[Middle B-Rank Danger Threat Dark Beast] (Part 1)

///// Post-Edit/////

After receiving opinions from readers that an S-Rank Dark Beast this early is too much for Vincent and really breaks the power scaling. I've reduced the level of the Dark Beast he fought in this chapter and the next to Middle B-Rank Dark Beast.

Thank you to those that brought this light, and if there are more thoughts or suggestions on other part of this novel. Please bring it up with a comment and i'll try to attend to it

Thank you and Happy Reading.

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The morning forest is colossal, far-reaching, shadowy, and diverse. Canopies are provided by various trees like cottonwood and maple through the canopies they provide, light passes to the flat grounds below. Unique variations of animal-like noises reverberated through the forest and were followed by booming stumps in the distance.

Through the tress moved a shadow at high speeds. Wherever it the sound of the wind splitting followed. Vincent was this shadow moving at a speed that could only be perceived as a blur to those at the Sky-Borne Level and below (levels 1 – 30).

He has been on a journey through the tree path and has been regretting every single minute of it.

'I should have just taken a carriage.’ He thought in regret. ‘It would have been less stressful than this.’

A carriage is the main transport method of the Migas real. A carriage can either be Higher-Class or Commercial-Class. High-Class carriages are more or less used by elites, royalties, and those that could afford them. While Commercial-Class carriages are in general used by the less privileged for day-to-day activities.

Most carriages are inscribed with Anti-Beast Repellant wards mixed with Protection and Illusion inscriptions. Moreover, there are elite carriages that contain at least more than one [Middle Sky-Borne Level] (Level 20-25) Some may even have a [Sky-Path Level] (level 30-45). Of course, These factors will inflate the price of carriage rides by a large amount.

A carriage from the small city to the capital would have taken 5 days, but when Vincent was in the city most of the carriages were already in the capital or other cities. It would have taken at least 7 days for a carriage to arrive back.

‘One was supposed to arrive a few days ago but it has not been seen, so it was marked off as compromised.’

'Sigh, this was a very stupid plan' Vincent thought, feeling his legs weak.

At first, Vincent would have gotten to the city the day before but due to the inconveniences the day before, his trip was delayed. now it'll take Vincent at the earliest a day of constant travel to get to the capital.

''I should have just taken a~''

''!!!"

Vincent thought process was cut off by the sudden nauseating stench that assaulted his nostrils.

“What is that!”

The stench was so strong, that it overloaded his senses and caused him to time his next jump wrong and plummet straight to the hard ground.

Upon contact, Vincent rolled a few times before being stopped by a tree. He relaxed his body on it trying to focus on anything other than the pungent smell that caused a lot of headaches. Something that proved difficult.

After a while, the headache calmed down and his breathing became less erratic.

Vincent couldn’t help but spit out ''Fuck!'' He cursed out.

[I didn't expect you to be this affected]

''Fuck off!''

Vincent gained his footing and stood from the ground, the smell in the air hadn't disappeared he had just gotten used to it…somewhat

''Where is this stench coming from. It’s like rotten flesh.'' He said as he covered his nose and squinted his eyes.

[I suggest you look behind the tree]

''This tree?'' He asked, Vincent, walked out and was met with a scene that made him spill out his breakfast

Bodies littered the ground, punctured and limbless. Red was now the hue of the forest. The air was filled with the thick smell of gore, death, and blood. A sight that would bring nightmares to all.

it was a clear sight of the massacre, the remains of the warriors who had fought against something they couldn't handle, and civilians in their attempt to escape. Their faces eternalized with horror, anguish, and acceptance of death.

[It looks like a Dark Beast passed through here. A powerful at that.]

[This should serve as a lesson to you.]

[This is the destiny of the weak... death by the strong]

“…”

[There seems to be a mix of dead decaying bodies with rather fresh ones]

''old bodies mixed with new ones... meaning some of these bodies had been killed for a while before another''

[Walked into the trap]

‘That means…!’

“Shit!” Vincent cursed out, right away activating an evasive skill

[Ether Burst]

Boom!

This boost saved him by a hair’s breadth from a life-ending slash to his head. Not stopping here, Vincent tried to create more distance between himself and this threat. But it was fast, it appeared again before Vincent and reached out to him in an attempt to again end his life.

His reflexes kicked in again and Vincent used [Authority of Flames] to shoot a flame blast at the threat.

“Ah!”

Boom!

The blast was able to push the threat back a great distance, and Vincent released himself to the force the blast produced. This helped push him further through the air and deeper into the forest as he nimbly dodged passing branches and trees.

Mid-Air, Vincent tore off a piece of his shirt and dropped it on the branch of a tree as he passes by it, He then put an illusion on the tree to make it look humanoid.

He then dug his feet into the ground and brought himself to a stop, thereafter he dashed into the bushes and cast another illusion on himself.

This proved to be a smart plan because a moment later the tree that he had placed an illusion on was pierced by a claw and was uprooted from the ground.

Vincent quickly used [Status] on the sudden attacker

[Name: Arnaf Shadowgaze

Race: Danger Beast/Nightmare/Lost One

Danger Threat: Middle B-Rank

Description: The Beast Is A…]

[Forget about the [Status], just run. It has found you!]

Vincent took the advice of the System

“[Consecutive Ether Burst]” He cast, directing himself in a random direction away from the beast.

The sound of the [Ether Burst] attracted the approaching [Dark Beast] to Vincent's position. Unwilling to let a prey get away, the [Dark Beast] dashed after him.

The fight between Vincent and the [Dark Beast] became like a cat and mouse chase with Vincent continually spamming [Consecutive Ether Bursts] across trees and the Dark Beast trying to keep up but with time falling behind.

“I’ve almost escaped it.” He noticed, “Just need one more [Ether Bu~]”

‘!!!’ A sudden buzz reverberated in his head.

Without delay, Vincent twisted himself mid-jump by a whisker and avoided a spear of fire. It passed by him and collided with the tree in front of him. It exploded upon contact, blasting to smithereens the tree and others in the vicinity leaving a 6-inch crater.

Vincent stared at the damage and thought 'what in the heavens fuck! when did dark beasts get AOE skills!?'

“!” Another buzz sounded in his head again.

Vincent quickly responded and used his control on Ether to project a hard shield out of it. He watched as another flame spear zoomed onto the shield.

‘I can’t block this’ He knew, judging from the damage it did before, ‘But I should be able to redirect it somewhere else.’

And that’s what he did. Instead of colliding with the flame spear, Vincent shifted his shield to an angle and shifted the trajectory of the flame spear to an unfortunate tree far beside him.

Boom!

Vincent ignored the large sound and the searing heat in the air to create below him a footing made out of Ether which he used to land without harm.

As he landed, he braced himself for the approaching beast while using his minuscule time to come up with a plan.

The shadow figure of the beast flashed before Vincent and slashed at him. He right away crouched down and swung a spin kick to the chin of the beast pushing it back and stunning it a bit.

Not through, Vincent jumped back and spat out torrents of flames onto the [Dark Beast]. These bright red flames enveloped its figure burning it.

He landed on the bark of a tree and kept his sight focused on the beast covered in smoke aftermath. Out of this smoke, A familiar flame spear zoomed to Vincent's position at an even greater speed that he was not able to react to.

He could only cross his arms and brace for impact.

It collided against Vincent's arms and exploded.

Boom!

The blast was so large that everything around that point went up in flames, smoke, and dust.

But from the blast, Vincent walked out naked and… unharmed.

'I hate Dark Beasts!' He thought in anger