Chapter 332: Suppressing a Reptilian Creature, Enraging an Unknown Creature
With that conclusion, during the nighttime of that day, the incarnation orchestrated a scene of him falling asleep with a bonfire lighting up his camp to draw the attention of the weak magical beasts cowardly lurking in the surroundings while waiting for him to sleep.
The reason the incarnation lit the bonfire was to ensure his vision was not impeded when the magical beasts attacked. When the magical beasts, unable to hold back their hunger any longer, finally launched their attack, as the incarnation predicted, they were too weak to pose any threat.
The incarnation easily took them down with nothing but its physical strength, matching Randy's physical strength attribute. In the end, those magical beasts served to nourish the incarnation's body, providing potent nutrients and allowing a swift journey without too much hassle on the way.
After overcoming many challenging hurdles on the way to his destination, the incarnation finally arrived at the unsupervised dungeon, realizing that the reason he was attacked by magical beasts on the way was due to the presence of the nearby dungeon, housing many magical creatures. The entrances of unsupervised dungeons were always swarmed with magical beasts attracted by its environmental allure.
The reason magical beasts swarmed areas surrounding dungeons had to do with the abundant concentration of mana near the dungeon entrance, making them undergo their evolution faster.
Even wild beasts were drawn by the allure of potent mana concentration, as exposure to excessive and potent mana would expedite their growth, allowing them to quickly evolve into magical beasts with intelligence nearly matching that of ordinary humans.
Although wild beasts also possessed some traces of mana within their bodies, it usually wasn't enough to transform them into magical beasts. Therefore, they were referred to by the denizens of Acruxia World as wild beasts and hunted as daily food by normal people with weaker strengths.
While the meat of magical beasts was more scrumptious than wild beasts, the effort and risks it took to hunt them outweighed the mere nutritional value they provided. As a result, many people chose to hunt slightly dumber wild beasts that were easier to dispatch instead of risking their lives to hunt cunning magical beasts.
The incarnation learned this knowledge from the assimilated knowledge retrieved from Randy's memory transferred over to it. This was common knowledge compiled from Zolat Grant's memory.
With a pragmatic mindset, the incarnation chose to focus on the mission instead of picking unnecessary fights with any aggressive creatures it encountered throughout its journey. The incarnation made a habit of avoiding powerful magical beasts and even those with the same level of power as him, as it didn't want to prolong its journey after claiming it would be back soon.
With the incarnation's meticulous and efficient operational method, it eventually located the dungeon entrance by tracing the movement of magical beasts using the Traceless Form Technique and the Absolute Stealth skill, now upgraded to Level 2, providing enhanced concealing effects against creatures weaker than it in combat power.
However, as the incarnation approached, despite its flawless concealment, its presence was sensed by a cub of a reptilian creature with spotless white scales, preying on another magical beast unlucky enough to become its food. The reptilian cub's appearance, characterized by a baby face and innocent eyes, distinguished it from the ferocious magical beasts faced on the journey.
Noticing the incarnation's presence through its keen senses, the reptilian cub displayed aggression, seemingly assuming the incarnation had come to snatch its food, as evidenced by it covering the partially devoured magical beast and roaring at the incarnation. Despite being a cub, it possessed strength equivalent to the incarnation, prompting the latter to take it seriously.
After a few exchanges lasting about 10 minutes, creating a commotion that scared nearby magical beasts away, either from the reptilian creature's roar or the shock waves of their exchange, the incarnation took advantage of the creature's lack of experience. It decisively targeted the cub's belly, inflicting a wound that caused it to roar in pain and bleed profusely.
The incarnation employed the most efficient technique derived from the Blood Authority Skill, Blood Halt, temporarily slowing the creature's movement and causing damage with the claw of the Werewolf King of Wind's Form, which temporarily boosted its attacking power.
After inflicting critical damage, the incarnation used another derivative technique of the Blood Authority skill, Blood Siphon, to extract the creature's blood, assimilating with it and acquiring its assimilated form. The incarnation ignored momentarily appearing lines of text in its vision, stating the acquisition of a new Assimilated State.
Subsequently, the incarnation used the assimilated form to obtain strength comparable to the reptilian cub, stacking with its own physical attributes, allowing it to confront and swiftly suppress the cub.
Contemplating whether or not to kill the creature before it, the incarnation weighed the risk of letting a potential threat roam free and target it again in the future as it made a ruthless decision.
As it prepared to deliver the final blow with an emotionless countenance, the incarnation suddenly heard a ferocious and maddened roar in the distance, prompting it to raise its head to stare into the distant forest where a formidable presence was making itself known.
Judging by the resounding distant roar filled with pure hostility, the incarnation discerned it to come from a giant creature, perhaps belonging to the mother of the reptilian creature it was about to end the life of.
With that realization, the incarnation gave up on dealing with the cub reptilian and immediately turned away from the direction leading to the entrance of the dungeon, bolting away without hesitation.
Sensing the danger looming over it, the incarnation recalled when the cub roared in pain after its suppression. It surmised that the creature had not roared in pain but had called for its parent during that time.
As the incarnation ran, it felt a dreadful gaze filled with tyrannical pressure increasingly aiming in its direction, even though it had already made a considerable distance from the reptilian cub.
With a deft reaction, the incarnation immediately used all of its transformations— the Werewolf King of Wind's form to enhance its speed and Zolat Grant's form to mask its true appearance and identity from the creature's gaze. Additionally, using the Body Strengthen skill, the incarnation strengthened its legs, kicking off the ground with tremendous force to escape the looming threat.
Even with all these arrangements, the incarnation still felt the gaze of the obscene and outrageous creature linger on it as he ran away. It contemplated using the newly acquired assimilated form of the reptilian cub, but the incarnation quickly chose to forgo that decision as it wasn't aware of the risk of posing as the reptilian cub's kin in the gaze of the unknown creature targeting him.
Gritting its teeth, the incarnation mustered all its strength to speed up its movement as it escaped from the vicinity under the unknown creature's gaze. It was only after covering tens of miles that it felt like it had lost its pursuer, even though it didn't seem like the creature was giving chase from the beginning to the end, only following the incarnation's movement with its powerful gaze.