Chapter 26 - Shadow hounds

Questions were all Adam had left. It was the main factor in his decision-making these days, and his new life's goal was to answer them all. Ever since he woke up on that warm beach, unanswered questions flooded his mind.

These questions sometimes steered him on the path to survival like his pursuit of magic but others built upon the growing doubt and insecurities that lay within him.

When you spend months on a deserted continent with only yourself for company, things start to get weird. His fascination with magic was genuin, but the reason it had become an obsession was a more complicated situation. Being completely alone in a world where nothing is as it should be would no doubt break most people. Magic was the raft that just barely kept Adam’s mind afloat.

But his journey into the underground mines was probably his most mentally challenging event so far. It was a depressing and dark atmosphere as sound echoed around him and the walls seemed so close, like they would crush him if he got too close.

There was never any wind up on the surface but it was nothing like the damp and heavy air of the cave. That is to say that this environment was really pushing his mind to its limits. His recent discoveries about magic and the soul definitely helped him cope, but regretting venturing into this labyrinth was one of his most frequent thoughts.

He questioned why he even left the beach to begin with. Sure, it was dangerous but so was everywhere in this world. He traveled across an endless desert of dirt and dead grass and almost died in the process. He found one good spot with that oasis. Then in his infinite wisdom, he decided to continue hunting the lizards in their natural environment but had only come across a single one so far.

Not to mention how much more dangerous it was down here since he couldn’t even see his way around without constantly using his magic, thus slowly draining his core.

As soon as he discovered the potential of his soul magic, he was so excited to return to the buffalo herd that he would be on his way there right now if not for the small issue of him being completely lost.

“I don’t need to mark my path, I have a better memory now and I will definitely find my way back… Sure, Adam, you're a fucking morron”

He eventually heard a commotion in the distance and ran towards the noise. The terrain had started to become more and more covered in those white crystals the further he went.

It didn’t take long to see what was causing the noise since not far ahead of him was a group of spider-like creatures attacking a larger group of giant ants.

Both sides had a mixture of grey and red cores but the spiders seemed to have the upper hand in the fight. The ants appeared to have come from a hole in the ground which the spiders were blocking off. These spiders were considerably smaller than the tarantula he had seen before but they obviously made up for their smaller sizes with numbers.

The ants were of a similar size but looked to lack the agility of the spiders as the two groups battled. The ants were in a circular formation with one larger ant at its center. The creature wasn’t fighting but simply stood unmoving while the others protected it.

The creature had a white tint as its entire stomach and back glowed with a white light that illuminated the battle. Adam was a few hundred meters away but had no cover to hide behind. He was excited at this encounter since this large group of mana creatures who were all distracted fighting each other was the perfect opportunity. However, he had no intention of getting any closer so he would have to wait until the fight was nearly over before revealing himself.

The thought of using his soul magic from here to kill them off one by one did cross his mind but he thought better of it. His amount of soul mana was limited and his aim wasn’t great.

He also didn’t know if it would be able to reach the fight and even if it did, it was inherently slower moving than his standard mana so his aim would be terrible. Not to mention that he simply didn’t have enough soul mana to kill them all anyway.

So he simply crouched down and observed for the time being. He didn’t dare move his mana for fear of his presence being discovered and nor did he switch to his soul affinity since he would lose visual.

Half of the beasts had died since Adam started observing the fight and most were ants. They simply couldn’t compete with the greater speed and agility of the taller spiders who fought in a coordinated way. The ants did inflict some heavy injuries to the legs of the spiders but only one of the spiders had actually been killed so far.

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Curiously, the spiders only attacked the guardian ants and not the larger glowing ant in the center. But Adam’s silent viewing of the events was suddenly interrupted when his mana sight noticed a familiar shadow traveling towards the conflict.

He stood up in surprise at the new arrival but then noticed that it wasn’t alone. Several black shadows traveled in a straight line for the fight but the first one he noticed had already arrived, where once the was a shadow, now stood a large black wolf with sharp white claws and whisps of black smoke emanating from its body.

The creature jumped at the large white ant in the center but was intercepted by one of the spiders. Adam didn’t see anything further as a large spike in mana and a faint noise behind him caused Adam to jump to the side while activating his shield construct on his arm.

A large shadow wolf appeared out of nowhere right behind where Adam was standing as its jaws clamped down on empty air. Adam fell onto his side with a badly crafted shield of white mana around his arm. The shadow beast didn’t give him the chance to react again as it pounced for his neck without even landing from its initial attack. It was as though it jumped again while in mid-air as it adjusted its trajectory.

Adam raised his arms over his face to protect himself as the beast collided with his shield. The construct immediately shattered on contact with the fiend able to bite down on his arm.

Adam pumped his body full of mana as he used his free right hand to punch the beast in the face to get it to release its grip. His arm was quite tough with his evolved body but this beast still buried its teeth deep into his flesh and was likely to hit bone if he didn’t get it off.

He didn’t feel any pain from the attack as his brain was pumped full of adrenaline and he repeatedly struck the fiend with his free fist. After the third heavy strike to its skull, the wolf released its grip as he tumbled backward slightly. The creature shook its head before turning its attention back towards Adam with a mix of determination and anger in its black eyes.

Adam didn’t wait around for the beast as he immediately began to put some distance between himself and the shadow wolf by running away from the passageway.

The wolf was back on his trail in no time but this time not in the form of a shadow. The creature was fast and only a little shorter than a human. Adam couldn’t use his soul mana since switching his mana affinity would take a second and he couldn’t risk losing focus right now.

He conjured a weak mana ball that he threw behind him without even aiming or looking to see if it hit. He could hear the creature's heavy and rapid footsteps as it approached and therefore also heard it when it jumped to the side to avoid the harmless projectile.

‘Interesting, so he avoids all my attacks no matter how weak’

Adam continued to toss magic orbs at the creature simply to slow it down as he continuously strengthened the blade in his hand. He didn’t dare throw any real mana blades at the wolf since they would take too much time and have almost no chance of hitting such an agile beast.

His attempt to buy time wasn’t enough though as the beast caught up to him in a few seconds and threw itself at him, once more aiming for his neck. Adam's left arm was bleeding profusely but it simply felt numb to him. When he heard the sound of the creature's powerful jump, he abruptly turned around and crouched down as the shadowy fiend passed above him.

In a single powerful thrust, he pumped his arm with as much mana as possible as his conjured white blade traveled up and pierced the leaping creature in its chest, its momentum and Adam’s powerful strick caused the creature's torso to be sliced open as it fell back down to the ground with blood and guts spilling out from the wounded beast.

It thrashed for about a moment before its limbs straightened and shocked before going limp.

Adam’s mana blade had been shattered after slicing the creature's torso up so he began condensing another blade. When he noticed that the creature wasn’t getting back up, he looked up at the ongoing fight and was surprised to see that almost all of the spiders had fled up rock sides and stone pillars while the last two ants were being shredded by the shadow fiends.

The largest of the shadow wolves was currently eating the large glowing ant whose light seemed to have drastically diminished since he last saw it. But the more concerning thing was how close he was to them now.

His escape from the shadow wolf had required him to run towards the insect conflict since the natural layout of the rocks didn’t allow him to run in any other direction without encountering a stone boundary. But with the insect fight over and the wolves the victor, all the attention turned to Adam and the dead fiend at his feet.

“Shit”

The shadow wolves all charged at him with some even disappearing into shadow. The was no way he could outrun or outmaneuver all these beasts and his mana wouldn’t be enough either. He didn’t have a choice anymore, he needed to use his ace.

Adam closed his eyes as he desperately pulled at his core to give him his precious soul mana. His heartbeat was the only thing he could hear as it sounded like a jackhammer in his chest. He looked for that silver spark and yanked at it as soon as the faintest silver color was visible. He couldn’t even see his soul yet as only the smallest hint was revealed before he gripped it and pushed it out of his body.

The shadow beasts were extremely fast and bloodthirsty after having massacred the ants and spiders and after witnessing one of their own die. At least seven of them had charged at him with only the larger red-cored fiend staying back to eat the glowing ant.

The pack leader didn’t care much for the death of one of his pack and simply feasted on the mana-rich carcass of the harvester ant. But a sudden shockwave made it lift its head from its meal as all of its pack lay dead on the ground.

Confusion overwhelmed the leader's mind as the weak creature he noticed before was barely at the level of a single one of its pack members. It was only luck that the strange being had survived the attack from the young shadow hound but to think it could kill its entire pack, inconceivable.

The large red-cored creature no longer cared for its meal as it sprinted for the strange hairless creature that had murdered his family. Four generations of pack members were now dead, which had never happened before. His duty as pack leader was to grow strong and provide for the pack but this being had destroyed everything. He would devour it as revenge for the fallen pack but only after inflicting as much pain as possible to the murderous creature.

The leader’s speed was incomparable to its younger brethren as it charged the unarmed man sitting slumped at the center of a semi-circle of corpses. But as soon as the leader reached the first bodies of its fallen pack, another shockwave appeared as the man's body fell backward and a second shockwave reverberated around him.

The leader's body felt as though it was on fire as its magic ignited within him. The pack leader tried to howl in pain but he was dead before he had the chance. His lifeless body fell to the ground and continued to slide towards his enemy before coming to a stop only centimeters away.