"What’s up with this speed? Heck, I could barely see its moves."
Ian felt awed at such a degree of acceleration. The vampire race is known for its speed and agility. Now, the animal pretending to be god in front of him actually shows such speed that it far surpasses him.
"So you’re not only a mage but you’re also a damned speedster."
Before Ian could finish his words, nine lightning bolts struck him. One in the head, one in the chest, the rest on the body. He felt his stomach churned upside down at the might that the lightning bolts contained. Not to mention, the electricity that made his body numb.
Ian swallowed the lump of blood that had formed in his throat. If one looked at Ian at this moment, his hair looks like seaweed scattered in different directions. Various burns that the lightning bolts inflicted had stained his body. The pain was unimaginable. If not for the resistance that he had built for pain, he might have been knocked unconscious.
"What a tough body... Is this really his true power? Is this really what a being should have?"
The battle between the terrifying deer and Ian was an eye-opener for him, to say the least. The longer the battle dragged out, the worry grew in his heart grew bigger.
’If push comes to shove, I’ll just forcefully pull him with my dimensional space even at the cost of my temporary drop in power."
After all, the dimensional power hidden in his divine eyes was something he hadn’t fully mastered yet, even after long years of attempts, training, and meditation. Gradually, he has realized that he didn’t have the talent to understand the power of space. To master space, one needs to have absolutely clear thoughts when doing nothing, and absolutely no distractions when doing something.
As the battle reached the climax, Ian kept dodging the lightning bolts whilst he chased the agile bouncing deer. It was a game of tag, but the longer it dragged on, the deer showed clear signs of exhaustion from the high-intensity fight. Ian, with his body full of vitality, could fight for hundreds of days and nights. This is the advantage of having a strong body compared to the deer, which only relies on its abilities.
"Is this your full power? Can you only keep running? But the question is... Can you run forever?"
Ian maintained a calm demeanor. If it were others, they would have been upset by the guerrilla harassment tactic that the deer was doing. Yet Ian had maintained his exposure with no signs of irritation on his face.
"Damned mortal!" The deer had already lost its previous complacency, and a trace of fear had replaced it.
Such a humiliation is something that he hasn’t experienced as someone who had looked down upon mortals all his life. In his opinion, mortals are just ants that he could crush with his lightning bolts. It had always been that way. But now...
"Hehe..." Ian’s calves contracted, with full force, he leapt towards the deer, and the ground where his feet were planted exploded.
Just as the deer instinctively tried to accelerate, the exhaustion finally caught up, and his speed was visibly a lot slower. Although still fast, Ian had finally seen the chance.
With the advantage of ten-seconds in the future, Ian succeeded.
Ian’s platinum claws penetrated the neck of the deer. With one thrust, the claws ripped the throat apart. Then, Ian clenched his fist and banged. It connected to the deer’s previous aloof face. Its face caved in as Ian’s fist flattened its nose.
With thunderous punches, Ian threw a flurry of upper-cuts, and blood stained the ground as the Deer’s face turned unrecognizable.
The Grand Elder couldn’t help but cover his face at such a level of barbaric pummeling.
"Such a weak body. Relying solely on ability. To neglect the training of physical body and you dare to fucking act arrogant?"
For Ian, his physical body was the foundation of all the abilities he had.
He looked down at the corpse of the deer with a gentle smile. "I mean, you can certainly act arrogant as long as you can back it up. You have powerful lightning bolts, can move faster than me by a notch... But ultimately, it’s the physical body that you neglect that has brought your downfall."
"I believe that every path has the same end. Magic path, blood path, divine path, destruction path, law path, etc, I think they’re just means to an end. However, no matter what path you take, your physical body must not be left behind, no matter what."
"Indeed. Indeed..." The Grand Elder appeared before Ian with an embarrassed face.
The Grand Elder had realized this truth a little too late. Vampires had absolute confidence in their blood path. The older one becomes, the purer their bloodline, the stronger the energy level becomes. However, it ultimately only gives a minor boost to the body. Well, the higher the energy level, the higher the boost to the physical body. Yet it wasn’t the ultimate focus.
’In the end, it’s too late... I’ve neglected my physical body as I’m confident that it won’t be too bad with the boost it receives from my blood purity.’
Unfortunately, reality was harsh. The world wasn’t kind to lazy people. The Grand Elder ultimately paid for his complacency. As years passed, he had stepped to the top of the hierarchy of the Blood Realm. He faced several powerhouses among the dark race that had revealed this subtle weakness that he had.
Suddenly, Ian did something that made the Grand Elder speechless. Ian devoured the corpse of the deer voraciously. Ian’s face at this time was that of ecstasy, not caring about the Grand Elder’s gaze of confusion upon him.
With the last bite of the heart, Ian received the notification that he had received biomass. He looked at his status and saw the amount. A satisfied smile appeared on his face. Although still far from the one million goal, it was progress.
"What?" Ian raised his eyebrow at the elder.
The Grand Elder shook his head quickly. "Nothing."
He knew that everyone has a secret. Ian’s business wasn’t something he should meddle with. Of course, he also has guesses on his mind.