Battle

In the dense forest, even sunlight struggled to penetrate the canopy, where trees thick enough for several men to encircle towered into the clouds.

Garen cast a wind-element spell on himself, allowing him to walk across the thick layer of fallen leaves without making a sound.

He slowly approached the red dot displayed on his Map Function.

"Damn it, just another level four magical beast."

He had already ventured over ten kilometers into the Magical Beast Mountain Range, yet most of the creatures he encountered were only level three or four. Garen didn't even feel like bothering with them.

This was due to his lack of experience; the Magical Beast Mountain Range was seven or eight hundred kilometers wide and over ten thousand kilometers long. Having only traveled ten kilometers in, he was still in the outermost periphery, where one would typically only find level four or five magical beasts.

"In my current situation, it would be best to head to the zone for level six or seven magical beasts. I wonder how much further that is."

Setting his sights on a direction, Garen headed straight toward the center of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. He ignored all the red dots appearing on his system map along the way, unless one was foolish enough to attack him, in which case he would finish it off with a single arrow.

After walking for a full hour and covering nearly 50 kilometers, he finally encountered some level six Fang Wolves.

Garen had spotted the red dots long ago, assuming they were just more level four or five beasts.

He had originally intended to keep moving forward, but upon noticing that two of the thirty-odd Fang Wolves in the pack were significantly larger—likely level six—he decided to harvest the experience points from them.

Instead of using his bow and arrows, Garen drew his Alloy Blade from his Space Ring; he wanted to practice his swordsmanship.

The two pieces of equipment gifted by the system were both upgradeable treasures. They might even evolve into supreme divine artifacts in the later stages, so he needed to familiarize himself with his blade techniques now.

After casting Extreme Speed on himself, Garen didn't wait for the pack to attack. He charged directly at the two Wolf Leaders with speed comparable to a level seven warrior.

"Awoo!"

A Wolf Leader let out a howl, and the entire pack lunged at Garen.

Several Fang Wolves near the leaders reached Garen and leaped, their claws swiping down viciously.

Garen did not retreat. While charging, he cast a level five fire-element spell, Fire Shield Technique.

Swish, swish, swish.

Using his speed, Garen dodged at the limit and launched rapid counterattacks.

In a single instant of contact, several level five Fang Wolves were sliced in half at the waist by the Alloy Blade, their blood and entrails splattering the ground.

But just then, the lead wolf reached him, smashing through the Fire Shield Technique and swiping a claw at Garen.

Garen reflexively flicked the Alloy Blade upward, cleanly severing the lead wolf's front paw.

Before he could land a finishing blow, the other lead wolf arrived, slamming into Garen's chest and sending him flying back five or six meters, causing him to cough up blood in mid-air.

Sensing the dozen or so level four and five Fang Wolves pouncing from behind, Garen instantly cast the level four spell, Explosive Fireball.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

A dozen fireballs, each half a meter in diameter, detonated. Seven or eight level four Fang Wolves were killed instantly, while the level five ones were blasted backward, their fur scorched and their appearance wretched.

Without waiting for the wolves to attack again, Garen flashed in front of the injured lead wolf.

With a single strike, he sliced half the wolf's head off—an instant kill.

Ding, killed level six Wolf Leader, gained 274 experience points.

He instantly cast another level four Explosive Fireball to scatter the approaching pack.

Garen had already flashed in front of the last lead wolf and executed a swift strike: Sweep Across the Army.

The Wolf Leader couldn't dodge in time; its head was split in two, and it collapsed, dead as could be.

Ding, killed level six Wolf Leader, gained 268 experience points.

Seeing that the human was so formidable and their leaders were dead, the remaining Fang Wolves lost their coordination and scattered in all directions.

Garen didn't bother chasing them; there was no experience to be gained.

He used his Alloy Blade to pry the Magic Crystal Cores from the dead wolves and placed them into his Space Ring. Ignoring his own injuries, Garen carefully examined the Alloy Blade in his hand, his eyes gleaming.

"The system description says it can cause massive damage to magical beasts below level seven? This is more than massive; it's like cutting through vegetables. Is the system being too humble? Is it benchmarking the defense levels against something like a God-Slaying Rat of the same rank?"

Garen had studied plenty of lore on magical beasts at the magic academy. Although Fang Wolves couldn't use magic, their bodies were sturdier than Wind Wolves, and their defense was naturally higher; they were not weak among beasts of the same level.

Furthermore, wolves were known for having copper heads, iron tails, and tofu waists. He had been swinging his blade in a hurry during the fight without much thought, yet he had managed to decapitate them in one strike, which came as a huge surprise.

"A divine artifact, truly a divine artifact. Even though the system says it only deals massive damage to level sixes, the system is always rigorous. It probably benchmarks against the most heavily armored level six beasts, which means it should be effective against normal level seven or eight beasts as well."

"If I level this up a few more times, its sharpness and durability will likely surpass that of ordinary divine artifacts."

Garen grew increasingly expectant.

He had taken a solid hit to the chest from a Wolf Leader. It hadn't been so bad during the heat of battle, but once he stopped to rest, Garen felt waves of pain radiating from his chest.

A few minutes later, Garen found a large tree hollow and hid inside to practice his Tiger Blood Battle Qi.

"Sizzle, sizzle..."

The tiger blood surged within his body.

The swelling in his chest subsided visibly. One had to admit, the bloodline of the Four Ultimate Warriors was truly miraculous.

After reflecting on the previous battle:

"I still can't be careless. Even a few dozen Fang Wolves managed to inflict significant injuries on me. It seems I must utilize my speed advantage. In the future, when I encounter packs of magical beasts, I can use the Map Function's warning to launch long-range sneak attacks with my bow or magic first. I'll kill the leaders, then kite the rest. Only when I'm sure it's safe will I engage in melee training."

Setting off once again, he hadn't gone far before he spotted a red dot motionless not too far ahead.

"Could it be an assassin, or a magical beast skilled in sneak attacks?"

After Garen approached slowly, he discovered that it was actually an Earth-Walking Dragon sleeping.

"How can this guy be so carefree, sleeping in such a dangerous place as the Magical Beast Mountain Range?"

What Garen didn't expect was that for magical beasts, the Magical Beast Mountain Range is where they are born and raised; it is their home. Sleeping here is much like a human sleeping in their own bed.

Moreover, the Earth-Walking Dragon is covered in scales, and in this section of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, there really aren't many magical beasts that can pose a threat to it.

The level six Earth-Walking Dragon is an earth-element magical beast, over ten meters long and five meters tall. Like the level seven Velociraptor, although its defensive power is very strong, its speed is not fast, which is exactly why Garen felt it was a very suitable magical beast for practicing his blade techniques.

"If I get injured in this one-on-one duel, there will be no excuse."

Garen thought to himself.

He drew his Alloy Blade and charged toward the Earth-Walking Dragon.

(End of chapter)

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