Chapter 88- The Black Cats (Part 1)

Chapter 88: Chapter 88- The Black Cats (Part 1)

Chapter 88- The Black Cats (Part 1)

Enjoying the rush of power, Rize grunted before he looked at the monster. "Ok, that was very good." He muttered. "Also, even though I only stacked the sword twice, it felt way sharper and way stronger. It was easily able to sink into the monster’s head without much resistance. I wonder what it would be like if I stacked it up to the max.

Rize could only be more and more impressed by how truly powerful Blade of Wrath was. Such a blade was simply a monstrosity in the form of a weapon. It was relentless, hungry, and evil beyond words, and yet Rize felt so connected to it. Perhaps it was because he had sacrificed his blood to make a pact with it to be his blade.

But Rize wasn’t done there as he grabbed his sword and stabbed the monster’s chest. The sword, like a hungry beast, started absorbing the blood, drying the entire corpse. The sheer amount it absorbed fascinated Rize, and at the same time, he felt the strength of the blade increase even more.

[Blade of Wrath has absorbed blood.]

[Rank: Tier 1 (5%)]

"Nice! It’s already 5% through the first tier. I wonder how much stronger it would become when it gets stronger?" Rize rubbed his chin. "Endless, eat the rest."

Ordering his hungry fellow, the black matter almost smiled in delight and started consuming the corpse. Since it was huge, it took it quite a bit of time to do that, and soon enough, Rize received a delightful notification.

[Endless Hunger consumed the target.]

[Efficiency: 6%]

[Progress: Tier 1 (29%)]

[You have gained +2 points in intelligence and +1 point in stamina.]

"Oh? My efficiency finally increased. Good job, Endless. You’re learning." Rize patted the black matter as if it were some sort of pet. The creature seemed a bit confused as it disappeared into the darkness.

Rize felt the same sensation course through his body as he exhaled. "My body feels so much stronger; it’s crazy. I feel like I could move at the speed of wind."

Rize exhaled with a smile before he finally looked away. His eyes looked around him. "Now, where did this bear come from? The way it was moving was odd. It almost appeared like it was running away from something."

Rize knew the habits of all kinds of animals in this forest, and the black obsidian bear was one of those common enemies he came across often. However, he had never faced one that aggressive and that big before. It was the strongest one he had fought so far.

’These bears don’t usually act that way unless they feel really threatened, and it most definitely didn’t sense my presence until it showed up. That means that whatever caused that should be somewhere from where it came from.’

Feeling curious, Rize decided to follow the trail of the bear. He had nowhere else to go, so he wanted to see the source of the bear’s anger, if it was still there.

Moving toward the path, Rize peeked through the broken bushes and trees and saw a long trail that led deeper into the forest. The sheer destruction the bear left behind shocked him.

’That thing was like a damn tank.’ He thought to himself as he started walking through the empty path. For several minutes, he followed the trail and examined every broken branch. It didn’t take him long to find traces of blood everywhere.

Crouching down, Rize touched it, and it was still warm, a sign that a fight of some sort had occurred recently around here.

"Hm." His eyes squinted sharply as he continued walking while remaining silent and stealthy. He knew that there could be another monster waiting around here that made that bear escape. It was a very scary idea for him.

However, as Rize walked another 100 feet, he suddenly heard a noise that made him stop.

"Cough! Cough!! Cough!"

It was the sound of coughing, one that sounded like that of a human rather than a monster. There was a person there.

Rize continued sneaking his way toward the source of the noise with a wary look on his face. This wasn’t the first time Rize encountered humans in the forest as many go out to hunt like him.

However, this situation felt a bit different. As he pushed the bushes to the side, Rize saw his target. A human, sprawled on the ground, swimming in his own blood as he coughed violently and painfully.

The man was wearing broken armor, and his sword was thrown to the side, completely covered in blood.

"Oh no..." Rize emerged from the bushes and rushed to the man. "Hey! Are you ok?"

Crouching down to check the man’s condition, his face darkened. There was a huge, gruesome gash on his torso that reached deep into his flesh, and another one on his neck, and that one in particular looked fatal. "Dammit..."

Rize had brought healing potions with him, but for an injury that bad, he needed a Tier 4 Healing potion to save the man, something he didn’t have. He only brought one for minor to slightly bad injuries.

"Who... are cough! Cough!" The man tried to speak when he saw Rize.

"Hey, hey, don’t speak. I’m going to try and stop the bleeding, ok? Hold on-"

"No... Please, cough, cough, listen!" The man said with a pained look on his face. "My group... My group is in danger... They ran... from the bears... That way... Please... Please help them..."

Rize looked at him with a frown. "How many bears?"

"3... I was... able... to hold off one of them..." The man said. "Please... I beg you..." His voice wavered as tears welled up in his eyes.

"I will find them. Don’t worry." Rize said, trying to reassure the dying man. Even though he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or not to do this, he just felt obliged to at least give the man some reassurance in his final moments.

"Thank you... thank you..." He said as tears welled up in his eyes. "Thank... you..."

Slowly, the man’s voice choked, and he stopped talking as his entire body ceased moving. His eyes lost all their light.

"..." Rize pursed his lips as he sighed. Then, he took a moment of silence before he slowly closed the man’s eyes. "I don’t know who you are... But I hope you rest in peace."

After that, Rize stood up and looked in the direction the man pointed at. His face was dead serious as he started running.

"Let’s hope I make it in time before they also die." Rize channeled his essence as he ran like a flash, cutting through the broken path. His eyes traced several blood stains everywhere around him, a very bad indication.

As he ran, he started hearing noises in the far distance. The sound of a bear growling and the cries of humans mixed together.

"Hold him off!!!!"

"I’m trying!"

"He’s... so... strong!!!"

"Agh!!!"

The cries of humans sounded desperate and terrified. As Rize cut a bunch of bushes, he finally found them in a large opening in the forest.

4 Humans and 3 bears were in a deadly battle against one another. The sight... was nothing short of gruesome.