Free Web NovelChapter 28: Hunting praying mantises with a scythe [4]
The dead bodies of the praying mantises smelled so bad that I struggled not to vomit.
Hell, why did they have to smell so bad? If that mess had landed on me, I’d have just committed suicide.
I made sure to jump over it so it wouldn’t get stuck on my feet.
’You are a really fast learner. Are you sure you haven’t been faking this whole time about being talentless? At this point, you’ll catch up to the other kids in less than two months.’ Ezio mused.
I understood what he was saying. From his perspective, my growth was abnormal, while to me it was something expected.
"Nah, this is all the fruit of awakening, and one of my abilities lets me focus, so learning faster is a by-product of it."
’You have an ability like that?’
"Yeah."
[Clear Mind]’s description said it allowed me to stay calm and focused in stressful situations where critical thinking was required, but there was more to it the further I studied.
It could also help me understand things clearly without confusion or misunderstanding — meaning I could analyze almost anything and grasp it fully.
That’s why I was able to adapt to the scythe so fast. And I believed the more I fought the Bamboo Praying Mantises, the sharper my skill with it would become.
Sometimes the description of your ability is not everything that it can do, that’s why you had to test it if it could do something else.
I just couldn’t imagine how far my skill would be by the time I faced the very monster responsible for this trip.
"Well," I raised my scythe and rested it on my shoulder. "Let’s go deeper into this forest, shall we. The other praying mantises should’ve already sensed a disturbance — they can detect their prey." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
As I walked further into the bamboo forest, monkey skeletons grew more frequent.
"Sheesh, Ezio, you scared them so badly with that horrendous face that they preferred to come down here and die. Once again, this should be a crime against wildlife."
’Shut up. On your left.’
I smiled and ducked. A mantis’s front legs sliced through the air where my head had been.
I got the scythe off my shoulder and sliced upward, sending the praying mantis’s head into the air. freeweɓnøvel.com
[You have slain a Low Common Beast, Bamboo Praying Mantis.]
I didn’t have time to check how many fragments I got when I felt two presences above me, clinging to the side of a bamboo stalk.
They jumped down at me with loud screeches.
I spun my scythe and blocked each of their attacks, sending sparks into the air. But during the spin I left a gap, and one of them slashed my chest, tearing flesh and splattering blood on the ground.
"Ugh! That hurts!" I groaned, and in retaliation I hooked my scythe behind one of the mantis’s legs and pulled. The blade sheared off two or three of its four back legs, sending it crashing down from the imbalance.
The other one tried to pull the same trick on me, but I jumped over the sweep and swung my scythe mid-air, slashing clean through its neck.
When I landed, my scythe came down and the tip of its blade pierced the downed mantis through the head, splitting it in half.
[You have slain a Low Common Beast, Bamboo Praying Mantis.]
[You have slain a Low Common Beast, Bamboo Praying Mantis.]
Knowing I couldn’t locate the remaining hidden mantises, I pulled the scythe free, infused mana into it and threw it like a boomerang, leaving a black streak behind it.
The scythe sliced through dozens and dozens of bamboo stalks, and alongside the cracking wood came the wet crunching sound of something being cut and horrifying screeches filling the air.
[You have slain a Low Common Beast, Bamboo Praying Mantis.]
[You have slain a Low Common Beast, Bamboo Praying Mantis.]
[You have slain a Low Common Beast, Bamboo Praying Mantis.]
[You have slain a Low Common Beast, Bamboo Praying Mantis.]
[You have slain a Low Common Beast, Bamboo Praying Mantis.]
[You have slain a Low Common Beast, Bamboo Praying Mantis.]
Dead bodies dropped to the ground with heavy thuds.
I smiled as I felt soul fragments entering my core.
That smile was wiped off my face, however, when one of the mantises managed to block the scythe, sending it clattering to the floor.
"Tsk."
I let the scythe crumble back into darkness and formed a new one in my right hand.
"I can’t keep using sand to locate them since I can’t find their mana signatures, so what can I do..."
My thoughts raced as I searched for an effective solution.
Then something clicked.
What if...?
It would actually work.
At my will, darkness seeped out from my feet and spread around me in a full 360, extending until it covered at least 15 meters of ground. At that radius, the earth turned pure black in a perfect circle.
At first I felt nothing, but then — something stepped onto it.
Like a curtain being pulled back to let the sun through, I detected the mantis completely, not missing a single detail.
I smiled.
Remember how my Darkness Sense worked at night?
I applied the same idea here, spreading my own darkness across the ground. If I could sense things in the dark, what if I brought that darkness with me even in daylight and used it to detect movement the same way?
The catch was that the target had to actually step onto it.
It worked exactly like a spider’s web — a spider detects prey through the vibrations that travel along the silk, no matter where in the web they land.
Anyone who stepped onto my darkness was immediately exposed to me.
And it worked perfectly.
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it sooner.
I let the mana run wild through my body and moved, the darkness circle moving with me, and one by one, more mantis positions were revealed.
So I went on a killing spree, cutting down every mantis that entered my range.
Heads and limbs flew into the air, and blood painted the earth green.
I was the harbinger of death, and death had come to claim their lives.
