Chapter 4: Chapter 4: First Soul Beast Battle
It was a baboon that was roughly one metre tall. Its body was covered in light brown fur, and its eyes were brown in colour. It had two arms that were oddly long, and sharp fingernails on its claws. Its canine teeth were exposed from its lips, and a savage light was present in its eyes.
'...A baboon?' Huo Yuhao was stunned speechless at the appearance of the first soul beast he's ever seen in his life. He expected a lot of soul beasts to encounter, like a snake or a cat most probably, but never a baboon!
"Raawgh!"
It immediately let out a low roar towards Huo Yuhao. It then powerfully stamped its hind legs, once again pouncing towards Huo Yuhao.
'First battle against a soul beast,' Huo Yuhao's forehead dripped with cold sweat, the palm holding the White Tiger Dagger was stained with sweat, and his heart was beating nervously to the point of implosion at the approaching baboon. 'And I don't know what to do!!'
With wide eyes, he quickly rolled to the right, dodging the second attack of the baboon and he quickly stood up, the White Tiger Dagger positioned before him.
'Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no...'
He severely underestimated his capabilities on getting a soul ring.
Moreover, with the use of his Spirit Eyes, he saw through the soul beast's soul power in front of him to be white. Making it a ten year old soul beast!
'A ten year old soul beast is this terrifying, then what about a hundred year old?' Huo Yuhao gulped, sombering up and feeling regretful. 'I'm heading towards the outskirts of the Great Star Dou Forest, and it's mostly known to be filled with hundred year and thousand year old soul beasts! I seriously got a death wish coming here alone...'
Suddenly, a strange sense of calmness coming from his eyes overtook him and he saw the baboon coming at him go extremely slow. The trembling hand that was holding the White Tiger Dagger became steady and poised to attack.
Huo Yuhao's eyes turned calm and emotionless as he stared at the approaching baboon, who suddenly halted and started beating his chest in a domineering manner.
'Calm down and observe. Panicking and sitting around like a duck wouldn't do me any good. Although the White Tiger Dagger is my most powerful weapon currently, my Spirit Eyes's ability of perception is more useful in this battle.'
He let out a small breath, his red evil eyes focused, its strange comma-like patterns around his center pupil gradually spun faster, and he felt a strange sense of strong confidence of taking down that soul beast!
"Concentrate. Watch its movements, and predict its attacks to counterattack," Huo Yuhao muttered. Suddenly a surge of information entered his brain that entailed his surroundings and especially the baboon.
The trajectory of its movements, the minute changes in its body, and the strange surge of soul power flowing up the baboon's throat from its passageways and lower stomach.
Huo Yuhao didn't know what that signified but he made a guess that it might be charging up an attack.
'...I have to end this in one move.' His eyes narrowed and readied his dagger.
The baboon let out a war cry and suddenly spat out a ball of white light, which went directly towards Huo Yuhao. After which, it then pounced towards Huo Yuhao at an extremely quick speed, a savage light in its eyes.
Time seemed to be moving slowly in Huo Yuhao's perception, the ball of white light was coming at him at a snail's pace but he knew that it would quickly arrive.
'Go big or go home!' Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth and swung his dagger at the ball of white light and unexpectedly the white light was instantly absorbed into the blade.
Simultaneously, the baboon had already arrived, and had extended its long arms in front of it, slashing towards Huo Yuhao's shoulders with its sharp claws.
"Like I'm going to die here! Especially not to a baboon!" With a loud cry, Huo Yuhao unexpectedly took a step forward, gripping the dagger with both hands, he went to thrust a stab at its neck and a white light flashed past its body and blood splattered all over.
Its body seemed to stiffen for a moment, its bright demonic eyes dimmed, before it inevitably fell forward onto the ground, dead.
"Haa...Haa..." Huo Yuhao heavily panted as he looked at the dead soul beast before him. He couldn't believe that he was actually able to defeat it.
He felt a sense of satisfaction and pride in himself but at the same time, he realized the dangers of being out in the Great Star Dou Forest alone.
'Thankfully I messed around with the dagger for any secret uses for the past several months and found out about its ability to absorb soul power, or I wouldn't be so calm at fighting that soul beast.'
He quickly calmed himself down and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I need to be more careful from now on. I can't underestimate the strength of soul beasts no matter how young they are."
Suddenly, a faint white light had appeared over the baboon. It slowly and gradually began to condense into a white halo above its body. The halo wasn't clear, and the light was also only faintly discernible. However, this still made Huo Yuhao gape at it.
"A...Soul ring? Is that really a soul ring?!" Huo Yuhao was so excited that his body trembled slightly.
He'd only learnt the most basic meditation technique within the Duke's Mansion, yet he'd heard far, far too much about soul beasts and soul rings. Almost every single guard within the Duke's Mansion would bring up the topic frequently, but this was the first time that he'd personally seen one!
"Ha. Hahaha." Huo Yuhao gazed at the white soul ring, but the excitement in his heart gradually faded and he let out a disdainful snort and started laughing. "My first battle with a soul beast, and it wasn't a compatible one for my martial soul."
Soul rings were necessary items for soul masters to advance in rank. However, not all soul rings were suitable for soul masters to absorb. Only a soul ring that had a high compatibility with the soul master's martial soul could be absorbed, for the best results.
Although Huo Yuhao wanted a soul ring, even a ten year old one, but even he wasn't that desperately stupid enough to absorb a incompatible soul ring.
"Waste of my time." He shook his head and turned his body with a disappointed frown but staggered as he walked. Looking down, he saw his legs trembling.
It was to be expected, he was only eleven after all. The determination in his heart had even wavered slightly, after the battle that he'd just experienced. The amount of spiritual-type soul beasts that existed was extremely little, yet he'd almost been killed by the first soul beast he'd encountered.
Furthermore, this had only been a ten year soul beast. What if he'd encountered a hundred year soul beast? He was going to be dead meat...
'What should I do?' Huo Yuhao's mind was coming in with blanks, and he didn't know what to do. Suddenly without any prior warning, a voice echoed out inside of his mind, stunning him.
"Finally, I've met a spiritual-type human! What a pity that this brother can't cry! If I could, my face would definitely be covered with tears! Hahahaha!"
"Who's there?!"
Huo Yuhao was startled and he subconsciously gripped the White Tiger Dagger. His eyes darting all around, trying to find the source of the voice.
However, at this moment, the ground beneath him suddenly trembled. Cracks began to appear on the ground two metres in front of him, and then gradually expanded until they turned into a crevice; a dim golden-white light faintly shone from within the crevice.
'....W-What the heck is that? Another soul beast or something?'
Huo Yuhao nervously gazed at the crevice that was gradually expanding. He wanted to make a run for it. But some kind of invisible power was keeping him in place.
An icy chill was released from the crevice, which caused the surrounding temperature to drop. The area of the crevice gradually increased, and after a moment, its diameter had reached five metres wide, causing the true appearance of the golden-white light to finally be revealed.
It was a plump and fat-looking head with a diameter of over one metre. After it slowly wiggled its body and managed to climb up, its entire body was revealed. Its body was over seven metres long.
Following its appearance, the surrounding temperature became so cold that Huo Yuhao was able to see his own breath, and it caused him to be unable to help but shiver a few times.
It resembled a silkworm, but it was a big one that no one has ever seen before throughout history.
...
It was a dick!
I'm kidding that isn't it😂
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