Zeke fell on the ground b.u.t.t first. The last move he did that split the Treant into two was the Flash of Lightning"s first move. It had strict and heavy requirements that Zeke could only do it once per fight. It needed him to fully exert his strength as well as 50 to 60% of his current overall mana. He also figured he"d need a good momentum for it to have the maximum cleaving effect. Such requirements could be easily done by Zeke earlier in the battle but he wanted to test his weapon styles first. This way, he"d figure out what the flaw of his Formless Style is so he could supply it with the right sword style.He was both exhausted physically and mentally as his body also had a lot of cuts and bruises from the fight. Some were bleeding a lot earlier, smearing off his whole attire red. His short-sleeve jacket was full of holes, blood, and soil while his pants also had dirt and some holes and cuts. All in all, he looked like a b.l.o.o.d.y beggar who hadn"t taken a bath for a very long time, one that even common citizens would not approach. Zeke smiled wryly. It was just his second day on the forest, why had he already been reduced to this state?
After a short while, Zeke heard countless screams from deep inside the forest. These screams vary from the tone they conveyed. It was clear that the beasts who issued these screams are powerful, and Zeke acutely noticed that some of the screams were actually getting closer! Zeke frowned and stood up, mustering his remaining strength as he ran away and hid on the tree branches. He did not go far away from the clearing as he planned on seeing whether the powerful beasts are going to the place or not.
Sure enough, he felt lucky in escaping earlier as he saw a big gray bear with a scar on its left eye make an appearance. The imposing aura and physique of the bear were enough to even make Zeke shiver. Its big paws had sharp claws on its ends while it howled loudly, showcasing its sharp white teeth. Zeke inched away but still focused his gaze at the clearing.
A few moments later, all kinds of beasts came from the deep forest. There were big gazelles, rabbits with sharp teeth and razor tail, a lion with one of its eyes injured, big bees, and many other packs. There were all kinds of weird creatures that it made Zeke question his own knowledge about the said beasts from Earth.
Suddenly, as if all of them have rehea.r.s.ed it, they all roared loudly, causing Zeke"s eardrums to nearly blow. He had to cover it or else he felt he"d be deaf after that. It was so loud that Zeke speculated it could be heard from the outskirts of the Dragonsoar City.
*It"s a call for a new leader, Zeke. The Treant should"ve been an abusive leader, hence the absence of monsters in its surrounding areas. Now that you killed the King, they naturally need to elect someone new.*
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"What"s that loud roar? Is that from the forest?"
"It"s too loud, mommy!"
"It"s alright, hun. Cover your ears and don"t be scared. The adventurers will take care of that!"
"Inform the Guild! Maybe they"ll give new missions! Cmon, boys!"
Shouts of the citizens and adventurers alike could be heard from inside the city. The city guards, however, were slightly nervous. If those monsters who roared just now suddenly attacked the city, then wouldn"t they be the first ones to get killed?
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Meanwhile, the source of this new problem, Zeke, is currently watching the group of monsters look among themselves as they try to appoint their leader. Soon, their eyes all settled on the big gray bear. It only grunted in response as it went back to the forest. The others also dispersed and went to different directions. Zeke was surprised about the whole string of events, but he also felt excited at the thought of hunting all those creatures. He also discerned that these beasts weren"t really allies, but only neighbors. They only chose a leader so they"d have a "head".
Zeke rested on the tree branch for a while. When he felt his mental strength is partially recovered now as well as his wounds, he set out to hunt the most basic and weakest out of the new beasts: the rabbits.
Zeke went and followed the directions of where the rabbits went. After a few minutes, he saw a group of 5 to 7 rabbits all jumping around like peaceful animals. What irked Zeke though was the sharp protruding fangs of the rabbit. He couldn"t bear to see such a cute animal from Earth become something horrible like this. What surprised him the most was that these rabbits arent" the lowest of the low. They actually hunted some of the big bees who wandered around outside their formation. The docile-looking rabbits suddenly just jumped and opened its mouth to clamp on one, while the other rabbits followed. The bee would then get enc.u.mbered and it"d be dragged down to the territory of the rabbits. Then, they would chew on each of the bee"s parts until the bee dies. When their prey dies, these rabbits would then eat up all of it, leaving nothing but crumbs behind. These also made their mouths have blood flowing down, creating an even weirder atmosphere for Zeke. He didn"t expect the rabbits in this world to be carnivorous and brutal. He then considered to take it a bit seriously since what he"s fighting isn"t just a single rabbit, but a whole fluffle of 20 or so "rabid rabbits".
Zeke closed in through the tree branches and looked for an isolated one. After a few seconds, he spotted a lone rabbit walking away from the fluffle. It was a few meters away from the closest rabbit and Zeke felt it was a perfect opportunity for him to reduce the fluffle. He went near the rabbit and threw a rock underneath the tree he was standing on.
Sure enough, the rabbit heard the slight sound of a rock as it surveyed the surroundings and closed in on the tree. The rabbit closest to it didn"t seem to have any reaction as it continued jumping around looking at anything.
When the rabbit got in range, Zeke leapt and aimed his sword downward towards the back of the rabbit. The poor rabbit didn"t know what got him it as it just felt something piercing at its back before it lost its life. If PETA of Zeke"s previous world could see this, then Zeke could possibly go in jail.
The rabbit"s whimper was heard by the other rabbit closest to it as it spotted Zeke killing its kin. It then roared angrily and hopped towards Zeke. The whole pack was alerted as Zeke also cast [Fireball] and [Dark Slash] simultaneously before fleeing. The two spells. .h.i.t the engaging rabbit as it was burnt then sliced into two.
Zeke, who was fleeing madly again, climbed a tree and looked down. He didn"t see any sign of the rabbits and he sighed in relief. Although it"s cute, it definitely scarred Zeke"s image of a docile and cute pet. Zeke also didn"t want to kill any more of them as, besides the fact that they"re individually weak, he could also be ganged upon by those 20 rabbits. Once one of them clamped on his body, Zeke couldn"t guarantee the safety of all his body parts.
Zeke then went on and looked for the stronger prey, a giant sphyx-looking cat the size of a small lion. Zeke just thought of it as a poor cheetah that got skinned and used the same strategy as the rabbits again. He hung out on tree branches and a.n.a.lyzed the "cheetah"s behavior. He wasn"t surprised about its abnormal speed, but it was also abnormally intelligent. It clearly noticed that someone was watching it as he roared loudly and looked around, trying to find Zeke, the stalker. Having found no one, the "cheetah" could only walk around in full alert and vigilance.
Zeke didn"t attack it quickly as he knew from the cheetah"s movements that it was extremely wary of something, or someone. He only tailed him around for hours and looked for the opportunity to pounce. However, even after an hour or two pa.s.sed, Zeke could still see the cheetah waiting for him. Although he had confidence in his strength, it was not how a hunter would hunt. He could just use the advantage of not being seen to deliver a lethal blow to his target so it would be easier for him to battle. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn"t want to go on head-to-head combat against these beasts. He was clueless about how to attack the cheetah so he just continued his survey.
The cheetah also hunted for its prey, and Zeke was surprised about its hunting strategy. The cheetah clearly was smaller and a bit weaker than one of the reddish lions roaming around, but he saw from his vantage point that the cheetah seemed to have stalked the lion very carefully. Zeke wondered how would the cheetah approach it seeing as the lion was also on full alert every time. When the lion laid down, the cheetah suddenly disappeared from his place and appeared in the lion"s back. The lion, who was still on full alert and didn"t expect the cheetah to attack, suddenly turned around to try and meet his attacker, only to have his face receive the claws of the cheetah. The lion"s head suddenly got mutilated as it bled while the cheetah slashed the lion"s body several times before it screamed its last remaining voice of plea. The cheetah won just like that.
Zeke was both surprised and amazed by how the cheetah handled the much stronger foe. Although it was still on alert, the cheetah still continued on its attack, clearly using its speed and other advantages to its fullest. Zeke then wondered how the cheetah would achieve such speed.
Zeke then suddenly went into a strange state. He was wholeheartedly thinking about the technique the cheetah used which clearly gave him the upper hand against someone stronger than him. He thought of several possibilities as to how the cheetah had done that that he didn"t notice that the cheetah already left his sight. He was still left there, frozen as if trying to perceive something.
A lightbulb seemed to have lit up inside Zeke"s head as after an hour of standing still there, he suddenly shuddered with excitement.
"I think I got the principle behind the cheetah"s technique."
Zeke then went away for a bit before going to the clearing. There were no signs of any beasts nearby so Zeke decided to go down to the place and test his theory.
He picked up a stone and threw it just slightly about 10 meters away from him as he positioned himself like a marathon runner. Then, he suddenly willed Wind mana to form under his shoes as he suddenly jumped forward. He landed just about 3 to 4 meters away from his previous position as he sighed.
"It"s harder than I imagined."
Zeke figured out that the cheetah actually didn"t teleport like his [Spatial King"s Domain], but it was more of sheer leg explosiveness. The cheetah exploded his leg strength to the point where his figure couldn"t be seen by Zeke"s naked eye. It was only later seen when it stopped and attacked the lion in front of him. Zeke was amazed by the move but he figured he"d use a little bit of magic to imitate what the cheetah did.
Zeke positioned himself again, and this time he willed his Wind element mana in the back of his feet as he jumped forward. He landed 5 to 6 meters away from it as he nodded and went back to his initial position.
Zeke continued on experimenting with the move until the sun shone down. Zeke noticed it was getting darker so he took out a sleeping bag as he tried to find a think enough tree branch to support it. Even while lying down, Zeke was still thinking about how to execute the move properly. He thought about it and figured that although he couldn"t completely replicate that kind of speed since he didn"t have the leg strength of the cat, he figured he could get close to it after combining his leg strength explosiveness as well as a little bit of wind and earth magic.