Chapter 305: First Kill

He left the safety of the outpost, revealing himself to the vicious beasts prowling through the surrounding Brutal Wilderness.

The moment he set foot outside the outpost, Uhtred could already feel the stark difference. It was as though a dome of protection surrounded the outpost — a ward of some sort that prevented beasts from breaching it.

Uhtred no longer had that protection now. He hadn’t even walked for up to five minutes when he felt the first gaze of something lock onto him.

His eyes shot straight for a spot between the surrounding trees. The forest was nearly pitch black — the canopy above prevented any trace of light from reaching the floor, not even starlight — yet, Uhtred was still able to see perfectly clearly.

He spotted the silhouette of something that looked like a mix between a jaguar and a grizzly bear staring at him like he was prey.

Quickly, Uhtred used his Gnostic Eye’s ability on the beast:

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[Beast Name: Tempest Panthera]

[Species: Valerian Prowler]

[Core Rank: Nascent (Wind and Lightning Essence-Attuned)]

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[Attributes]

Strength: 260

Agility: 721

Endurance: 98

Vitality: 93

Intelligence: 14

Perception: 107

Willpower: 10

Luck: 5

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[Innate Skills]

Lightning Pounce

Kinetic Compression

Continuous Sonic Dash

Apex Predator’s Ambush

Tempest Maw Blitz

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Oh? Interesting... Uhtred mused internally. Its agility is stupidly high, its strength is also good, but the rest of its attributes are rather low... which means it’s a speed-type beast... Somewhere around Level 50 to Level 60 if I had to guess...

The beast had no visible level, just like everything else in this scenario world, but Uhtred was still able to estimate based on the stats he could see.

In a flash, the Tempest Panthera suddenly launched at him. It charged for where he stood and swiped down with terrifying power. Its paws were charged with streaks of lightning, moving with such speed that it left a trail of seared air in its wake.

Uhtred sidestepped calmly, evading the strike. He watched the attack sail past him, observing the Tempest Panthera’s use of air and lightning magic with intrigue.

The beast, however, didn’t take Uhtred’s lack of fear lightly. Its immense agility allowed it to perceive Uhtred’s movement mid-swing. It realized it had missed him and tried to account for Uhtred’s movement, reaching forward with its swipe... but Uhtred simply leaned out of the way even more.

The Tempest Panthera burst into a frenzy.

With another sudden lunge, it sped for Uhtred, clawing for his neck. This time it didn’t stop with one lunge; it dashed at him with chained, consecutive strikes.

That’s two skills now, Uhtred noted internally as he weaved out of the way with Slipstream Stride. The first attack had been [Lightning Pounce], and now this was definitely [Continuous Sonic Dash].

The Tempest Panthera had used two of its skills that seemed most focused on speed, yet it still failed to touch a single hair on his body.

Uhtred could see the untamed wildness in the beast’s eyes as it tried over and over to attack him and failed.

Why is it that the speed types always go crazy when they fail to touch me? Uhtred thought, amused. This beast was just like the Prime Sapien he’d faced. Even with its limited intelligence, it still had an ego, refusing to succumb to the reality that something else was this much faster than it was.

Well, it doesn’t matter. I just need to wait a few minutes for it to get tired, Uhtred concluded. He already knew the Tempest Panthera’s Endurance stat wasn’t good at all. Its agility was insane, but it lacked the stamina to use it for a long period of time.

And just as Uhtred expected, only a few minutes later, the Tempest Panthera’s attacks began to slow dramatically.

Suddenly, it stopped attacking altogether and made a move to escape.

"Oh no, you don’t!" Uhtred finally made his move. He charged at the beast, his fist raised for a heavy strike. He targeted the rippling muscles above its hind legs, aiming to cripple the beast in his first strike.

But out of nowhere, the beast that had been running abruptly twisted backward. Its head shot for Uhtred’s charging fist, its maw closing in like a vise.

Fuck! It was a bluff!

Uhtred reacted at the very last second, redirecting his fist just out of the reach of the Tempest Panthera’s vicious maw. His blow connected off-target, but still elicited a pained cry from the beast.

It charged at Uhtred with more intensity, releasing everything it had in its arsenal.

By now, it knew there was no escaping Uhtred. Its earlier attempt to escape had only been a ruse to get Uhtred close. For something with an intelligence value of just 14, compared to Uhtred’s 238, it was actually decently smart.

Lightning began to crackle across the entire length of its body. It charged at Uhtred using its [Lightning Pounce] and [Continuous Sonic Dash]. At the same time, it snapped its jaws with terrifying ferocity using [Tempest Maw Blitz].

It even released continuous lightning strikes — a basic use of lightning that wasn’t registered among the five skills displayed on its status panel, but still packed enough punch on its own.

Yet, Uhtred either evaded, blocked, or countered each of its frenzied attacks.

Their fight lasted a whole eleven minutes, and by the end of it, Uhtred stood atop the beast, victorious. His hand dug into the center of its chest, ripping out its essence core. He tossed it in the air several times, feeling the dense essence packed within.

Yeahh, this is at least Level 50, he thought with a smile as he placed it into his spatial storage.

"The fight was decent. But I didn’t really feel threatened. I don’t even feel like I pushed myself at all," Uhtred muttered, a dissatisfied frown coloring his face.

Of course, it wasn’t like he was complaining. No one in their right mind would complain when they were able to easily dispatch a beast several levels above theirs.

Rather, his concern was that he was getting too complacent. He knew his victory here was mainly because of his Slipstream Stride technique.

He could see very clearly now how overpowered the movement art was. So far, he hadn’t met anyone or anything that could compete with him when he used it.

No wonder it was only the Sovereign of Chaos, Drakgon, who could use it, Uhtred thought. All I need to do in a fight is keep my distance, wear my opponent out, and then snatch my victory at the end.

"That’s one sure way to win... but it’s also a sure way to become weak," Uhtred muttered, clenching his fist. "What will happen when I’m up against someone who can actually deal with Slipstream Stride? What will I do then? Sit and wait to be slaughtered?"

Uhtred frowned deeply, realizing how heavily dependent on the movement art he had become.

He clenched his jaw and mentally decided to limit his usage of the technique going forward. For the rest of his journey through this Brutal Wilderness, he would try not to use Slipstream Stride too often. He needed to develop his other spells and techniques, too.

After assessing himself and deciding how to improve, Uhtred pulled up the ranking leaderboard next. He wanted to see how many points he’d gotten after killing the beast.

With a thought, he willed the panel into his view.