Together with Ming Hong and his two younger siblings, Hina-nee and I carefully stepped out of the force field's boundaries. There didn't seem to be any sign of Phantoms nearby.
"Everyone, stay behind me," Hina-nee said. "I have a detection skill."
We all nodded in agreement and lined up behind her, with Ming Hong taking up the rear.
After closing her eyes for a brief moment, Hina-nee discretely used her Sonar Pulse, then opened her eyes again and turned back to face us.
"No hostiles nearby."
I nodded. "Let's continue forward, then. Under normal circumstances, the leader would naturally try to protect itself, meaning it should be near the back of the horde."
Ming Hao and his two siblings agreed with my words, so we did as I suggested and continued moving through the forest, remaining vigilant. Hina-nee used her Sonar Pulse again and again whenever it came up, just to make sure no enemies were around us. However… there was one problem - and that was she was only scanning directly ahead of us. It was entirely possible that some Phantoms have circled all the way around and were now following us from behind, but we had no idea.
"Do any of you three have any detection-type skills?" I asked Ming Hong.
He shook his head. "Unfortunately not. I have seen other people using the same art as Lady Sakura, but I was not able to obtain the method on how to actually use it…"
Huh… so I guess, to the natives of Ascentia, all active skills in our eyes were actually hidden arts in theirs. That made sense. But there was just something I wanted to confirm…
"If it's just the art's name you need, it's Sonar Pulse," I said, baiting him to answer a question I had without actually asking the question.
He sighed. "If only it were that easy. I am not some genius. To use hidden arts, we commonfolk must first comprehend them with tons of failed attempts, over and over again. My father used to tell me to think of every art as a needle, and I the thread. In order to succeed, I would have to try many, many times, but the moment I finally manage to fit the thread through the needle, would be the moment I comprehended the art and be able to use it."
"Huh, that's an interesting analogy…" I mused.
"Sometimes, the thread wears out to the point where it's unusable anymore - certain arts are just incompatible with certain people," he continued. "However, similarly, some people just naturally have great synergy with certain arts, allowing them to learn it in a short period of time or even on their first try."
"So that's where 'geniuses' come from, huh?"
"Precisely… cultivation geniuses are those who manage to grasp arts with ease, allowing them to get stronger extremely quickly while the rest of us commonfolk can only look at their backs and hope to reach their level someday."
I blinked in surprise. "Cultivation…?"
"That's what the process of learning arts and getting stronger is called," Ming Kang, the little brother, answered in his older sibling's stead.
"Ah, I see…"
"Could it be you didn't know, Brother Kaze?" Ming Hong asked. He didn't have any condescending intentions, and was merely asking out of genuine surprise.
I nodded. "I come from a very backwater village near the borders of Azrine, where the term 'cultivation' wasn't used. I am familiar with the process of learning arts and getting stronger, but…"
"But you didn't seem to know that we actually needed to practice many times before actually being able to use an art in actual combat," Ming An, the little girl, pointed out. "Could it be, Big Brother Kaze is actually a cultivation genius?!"
"An'er! Manners!" Ming Hong scolded, sending his little sister a frustrated look.
I laughed awkwardly, seeing as how I couldn't exactly deny this after my slip-up just now, but also didn't want to come off as arrogant. "Ahaha… perhaps."
"If that is the case, then I feel more relieved to have become friends with you, Brother Kaze," Ming Hong smiled warmly.
I nodded. "The feeling is mutual."
I wanted to know more about the 'cultivation system' of this world, but unfortunately, our conversation was cut short by a sudden chorus of wailing that sounded suspiciously like… Phantoms.
"Hina-nee… can you scan behind us?"
"It's not up yet…"
"Damn… well, it's not like that would've made much of a difference," I muttered. "Prepare for combat."
Saying this, despite knowing full well Phantoms were unaffected by physical attacks, I still instinctively drew Dokujin from within my boots, attached to the side of my ankle. That was its new storage place since my old, cheap sandals were gone. Hina-nee also took out her two Sai from their scabbards, which had come with the clothes I bought her. As for Ming Hong, Ming Kang, and Ming An, they did not possess weapons, since they were solely Mages.
"Come out!" I taunted, shouting towards the dark group of trees behind us.
As if on cue, several spectral, ghastly bodies emerged, wailing in despair. The sound of their cries was so unharmonious and dissonant that my ears pleaded for mercy. However, they weren't the only problem. Several Magic Beasts also emerged, and they looked just like the snowolves Hina-nee and I had slew earlier today.
"Just Phantoms alone were enough, but now there are Magic Beasts involved, too?" I cursed. "Well, at least now we don't just look stupid for taking out our weapons…"
"Kaze-kun, my scan is up in 5 seconds," Hina-nee reminded.
"Alright. Our goal is to defend Brother Ming and his two siblings," I said, then turned to Ming Hong. "Brother Ming, we'll keep the Magic Beasts off of you, but the Phantoms…"
He nodded firmly. "Worry not, we will take care of them."
"Alright, let's do this!" I yelled, getting into battle position.
The snowolves howled and leaped towards us instantly as the frontline, the Phantoms slowly trailing behind.
"Tch-!" I blocked one of the snowolves' attack using Dokujin and saw another one trying to bite me while I was busy dealing with its ally.
Cursing, I kicked the first snowolf away and immediately spun my body to meet the other's attack, suddenly ducking down and thrusting my dagger forward. The cold steel pierced cleanly through the snowolf's tough hide and directly into the beast's underbelly, killing it instantly.
I hurriedly pulled out my dagger and saw that the snowolf I had just kicked away was now coming for me again, its bestial eyes burning with hatred. Its movements were a lot faster as it roared and jumped up high, aiming to snap my head straight off.
However, its speed was still nothing compared to my AGI stat of 100. I reacted instantly to its attack, blocking it the same way I had blocked it earlier - stopping its gnashing teeth with my dagger. Bone met metal as the beast clawed furiously at me. However, its short limbs were not enough to reach me, so we were left in an awkward position where I was holding him up in the air. Together, we were almost like a lever, using Dokujin as a fulcrum.
It was only then, at this close range, that I realized its eyes were… blood-red. This was abnormal - the snowolves Hina-nee and I had hunted down earlier today had dark gray irises, but… these ones didn't appear to have a pupil at all. It was quite unsettling, almost as if they were… demons.
But even if it was a demon, the anger in those eyes was the real thing. It was dangerously enraged, furious at me killing its brethren. The bloodthirst and hatred I felt coming from this beast could not be faked.
However… I didn't care.
Whether it was due to A.R.X.A.'s words or not, ever since I made my first kill on that sickleboar, I've started caring less and less every time I took another life. This time was no exception. Despite the anger the snowolf was displaying, I was completely unaffected. Instead, I took advantage of my superior strength to throw the beast onto the ground, before immediately stabbing down using Dokujin.
The snowolf howled in agony as I pressed down harder, digging my dagger through its flesh. Its red eyes bulged once, twice, before finally dying out for good.
More snowolves came at me, but I kept on slaughtering. One after another. Blood after blood.
Phantoms also tried to reach out and extract my soul, but Ming Hong and his siblings kept them off of me just like they said they would.
I continued to kill the beasts, my eyes holding not a single shred of emotion. No guilt, no pity, no remorse. I just felt absolutely… nothing.
The bloodbath continued, until at last, only one final snowolf remained. It began whimpering in fear as it slowly backed away from my bloodstained figure, until it finally hit a tree.
It could not back away no more.
'Vanishing Clouds.'
In an instant, I appeared directly in front of the beast and thrust my dagger into its throat, before lifting it up high into the air to admire the beautiful wound I had inflicted.
"Kaze-kun!"
"H-Huh?"
I snapped out of my bloodthirst, quickly pulling my dagger out from the snowolf's body. The beast's corpse dropped onto the floor limply.
It was then that I finally realized what I had done. I dropped Dokujin onto the ground, the metal ringing out twice, before collapsed backwards myself. My head felt like it was spinning - I could no longer stand properly. I
I was about to faint.
"Kaze-kun!" Hina-nee yelled, but my consciousness was already starting to fade away.
"Ngh… ah… what's… going… on…"
Slowly, my eyes closed.
And then, everything went black.