RE: LORD OF TIME

Chapter 18: Hunt

The Iron Pigs were monsters that closely resembled ordinary pigs. However, unlike normal pigs, these creatures stood nearly two meters tall.

Their skin was rust-red in color and was covered by gray, iron-like armor that encased almost their entire bodies.

This natural armor was the reason they were called Iron Pigs, and the protection it provided was exceptionally high.

Even the defensive capabilities of an unranked Iron Pig surpassed those of many Star Warrior-level monsters.

William shifted his attention to one particular Iron Pig.

Unlike the other four, this one stood nearly three meters tall, and the armor covering its body looked even more imposing.

Sharp spikes protruded from the iron plates covering its back and shoulders, and simply sensing the monster’s aura gave William a strong sense of danger.

’There really is a Star Warrior-level Iron Pig...’

William narrowed his eyes as he stared at the massive three-meter-tall monster.

Although Iron Pigs possessed some of the greatest defensive capabilities among monsters and were notoriously difficult to kill, the reason William had still chosen them as his targets was very simple.

It was because they possessed several fatal weaknesses.

First of all, Iron Pigs had incredibly poor intelligence.

Even after evolving into Star Warrior-level monsters, they continued to behave like wild beasts, relying almost entirely on instinct.

Second, although their bodies were protected by thick iron armor, they still possessed a major weak point.

Unlike their upper bodies, the underbellies of Iron Pigs weren’t covered by armor at all.

That exposed area was their greatest vulnerability. As long as he could attack their underbellies, injuring them wouldn’t be difficult.

The third and most important reason William had chosen to hunt Iron Pigs was because they were slow.

The tremendous weight of their natural armor greatly reduced their speed.

With his current physical abilities, William was confident that even if something went wrong during the hunt, he could still escape safely from these monsters.

William quietly observed the five monsters for several minutes and only after confirming there were no other monsters nearby did he finally decide to act.

Since he was heavily outnumbered and his opponents were stronger than him, he had absolutely no intention of fighting them head-on.

William bent down and picked up a small stone from the ground.

His eyes settled on one of the unranked Iron Pigs standing roughly ten meters away.

The four ordinary Iron Pigs and the Star Warrior-level Iron Pig were scattered throughout the clearing, with several meters separating each of them.

Taking a deep breath, William raised his arm and threw the stone toward the nearest unranked Iron Pig.

Thud!

The stone struck the Iron Pig on the head.

Startled, the monster immediately lifted its head and looked in the direction the stone had come from.

However, when it looked over, it didn’t see anyone.

A confused expression appeared in the pig’s foolish eyes as it lowered its head to examine the small stone lying near its feet.

It nudged the stone with its snout, seemingly wondering how it had suddenly flown toward it.

Just as it was lost in confusion—

Thud!

Another stone struck it.

The monster let out a muffled pig-like grunt and immediately turned around once more.

But just like before, there was nothing there.

Although the Iron Pig’s simple mind couldn’t understand what was happening, its wild instincts quickly gave way to anger.

Determined to find whatever had attacked it, the Iron Pig began walking toward the bushes where William had been hiding.

The moment it passed through the bushes—

Thud!

Another stone flew from behind a tree five meters away and struck it squarely on the head.

Oink!!

The Iron Pig’s eyes immediately turned bloodshot as its wild instincts completely took over.

Without any hesitation, it charged straight toward the tree.

However, when it arrived there, it once again found nothing.

Yet just as before, another stone suddenly flew from behind another tree some distance away and struck its head again.

Completely enraged, the Iron Pig immediately charged toward the new location.

Like that, William gradually lured the Iron Pig farther and farther away from the other four monsters.

Another stone flew through the air.

Unlike before, however, this time the Iron Pig finally spotted the culprit.

Not far away, a two-legged creature stood smiling at it.

Now that they were nearly two hundred meters away from the other Iron Pigs, William no longer cared about hiding himself and openly revealed his presence.

Oink!!!

The Iron Pig’s eyes became so red that they seemed ready to spit fire.

With an enraged squeal, it charged toward William like a runaway bulldozer.

William smiled faintly before turning around and running.

With his speed, escaping from the monster entirely would have been effortless.

However, he deliberately maintained a distance of around ten meters between them.

The furious Iron Pig watched as William leaped behind a patch of thick bushes and immediately charged after him.

Crash!

The bushes were instantly flattened beneath the monster’s massive body.

However, as it burst through them, its vision was obscured for a brief moment.

The instant the Iron Pig lost sight of its surroundings, William made his move.

Having already stopped on the other side of the bushes, he had been waiting for exactly this opportunity.

The moment the monster’s body emerged from the bushes, William’s leg lashed out like a whip.

Boom!

His kick slammed into the side of the Iron Pig’s armored body and a loud metallic sound echoed throughout the forest.

William immediately felt his entire leg go numb.

Most of the impact of his kick had been absorbed by the Iron Pig’s thick armor, leaving it completely unharmed.

However, the tremendous force behind the kick still sent the monster flying sideways and it crashed heavily onto the ground, exposing its completely unprotected underbelly.

Although William felt as though he had just kicked a solid iron wall and his leg was numb, he knew this was the opportunity he had created.

Without wasting even a fraction of a second, he stepped forward and thrust his sword directly into the exposed underbelly.

Since that part of the Iron Pig wasn’t protected by armor, the blade pierced deeply into its flesh with little resistance.

Oink! Oink! Oink!

The monster let out agonized squeals as it struggled violently.

However, William gave it no chance to recover.

Gripping the hilt tightly, he twisted the sword with all his strength, tearing open the monster’s entire abdomen.

Blood and intestines spilled out onto the ground and within only a few seconds, the Iron Pig stopped struggling and lost its life.

William pulled his sword from the monster’s mutilated corpse and sighed inwardly.

’Before becoming a Star Warrior, the only methods of attack available to me are swinging my sword and coating it with Aether Energy to increase its power.’

There were countless combat techniques capable of greatly increasing a person’s strength.

However, nearly all of them required Aether Energy and a fully condensed Aether Core to perform.

With William’s current meager reserves of Aether Energy and his incomplete Aether Core, using those techniques was simply impossible.

’I know countless techniques that I learned in my previous life. Once I break through to the Star Warrior realm, my combat strength will increase dramatically.’

Shaking his head, William returned to the place where the remaining Iron Pigs had been resting.

Using the exact same method, he lured away one Iron Pig after another.

Because of their incredibly simple minds, none of them realized that their companions had disappeared.

One after another, they were led away and killed.

Eventually, only the Star Warrior-level Iron Pig remained.

What disappointed William was that none of the four unranked Iron Pigs dropped anything after dying.

Still, he had expected as much.

After all, it was already considered fortunate for a monster to drop anything at all after being killed.

After finishing off the fourth unranked Iron Pig, William returned to the clearing where the Star Warrior-level Iron Pig was still resting.

It was time to hunt the boss and complete his trial.