009 - One with the mist

*****

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

( Proverbs 4 : 23 )

*****

Ze stood before the mist wolves, blocking their path. He tightened his grip on his sword as he looked into the eyes of the alpha. The wolves instinctively understood that the human before them was danger. If they wanted to hunt the other humans, they needed to kill him.

*grrr*

The alpha growled, giving its command. The mist wolves moved at its command, and all of them rushed toward their prey.

The first two wolves reached Ze and jumped to tear him apart. They opened their jaws, their canines glistened as their saliva slobbered. Ze moved his sword, and in a swing, his sword cut through the wolves. But he didn't feel the sensation of cutting flesh. The wolves' bodies smashed into him, dispersing into a mist. The mist wolves had activated their skill as they jumped at him, turning their bodies partially mist.

The other wolves joined in, turning into the mist surrounding him and obstructing his sight. Ze closed his eyes and used his other senses to perceive. He sharpened his senses, listened to the flow of the air, and felt the air vibrate. Like a dolphin using echolocation to navigate, his senses distinguished his surroundings, and he sensed the ripples caused by the wolves. He couldn't see, but he sensed it. He felt the mist flow, condensing, solidifying to take form.

He swung his sword, and his sword gracefully cut through the air. A sharp sound resounded as he cut the condensed wolf. This time, he felt his sword cutting through flesh.

*thud*

The wolf's body fell to the snow; the sword had cleanly cut its neck. The mist became a bit clearer. Even though their brethren had been killed, the remaining wolves didn't move. They focused on their prey and prepared for their attack.

Ze sensed the flow concentrating in many places, multiple attacks to break his defense. It was a good tactic. Ze swung his sword, disturbing their forms. He moved his leg to avoid the wolf's bite in time and caught the jaw of the wolf that aimed for his neck. He tightened his grip, crushing its mouth, and dark red blood sprouted on his hands. Ze threw the wolf toward where the alpha stood. The mist cleared as the wolf passed, and Ze saw the alpha calmly observing him.

*Howl*

The alpha howled, and the mist spread to the sides as they took form, clearing Ze's view. Ze stared at the alpha; it was making its move.

*Howl*

The alpha howled again as it charged. The wolves lunged, turning into the mist to cover his vision. The mist got colder and static filled them as they activated their second abilities.

Ze could sense the alpha approaching through his dimming senses. Electricity sparked in the mist. It struck Ze, stunning him momentarily. Using the gap produced by the stun, the wolves took form and attacked. The wolves bit his leg and sunk their canines into his flesh, using force to anchor him in position. The mist cleared as the wolves took form.

Ze saw the alpha as it opened its jaws, its sharp canines ready to tear him apart. The alpha had used the gap created by the stun to lunge at him and make him its lunch. The alpha closed its strong jaw in a deadly bite, and its canines sunk into his flesh. Most of his upper torso was in its mouth and with a pull it would rip him in two.

"One with the mist," Ze voiced.

His body which was in the alpha mouth turned into mist and dispersed into the air. The alpha looked shocked as it looked around. The other wolves did the same. The mist flowed and condensed near the wolf with the crushed mouth. Soon enough, the mist solidified to form a humanoid shape. The mist moved to reveal Ze, who had used the skill of the mist wolf.

"Conditions completed."

[ Link ]

Ze's unique ability which allows him to connect with other beings after he fulfills certain conditions. Its secondary ability allows him to borrow the ability of the connected.

"Oh, so this is where the problem began," Ze concluded as he looked at the wolf's memory. He found the reason why the monsters had wandered out. He looked at the mist wolves before him. He had killed one and left one unable to fight, but there were still eleven left, including the alpha.

...

"Okay, let's finish up," Ze clenched his fist.

He had dropped the sword when he turned to mist. He adjusted his posture for a sprint. His calves contracted as Ze pushed himself, dashing towards the wolves. He turned into a blur as he reached the alpha. The alpha was quick to react, turning into mist, but the others were a bit slower.

Ze cut through the mist and reached the wolf standing behind the alpha. He extended his hand, his fist connecting with the wolf's head.

*Bang!*

The wolf's head exploded upon impact. With the time provided by its fallen kin, the other wolves moved away from Ze.

Ze retrieved his fallen sword and became a blur as he moved. He swung his sword at the wolf near him, splitting it in half. The weakness of the skill 'One with the Mist' is that when they regain form, they can't revert back to the mist due to the skill's cooldown. At the same time, they can't stay in mist form for an extended period.

Ze exploited the weakness of the skill. He rushed towards the other wolves, slashing at them. However, as soon as they noticed his approach, they turned into mist. Ignoring the misted wolves, Ze focused on the alpha. He swung his sword in succession, cutting through the mist and forcing it to thin out. The grey mist became nearly transparent.

Taking a step back, Ze waited for the wolves to regain their forms. He knew with the mist being thinned their skill active time would be reduced.

He sheathed his sword and assumed a drawing posture, channeling the Qi he had stored in his body to the sword. Patiently, he waited for them to materialize again, having reduced the alpha's skill duration and knowing that other wolves had different cooldown times for their skills.

Ze observed as, one by one, the wolves were turned back into their solid forms, except for the alpha. Gripping his sword tightly, Ze took a step forward and in the blink of an eye, he appeared before the wolves. *Click* A clicking sound filled the valley as the mist wolves fell to the ground, cleaved in two.

Ze turned to the alpha, which remained in its mist form, still watching him. Its skill was about to run out. Ze swung his sword at the mist, dissecting it.

*Thud*

The alpha's body fell to the ground with a thud sound.

Seeing the Alpha was dead, Ze approached the crushed mist wolf, which was still alive but unconscious.

"Break," he said, driving his sword through its head to ensure its death.

The sword felt much resistance as it pierced through its skull. Ze looked at his hand, noticing that his veins were turning purple. his hands shook and his legs slowly gave out. He dropped to the ground as his body shook violently.

The poison in his core was spreading throughout his body.

Ze reached into his pocket and took out the mana core he had saved, bringing it to his mouth. Taking a bite, the wild mana entered his body, burning away the poison but causing his veins to rupture. He carefully controlled the mana to avoid overloading and exploding his body, waiting for the wild energy to subside.

After a chilly hour,

Slowly, he stood up and walked towards the alpha. He rummaged through the bloody corpse to extract the mana core from it. The core was as big as Zeru's head, and the alpha stood about 6 feet tall. Ze placed the core in his bag and searched the other wolves for their smaller cores. He then used the excessive amount of rope he had brought to tie the loot together.

Following the same process as before, Ze began to drag the loot back to the village. Exiting the valley and crossing a mountain, he arrived near the plain land.

...

The guards at the gate noticed a black spot moving toward them in the distance. They tightened their grip on their spears, and one of them drew his bow. For some reason, he felt a sense of déjà vu in this situation.

So, he loosened his bow and waited for the black spot to approach. After a minute, he was able to get a clear view of the object. He finally understood the strange sense of déjà vu he had been experiencing.

He saw Zeru dragging the dead beast behind him.

"Why does this kid always have to drag something?" he wondered. He had been asked to wait for Zeru's return by the Chief. At the time, he didn't understand the reason, but now it became clear.

Ze arrived at the gate.

"You're back, kid. What do you bring this time?" Guard David asked, sounding like a customer approaching a stallkeeper.

"Nine mist wolves and a moose," Ze replied.

"What? Did you kill them all alone?" Guard Ben asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Alright, you can leave them on the side. We'll take care of it," Guard David said.

Ze looked at him, questioning why. After all, he had hunted them alone.

"Come on, don't be like that. We all have to survive," Guard David explained.

"Whatever," Ze muttered as he proceeded to drag the carcasses.

"Hey, kid, what's in the bag?" Guard Ben asked, noticing the bag around Ze's waist.

"Mana cores. Those are mine," Ze said without turning back.

The mana cores were his possessions, and his deal didn't involve sharing them. Ze left the loot near the gate and walked towards the Chief's house, which he had visited in the morning.

*Knock* *Knock*

He knocked on the door.

The door opened, revealing a girl who looked at Ze with a bewildered expression. She wiped her eyes as if she had seen something she couldn't believe.

"Where is the Chief?" Ze asked.

"Dad is in his office, but how..." the girl started to say.

Without letting her finish, Ze pushed her to the side and entered the house.

He opened the door to the office without any concern.

"Chief," Ze called as he entered.

But to his surprise, there were people he didn't expect waiting for him.

"How...?" their faces expressed confusion as they looked at him.

The hunting party had been waiting in the office as instructed by the Chief.

Ignoring their questions, Ze looked at the Chief, who had a knowing smile on his face.

"The wolves are at the gate. Keep your end of the deal," Ze said those words and closed the door.

"Wait!"

"How did you get here?"

Ze heard their confused voices coming from the room, but he left them to the Chief.

"How?"

"Did you know?"

The hunting party bombarded the Chief with questions as he sat in his chair.

Siena entered the office.

"You all saw him, right?" she asked, her face displaying confusion.

"I know," Dame exclaimed.

Siena looked at her father.

"Dad, you knew he would come back, didn't you? That's why you asked us to stay," she said.

The Chief nodded in agreement.

"Well, how should I say this? The world is bigger than you think," he joked.

"What do you mean?" Curtis asked, intrigued.

The Chief started to laugh, unable to contain himself, causing his daughter to appear even more confused.

"Explain it to us, Chief," Curtis demanded, standing up.

The Chief looked at Curtis and could see the contemplation in his eyes.

"I will explain since you weren't here. When Ze first arrived, he froze the village with his shout. The fur he was covering himself with belonged to Frost tigers and lightning wolves, both unique monsters, but it didn't have any damage on the skin."

"Do you understand?" he questioned.

Everyone in the room considered the information the Chief had shared.

"He killed them barehanded?" Elen questioned.

"But how? It's hard to fight them even with a weapon. Their skin is too tough," Dame remarked.

"Yes, Mary even confirmed it. She overheard him talking to himself at night," the Chief revealed.

"What? Is he insane?" Siena asked.

"What did he talk about?" Curtis inquired.

The Chief chuckled as he recalled the conversation.

"He was shouting that he is a great evil that even devils fear and the darkness that makes gods shiver."

"Isn't he acting like a child?" Elen commented.

"I know, but he also said something. He mentioned that if he were truly evil, he would have killed everyone in this village and absorbed their life force or created an army of the dead to conquer the continent. However, the shocking thing is that he said that knowing Mary was listening," the Chief explained.

Elen's eyes widened in shock. "He was threatening us?"

"Perhaps, but I don't want to find out," the Chief responded.

"But he's just a kid," Dame mumbled.

"There are giants in this world," the Chief warned, his expression turning serious.

*****