Midnight (4)— Hanging on the Edge.

It took him a while to realize what just happened, but before reality could strike, the {Devil-eyed White Primate} struck first...

BANG!

Cain was launched forward, blood gushing from his back like a fountain. He had been dealt a serious blow by the {Devil-eyed White Primate}.

His back had nearly been severed in half. If he hadn't sensed his impending doom, that attack would most definitely have claimed his life.

A quick flip later, he managed to steady himself, although his legs shook a bit due to hemorrhage. He could feel the weakness from the blood loss starting to get to him. He summoned a few HP Regen potions from his inventory while watching the beast carefully.

'Did it get faster? No! That was more than speed. It didn't just dodge my attack... It avoided it completely. I've had zero chance since the beginning of this battle.'

The {Devil-eyed White Primate} had various skills, but the most fearsome one wasn't the {Spatial Shift}, or {Primal Aura} skills that it had used earlier.

'Devil eyes...'

Cain recalled the brief change in the mutant's eyes before it had dodged his {Golden Severance}. From a black hollow, its pupils had expanded so much, it completely occupied its eye sockets. That brief change made him conclude that the creature had just activated the only skill he hadn't seen yet... {Devil Eyes}.

Previously, the {Devil-eyed White Primate} had been dangerous, but its threat level had risen to the potential killer...

'Golden blood is about to run out...'

He had less than a minute before his lifeline, {Golden Blood}, was cut. The skill offered him a tremendous boost in power, but it came at a cost.

One, it brought him a world of pain, but he could push through that because of his history of training...

The real issue was it was a massive drain on his stamina.

His total amount of stamina points was almost 60, so when he used {Golden Blood}, he could go super for more than two minutes.

But he was running out of time...

If his plan B couldn't make it in time before his stamina ran out, he was as good as dead.

'Sigh... This is why I never had pets.'

Cain had made an elaborate plan B before he decided to go on this hunt.

In the {Records of Akasha I } tome given to him by Ashur, he had read in the first section that contained info on the use of mana shards, that one of the major use of mana shards, was in the taming of Magical or mutant beasts.

The Mana shards contained a concentrated amount of elemental mana that was essential to their evolution. If mutant beasts wanted to grow stronger, they needed to consume the flesh, blood, bones, but most importantly, the mana shards of the vanquished...

When a mutant beast was offered a mana shard, it had the option of either accepting the offer and working with the one who made the offering or simply taking the offering, then killing and eating the one who made a said offering.

The determining factor was in the strength possessed by the one who proposed the deal. If the beast thought it could defeat the offerer, it would try its hardest to do so, but if it couldn't, it would submit to the offerer, but not at the expense of its life...

The laws that controlled the way mana operated made it so, that once this transaction between man and beast was completed, then it was bound under oath, and no party involved could break it.

So in a way, Cain was winging it. He had no idea if Teddy would try to eat him up if it saw him in this state. If it did, he would have no choice but to face two extremely strong mutant beasts.

He was already in a fix when faced with one, so if another one was added to the mix, he was dead for sure...

'The goal right now is to stay alive long enough for Teddy to arrive. If he turns on me, then I can only blame it all on bad luck.'

Although his situation was extremely shitty, the same grin that had been on his face since the beginning, remained there, unchanged...

The feeling of not being able to control fate...

This feeling of recklessness made his breath quicken...

The feeling of having his life hang over the edge made him excited...

'I need to go faster!'

Cain tightened his grip on his blade and released the skill attached to it. The dark aura of {Fear} burst out and collided with that of the {Devil-eyed White Primate}.

'Faster than I've ever gone before!'

Burst Step!

With a boom, Cain used all the power in his legs to perform a forward leap. His feet lit aflame with magical fire, as he reached his maximum speed, but it still wasn't enough...

BANG!

The mutant beast easily dodged out of the way, completely avoiding Cain's attack, as it struck at his back with its terrifying claws...

CLANG!

Cain brought his blade up in time for the barrage of attacks. He managed to block off a majority, but a few connected, sending him flying into the air. The mutant leaped after him, its jaws spread wide open, hoping to devour him.

Mana Blade!

Lightening Edge!

Cain activated two of his best skills at once. The combined effect was as devastating as it was deadly.

But it was still lacking...

The eyes of the {Devil-eyed White Primate} shone once again with a profound light, as it disappeared from his sight once again. He didn't have any opportunity to guard against the unexpected blow that came crashing down upon him from above.

CRASH!

"Blegh!"

Cain threw up a large amount of blood as his back slammed against the cold, hard forest ground. The {Devil-eyed White Primate} stalled for a brief moment in midair, before following after. That brief moment of pause was enough for Cain to get his bearing. He rolled out of the way, dodging the fleshy meteorite aimed at taking his life.

With a loud bang, the creature crashed into the solid earth, stirring up a dust cloud...

As Cain stared into the cloud of dust, all he could see was the dark silhouette and bone-white eyes of the {Devil-eyed White Primate}.

He could feel it staring at him through the cloud of dust...

Its aura was so malevolent, any normal person would have done the right thing by now, given up...

But Cain wasn't normal...

He was as far from normal as one could get...

'Faster... Faster... Faster...'

Speed beat speed...

The only way to fight this beast was to get faster...

The mana within him rumbled at his command and stormed to the various parts of his body...

Mana was like water. It had form and was formless at the same time. This meant that it could be manipulated as one wished, the only limits being the number of magic points one possessed, and the imagination...

Cain lacked neither...

Each mana potion could only recover 100MP per vial, and he only had a little less than 20 left, so whatever he wanted to do, he had to mind his mana consumption.

'Reduce the flow... Do not over consume...'

The Mana within him was previously a turbulent sea. Suddenly, it began to flow like a calm river.

His entire body was suddenly enveloped in a thin film of mana seeping out of his pores...

The surrounding air was displaced, stirring up a slight disturbance in the surroundings. Leaves and dust were being blown away.

The dust clouds surrounding the {Devil-eyed White Primate} cleared up as the beast launched itself at Cain once again, this time, with increased speed. The same milky white aura that had previously boosted its speed to dangerous levels had once again appeared around it.

'Faster...'

The mana within his body flowed faster and faster, leaking out of his pores in small but steady amounts.

'Rather than just my feet...'

He suddenly surpassed his limits...

And released the fetters he had placed upon himself...

BOOM!

The mellow river instantly turned into a tsunami...

His insides were struck repeatedly by the violent waves of mana, making him cough a few mouthfuls of blood, but he endured...

His crimson-red eyes suddenly gained a hint of ocean blue within them. The two colors mixed violently together, creating an enchanting purple hue deep within his eyes...

An ocean-blue aura exploded out of him. Combined with the golden aura he constantly exuded when in {Golden Blood} mode, he looked even more majestic.

CLANG!

For the first time since the beginning of their fight, Cain managed to block every single attack of the {Devil-eyed White Primate}. Not only that, he finally counterattacked...

His blade whipped out like a bolt of lightning, burning the air around it, and creating plasma in the process. Traces of electricity are produced from the friction between the molecules in the air and the blade stuck to its surface...

The {Devil-eyed White Primate} was extremely shocked at the unimaginable burst of speed Cain had just displayed and was completely caught off guard.

It was unable to react in time.

SLICE!

A deep cut in its midsection. Cain had finally landed a solid blow!

The wound began to bleed profusely, as the creature let out a howl of pain and rage.

"You aren't so fast now, are you?"

{Congratulations to the host... You have created a new skill}...