Chapter 20: Battle Against the Earthen Boar

The early rays of the sun graced the dark forest, announcing the arrival of dawn. However, Ain wasn’t in the mood to appreciate the warm brilliance.

With Temporal Blitz’s failure, the boar’s charge remained unperturbed, ramming at him with its sharp tusks pointing menacingly. “Growl!”

Ain was momentarily stunned, but his reaction wasn’t delayed. Realizing the attack’s failure, he immediately jumped to avoid the charging boar, allowing it to pass underneath. He grabbed onto a sturdy branch above while calling out to Nox, “Nox!”

“Wooo…!” Nox immediately fused into his body, a sign of using Possession. Sensing the strength and power surging within him, Ain leapt back onto the ground, crushing the dead leaves underneath.

The boar’s violent charge, failing to strike its enemy, propelled it further, granting him the opportunity to strike from behind. Sharp white claws manifested and slashed at the boar’s unguarded rear.

“Growl!” The boar cried out in pain and anger, huffing white steam through its nose. Crimson blood sullied its tough bristles, flowing down the four deep slashes from his Phantom Claws.

“Its skin is so tough,” Ain thought while backing away as the mace-like heavy tail swung at him. He had been wary of its tail since the beginning.

The second aethercore had bolstered Ain’s aether and physique greatly. The current combination of Possession and Phantom Claws held the possibility of routing the gray ferret in one strike and even penetrating Carl’s defensive spell. However, this boar only suffered a deep slash. It wasn’t terrible, but he was expecting more after his recent upgrade.

Carl might’ve suffered similar damage after his defensive spell was broken through. It was conceivable that this spirit beast’s skin was much tougher.

Just as he retreated, the boar turned around in an attempt to headbutt him. However, Ain dodged the attack again while delivering a long slash to its side. This time, alongside the attack, he also activated Scan.

[Species: Earthen Boar]

[Aspect: Earth]

[Quality: Noble | Max Quality: Noble]

[Rank: Rank-1]

[Innate Skills: Earthen Mace]

[Skills: Stone Bullet]

[Aspect Traces: Earth 73.5%, Metal 9.4%, Blood 3.4%, …]

Ain glimpsed through the information, gaining a better understanding of his foe. The earth aspect sounded robust and sturdy, possibly contributing to the Earthen Boar’s powerful defense.

“It doesn’t have a description. Just like Nox,” he mentally noted in passing. It seemed spirit beasts didn’t have descriptions. Resources, medicines, artifacts, and even he himself possessed a description.

“I need to watch out for its skills. Earthen Mace is likely related to its tail, so it shouldn’t be difficult to avoid, and Stone Bullet isn’t difficult to grasp either. It sounds like a stone projectile.”

“Growl!” The Earthen Boar screamed, infuriated by the terrible wounds on its body. It began releasing obvious aether fluctuations as its tusks glowed with an earthly brown aura.

This sight instantly alerted Ain. The aether fluctuations and visible phenomenon resembled what he’d seen when the gray ferret used its skill.

It’s using a skill!

He cast a quick glance at the Earthen Boar’s mace-like tail. It didn’t display any anomalies.

It must be using Stone Bullet.

In a split second, Ain made his decision. He’d become stronger, but Nox hadn’t improved much. He couldn’t drag on this battle for too long. Without Temporal Blitz, only a fatal strike could swiftly end this battle. Learning from Carl’s example, his target was clear.

As the Stone Bullet condensed between the Earthen Boar’s glowing tusks, Ain started walking towards it while utilizing Nox’s perception to its fullest.

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Whoosh!

With a whoosh, the Earthen Boar released its attack. The small Stone Bullet pierced through the air speedily, heading right for him. Just as it reached within a couple of meters, Ain hastily altered his movements, performing a little zig-zag maneuver to dodge the Stone Bullet.

In fact, this reaction wasn’t instantaneous but premeditated. The moment his opponent’s aether fluctuations reached its peak, he was already prepared. He couldn’t have dodged such a fast projectile otherwise.

The Earthen Boar hadn’t yet reacted when Ain appeared within range and pierced its eyes with Phantom Claws.

“Squeal!”

Immediately, a pig-like agonizing cry escaped its mouth as it began to thrash around violently. The heavy tail behind it was quickly suffused by the earthly brown glow. However, this sight only served to strengthen Ain’s resolve to push further.

His claws, still piercing the struggling Earthen Boar, twisted viciously, digging deeper into the opponent’s head. Just as it was about to use Earthen Mace, his narrow fingertips finally poked through its brain tissue, ripping it to shreds.

“Squeal!!”

The Earthen Boar’s struggles intensified before it suddenly fell silent. The glow suffusing its mace-like tail dissipated. Once the gruesome and bloody claws were removed, its body swayed unsteadily before toppling onto the forest floor with a thud.

Ain’s rushed breathing quickly recovered after he retreated. He observed the Earthen Boar for a while and finally confirmed its demise. Nox also appeared on his shoulder, slightly exhausted, but not to the previous extent. To accelerate its recovery, he passed over the Prismatic Void Stone.

“Wooo…” Nox accepted it joyfully.

While staring at the Earthen Boar’s corpse, Ain couldn’t help but review the battle.

Temporal Blitz had failed.

He ruled out a faulty execution. The shockwave confirmed the perfection in his motions, while Wisdom Root assured the spell rune’s completion and proper aether circulation. Nothing was different from the previous instances.

As he pondered, the sun’s rays peaked through the branches, inducing his eyes to narrow. The sun… he was outside the secret realm now.

“According to the Chronarch Precept, time-aspect spells require a contract with at least one time-aspect spirit pet. I initially ignored this information since I encountered no issues using Temporal Blitz. Could this be the reason?”

“The likelihood of the meditation technique being wrong is minuscule.”

“The trial space must’ve been special, allowing me to use Temporal Blitz without a time-aspect spirit pet.”

Ain thought of numerous possibilities and this one seemed the most plausible.

“If that’s true, then I won’t be able to use Temporal Blitz, or even learn Temporal Shift. I’m only left with the incomplete Temporal Blitz and Nox’s skills…”

Losing the time spells was disheartening. He’d been looking forward to learning Temporal Shift once an opportunity arose. Now, he’d need to acquire a time-aspect spirit pet first.

“Unless the second aethercore can form contracts, I’ll have to wait until Rank-2 to form another contract,” Ain realized. He sighed lightly before clearing his mind. It wouldn’t be too late to think about this after returning home.

During this brief respite, his vision remained trained on the Earthen Boar.

“I’m hungry…” Ain muttered, feeling the onset of the hunger he’d been suppressing these past few days.

It was dawn already, and the dangers in the forest would reduce somewhat. In the past hour, this boar was the only dangerous encounter.

“Nox, let’s take a break.” He decided.

“Wooo…” Nox expressed its unyielding agreement with his opinions.

Ain smiled at it before glancing at the puppet that hadn’t played a role in the previous battle. With its lower rank, he feared the puppet’s destruction when facing the violent Earthen Boar. Although the puppet could be repaired, or even completely restored upon destruction, the resource cost was quite high, and he was fairly confident in defeating the Earthen Boar without its assistance.

Holding the Puppet Command Token, he meticulously commanded the puppet.

Soon, a patrol perimeter was established for the puppet, primarily to scout for early signs of danger.

Once the puppet commenced its duties, Ain used Phantom Claws to harvest some meat from the Earthen Boar. Dry branches and camping supplies he’d looted from Mason served to start a roasting fire.

Black smoke gradually reached the sky amidst the rays of dawn.

Seated on a fallen tree trunk, Ain held a makeshift skewer, hastily devouring the fragrant meat by the mouthfuls.

“So delicious! I’ve never eaten meat this delicious before!” He muttered with bright eyes. This was his first encounter with spirit beast meat, and he’d even skipped directly to Rank-1 meat.

Rank-0 meat could be consumed by mortal humans, but Ain’s circumstances never allowed for it. He’d only eaten meat from regular beasts and rodents.

With each luscious bite, the rich juices overflowed, trickling down his mouth freely. It served to further stain his dirty and tattered clothes, adding onto the mixture of sweat, blood, and dirt. His face wasn’t faring any better, covered in dried blood smears, grease, and grime. With tangled matted hair, his appearance was barely recognizable.

“Wooo…!” Nox observed Ain curiously, mimicking his mood. It proclaimed the Prismatic Void Stone’s delectable taste, suggesting him to partake.

Ain generously refused its proposal while offering some meat to Nox. He was genuinely curious whether it could consume it.

“Wooo…!” Nox expressed its joy at Ain’s gesture. It used its cloudy form to surround the meat skewer. This was its method of consuming the food. He watched as the meat gradually disintegrated before it was mysteriously absorbed by Nox.

Soon, only the makeshift wooden skewer remained as it fell through its body, landing on the forest floor.

“So it can eat regular food too…” Ain noted without disrupting his own munching. He then gazed at the Prismatic Void Stone floating inside Nox, exhibiting no signs of crumbling. There wasn’t even a chip on the black stone. Its rank didn’t differ from the meat, both at Rank-1.

“Curious.” He muttered.

After observing Nox, Ain prepared more skewers above the fire before returning to the fallen tree trunk. He glanced at the dense trees around him before his gaze naturally shifted to the gradually brightening skies. Yet, once he did so, his persistent chewing abruptly halted.

In the skies above, glancing right at him, were two floating silhouettes.