Erik didn't waste time and quickly headed inside the forest. The young man knew the area surrounding the breach well. For this reason, he quickly headed where the Lomalins usually resided: a clearing not too far from the breach where an ancient and tall tree stood.
The massive plant was coated with moss and appeared to be something taken from a fantasy novel or movie.
Next to the tree, an enormous boulder, measuring at least four to six meters across, stood erect against the ground. The boulder was surrounded by smaller rocks that formed a circle around it. In the spaces between the larger stones grew lilies of a deep purple hue among the green leaves of other plants.
As usual, in the middle of the vast clearing, several groups of Lomalins skittered around.
<Their number is greater than usual,> Erik thought. <Could it perhaps be due to other Thaids invading their territory?>
Erik didn't have a proper answer to that, but he concluded it was the only reasonable explanation. First, the Leylarhad cub, then the Criculs. It looked like something was forcing these beasts, who usually lived in the far east, to move west.
<The militaries didn't say anything about all of this...> It was clear that they were hiding the truth, but why they did something like that was unknown.
However, Erik was sure that they did it not to spread panic, meaning that something huge was going to happen. Maybe in a couple of days, maybe later.
There were at least a thousand Lomalins in the middle of the clearance. Usually, only one or two scout groups of five members each were around these parts, so seeing so many of them was a huge surprise.
However, Erik was excited; for the first time, he could test how much he had improved and could train to fight against multiple Thaids.
The Lomalins were the perfect opponents, as they were not powerful Thaids, and since Erik had grown a lot during the past month, he thought he could manage them.
Erik focused on a small group of Lomalins, which was relatively far from the main group. He decided to slowly cull their numbers and group by group to see how many Lomalins he could kill.
"Let's see what these guys can do. System, analyze them!"
One by one, the young man saw what these Thaids were capable of. Among the Lomalins, some were as weak as the first ones he previously killed, but Erik noticed something.
Most of them were at least level four, two levels higher than the average Lomalin he killed. That was pretty weird because it was like all the elite members of the colony went out of their hiding places and gathered together.
For sure, the situation piqued Erik's interest. Was there really something that was scaring the Lomalins? Why did even the strongest members of their colony go out of hiding?
Erik's eyes landed on the last Lomalin of the group, and its status appeared in his eyes.
--------------------------------------
- Species: Lomalin.
- Brain crystal power: Mana Hardened Exoskeleton.
-Dimension: Approximately seventy centimeters tall and fifty long.
-Description: The beast resembles a maggot with many legs; it has a black head and a hardened exoskeleton. The host is advised not to be bitten by the creature since it appears it is its main weapon.
-Approximate level: 4
-Approximate Strength: 5
-Approximate Intelligence: 1
-Approximate Dexterity: 4
-Approximate Energy: 20
...
...
...
--------------------------------------
<I wonder how much experience I will be able to gain this time,> Erik thought. He then started channeling mana through his neural links powering the sharpening and Conal's power. He shapeshifted his hands into lion ones, obtaining ten razor-sharp claws. He made them deadlier by creating a thin mana coat characteristic of his sharpening power.
Erik's strength and speed were vastly superior to the Lomalin's, so he had no doubt he would be able to kill them. However, he had to be careful since Lomalin's strength lay in their numbers. Once the awakener was ready, he darted toward the lone group of Lomalins. He swung his lion paw, quickly killing the five.
[MULTIPLE HOSTILE CREATURES KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]
[3...2...1...0]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 30 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]
<Good.> With that notification, Erik estimated he got around 6 experience points per kill, meaning he needed around 363 more to level up. Clearly, if they gave him all the same average experience.
However, things were going to become more challenging since by killing this first group of Lomalins, the thousands inside the clearance started becoming agitated. After a short while, they even found the intruder who killed their kind.
Immediately, a mad rush to kill this dangerous creature began, and Erik quickly found himself surrounded by the creatures.
[MULTIPLE HOSTILE CREATURES KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]
[3...2...1...0]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 110 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]
Another bluish-white screen appeared in front of the young man's eyes as he killed three more Lomalins.
"Not now, damn it! System, disable the notifications relative to the mana gained until I leave this place!"
[UNDERSTOOD. NOTIFICATIONS TURNED OFF.]
The Lomalins rushed in droves at the young man. Still, Erik made quick work of whatever approaching enemy and quickly started gaining kills.
The young man swung his paws left, killing a Lomalin, then one of the beasts rushed at him, but Erik destroyed the creature's brain by stomping on it.
However, the number of monsters surrounding Erik quickly became unmanageable, so the young man decided to retreat a little bit and kill the Lomalins chasing him one at a time. That would be slower, but the results would have been ensured.
With every step back the young man took, he swung his paw, and a Thaid died. The number of corpses left behind by Erik quickly increased, quickly becoming 358.
<Only five more, and I should level up!> Erik thought.
A Lomalin almost bit his shin when Erik kicked it and sent it amidst the other chasing Thaids with a broken head.
< FOUR MORE...>
Erik swung his paw, killing two Lomalins in a quick motion.
<JUST TWO!>
The young man jumped when two beasts were almost on him and crushed their heads with his feet.
[LEVEL UP!]
"LET'S GO, WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
[MULTIPLE HOSTILE CREATURES KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]
[3...2...1...0]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 2178 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]
At that moment, Erik channeled mana again to flee from the Lomalin's swarm. He used his shapeshifting power to turn into a Cricul.
Immediately, Erik felt his strength increase a lot, but moving with that kind of body was a bit weird. The speed that the young man gained and the four massively strong legs allowed him to quickly run away from the horde. After losing them, Erik quickly returned to his human form and left the forest.
Later, the young man reached the farm, and after having worked and having received his pay, he went back to the train station headed to the eastern district. It took Erik half an hour to reach that part of the city.
Initially, the streets were full of people, but once the young man reached the wealthiest part of the city, things started to change.
Once he arrived at Amber's house, the young man asked her to open the door. After spending a little time with his friend and eating dinner, the young man went to his room.
The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on (f)reew𝒆(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦