The Middle Ring was divided into three different sections. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd sections. After one passed through the 3rd section they would make it to the mist to go into the Inner Ring. There wasn’t a clear line to divide the sections but one could guess just by how tough the beasts were. The 1st section contained beasts that were at most at the 6th Grade. This was the section that Akata had made it to last time he was here.
Even with the increase in strength of the beasts, to Akata and some of the members of his group, they were still nothing. If the beasts were too strong to capture for the weaker members then one of the higher leveled cultivators would take over in capturing them. As of now, they still had yet to actually kill a beast.
The reason the weaker members would handle most of the work was so that the higher leveled members could save their strength for when times got rough and dangerous. Akata was an exception however, as his stamina and endurance was abnormal. He had three different cultivation bases after all.
The 1st section was still nothing to the members of the group. They came across a bunch of different beasts, however. There were Fanged Monkeys, Blood Rabbits, Lunar Bears, and the dreaded Angelbat.
The Angelbat was a bat-like creature that was completely white in color and had angel-like wings. It had horns on its head and back that glowed giving it a celestial look. But, it had a terrible cry that screeched out dark illusions to any targets in its range. Luckily, it only had four horns showing that it was only at the 4th Grade of the First Rank, otherwise it would’ve gotten troublesome.
Akata had to personally take action as his resistance towards illusions made him the only one capable of acting against it. It wasn’t that the illusions were tough to deal with, it was just that they were mixed in with the darkness element. This darkness corrupted the mind further and only Akata had the capabilities to combat it.
Needless to say, the 1st section of the Middle Ring was still nothing to the group and they quickly passed through it with ease. From time to time, Akata continued to feel a presence that eyed him and his group. As soon as he would act out on it, it would disappear however, so he wasn’t able to come up with any clues regarding it.
Scree! A cry came from up above and batted against the ears of the group below. Akata looked up with glaring eyes as a crimson streak flitted across them. He lifted up a hand and pointed at the incoming beast. ‘Finally some stronger beasts. My soul element needs some work and only the stronger beasts can take on my attacks.’ A crimson light flashed on his hand as it illuminated the forest.
It flashed toward the incoming Angelbat and engulfed it in a crimson shade. ‘Right now, I’m able to identify the effects and sources of the things I study with my element. But what can I do with that information?’ Akata’s mind flashed with thoughts as he pressed his attack. The crimson light seemed to scan all of the Angelbat’s body as it shone.
As it did, all sorts of information was transmitted back to Akata’s mind. It was as if he was receiving a transmission from some kind of message talisman or jade.
Horns that protrude from its head and back, identify cultivation level
It’s cry is filled with the Inner Element of Darkness that casts dark illusions in the mind of its target that is within range of its attack
It’s blood is tainted with curse energy that is poisonous when consumed but can be refined for different purposes
Information gradually poured into his own soul. At first, Akata had unconsciously done this through his skill in absorbing blood, but now that his skill with the Outer Element of Souls had increased, he was able to receive information without absorbing blood. The process of gathering the information was also much faster as well. It only took a single breath worths of time to get all the information he could from the beast.
The Angelbat felt as if its secrets and identity had been defiled and that nothing about itself was hidden from this foe. It let out another screech in Akata’s direction and flew in his direction, bent on attacking him.
Akata let out a sigh and then waved his hand as a red mist rose from his skin. It rushed out and grasped around the body of the Angelbat before sealing its movements. The Angelbat struggled relentlessly. but to no avail before it was tossed inside of the bag with the rest of the beasts.
‘All of my skills have some attack power except for my skills in the Outer Elements of Souls and Khaos. Khaos I can understand as I don’t have nearly enough experience with it. All I can do with it, is use it to bolster some of my existing attacks. I should have manifested a skill for the soul element already, however. Maybe I need more experience with it?’ Akata shook his head and continued walking.
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Stronger beasts kept on appearing as the group walked along. They soon came face to face with a 7th Grade beast signalling that they had already crossed into the 2nd section of the Middle Ring. They were moving at an easy consistent pace and if they kept this up they will surely make it to the Center Circle before the day ended. But that would be if the beasts were this weak throughout the whole thing.
“Let’s pick up the pace now. We’ll rest once we make it to the border of the Middle Ring and Inner Ring.” Akata spoke clearly. His words by now had pretty much become the edicts of law. His strengths, actions, and personality were vastly popular within his group. They had no qualms about anything he said and even if it was outrageous, he would take the lead and experience any potential danger first.
The group gradually increased its speed. The further along they went, the smaller the sections became. But the beasts in the sections also became stronger and more concentrated. It wasn’t uncommon for the group to come face to face with a pack of beasts congregated together. In these cases, capture was of secondary importance and killing the beasts took top priority. Only when the numbers were manageable would they consider capturing again.
In the 2nd section, the beasts were as strong as the 8th Grade. Some of the members of the group were able to easily handle these beasts and so Akata could relax some. He still kept his guard up along with his nature sense. Although all the others had awakened their divine sense and some of the stronger ones were able to spread it out to a distance of over a hundred meters. Akata’s nature sense vastly surpassed their acuteness and sensing capabilities.
“Hmm? A fast moving beast is in the distance. It seems to be keeping an eye on us. Basik Bufmann and Sumting Wong, look for a chance to attack it from a distance.” Akata said as he sensed the beast nearby. Basik Bufmann and Sumting Wong were the two strongest disciples within the group. Both were at the 8th Grade of the First Rank and like the others were monsters in their own right. However, they both focused on mid to long range attacks and weren’t that proficient in close combat.
They both immediately scanned the area with their divine sense in search of the beast that Akata had sensed. They spread it to a maximum yet when they did all their faces could do was show confusion. They didn’t find anything at all.
“Could you be mistaken, Akata? There isn’t anything in the area at all. Unless it is farther away than what my divine sense can reach.” Basik Bufmann spoke in a disbelieving tone.
“What do you mean? It’s within 50 meters of us.” Akata turned his head and said with furrowed brows. Even now he still had the beast within his nature sense and could see its every movement. He was going to think that they were planning some kind of joke but both Sumting Wong and Basik Bufmann had confused looks on their faces.
Akata stopped walking and turned to them. “Are you saying that you can’t sense it?” He asked seriously. He looked on as both of them nodded their heads. Some others even said that they couldn’t sense whatever he was talking about either.
‘I’ve never heard of anything that can hide from divine sense before. Is it just divine sense because I can sense it with my nature sense. Or is it because of something else?’ Akata pondered for a moment before making a decision. “We’re going to capture this beast. Nobody is to try to land a killing blow on it. I’ll take the lead on combatting it. Left flank and Sumting Wong, support me in attacking it. Right flank and Basik Bufmann keep a watch on our surroundings. Everyone else make sure that it doesn’t escape. Alright let’s go.”
With that the whole group instantly darted off, following behind Akata. It was only a distance of fifty meters and in a short few breaths they were in the area of the beast. Akata’s eyes glowed with a gold and crimson tint as he waved his hand toward the distance. A streak of crimson and gold light descended on a tree and a loud screech resounded throughout the forest.
Even though the group was now really close to the beast now, they still couldn’t sense its existence. But Akata was able to find and sense it perfectly. The loud screech echoed and shook the cultivation bases of the group members. The only one’s who were barely able to not back away were Basik Bufmann and Sumting Wong.
However, all of their faces dropped and became pale. “This beast… it has to at least be in the peak 9th Grade. That means that we have crossed into the 3rd section of the Middle Ring.” Sumting Wong barely uttered while unconsciously taking a step back. If it was just simply power at the 9th Grade then he wouldn’t have been so shaken, but there was something else mixed in with that loud screech that shook his very being.
Akata’s eyebrows furrowed as the screech entered his ears as well. ‘That… actually managed to shake my whole body? It’s clearly weak but my mind, body, and soul were influenced by it? What kind of skill did it just use?’ Akata was briefly shaken a little but that little made him extremely curious about the creature that was within the sights of his nature sense.
Fwoop! Fwoop! Two flaps of wings resounded and shook the surrounding trees. Out of the canopy a second screech could be heard. This time more powerful than the last. Akata looked at the creature with wide eyes. “Wha… what kind of creature is this?” Although he was more prepared this time for the screech attack, his body was still shaken and he felt as if he had been weakened.
Out of the tree canopy came an azure creature with wings. It had the body of a frog and its wings also looked like fins. A set of gills were on the side of its face and its wings were attached to its front arms. It had four legs that had feet with talons connected to the toes. It’s body was slender and stretched out to 2 meters. It was obvious that this was a creature that could swim, fly, and walk on land, not only that but it could probably do all three extremely fast.
“I’ve never seen this creature before?”
“What is that thing?”
“Have any of you read about some kind of creature existing that looks like this?”
Akata only stared at it. His face becoming more grim by the second. His soul element was fused with that first skill that he used to probe the creature. He had instantly gotten information regarding the creature.
Winged Skyfrog
Capable of moving at fast speeds through the air, water, or land
A beast that is capable of reaching the immortal level
Innate weak aura control that lets it be capable of hiding its presence from weak energies and weaken the strength of others around it
Innate water control that it can use to form extra appendages and body parts
Babies start life at a cultivation level of the Second Rank
Damaged babies with severe deformities will start off at the First Rank
Each Winged Skyfrog is capable of using the most basic of aura energy
Akata could only stare with his mouth open as information regarding this creature kept popping into his soul.