with its monstrous paws, straining as her club was met with brute force, Dasheen was moving swiftly in blur of silver and red until the beasts’s massive forearm smacked him aside, sending him crashing into a boulder with a sickening crack.

My heart hammered against the roof of my chest, I knew I had to make a difference if we wanted to defeat this creature.

I clenched my teeth and drew a steady breath, letting my Arcane energy pool and course into my sword. The steel vibrated faintly, glowing faintly at first then pulsing brighter as my power flowed along its length. I took a step back, my boots scraping against the broken earth and readying myself.

Out of the corner of my eye, Valeria’s gaze fixed on me.. there was no fear in her eyes, only sharp curiosity as though she was silently demanding: ’show me what you can really do...’

With every ounce of strength I had left, I hurled the blade forward. The air split with a sharp whoosh as my weapon spun like a streak of light, piercing through the mist before lodging deep into the creatures eye.

The beast growled loudly with its head jerking violently as shadowy mist oozed from its wound.

Still maintaining the creature in my eyesights, or rather my sword...

"...Erebis!"

Boom!!

Black flames burst to life, roaring outward from the sword in a violent parade. The fire wasn’t ordinary, it moved like a liquid shadow, wrapping the dire wolf in a suffocating blanket. The creature could only howl in pain, a sound that shook the trees around me causing weak branches to fall here and there.

For a split second, I thought that would be enough to take it down but the skill only acted as a weaking agent.

"That won’t be enough..." I muttered as my eyes darted to the already active system interface.

~Arcane Energy Reserves: 250/1000~

"Tch!..."

Without hesitating, I pushed off the ground, dashing forward. The earth cracked beneath me on my first step as dust and shattered stone sprayed around me. My body screamed in protest and my lungs burned, but I gritted my teeth and kept going.

The dire wolf type Shadow creature thrashed and thrashed, the black flames still hanging over its frame, but its deadly, feral eyes were locked on Ketara and Jet as they staggered back to regroup.

That was my moment.

"Naga..."