The bear let out a roar. It forced itself to lunge forward with all its strength, and the strings snapped.
It let out another roar, its rage could be felt from a distance. It charged at Lucy, running at full speed and destroying the trees that stood in its way.
But Lucy stood unbothered, like it had nothing to do with her, and when the bear was within a few meters of her, she raised her hand into the air as another set of blood strings caught the bear, and this time they were stronger than the last.
The bear tried to push through it, tried to rip them like the last ones, but these didn’t rip. It struggled and struggled, but they only cut deeper.
"Blood art, Blood Coffin," she said, and suddenly a dome of blood formed around the bear, and spikes of blood shot from the dome, stabbing the bear. It tried its best to break free and break out, but no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t do it, and after a few seconds, it collapsed to the ground, weak and bleeding.
The dome vanished, and the blood returned to Lucy. What Zane saw when the dome was removed left him stunned and shocked. Never in a million years did he think the demon beast king would be defeated that easily; he didn’t know what to think at all.
When the fight had begun, he believed that they were pretty similar in strength. He didn’t think for once that she was simply toying with the bear, and when she was done, she ended it in a single moment.
"Master, I’ve taken it down. You should come and finish it off," Lucy yelled.
Those words sounded like the songs of an angel to Zane. Being able to finish the kill and gain the experience for it—there was nothing better than that.
He took out the dagger and rushed over. He stood at the head of this massive creature. It was still breathing, but barely. Its entire body was littered with holes, and life was slowly leaving it.
Riven wondered if he could take the blood, but it had no appeal to him, so he looked at Lucy. "Is this blood safe to drink?" he asked.
"Demon beasts carry faint demonic energy, an energy form that clashes with us. It would serve as poison if you drank it," she said.
"Ohh, thank goodness I didn’t drink it," he said. He walked to the bear and with the dagger in hand, he stabbed through the eye right into the brain. The bear let out a pained groan, but he kept pushing deeper and deeper until finally—
[You have gained 2000 EXP]
[Level up, you gained 4 stat points]
[Level up, you gained 4 stat points]
[Level up, you gained 4 stat points]
[Level up, you gained 4 stat points]
[You have gained an A-rank martial art, Swift Blade]
[Special event complete, 10 free stat points awarded]
The notifications came rolling in, and Zane was out of this world right now. He had gone up to level six in just two days, and he had gotten something that wasn’t just rare, but extremely rare—an A-ranked martial art.
He looked at Lucy and ran up to her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and started shaking her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he said and hugged her, and for a moment her pale skin became rosy, but he was far too happy to notice something like that.
"When we get to Raven City, we are going to do whatever you want, whatever," he said.
"Hmmm? Whatever I want? I’m supposed to serve you, Master," she replied.
"Screw that, you’ll get a whole day for us to do anything you want. No, a whole day is little—an entire week," he said.
Lucy smiled when she heard that. It was involuntary, but she couldn’t control it.
"Master is so happy because of what I did. I love Master’s smile. I’ll make sure to do even better to keep him smiling," Lucy thought as she stared at Zane.
Zane took a while to finally calm down, and then he opened the martial art that he had gained to see what it was like.
[Swift Blade – A-Rank Martial Art]
[A high-level close-combat martial art designed for lightning-fast assassinations and precision strikes. Swift Blade focuses on agility, fluidity, and momentum, allowing the user to move like a shadow across the battlefield and deliver rapid slashes with surgical accuracy. When activated, the user enters a heightened state of awareness and speed, their movements nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye.
Passive Effect: Each strike becomes faster and sharper, stacking up to 5 times. After each stack, movement speed and attack speed increase slightly.
Active Skill – Phantom Step: Instantly dash behind your target, ignoring obstacles and terrain, and deal a critical strike.
Active Skill – Blade Echo: Your slash creates afterimages that deal a percentage of the original damage. Afterimages can hit multiple enemies in an arc.
Preferred Weapon of Use: Dagger]
Zane took the time to read all the contents of the martial art, and the more he read, the more excited he got. He wanted to test the skill right away.
But Lucy came and tapped him on the shoulder. "Master, we should leave here. Other beasts will come this way because of the blood."
Zane knew they could probably take down any beast in this forest, but it was better not to get cocky and simply do the right thing and leave.
"Alright, let’s go," he said. He was still eager to try out the martial arts, so he already started looking for their next stop.