Last chapter of the Day / Night....
Very tired, please excuse me for grammatical mistakes. It's 4:30 in the morning where i live.
Visit: http://inviction.chatango.com/ I usually hang out there. Alone most of the time though /Cry.
Btw. Short but action packed chapter.
Anyways: H.F.
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Snow was ready, he had stopped his attempt at unraveling Qi. This meant that he had a large storage of temporary Qi. Snow wore a slight smile while thinking of the upcoming battle with pure death.
When Snow wasn’t battling or feeling bloodlust - he was in his normal beastkin form. For some strange reason his transformations time got shorter and shorter every time he transformed. The first time he transformed completely it took 1 minute for him to transform and a hell of a lot of pain. The 2nd time when battling the Fasan it took him only him a while longer as he wasn’t angry and wasn’t in a hurry. But it didn’t cost him the pain he experienced no pain at all. Actually it was comfortable.
A strange feeling had begun to appear in his mind. The more bloodshed he caused and the more bloodlust he felt, the more this feeling would prosper. The feeling only came when he was in his original form. It was like staying at a friends house, at some point you wanted your own bed to sleep in. The feeling wasn’t that strong yet, but he still longed for the release.
Snow of course knew this was part of his training, he had to resist the constant urge for battle. The only way he could enter that form was when he had to hunt. When he entered the form, he couldn’t leave until he had killed something and had drank their blood.
This was a disgusting feeling for Snow. Having to rely on killing creatures just for pleasure. And when he finally transformed into “Red Snow” as he called it. It wasn’t the pleasure of being home he felt, no. This was a strange pain of not killing. He had a constant urge for battle, like a tingling feeling under the skin.
Snow was pleased that he felt no pain as he transformed. This meant that when he hunted he could use his natural weapons instead of having to use his fists. It made it a whole lot easier.
Snow slowly walked out from his temporary home. As he walked out his body began to change. His structure changed to one of a natural predator. Not a human. Red replaced the tinge of yellow in his hair and the borders gained a bloody hue. His rounded ears began filled with red fur that looked like it was on fire. His feet and hands became claws which was also covered in fur. Though his hands still were that of a hybrids. The sharp teeth in his mouth elongated though it was just a tad. A bushy but long tail sprouted from his tailbone, and waved in the air. As if it was pleased or excited. The slits in his eyes became small and looked very ferocious. The bloody waves in his eyes became alive and sloshed around, It was eyes you could drown in, it was just that you would feel that there was a risk that your neck would be cut.
Even with a small body Snow looked like a monster. He didn’t look at all light a beastkin, more like a Demonic beast that had learned to walk.
Snow looked in the direction of his target. He was the prey, it would be overestimating his abilities if he had the nerve to call ‘it’ his prey.
Snow strolled elegantly from his ‘tree’ while observing and smelling his surroundings, he wanted to be alone and not get ambushed while he fought.
Snow now realised that he had made a crucial mistake; he had not covered spoils, he had forgotten that other predators also had an amazing sense of smell. The bloody odor of gushing red blood filled the air around the area. Snow nearly face palmed.
To others this would be disgusting and most would puke. Snow however whiffed in the odor like it was fine wine. And to him fresh blood told a story like any good wine would.
Snow’s eyes moved over the area where he though his opponent would be. He took a stance, though this stance was very different from the one he usually took when he was equipped with a sword.
His legs were placed in different directions giving him an ability to rapidly dodge or roll. His hands were in front of his body with the fingers spread out. He showed his claws in which crimson lightning was rolling.
Snow would spare no Qi on this fight. This was a fight were he couldn’t hold back. He knew this would be a fight to the death. He would have to fight with everything he had.
Amazingly, he didn’t fall to his instincts. He wanted to tear his opponent to shreds, but he kept a calm head, the most optimal conditions for a fight. A berserker might be great for a prolonged battle, but a knight with the right defense could outlast even the most crazed of berserkers.
Snow’s eyes were locked on a location where his nose had picked up the strongest odor.
Snow could see a wolf lying in a lush bush, he couldn’t see the beast but he could determine it’s origin because of smell. The only thing he could see was some grayish white eyes shining coldly. This would be a great predator in the forest. usually these beasts were king in the outer section, but that was only because they moved in large packs and hunted together. However, this beast was alone.
Snow moved slowly towards the bush, he didn’t want the beast to have the opening. Snow had learned from his training with the Art of the Draw, that sometimes the battle was decided right from the start. That was also why assassination methods were so strong, one strike to kill an opponent would be all it took, and no harm would fall to yourself. This was the so called ‘Glass Sword’ [A/N: Glass cannon if you know what i mean] The sword would splinter with a single hit, but would also be devastating for the enemy.
The wolf sensed that it had lost the element of surprise and moved out of the bush slowly. Snow could see the looks of the beast when it appeared, a majestic black colored “Ulv”. Grim had told him Ulv was the name of these kinds of beasts, this was an upper Tier - 1 demonic beast. Snow saw no reason to name it differently.
Snow and the Ulv now stood before each other, both ready for battle.
Snow had learned to infuse a bit of his magical element into his Qi. Though it only allowed his attacks to have the bonus of the elements and not directly provide more damage or give status effects such as paralysation from lightning or other similar effects.
As Snow had the Lightning affinity it gave him speed, But what it also gave him was the very profound and mysterious blood drain effect. This was because it was Crimson lightning. This effect would be great as a source of nutrient in prolonged battles. But totally useless in a short fight. But one didn’t work without the other, sadly.
Snow poured all the temporary Qi he could muster into his claws, the Crimson lightning went into a frenzy. His claws now shined completely red with cross patterns of crackling lightning.
The Ulv also prepared it’s attack, but the attribute was unknown to Snow as he just didn’t have the information.
Snow decided to move first. He sprang into battle with his claws first. usually it would be best to wait things out and test your opponent, but this was like a jungle. One hit could decide all, And Snow didn’t really have a measure of defence.
The Ulv reacted immediately and went in for a bite aiming directly at his throat.
Snow saw this immediately and changed his approach, It was so much easier to change his attacks when using the Claws or as he liked to call it The Art of the Ferocious. The Art of the Draw held precise movements with the sword, while his claws relied on quickly changing approaches to counter his opponents.
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Both of them had advantages and drawbacks but the Art of the Ferocious was clearly the best for the situation.
Snow dodged the bite from the Ulv by a very narrow margin, the beast was incredibly quick and it sent shivers down his spine. However, it only fueled his lust for battle and his thirst and bloodlust skyrocketed.
The colors in Snow’s eyes swirled like a whirlpool, it looked as if he had lost his mind. However, he was still in control, just very frenzied.
Snow had dodged the bite with a roll, this left him no opening for a counter attack. Though he did gain some distance for a quick charge.
The Ulv trying to reorient itself towards Snow. However, Snow had already charged in again. Snow brought up both of his arms and swiped the right side of the Ulv. The Ulv howled in pain as it failed it dodge the blow completely.
It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it would be limited in movements.
But the victor hadn’t been decided just yet. The Ulv slashed in the air aiming at Snow. Snow didn’t see anything but he sensed that he had to move quickly. Snow went into a flying roll and just barely dodged a slash which left deep patterns in a tree behind him.
Snow confirmed his suspicion. The Ulv didn’t have a magical element but it could imbue it’s claws with a variety of Sword Qi. It could shoot slashes of Qi out, but without the devastating effects of the magical elements.
Snow wasn’t able to replicate that feat yet, but he still held a smile on his face. This would greatly held with his cultivation. He had to experience Sword Qi as much as possible, and what better way than to observe a creature who could use it instinctively. These were the primal basics of Sword Qi.
Snow recovered from his roll, but the Ulv had already moved extremely close to him. He felt a searing pain as the Ulv left deep bite marks in his right shoulder. It wasn’t fatal, but his wounds were definitely not better than the Ulv itself.
Snow managed to rip into the Ulv with his sharp claws, before it retreated and gained some ground. Snow looked at his right shoulder, this was the most serious wound he had ever gotten. The pain was near unbearable. But he persevered, he would have to face much worse in the future.
Snow took his stance again, thought this time he was hunched over slightly. He sprinted towards the Ulv, The Ulv tried to dodge. But Snow had provided his legs with temporary Qi and this gave him an edge.
Snow swiped at the Ulv with his claws, and he was successful in hitting the Beast's face. A stream of blood gushed out of the Ulv’s head. It shrieked in pain as it’s right eyeball was ripped in half.
The Ulv moved in for a reckless and crazed attack, but was met with a slight dodge from Snow. He could easily dodge a creature who was enraged. The attacks would be basic and just aimed at his throat. This left him various options for either dodging or counter attacking.
Snow gathered a large amount of temporary Qi in his legs before hitting the Ulv in the stomach, the stomach wasn’t well protected from blunt attacks and it hunched over.
That left a large opening for Snow, he gathered the remaining of his temporary Qi and used it for a precise and deadly killing blow. The blow was fatal for the Ulv. His attack had aimed directly at the main artery at the neck. Blood gushed out like a river. Snow fell to his knees was being covered in blood. He truly deserved the name Red Snow. With his body and transformation intact he began to feast on his prey.
His animalistic instincts went wild and he just flayed and ripped the red meat directly from the hot body with his sharp teeth. He drank the blood to his heart's content.
Though Snow regretted having to spend an entire week's worth of Qi on a single fight. He still enjoyed being challenged. He was also slightly fearful when he thought about what would have happened if the Beast had come just an hour later. He would have been dead. A 30% increase in speed is amazing. Without it he wouldn’t have had a chance.
Still Snow was grateful that he had sharp enough weapons to actually be able to cut the tough creature. Even if it didn’t have the strongest defense in the forest, it’s fur and skin still provided fairly decent protection. With the wooden sword he wouldn’t have a chance.
He also thought back on the amazing effects the lightning attribute had, had on his attacks. He wouldn’t have been able to counterattack if he didn’t have that amazing affinity.
While he was consuming the blood of his spoils he felt something change in him. It was like he gained something from drinking this blood, he didn’t gain it when he drank the blood of creatures that were on the same level as him, but this Ulv had higher basic stats than him. He felt like he gained a fragmented knowledge of Primal Qi Manipulation, This was the ability to imbue and project Qi in a manner similar to Sword Qi projection.
Though he felt that Primal Qi Manipulation focused more on the Qi itself instead of the magical element, whereas the Sword Qi projection focused on the overlay of magic elements.
Snow didn’t really know the details right now as his knowledge was incomplete and fragmented, maybe he would gain more knowledge as he drank more blood from stronger creatures?
He also didn’t posses real Sword Qi yet, so something was better than nothing.
After he had done feasting he decided to fix his problem with his spoils. He thought of something, could he just hide it with dirt?
If he could dig it down, he could at least limit the odor which seeped through. Snow went to work even if he was still covered in blood. For some reason his bloodlust hadn’t faded completely, though he felt that he could transform back.
This was not a good sign, he had to shut the golden gate in his mind. The gate would always open when he transformed and always close when he transformed back. But this time it was different. The gate didn’t close completely.
In the time he had worked on his ‘storage’ of spoils he had regained a small amount of Qi. He was quite desperate so he thought that he might be able to close the gate with Qi.
Snow moved some Qi to his gate in the mind. He tried to imbue the gate with his temporary Qi. But when the two made contact something unexpected happened. The gate closed shut, but Snow also felt that it limited his Mana storage capacity but a very small amount.
With a deep sigh Snow speculated that he had to train his mana storage capacity to combat his ever increasing bloodlust.
But this was fine as well, it would at least prepare him if he wanted to try mage training in the future.
Snow was still covered in blood and he decided to wash it off. He couldn’t go around being ‘bait’ for predators, otherwise what was the point of covering the spoils with dirt?
Snow badly needed rest now [A/N: Like me!] as he had been up for a whole day hunting. And then having a dramatic and dangerous battle just before his relaxing time, where he would cultivate.
Fortunately, he lived just beside a fairly large lake. Which didn’t seem to hold dangerous beasts in the shallow waters. Snow was thankful for that.
Snow got in the water, he had already transformed back when the gate closed in his mind. He got himself cleaned up before climbing back into his dead tree. He closed his eyes as he thought of the events and how he would move forward.