Chapter 55: Chapter 55: The Fight of Shadows

“Yeah, we have some threes Shadow Lynx behind our back right now,” Jack said to Velia.

“What?” She exclaimed. “It’s not their habit to chase humans!”

Jack didn’t have much knowledge about this. There were still a lot of monsters out there he had never heard of before.

“We need to split up,” Jack suggested.

“And what can you do once we split up?” Velia tightened her grip on Jack’s arm.

Jack knew all too well splitting up against hunters was a death sentence. But, the presence of the adventurer would hinder his action.

He gathered his strength to release himself, then jumped to the side.

“I’ll find you at the forest’s edge,” Jack said, running in a different direction and hiding behind a tree.

Velia gritted her teeth and gave up. She had done all that her conscience could demand of her. To be honest, it was a much-needed relief seeing Jack go straight to his death. Without any hesitation this time, Velia quickly dashed away.

The three Shadow Lynxes, one by one, reached the duo’s prior position; their growls echoed distantly through the woods. Two of them turned toward the direction Velia had fled. One stood still, staring at Jack’s hiding spot.

Seeing that, Jack used Shadow Dance to chase after the two lynxes, still keeping an eye on his back. His maximum speed couldn’t match that of the monsters, but their short breaks in the shade between every dash allowed Jack to close the distance. In one of those brief windows, he drew a dagger and launched ahead with all of his strength.

It was then that the third one jumped at him. Under the faint light of the moon, the creature revealed its appearance to Jack. Its coat was of a dark black color, smooth and soft; its mouth hunged its fang, as long as a man’s hand; its claws shiny and razor-sharp, the only thing that one could clearly see in the pitch black night, coming down on one’s face.

Jack quickly blended into the dark with Presence of The Night. Still, the tip of the creature’s claws caught his cheek, leaving behind a stain of fresh blood on the ground. Quickly using his mana to stop the bleeding lest he be tracked, Jack leaped to the side in front of the bewildered beast. It crouched down and started using its superior sense of smell to locate its prey.

To prevent the lynx from turning its attention toward Velia again, Jack had to reveal himself after he had created a safe enough distance. It was then that another Shadow Lynx, wounded by his dagger earlier, joined its buddy, growling in anger.

Jack continued using Shadow Dance and ran in the opposite direction to Velia. 

The two lynxes gave chase. They paid the poisonous air Jack had left behind no heed, for their speed had cut down their exposure time into almost nothing.

Jack planned his moves on the run. The hunters might have slightly superior speed, but only in quick bursts. Their attacks slowed them down, even more so if they were in need of rest.

The three shadows jumped amidst the trees. As soon as Jack slowed down when the cooldown started kicking in, the two monsters jumped at him. Jack launched his mana at the beasts, slowing them for a split second while pushing himself back just enough for the claws of one of them to only find air. Then, he leaned forward, channeling energy into his leg, trying to reach for the tired and out-of-position creature and pin it down. The second one, though, didn’t let him have his way. It circled to the side and bumped at him, pushing Jack rolling toward a small bush.

As they tried to recover for another burst of acceleration, two daggers, coated in the familiar Black Flame, cut them. They growled in pain but didn’t let that slow them down one bit, jumping up to hide between the upper layers of branches and leaves. They didn’t know they could never leave the sight of Shadow Eyes.

This won’t cut it, Jack thought.

As Velia had stated before, dealing with one was surely within grasp. But two, with how well they were covering each other, was a whole different story.

After some thinking, Jack left the bush, heading straight forward.

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A long chase ensued, with Jack slowly losing the attrition war. Condensed Shots proved useless against such speedy opponents, so he saved the herbal ingredients to strengthen himself and heighten his senses. The side effects would come, however; he had to finish the fight quickly before his borrowed endurance ran out.

Jack finally reached where he needed to. His eyes brightened up seeing the Four-eyed Snake still was still around. He immediately launched a shot full of stimulants and strengtheners at the beast. Catching a glimpse of its prey returning, the creature raised its head up. Its tongue hadn’t even come out when the shot exploded into its face.

Enraged, the snake’s hissing intensified. But, as soon as it turned its head around, looking for its attacker, Jack had already concealed himself in the veil of the night again. The only thing it saw was two random Shadow Lynxes running straight at it from behind the trees. The Four-eyed Snake seemed hesitant, but Jack wouldn’t let this chance slip away. A few more Condensed Shots came at the creature from all directions, further boiling its cold blood.

Since it would take a while for the effects to fully kick in, Jack had to bite his lips and play cat-and-mouse with the two Shadow Lynxes around the serpent. After a few minutes of barely holding on to it and a few extra scratches, Jack finally saw his chance. The large creature cast a roaring hiss, its eyes full of uncontrollable rage, slithering down from the tree it had been lying on for hours. The creature was more than three times Jack’s length, its body bulky, its skin shone with slimy dark spots, weaving its way toward its prey.

Jack smiled, welcoming the new enemy. The snake might not be as fast-moving as its opponents, but its slithery dodges and reflexes were in no way inferior. The lynxes, seeing another predator eyeing their prize, quickly gave it a few ineffective claw strikes.

The three-sided battle gave Jack a window to wound one of the Shadow Lynx, making it bleed and sticking another Black Flame to it, significantly slowing it down. The Four-eyed Snake hadn’t yet hit anything, so it began to launch its venom out recklessly. The deadly substance didn’t quite hit either Jack or the other two monsters, but it did serve as a zoning tool, sticking onto different surfaces and emitting toxic gas.

This was even better than Jack had expected. The venom was exquisitely strong; one breath of the gas and his head were already throbbing. He reckoned a misstep for the snake to stick those fangs on, and an adventurer would surely know insufferable pain.

While gulping down some antidote, Jack released a trail of smoke that intensified the evaporating process of the venom on the ground. It was also highly flammable.

Under normal circumstances, the Shadow Lynxes would have left as soon as they saw the serpent. Monsters had a slight edge over the feral beasts in intelligence, that they could actually evaluate and make a decision in accordance with their situation. These ones, though, as true as Velia had said, were out of their minds tonight. That’s why escape was not an option for Jack; he had to stay, fight, and kill. For now, the upper hand belonged to the Four-eyed Snake. It hadn’t taken too much damage if any at all. In its primal mind, a hefty meal awaited.

The serpent only needed a split second to turn around and slither its way toward the wounded lynx. It weaved through the creature’s weakened legs, wrapped around its prey’s body, opened its mouth wide, revealing the pair of sharp fangs, and delivered the blow.

The Shadow Lynx screeched in despair, calling for its buddy to jump out from a nearby shade and pounce on their twisty foe.

Jack smiled while jumping backward, inserting a mana crystal into the tray on the morphed arm. When the squabbling monsters’ instincts warned them about the incoming death, a ball of fire had already been cast toward them.

The Shadow Lynx who was fighting to free its hunting kin, reacted instantly, jumping clear of the projectile. Fast it was, but the flammable air Jack had released a moment ago quickly did its job, busting the flame up in a circle, reflecting in the terrifying eyes of the beasts. The Firebolt found its way to the Four-eyed Snake, blowing up an area and rapidly spreading its flame out to soon engulf the three monsters. They screeched and roared, hissed and growled, trying to escape the inferno that was turning them to ashes. Jack, though, was there to make sure they got kicked back inside of their blazing grave every time he saw them almost making it out.

Jack indifferently watched as the bodies twisted and turned inside the flame. His mind was admiring the intensity of the Firebolt. Even with prior tests, seeing the incredible effectiveness of the double shot in realistic combat was still an exhilarating experience. With that being said, it did overheat his arm after one cast. He would have to utilize this sparingly in the future since the time it took for his artificial limb to cool down was quite significant.

After a short while, all that was left on the burned ground before him was a mess of twisted, blackened corpses. Jack walked forward to have a closer look but found nothing of interest. He then turned his mind and body toward Velia, who had left behind a trail for him to track thanks to the conducting substance he had marked on her.

You have used 2 skill points on Firebolt.

You have killed a Low Herald Shadow Lynx, Level 9.

You have killed a Low Herald Shadow Lynx, Level 8.

You have killed a High Herald Vicious Serpent, Level 11.

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