Majestic and horrifying.

That's what I would first say if asked to describe a Frost Hound.

Each of the hounds surrounding us possesses a captivating yet menacing appearance.

Their hunched forms stood over six feet, literally towering over me, and their lean bodies which were over eight feet in length rippled with powerful muscles.

Their unkempt white fur is tinged with an icy blue layered with ice and has an ethereal glow under the moonlight.

Sharp bristles that look like ice needles sprouted out of their spines and quivered like a porcupine's.

These bristles can be detached and launched at their prey, incapacitating the poor creature with their icy venom. As soon as one bristle is detached, another one grows to take its place.

Their sharp claws and jagged teeth resemble frozen icicles curved and serrated into deadly instruments of death.

Poisonous saliva dripped out of their snarling jaws as their glowing blue eyes watched our every movement, intelligence glinting in them.

Yeah. They are intelligent ardimals as if the venomous spines and saliva along with the wonderful array of claws and teeth weren't enough.

I gulped. These things are lean agile killing machines that hunt in packs. I would rather take on a powerful Pookie bear than a hungry pack of Frost Hounds.

I trained my omni contacts on one of the hounds and with a quick scan its rank appeared in my vision.

My lips curled into a smile. I could take on a Frost Hound.

Just before I went with Damien to my new room, I had Minerva reevaluate me.

I'm now intermediate D rank.

Sure, the hounds are master D rank each but I'm confident I can do this entire pack on my own.

Why? That's because I am Sir Mordred, a Knight of the Round.

My skills and experience far surpass my rank. My triquetra state greatly compensates for my low power.

I counted the hounds slowly encircling us.

"Ten Frost Hounds. Rather small for a pack, don't you think?", I voiced my suspicions, keeping my eyes trained on the snarling hounds.

"Yeah.", Iris nodded, "Could be a newly formed one. That means the pack leader should be somewhere nearby."

I noticed a tendril of darkness on the ground snake between the hounds and shoot off into the forest

In a matter of seconds, Iris perked up and a sadistic smile decorated her face as if she found her prey.

"Found you."

"You can handle these guys, right?", she asked, her eyes trained beyond the teeth and claws of the hounds and deeper into the wood.

"Might be tricky. But yeah.", I nodded.

"Alright then. I leave them to you."

"Just don't get lost.", was my request.

She grinned, "Just follow the trail of ardor or destruction."

With those words, her body turned into darkness and slipped into my shadow.

Shadow travel. Of course, she mastered the Shadow sub-strand.

Geniuses really are something.

The hounds backed up and looked confused when she disappeared. One even barked in panic.

"Oh don't worry. She just went to pay a visit to your pack leader. In the meantime, why don't you try me? This could be your only chance to eat royal flesh.", I taunted.

The hounds' ears perked when they heard the word flesh. Their eyes focused on me and their legs tensed up, ready to pounce on me.

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No way I am letting them make the first move.

I entered my triquetra state and launched at the nearest hound.

In a swift motion, I swung a dagger at the ardimal's throat. The sharp white blade sliced through the thick coat and severed a major artery.

The mutt yelped as its blood sprayed all over the pristine white snow and buckled to its knees before collapsing in a twitching heap.

But I didn't stop there, utilizing the initial shock of watching one of their own die, I quickly reached the next hound and drove a dagger through its eye, straight into its brain.

Two down. Eight to go.

Unfortunately, by then the hounds had recovered from their shock and pounced on me.

A quick bunch I must say.

With the help of transcendence, I quickly dodged the serrated canines of one hound and dealt a powerful kick to its side.

Two hounds pounced on me, their deadly claws glinting like daggers of ice. I twisted and parried with my daggers.

The white blades sparked against the claws and pushed the hounds back. I quickly lashed out and slashed one of them in the paw.

The hound yelped and staggered before falling to its side, its body frozen by the paralysis effect of the dagger.

"About damn time.", I muttered as I stepped forward to finish the hound.

Suddenly my instincts kicked in and I twisted around to see white fur tinged with ice.

I immediately braced as the hound rammed into me, launching me in the air.

While upside down in the air. I heard a collective hissing and my eyes fell on the hounds.

The bristles along their spines were quivering violently and their glowing blue eyes were on me.

"Ah, shit."

With a collective howl, they shot their venomous bristles at my falling body.

Fortunately, the bristles are slowed down in my transcendent state and I was able to act swiftly.

I pricked my finger with a dagger while praying that I would not be paralyzed and drew blood.

Using Haema I formed two blood tentacles and deflected most of the bristles with them.

Unfortunately, they didn't deflect all the bristles. One or two venomous needles pierced my legs

An icy sting followed by a cold numbness spread from the bristles and threatened to shut down my body.

But I gritted my teeth and twisted my body so that I crashed into the snow on my back. I quickly pulled out the bristles and focused Haema to neutralize the venom.

Only to realize that I am no longer affected by the dangerous venom.

Huh? That's odd. I can still remember the numbness and sting when they pierced my legs.

But now? The only thing I am feeling right now is the pain of pulling out the bristles from my flesh.

Weird.

But I didn't have time to be weirded out as three frosty hounds pounced on me. I quickly held out my hand and blood-red runes encircled it.

{Haema: Blood Grenade}

A powerful explosion of blood ripped apart the hounds into pieces that showered me along with their blood.

Ew. Now that is disgusting.

But hey. Five down, five more to go.

I leaped to my feet and gripped my daggers as I looked down at the remaining hounds. Despite watching their buddies get slaughtered by me, they didn't flee.

No. They looked more determined than ever, to kill me and present my handsome corpse to their pack leader.

Well. Not happening tonight, little puppies.

Blood swirled around my daggers and two blood tentacles unfurled on my back and swayed in the air.

I re-entered my triquetra and unleashed my aura. It had grown a lot stronger than before but it wasn't enough to deter the hounds.

In return, their bristles quivered and they snarled viciously at me, their glowing blue eyes full of malice and hunger.

"Let's do this.", I grinned and leaped toward them.

The howls of the hounds cut through the air as they pounced on me.

*******

"Took you long enough. But good job!", Iris remarked as I trudged through the snow.

I nodded and wiped the blood off my face. I looked at where she was relaxing.

"No wonder I didn't sense a peep from the pack leader. You already took care of it.", I said, impressed by her handiwork.

Iris Karsus was relaxing on the corpse of a Frost Hound alpha, a formidable beast the size of a dump truck with ice leading off its fur and huge chunks of ice sprouting out of its elbows.

Its bristles were icicles the size of me sprouting out of its back, its claws were massive scythes made of ice crystals and its teeth were the size of my daggers and serrated like a chainsaw.

I trained my Omni contacts on the dead ardimal and its rank flashed into my eyes.

I whistled. Now that's what I call a powerful dog.

It would've been a truly formidable ardimal if it weren't impaled to the ground by long rods of darkness solidified like metal.

I could see wisps of darkness trailing from the blunt ends of the rods and the lake of blood mixed with the snow was still spreading.

"Did it take much trouble?", I asked as I approached her, blood and snow splashing off my boots.

She smirked, "Trouble? I pinned the icy bitch as soon as I saw her and then hid in the shadows to watch you take on her mutts."

I was speechless and my eyes wandered from Iris to the dead hound and back. She was able to kill an alpha that was a master B rank ardimal easily and return to watch me fight.

"You are a bloody monster.", I said in awe.

Iris gave me a maniacal grin, "Of course I am."