Chapter 31 : FIGHT !

The Shadow Wolf stared at Ragna with its expressionless gaze. The wolf's horrifying appearances, coupled with the eerie looking forest as its background was enough to intimidate anyone. However, it had no effect toward Ragna. He may not be good enough to face scary things. But, in front of a strong opponent, his personality changed into one of a battle maniac.

Auung!!

The wolf suddenly let out a howl and moved, it pounced toward Ragna's right side!

He quickly punched his left fist toward the wolf's incoming figure. As expected, the wolf vanished into specks of shadows which disappeared into thin air. It then silently appeared at Ragna's back with its crimson colored claw.

Ragna revealed a smile. Obviously, he had predicted the wolf's move.

One could fall into a hole once, but only an idiot would fall into the same hole twice!

His 4 Blood Orbs suddenly moved in a circular manner with his body as the center. The speed was comparable to a normal attack. He was using the Blood Orbs as a satellite to protect his entire side!

The wolf tried to retreat, but it already launched its claw. The motion was unable to be stopped forcefully. It could only watch as one of the orbs sped toward its body.

Bang ! Clean hit!

When Ragna heard the sound, he quickly ascertained the wolf's current location. He immediately turned around while commanding another Blood Orb to accurately strike at the wolf's another side, bringing it into right in front of him.

His right fist which had been fully charged slammed into the wolf's face!

Soul Strike!

The wolf was sent hurling backward. The attack managed to perfectly hit, inducing a mini stun effect. Naturally, Ragna wouldn't let this chance go. He quickly followed with another Blood Orb attack toward its face. The stun status continued because of the successive hit. Ragna didn't have time to prepare for another Soul Strike, he punched a normal attack with his most dominant hand, the right hand.

Whuushh...

Unfortunately, the wolf vanished again into specks of darkness. Ragna had now thoroughly understood how the ability work. It seemed that any kind of physical-based attack, including magical induced one, had no effect on it. The only attack which could damage it was the energy-based one. Anyhow, his Soul Strike seemed to meet its criteria.

The wolf materialized a distance away from him. It expressionless look changed into one of anger. It was enraged because Ragna had managed to found its weakness. The crimson colored glow in its claw was starting to glow even brighter.

AUUNNGGG!!

The wolf charged again. Ragna quickly rotated his Blood Orbs to surround his body, leaving him without any opening. In response to that, The wolf swiped its bright red claw. Suddenly, a red colored strike materialized from its claw. It turned out that the wolf released the energy into a blast of attack which flew toward him!

The Claw Blast and the Blood Orbs slammed, neutralizing each other. Ragna watched the scene with a dumbfounded look on his face. F*ck this wolf! It can even do ranged attack!

Ragna was now left without any of his protective orbs. The wolf was charging toward him with increased speed. It was looking forward to the moment when it could slice Ragna into pieces. In no time, the wolf appeared right in front of him with its claw already brandished.

Do you want to cheat? Let me tell you what a cheat skill is! Let's gamble it!

Ragna closed his eyes. His grasp toward his surrounding suddenly became clearer. He could see every minute movement of the wolf. It was Ragna's strongest skill, Essence Manipulation!

Every attack had its essence contained within. By relying on the energy of that essence, Ragna could increase his dodge rate tremendously!

Of course, it needed an abnormal level of reaction rate to successfully work. Ragna also had no way to ensure that his reaction rate was faster than the time the wolf take to materialize behind him and attack. That was why he said that it was a gamble. A gamble to see who was faster!

Ragna concentrated with all his might. He punched his left hand toward the incoming wolf while his right hand was charging for Soul Strike. As expected the wolf vanished, disappearing from his sight.

Concentrate!

While closing his eyes, he could slowly feel the Shadow Wolf materializing behind him. He quickly bent his body slightly to avoid the attack and swung his right fist toward it right away.

Hit! Please hit!

His fist started to glow a bit more resplendent. The Essence Manipulation stole a bit of energy from the Shadow Wolf's attack. Because of the short amount of time, the energy collected was close to none. However, it was still helpful for him.

SMACK!

Right before the Shadow Wolf's claw touched him, Ragna's Soul Strike managed to successfully smack its face!

The wolf was sent spinning backward from the force of Ragna's strike. It was a success!

Ragna didn't pursue the wolf's sorry figure. He calmed down his breath and prepared another round of Blood Orbs from the corpse of the nearby wolf. He already won the gamble. No matter how hard the wolf would try, its attack wouldn't be able to hit him anymore.

The wolf's normal surprise attack could be countered with his revolving Blood Orbs and its ranged attack could also be countered by using his Essence Manipulation.

The Shadow Wolf was left without any way to win the fight.

...

"Haah.. Haah..."

Ragna went limp right after he defeated the Shadow Wolf. Even though he could counter its every move, he had to spend an enormous amount of effort and concentration to be able to do so. The slightest mistake and he would be the one getting hit.

Naturally, he didn't win the fight unscathed. A few slash managed to hit him, followed by a few seconds of bleeding. Luckily, he had his Potions at his disposal. Whenever his health reached red, he quickly healed himself.

Luckily, he didn't run out of Soul. Otherwise, he couldn't use his Blood Orbs and Soul Strike and left without any way to attack the wolf. The Soul stat was indeed a bit strange. Even though he only had 100 points, he never ran out of it during a critical fight. It seemed like its regenerative capability was different according to the situation.

Even though Ragna was exhausted, he couldn't help but smile. This battle gave him a lot of benefits. Aside from heightening his battle sense and combat ability, he also reached level 16 because of the experiences. On top of it, the wolf also dropped an amazing equipment for him.

Shadow Wolf's Cloak ( R )

Defense : +35

Movement Speed + 10%

Special Ability : Shadow step. Instantly dodge a physical-based attack and appear at a designated spot near the enemy. Can only be used twice a day.

Level Requirement: 20

It was a rare equipment! Ragna's unusable Black Wolf set was only a set of uncommon equipment. Obviously, the differences between them were as clear as day and night. However, because the Black Wolf set was a set equipment, there was a bonus if he equipped all of them. It was a bit sad that the Shadow Wolf's Cloak wasn't part of the set. If it was, the effect would be terrifying.

Moreover, he also got another item, it was a rare material!

Shadow Wolf's Claw ( R )

In Maya, a material could be forged into an equipment or synthesized into a potion. The higher the grade of the material was, the stronger the effect would be. The Shadow Wolf's Claw was an item dropped from a level 30 mutated boss. If it was used as a material for an equipment, the finished product should be two-tier higher than ordinary equipment at that level. Naturally, it depended on the blacksmith's capability too.

With his current level, Ragna needed another 4 levels before being able to equip his set and the cloak. On top of it, his set was still incomplete. He got two copies of the Boots instead of the last part of the set, the Wrist Guard. He wanted to trade for them when he found the opportunity to do so. At least, he would wait until his level was close enough to 20.

Ragna had made a Blood Essence from the Black Wolves and had consumed it a few hours ago. He also had made another Essence because of his terrifying killing speed. Naturally, that 2nd Essence was prepared by him to research for its other effects.

When he looked at the corpse of the Shadow Wolf, an interesting idea flashed in his mind.

'What if I try and make an essence from a BOSS Type Monster?'

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Author Note : (Maybe) No chapters until Monday. This weekend is my brother's wedding! Please join me in praying for the best for him haha!

PS : THIS CHAPTER IS NOT SHORT!! IT'S 1500 WORDS LOL