Free Web NovelChapter 32: Chapter 32: Chase or Chased?
[Energy Value (EV) - 360]
After five hours of meditation and digesting six corpses in his domain, he had finally managed to regenerate a decent chunk of his EV.
One important thing to note was that the claw technique he had used with the dark fog didn’t drain his EV nearly as much. The energy consumption rate was significantly lower than his [Over-Sharpen] skill.
He had tried to coat his simple black knife with the black fog, but it hadn’t worked.
Maybe one needs advanced mastery to perform such complex energy manipulation, he thought.
Now, it was time for some real testing.
He called Lucy out from his shadow. "Try to perform the exact same claw skill I just did," he wanted to see if i would work.
Nodding solemnly, she padded toward the cave wall and tried to generate the abyssal black fog over her paws.
It didn’t happen on the first try like it had for Night, probably because the technique was entirely foreign to her.
However, after ten minutes of intense focus she finally managed to gather a tiny layer of black fog over her sharp claws which was more than enough considering her currently tiny size.
(She had returned to her plushie-sized form immediately after the fight to conserve his energy).
She executed a swift claw strike. Her movement was vastly more refined than her previous brawling style, and the moment her paw hit the wall
Screeeech!
It left a small but incredibly deep mark on the stone. The attack penetrated much further than Night’s undoubtedly due to the vast difference in their base physical strength.
Lucy smiled joyfully as wagging her tail. "If I could do this earlier that Alpha would have died before it even knew what hit it. After all, I am infinitely better at sneak attacks than physical brawling."
Then her golden eyes softened with worry as she looked at him. "You should get some rest, Night. Ever since we entered this dungeon, we have been fighting for our lives and after that, you’ve been meditating non-stop for hours..."
Night didn’t argue. It was wise to take a proper rest; while meditation was mentally relaxing actual sleep was crucial for a mortal body. Moreover, the corpses in his domain would continue to digest passively while he slept steadily recovering his energy.
Just then, Death stepped out from a dark swirling portal, her silent presence indicating that she would stand guard while he rested.
Night pulled out the spare set of clothes he had received from the hotel spread them out on the relatively dry ground as a makeshift bed and lay down. Due to how insanely intense his first day in the wilderness had been he quickly fell into a slumber.
Death looked down at him sleeping peacefully and stood vigil like an unyielding statue, while Lucy melted into the surrounding shadows. They didn’t know what else this wierd dungeon would throw at them, so they needed to be extra vigilant.
He woke up with a small yawn and smiled. Looking around, he saw Death standing guard and Lucy seated loyally close to him.
The very first thing he did was check his EV.
[Energy Value (EV) - 862]
502 EV regenerated... meaning I slept for exactly ten hours, he thought, rubbing his eyes. I guess I was way more exhausted than I thought.
Checking his domain he saw that only six corpses were left, all of them Level 4. The remaining two Level 3 corpses, along with several others had been fully digested during his sleep.
He got up and stretched his small limbs, feeling incredibly fresh and revitalized.
"Thanks for keeping guard," he said warmly to Death and Lucy who were both watching him intently.
He then checked the backlog of System messages he had received overnight.
[Ding!]
[A skill has been upgraded.]
[Sensitive Nose (Common) (Lvl. 6 -> 10)]
[Pack (Rare) (Lvl. 1 -> 2)]
That was a pleasant surprise. He hadn’t expected to trigger the exact same skill upgrade four consecutive times and the [Pack] skill leveling up was a massive, unexpected bonus. He had digested twelve corpses in his sleep so he was hoping for something, but this exceeded his expectations.
The [Pack] skill upgrade alone had just saved him hundreds of EV. And there was more.
[Ding!]
[Wind Dash (Uncommon) (Lvl. 1) – Cost: 20 EV]
[Description: Allows the user to dash at high speeds by consuming energy.]
[Purchase? Y/N]
An Uncommon rank skill... the cost is low, but this should permanently solve my mobility problem, Night thought excitedly. He purchased it immediately.
As the knowledge flooded his mind he instantly understood how to channel his energy to propel his body.
[Energy Value (EV) - 842]
Testing it out, he felt a small chunk of his energy drain. He pushed off his back foot and dashed arriving at the cave entrance in one quick motion.
This is exactly how the Alpha increased its speed so abruptly, Night realized. It must have used a similar, but much higher-level skill.
Lucy and Death watched him blur across the cave and felt a surge of excitement seeing their him acquire another useful ability. He quickly explained how the skill worked and its energy consumption.
He looked at his companions with a serious expression. "We still don’t have enough energy to be reckless, but we can be much more proactive now. If Lucy’s guess is correct and there is a high probability of this dungeon upgrading we must find the boss room and leave as soon as possible."
Both of them nodded; time was of the essence. It had been more than eighteen hours since this dungeon had first opened.
Death dissolved into dark particles to conserve his EV, while Lucy sank seamlessly into his shadow.
Night set out of the cave feeling significantly more confident now that he had [Wind Dash] to rely on for evasion.
Soon he reached the massive rocky clearing where the now-dead pack had originally gathered. He immediately spotted a lone wolf standing atop a boulder, observing the surroundings with eerie focus. It looked remarkably similar to the dead Alpha in size and scarring.
Must be another Level 5, Night thought, crouching low.
There was absolutely no way to ambush it; the beast was standing in the dead center of a wide-open area. There were rocks nearby for cover, but any forward movement by him now would most likely be detected by the beast’s sharp senses.
Suddenly, the wolf snapped its head toward the exact rock Night was hiding behind. Without a single growl of warning it turned and bolted away into the caveran.
Lucy erupted from his shadow in hurry and gave chase. They couldn’t let it alert another massive pack; they simply didn’t have the EV reserves or another red talisman to survive a second coordinated pack attack.
The wolf was incredibly fast but after reaching Level 6, Lucy was faster. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Channeling Night’s energy through their bond, she activated [Wind Dash].
It worked perfectly though Night winced as he felt the EV cost was noticeably higher due lower synchronicity.
To the wolf’s shock, the dark Fenrir suddenly blurred and appeared right beside it. The beast’s body instantly started to glow with a green light; a clear sign it was about to trigger a unknown skill.
Desperate to silence it, Lucy unleashed her shadow at full power. The shadows beneath the wolf spiked upward, turning into rigid chains that bound its legs.
Most importantly, thick bands of darkness wrapped tightly around its snout and neck effectively muzzling the beast to ensure it couldn’t scream and call for its buddies.
The trapped wolf tried frantically to twist and turn but it was locked firmly in place.
Lucy skidded to a halt beside it raising her front paw. A small layer of black fog coated her claws.
She thrust her paw downward. Her claws easily pierced the beast’s thick skull as if it wasn’t even there, scrambling its brain and ending its life in one strike.
[You have slain Lvl. 5 Mountain Wolf | +40 EXP]
The ease with which she dispatched a Level 5 monster proved just how much high-quality skills mattered in this world. Of course, her base stats from being a level higher played a major role as well.
After letting her shadows quickly devour the fresh corpse to hide the evidence, she sprinted back to Night the moment she sensed more wolves prowling up ahead.
Mere seconds after she vanished into the dark, five more wolves arrived at the exact location of the brief scuffle.
Leading this new patrol was a wolf that looked distinctly different. It was physically smaller than even a basic Level 4 wolf, but the highly deferential way the other beasts treated it made it blindingly obvious: this was the true leader of the pack.
The small wolf carefully sniffed the bloodless, empty stone. Then, it slowly turned its head looking directly toward the dark tunnel where Lucy had retreated.
The beast’s lips curled upward exposing all its jagged teeth in a chilling malice-filled smile. Its glowing yellow eyes weren’t feral; they were brimming with intelligence.
