The panther ignored the slagpaste on its skin and lunged at Siderius once more. The projectile did not hurt it and that was all it cared about. It wasted no time to initiate the attack, thinking the human had lost his strength. Get full chapters from noveⅼfire.net
The panther turned into a blur in the air, an impressive speed that was comparable to Pax’s maximum speed.
However, Pax reached his speed from the momentum of a long distance charge. This beast could explode to this speed in seconds.
Parave was useless against this attack. Siderius would be mauled to death if he tried to use it. So he didn’t bother.
He jumped to the side again, getting away from the beast. Its attack patterns were predictable. Without the element of surprise, it was never going to touch him.
The panther had no way to ambush him when his eyes were the better night vision.
Siderius used the same tactic. Slowed it down with the Vertigo. And then hurt it with a projectile.
He didn’t want to prolong this fight as he did not know his enemy well enough. So he used a Phosphorus Projectile.
The projectile hit the beast. The blinding light of the blue flame once again appeared in this world. It spread quickly, fused with the slagpaste to become even more deadly.
This time, the beast was unable to walk off unscathed. The Phosphorus stuck on its body and burned fiercely. It was even a bigger fire than Siderius anticipated. Whatever the black oil was, it fueled the power of the Phosphorus.
The beast shrieked in pain for the first time and it writhed on the ground, trying to extinguish the flame.
That attempt was futile. Slagpaste and Phosphorus were a devastating combination. It would not be able to get rid of the flame. The only way was to submerge under a body of water.
The panther got on its feet. The blue flame engulfed its dark frame, creating a hellish creature that seemed to belong in hell.
It growled one last time while delivering its piercing gaze toward Siderius. Its message was clear.
The beast would return and hunt him down.
But right now, Siderius had won. The beast disappeared into the woods, running at its maximum speed.
With its self-healing mechanism, one Phosphorus Projectile was never going to kill it. Maybe five or six of them could have a chance.
Siderius silently made a mental note about this Chaos Beast. It seemed like fire was its weakness. Or rather, the blue flame of Phosphorus. Whether a normal flame would be effective needed to be tested.
Siderius didn’t follow it. The panther was not the purpose of this journey.
Those eyes, however, piqued his interest. He might have the first candidate for his second level in Oculus Extima.
It had a pair of slit pupils which could adjust its size to fit with the current environment, whether it was night or day. The Chaos Beast was also worthy to be an experiment. They may help him learn more about the limitations of the human body.
That task was for the future. As currently, he didn’t even understand the true extent of Fluff’s eyes yet.
Siderius left the area and followed Red’s footprints. He hoped that it didn’t go too far or completely run away. That would be a wasted opportunity. Siderius was having good progress on training and connecting with the horse.
Luckily, Red didn’t venture far. It stayed on the road and walked back and forth, seemingly waiting for Siderius.
It let out a joyful noise when Siderius appeared and ran toward him. For the first time, Red didn’t need any treat to come into contact with Siderius.
It pushed its head at Siderius’ hand, asking him to pet it.
"This panther might be a blessing in disguise." Siderius muttered. He caressed the horse gently, calming it down.
Their journey together had not come to an end yet and once again, the hunter and the horse continued on the road.
Red was so traumatized by today’s event that Siderius decided to let it rest, not doing any other training.
Dusk had passed and night arrived. Siderius didn’t want to encounter the panther again so he travelled a bit more, trying to get out of its territory.
The moon was nowhere to be seen that day and darkness filled the land. Now, only animals with a good night vision would roam the woods.
The wind howled in the night and trees trembled to its song.
In the far distance, a large stone structure stood tall above the trees. A tower with a triangular black roof.
After half an hour, the hunter and the horse reached the structure only to see the front of a stone castle. Its gate was two big wooden doors that would not be easy to break down.
The tower that Siderius saw was the highest structure in the castle. On top of it was an old bell. That must be the bell tower of a church.
And this castle must be the monastery that Siderius had seen on the map. It was closer than he expected.
"Finally, a proper place to sleep. Me and you can rest peacefully tonight, Red." Siderius tapped the horse. It gave him a gentle neigh in response.
He took the first step toward the monastery. But his foot hovered on the ground, and didn’t land on the premise of the area.
The horse was confused. It was prepared to trot forward but upon seeing Siderius, it stayed behind. This human proved to be wise, he must have done it for a reason.
Siderius didn’t step forward. He retreated his foot.
"There is evil in this place."
The hunter squatted down. He grabbed a handful of salt in his pouch and dropped them on the place he was intending to step on.
"Reveal yourself." Siderius said.
The middle finger and index finger of his right hand stretched out. He touched the bottom of his hand to his lips and then the middle of his forehead.
Suddenly, the salt on the ground blasted away. Under it, a black curved line was revealed. The line seemed to continue further but the trace was hidden away.
The horse jerked its head back and retreated away from the line. It had seen too much in a day to put itself in danger again.
Siderius came and calmed it down, patting its neck gently.
"It’s okay... It’s okay...
It is only a magic circle."