Mystery In The Forest (II)

The clone hurriedly ran to the centre of the once battlefield.

His eyes darted around, desperately trying to find what he was looking for, but there was absolutely nothing.

All he could see was a faint dust spreading across the grass.

''No I have to let Mark know.''

The clone rushed back quickly, wanting to alert Mark to the situation before it was too late.

After two steps into the woods however, the clone turned around in fear.

A large, horrific eye faced him. The Pupil black like the endless void, bloodshot as if it had been crying.

It floated ominously in front of the clone, but as the clone tried to speak, he found he couldn't.

His panicked eyes looked down in fear, only to see his body slowly disintegrating, evaporating into dust.

[Alert]

[Hosts Clone has died.]

Mark, who had just submerged himself in practising the body tempering technique, heard the notification and was immediately dumbfounded.

''System what happened??''

[Host please explore yourself.]

This time, Mark received a cold and ruthless reply from the system.

''Huh, System, how am I meant to explore for myself? It's a death trap over there!'' Mark shouted angrily.

Even with his strength as a Rank 4 Small Warrior, he isn't brave enough to even leave the school right now.

Of course he knew the clone that died when he retrieved the weapons. But Mark could only sigh in discomfort as he gave up the idea of collecting the weapons back.

But this made Mark realise that he can't keep maintaining his strength at the level of an Ordinary person.

Although it means there will be the most Clones practising, the clones that are sent out won't be able to explore anything!

Especially now that Mark needs more credits to rearm his clones.

''System withdraws all the clones.'' Mark said confidently.

And as the clones around him burst into mist, Mark felt an influx of energy pour into his body. And memories pour into his mind.

Most of the memories consist of practising, but they are a valuable resource.

However he was most happy about the increase in strength. Dozens of clones practising at the same time is destined to provide good results.

The strands of Spiritual Energy inside of Marks body increased rapidly,

''System show me my Status.''

[Status

Name:Mark Ashfield

Combat Power: 210 (590)

Cultivation: Rank 4 Small Warrior

Strands of Energy: 59 ]

''800 Combat power?'' Mark nodded happily when he read the numbers.

This is enough to create 4 clones with 200 Combat power each!

They could definitely run rampant on the hunting grounds of the Sparking Rodent.

However Mark also realised his practice slowed down, at least without Spiritual Cores to support him, even Rank 1 cores could help him massively.

But Mark didn't want to return to the Sparking Rodents hunting ground, something was wrong there.

So he split into 3 clones, to leave himself with enough strength, and sent them towards a slightly stronger hunting ground.

***

The 3 clones quickly left the school, and headed towards a field at the rear of the city.

Along the way their rapid speed brought some slight attention, but that was all.

Soon they arrived at the decided upon hunting ground this time. With their current combat power comparable to Rank 1 Warriors, they of course wanted to fight stronger opponents.

So they picked the Creeds Ground. The creeds are a parasitic race, they exist in and around every city across the continent

They latch onto the bodies of dying or dead creatures and use their bodies for themselves.

Although the parasites don't have too much strength, they can inherit the strength of the body they occupy while they use it.

So although they exist everyone can't do anything about it. If you can't wipe them out they will get stronger and stronger.

But luckily they are a colonising race, so after they occupy a body they will return to wherever their queens nest in.

This makes it easy to manage the infestations, and it also makes a good hunting ground for weaker warriors.

Soon the three clones arrived.

''Split up and hunt our targets.'' The leading clone ordered in a gruff voice.

They didn't feel much of a threat here, so they didn't waste time sticking together.

Quickly the leading clone headed deep into a large forest. The air turned slightly gloomy as you could smell pungent blood.

Warriors and beasts died here all the time.

Suddenly the clone's ears twitched, and his face behind the hunting mask turned serious.

The bushes shivered, and a small black nose stuck out of the bush.

Following the black nose, a white and furry head stuck out.

It was actually a small puppy!

But this cute and cuddly creature had a revolting black and rotting hole poked directly through its forehead.

''Bah weakling.'' The clone spat condescendingly. This was an ordinary puppy, there was not even a strand of Spiritual Energy within it.

So he casually swung his sword out, slicing the head off of the creature in one smooth swipe.

Suddenly a creepy squeal appeared from the puppy, as a black and disgusting leech-like creature squeezed out of the hole on the puppies forehead.

''Disgusting.'' The clone's mouth sneered and his foot crushed the Creed below, exploding it into a black oily substance.

But before he could check the body, his body trembled slightly as he felt faint vibrations under his body.

''Not good!'' He leapt back kicking the puppies body directly into the bush it had just come out of.

Surprisingly, as the puppy crashed into the bush it didn't continue to move. It was as if it hit a wall.

The small white body crushed, with bones appearing out of the thin skin.

But the clone was more focused on what he saw, a shockingly large pitbull, reaching two metres in height!

It's flattened face now drenched in blood as it stared menacingly towards the clone.