Dismembered bodies of Theihorns scattered on the ground. A metallic smell mixed in with the scent of damp soil.
Nearby forest beasts warily hid while they watched the ongoing fight between three Theihorns and a strange human.
Kyran whirled the Void Spear in his hands above his head before leaping. A dark purple color gathered on the spear’s tip, forming a vortex above.
The last three Theihorns growled as they leaped to meet him in midair. All three of them opened their fang-filled mouth combining their magic to form a massive ball of wind.
Once Kyran gathered enough force on his spear, he swung horizontally toward the three Theihorns unleashing a dark purple wave attack.
At the same time, the three Theihorns released the ball of wind and collided with the Kyran’s attack.
A gust of wind burst between them as soon the two attacks met, creating a shockwave that made both sides jump back.
The dark purple wave overwhelmed the massive ball of wind and sliced it in half. The ball of wind slowly dissipated in the air while the dark purple wave picked up momentum and flew toward the three Theihorns.
All three leaped back; however, the one in the middle was a second late, and the dark purple wave sliced off its hind legs.
The Theihorn howled in pain.
Regaining his footing, Kyran sprinted forward and went after the Theihorn to his left. He held the spear’s shaft on both hands as he twisted his body to the right. The spear’s blade left a two-inch trail on the ground as he dragged it forward, building momentum.
His target saw his approach, and immediately its eyes flashed as the wind started to gather around him.
Kyran stomped on his left foot to add more power to his momentum as he jumped, slashing the spear upward to the Theihorn. A dark purple wave was released from the spear, slicing through the wind that the Theihorn tried to form. Then Kyran whirled the spear and struck the Theihorn horizontally before it could evade.
The Theihorn whimpered as the spear’s blade sliced through its chest, followed by its blood and internal organs spilling out.
Then.
An angry roar approached from Kyran’s left.
Instinctively, Kyran lifted his left arm and aimed his opened hand toward the approaching Theihorn. His silver eyes turned reddish-purple as purple rings appeared in front of his hand. He looked at the approaching Theihorn that pounced at him with wide opened mouth.
The purple rings in Kyran’s hand converged and slowly formed into a staff with a diameter of two centimeters. It extended and thickened at an alarming speed shooting through the Theihorn’s opened mouth, piercing its mouth palate before going straight to its brain.
The Theihorn could not even utter a whimper before its eyes lost their glow, and it fell on the ground with a loud thud.
Kyran released his Void Spear as he dropped with one knee touching the ground. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face as he panted heavily while his heart was beating painfully against his chest.
Finally, he got rid of all seven Theihorns. It was exhausting but worthwhile. Now he had a rough idea of how much magic energy he consumed each time he switched between using his Void Magic and Regis Blessing.
Taking a deep breath to calm his heart, Kyran finally straightened and stood up.
‘Argh,’ he winced, feeling a searing hot pain on his ribcage.
When he first fought the seven Theihorns, there was a time where one of them sneaked behind him and bit him. It would’ve snapped him in half if not for his coat’s enchantment, as well as the Regis Body Tempering Technique.
Still, the Theihorn’s fang pierced his skin, and due to the adrenalin rush he was feeling throughout the fight, he was able to ignore the pain.
Now that the fight was over, Kyran finally felt the pain.
Kyran touched his left ribcage and winced. Due to the enchantment of his coat, it already mended the torn parts. But his torn skin was still bleeding inside.
Kyran deactivated the Cloaking Array before he closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to feel the extent of the damage he received.
‘Argh, damn it. The fangs are poisoned,’ Kyran cursed as a numbing feeling started to spread from his open wound.
The Conclave’s information did not include the Theihorn’s fangs having poison.
He took out a detoxifying potion and drank it.
However, the potion’s effect was too weak. It could barely prevent the poison from spreading.
‘I need a place to rest,’ Kyran thought while looking around him.
He was not worried that the poison would kill him. Because he was trained to get used to poison at an early age, this was the reason why most toxins had little effect on him. However, he was not entirely immune to it either. He would still need time to naturally detoxify in his body using the Regis Blood Cleansing Technique.
‘First, secure the three materials for the Conclave and,’ Kyran looked at the bodies of the Theihorns nearby, ‘See what material I can salvage from this mess.’
For the next half hour, Kyran busied himself in breaking down the three Theihorns body parts. He did not have a problem dismembering it because his uncle Hal taught him how to dismember a forest beast body to preserve its quality correctly.
After he was done, he carefully collected the parts and placed them inside the Blacksmith Order’s compartments. Then he put them in his pouch.
Next, he collected the parts from the seven Theihorns he fought.
It took Kyran more than an hour to complete the task. And by then, he already felt dizzy from the poison.
‘Not good. I have to find a place to rest,’ Kyran thought and took out the map again.
He confirmed his location and found a small cliff nearby where a cave was located.
The cave on the map had two red X marks, meaning it was an unexplored area.
Kyran did not care. Since the forest beasts avoided him without the Cloaking Array, he was sure he would be safe even if that cave were occupied. Of course, he would not brazenly occupy it. He would still find a safer spot where he could rest because there was no telling if a beast would be bold enough to attack him in his sleep.
Kyran returned the map on his pouch and continued on his way.
After more than a quarter of an hour, Kyran arrived at the edge of the cliff.
The distance of the cliff to the bottom was at least thirty meters. It was relatively short and would be easy to jump down.
Kyran activated the Regis Body Tempering Technique and was about to jump when his vision doubled, and he fell on his knees.
“Argh….” He placed a hand on his head, feeling the veins on his temples pound erratically.
‘Just a bit more…’ He told himself through gritted teeth.
He wanted to activate the Regis technique at that moment but decided against it. If he used the blood cleansing while on the move, the blood circulation might get disrupted, and poison residue would seep into his veins.
Mustering his willpower, Kyran braced himself and stood up. Then he walked for a couple more minutes to the edge of the cliff and jumped down, stepping on protruding boulders on the edges one after another until he reached the bottom.
It took Kyran another five minutes to locate the cave.
As soon as he entered, a foul smell assaulted his senses
‘This,’ he frowned slightly.
The smell inside the cave was a mixture of rotten bodies and death. He had an urge to throw up because the smell was too much for him with his enhanced senses from the Regis Body Tempering Technique.
He immediately released the technique to lessen the smell because it made him dizzier.
Moving with caution, Kyran walked deeper inside the cave and searched for a nice spot to rest.
The cave was at least ten meters high and twenty meters wide. Stalactites filled the ceiling while stalagmites lined the walls. The minerals on the stalactites above gave a faint blue glow which lit up the whole cave a little.
After walking for another twenty minutes, Kyran finally reached a dead end. He surveyed the area and found a small opening to his right.
Looking at the size of the opening, Kyran guessed that there must be big enough space up there for him to stay. He walked over while looking at the stalagmites below the opening.
Ignoring the throbbing on his temples and the searing pain on his wounds, he jumped from stalagmites to stalagmites until he reached the opening.
As soon as Kyran landed inside the opening, he heard a small yelp coming from the dark corner ahead.
Kyran looked up, instantly molding a Void Knife, and threw at a spot in front of him.
“Ah!”
A small voice yelled in pain.
Kyran’s eyes immediately narrowed because the voice belonged to… a girl.
Before he could move in to kill, stones came one after another missing him by a wide margin. He could not help but sweat a little for the person’s lack of accuracy.
“D-Don’t c-come any c-closer!” The voice said.
Kyran’s eyes slowly adjusted in the dark, and he soon saw a filthy skinny little girl with dark short messy hair wearing tattered clothes. She was holding what looked like a broken stalactite.
However, Kyran did not feel threatened. Not because he knew the stalactite could not hurt him but because the girl was facing a spot to his left, where most of the stones thrown earlier landed.
Kyran’s brow creased slightly as he took a step forward.
The girl moved her head a little to the right, but her attention was still at the spot on Kyran’s left.
“I-I said d-don’t come any c-closer!” She threatened unconvincingly because of her shaky voice and hands.
Throb!
“Argh-!” Kyran winced as his temples throbbed again.
“Y-You-.”
Kyran fell on all fours.
“Damn it, not yet…” He said under his breath.
However, his vision started to blur, and he barely activated the Regis Blood Cleansing Technique before he fell entirely on the ground and passed out.