Clash

Seeing that the invading human had no intentions of leaving, the wolf's growl grew louder, before turning into a deafening roar.

It didn't bark, though. Only weaker lower ranked species did so, which only made the Lykos look more terrifying.

A heavy pressure weighed against Liam's mind, causing him to scowl deeply, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

Simultaneously, the Lykos' black fur turned ethereal, oozing out similar-colored smoke that covered its body.

'I've never fought against a darkness beast before, but from what I've read about them, I can't let that smoke touch me.'

A deep gurgling sounded from the beast's chest, paired with an ethereal black substance — the center of which appeared liquid — shooting out from its throat, rapidly beaming for Liam's figure.

Liam's hands flickered.

He swung his blades as one, aiming for the dark vapor and Lykos simultaneously.

His wakizashi glowed, and an arc of moonlight brightened the cave, colliding with the smoke.

The smoke parted ways, but not before the liquid center made the arc of light completely redundant.

The smoke dissipated into air, while the liquid center sploshed against the wall behind him.

This was the darkness element, extremely versatile and equally dangerous – able to mend and change like a shadow depending on how it was used.

The Shadow Lykos had multiple innate abilities that grew stronger with each rank, with natural manipulation capabilities growing stronger too.

Suddenly, the Lykos' body churned.

It gurgled again, before shooting another blob from its throat — faster and larger — dripping with liquid darkness.

Liam didn't dodge the smoke like normal since it was so fast, but that wasn't his intention.

His katana flickered with a gentle solar glow, before a lengthy, orange colored arc shot out from it, clashing with the liquid cloud of darkness.

Simultaneously, he ducked low as he dashed forth, closing the distance between the wolf and himself using the bright flash of the first form – using the beast's blinded eye to his advantage.

The wolf was caught off guard for a moment as it attempted to block Liam's blade with its sharp canine teeth.

A moment was all Liam needed.

Liam asserted 'Ora' into his newly forged blades, causing wind to gather around it and whir on their edges - radiating sharpness.

An arc of solar light flew in the dark and headed straight for the Lykos' neck, before the blades themselves followed shortly after.

Liam grit his teeth and used all the strength – and 'Ora in his body – to force his blades through its black skin.

The katana penetrated through the fur of the Lykos first, before the wakizashi did the same.

The wind caused a clean cut to appear on its body, even before the blades made contact.

At the same time, the Lykos grabbed a hold of Liam's thigh, clenching its giant maws on it.

Its long and sharp canine teeth - coated with darkness brutally dug through his flesh, sending pangs of pain throughout his body.

'DIE ALREADY!'

Liam swung his blades as hard and viciously as he could, using every bit of adrenaline in his veins to deepen the wounds on the Lykos' stubborn skin.

Thankfully, the wolf couldn't use its darkness element, since Liam struck exactly in its midsection. More precisely, its core.

The two were at a stalemate, and whoever could cause the most grievous wounds would win.

Liam's training hadn't been for absolutely nothing. His pain tolerance over the past year had gone up to near masochistic amounts.

With a loud shout, he forced his katana through the top of the wolf's head, its tip exiting through the bottom.

His wakizashi on the other hand pierced it from bottom to top.

The Shadow Lykos continued to yank and pull away the flesh from Liam's thigh — mangling chunks of his flesh — until gradually, it lost the strength to do so.

A puddle of dark red liquid formed below it, while it took deep strained breaths in.

The light faded from its remaining eye – its body went limp, but its jaw was stuck to Liam's thigh as it eventually died.

Liam's sword and dagger clinked as it fell to the ground, allowing him to pry the wolf's jaw away from his bloodied and bruised leg.

As he did so, warm blood continued to ooze from his leg — which had a few of the Lykos' teeth stuck to it. He fell to the ground and panted heavily – allowing himself a short respite.

'Shit, I have a headache…'

Liam hesitated whether or not to use his strong revitalization pills, but his wounds already began to heal – becoming nourishment.

Choosing not to, he sat cross-legged and began to cultivate, circulating 'Ora' within his wounds to heal them quicker.

'Damn dog bit me to the bone. This works, though. I'm already getting close to completing the lower-stage.'

After feeling slightly better, he perked back up and started to skin the beast.

After it died, the wolf was flaccid, but still almost powerful enough to resist the strength of his blades.

Almost.

The most accurate parable explaining the difference in bodily strength could be: the first rank being wood, the second – stone, and the third, steel.

They were capable of damaging each other, but nonetheless, had major advantages.

'The Shadow Lykos is a rare species of magical beast, and no doubt each part would fetch a hefty price.'

After skinning the wolf successfully taking out the parts, he stored them inside the ring.

He left the core for last, and after extracting it from the body, saw that it was pitch black in color.

'Would Rogan make me a pair of blades from this?'

Smiling, he made space in his ring before quickly shoving the three meter beast inside the ring.

With that, he left the den once and for all.