61 Stand Our Ground!

I should have known, Mr. Aura won't let me off that easily. After a victory obviously comes the tragic after party. Not far away from the fatty and I was a large saber-tooth looking cat. It was twice as large as a normal tiger, has dark, metallic looking skin, and a spiral horn on its head.

Although it is the first time I've seen it, but I was still able to recognize it as I have read about them back in the Monster Den. If there's anything that there was a load of in the Monster den, it was books on monsters. I was grateful for knowing this knowledge because the system's observe function actually presented me with the info.

[Family-Bound Cat] Grade : Orange

A vicious, carnivorous feline that enjoys eating human flesh, treating cultivators as delicacies. They have average speed for feline, but their metallic skin allows for both strong offense and defense. Unfortunately, it's low grade prevents it from feasting upon cultivators alone. Hence, usually these felines will gather in packs to hunt, usually led by a {Family-Bound Cat King}. A horn is used to telepathically communicate with its pack. It is also connected to its nervous system and can be very damaging to the feline if disconnected.

Monster grades also go by the cultivation grades, except that they don't have levels as nobody had the time to gauge each and every monster type's strength nor was it possible to instantly tell the level of the monster with a glance if they have yet to attack. Instead, they are simply classified into categories based on similar types and strength. Of course, this is not always accurate because there are always exceptions. For example, some monsters that reach Violet grade may have half human forms, like my sisters from the Monster Den. These monsters can then cultivate human skills, enhancing their strength beyond that of their grade. Then, there are the Gold grades that can pretty much have a full human form.

However, knowing some fact on the monster really does help. For example, the strength of the {Family-Bound Cat} would be it's hunting as a pack, but it's weakness is also that because alone, it is fairly weak. That's why it is usually a common tactic to first destroy its horn that it communicates with its pack with in order to prevent the pack from gathering.

A threatening growl ensues as it prepares to pounce upon us. I can see the fatty shaking in his boots, but I already knew its weakness, so I planned to stand my ground.

"Quit being a scare-dy cat Fatty, it's weakness is its horn! We just need to take it out, and the job will be half done!" I hollered to the fatty as I launched myself at the cat.

"O-of course I knew that! Who's a scare-dy cat? I've got nothing to fear! This one has already won many, many fights at Spring's N- *cough* - more than you can ever count! Just watch this handsome one's skills!" the fatty replied giddily as he sped off to the cat, reaching it before me.

Then, as I continued to close in on the cat, I watched as the fatty sped right past the cat, into the forest behind it. I instantly froze.

"Hahaha, this one just remembered that I left my weapon back at camp! I'll go retrieve it. You can hold on for it bit first, and I'll come back to save you. Chow~" the fatty declared righteously before dashing off into the forest, leaving me alone with the beast.

That shameless b**t*rd! Uggg! But I have no time to worry about him now. I have to focus on this fight because unlike human cultivators, monsters are much harder to kill at the same grade due to their enhanced physical capabilities. Of course, with my sword that can cut through any living organism, this should be easy as long as I can keep track of where it is, but I still need to be careful as I don't have much Qi left to activate {Ghost Emperor's Voyage} to dodge any attacks.

The man and beast stared at one another as silence descended upon the forest. Then, like a signal, the howl of the wind declared the start of the battle as the duo charged at each other.

I watched as the beast neared me as it aimed a swipe at me. I swung my sword at its claw and with an easy slice, completely cutting through it. I backed off to dodge the residue force from the now unconnected claw as the beast's eyes opened wide in shock as it howled in pain. I swung my sword at the beast's head in an attempt to end its life, but on instinct, it quickly backed off. Standing on three legs, it glared at me with a hint of fear.

This time, I made the choice of charging at the beast, but unfortunately, the beast has gotten smarter. It now avoids my sword with its speed as it tried to stab me with its horn. Although I tried to cut off its horn, what I didn't take into account was that the horn was not living as it was just a shell to protect the nerves inside. I did not understand how I was able to cut through the metallic skin, but it seems those are part of the living cells I guess.

Since I could not use my sword, I knew I had to finish this with something else, before it decides to call its pack. So, when I was about to clash with its horn yet another time, I took out my {Earth Dragon's Fang}. I inserted the remaining Qi that I had regenerated and with a smash, I caused the horn to be bent in a downwards direction.

The beast howled in pain as it seemed to has lost its senses from the pain. It was rolling on the ground helplessly, waiting for me to slaughter it. I switched my weapon back to my sword and prepared to end its life, but unfortunately before I could, I heard a horrid scream that gave me chills.

I looked in the direction that the scream came from, and it was the direction that the Fatty ran to. I had an ominous feeling as I saw Fatty's silhouette quickly enlarging as he dashed in between trees. I saw many silhouettes scurrying behind him, diving around trees. Although I was a bit far, I was able to recognize them. They were cats, {Family-Bound Cats} to be precise, and there were a lot of them.

My senses returned to me as I quickly turned around to run.

"Ahhhhhh! Big bro! Don't run away! As a man, you must stand your ground no matter the situation! With me here, there is no worries! We can stand our ground together, and destroy all these pussy cats!" the fatty tried to convince me as he gradually approached me.

Like hell I will stand my ground with you f**ker! Did you not already screwed me enough earlier?! Now you still come for more? Once I turned around to check on the situation, I abandoned any thoughts of fighting as I saw pretty much at least twenty cats with furious visages.

I continued to dash off, but unfortunately, the Fatty was running towards me, leading the army of cats towards me as well.

"You f**king Fatty! Run the other way! Quit following me!" I howled in anger at my death-star Fatty.

"Hahaha! Don't be like that brother! As brothers, we shall stand our ground together, live and die together! Of course, as you're the older one, it's fair for you to die first as that is the law of heavens as you come of age," the Fatty declared with a smirk as he caught up to me.

Ahhhhh! Can you be anymore shameless?! Who wants to die with you!? But I had no time to complain as I had to focus all my energy into sprinting even faster as I did not want to be left behind by the Fatty as cat food.