Chapter 106: You Bring Hate And Fear

During his fight with the Fury Forge cannibals, there had been certain challenges, but they were not enough. Those cannibals did not have great weapons, armor, or know proper fighting techniques; the only thing they had was savagery, and that was the least effective weapon that could be used against him.

Still, the fight had not been able to get his blood boiling, and he had been having self-destructive thoughts, like allowing himself to be stabbed, blinded, or weakened so that he would struggle.

Elias knew that all of these thoughts were the result of new instincts that came from his Elder Talent, Extreme Adaptability, as he could only grow if he was brought to the brink of destruction.

These instincts had been so strong that it was nearly overwhelming his ability to focus during combat, but Elias did not hate his talent because of these instincts, due to the fact that he knew that he would have no reason to be alive or be able to challenge all of these cannibals if he did not have this talent.

He had a hundred pools of Lumina, but it did not matter; even that had its limits, and the attributes he had gained from his talent alone dwarfed anything a hundred pools would give him. Maybe if he had five hundred pools, then it could begin to match; however, Elias understood that his talent was still awakening and had not even begun showing its true power.

Placing all these aside, from the moment he began fighting the leader of the cannibals, this giant of a man, those self-destructive thoughts had gone silent, and the only thing that Elias was feeling was sheer happiness.

He was aware of himself enough that he knew that this happiness was not just coming from the satisfaction of the hunter inside him that had found a worthy prey, but also came from his talents.

Elias was fighting a being that he had no reason to stand against; his skin had been burned, his muscles crushed, and his bones broken. He had to focus every bit of his mental state into this battle, so that everything else became white noise, and only in such a state that his talent could begin to manifest.

He knew that he was growing stronger, and this growth was tantalizing to everything inside him, and even though he was at the verge of death, and any moment could be his last, Elias knew that he would die smiling.

Charging at the giant, his bladed hands extended further until they scraped the ground, and with a roar inside his head, Elias swung them at the giant’s midsection.

Blades met club in a violent clash of steel and bones that sent white sparks flying. Elias grimaced in pain as he felt the bones of both of his arms fracture, despite the fact that he had used both arms to lend more weight to his strikes.

The giant swung again, expecting Elias to clash with him again, but the previous clash was a sacrifice he made to lure the giant for another strike, and he ducked, before rolling under the blow, and came up behind, spear reforming in his hands, taking a deep breath, he thrust the spear upward into the spine.

A sound of metal cutting through bone resounded in the clearing as the tip of the spear pierced through skin and muscles before lodging in between the gaps in the spine. Elias was about to twist the spear when the giant roared in pain and fear, and all the mist surrounding his body exploded outward in a ring of flame.

Caught in the blast, Elias was flung backward, crashing through burning flesh and bones. His skin was charred, and smoke poured from his hair as his Vitality plummeted.

Vitality: 874 / 2385

Stamina: 112 / 613

Elias hit the ground hard, rolled, and came up coughing blood and ash, refusing to spend a single moment on his back, because a single moment of rest was death.

The giant turned, slow and deliberate, and Elias grinned with teeth red with blood. At the beginning of the fight, the eyes of the giant had been filled with apathy. He had watched Elias slaughter his entire men without making a move because the advantages a Mist Phantom had over the lower stages were a vast chasm that was seemingly impossible to cross.

Just this last blast that had erupted from his body was enough to clear out all the Fury Forge Elias had killed with some amount of effort, coupled with his strength, speed, durability, and other factors; Elias was not a threat, even if he was given wings.

But slowly, Elias was making sure that this notion was seen for the grave error that it was.

The giant had been walking slowly before because, in his mind, there was no need to rush in order to kill a dead man; now he walked slowly because he was unable to move faster.

The glow of the fire behind the giant could be seen through the hole in his right leg where Elias had pierced through his thigh, and black blood still poured from his spine where the spearhead had nearly severed the spine in two. From his neck to his ankle were dozens of tears and lacerations that Elias had made, and all of them were bleeding.

Elias felt that he should no longer be calling the leader of the cannibal a giant any longer, for while the man still had his height, his impressive muscles and broad frame that gave him the appearance of a beast had shrivelled.

The man had begun to burn his own body just to fuel the mist, or else he would be dead. Elias was too quick, and his weapons too deadly. If he was not expelling his mist, then Elias would have torn him to pieces.

For a Mist Phantom to burn his own vitality to preserve his mist by a Wisp was something that no one would believe unless they were here watching this battle.

In the eyes of the giant, Elias saw many things, and then the one thing that he always recognized, the fear of death. In the eyes of the giant, this fear took form, and that form was Elias.

Elias could feel the swarm screaming inside him, demanding release, and somewhere deep inside of him, he would have sworn that his Elder Talent seemed to be roaring. It was as if this battle was a repeated shock to his system, and all of him was coming awake.

Elias could not help it; he began to laugh, and the sound was raw, broken, and joyful, and yet in the midst of this clearing filled with shattered bodies, the sound of his laughter was like the sound of death.

“Monster, you think this is the end?” the leader of the cannibals finally spoke. He had tried to take a step forward, but the wound on his spine filled him with so much pain that he nearly collapsed.

“I am Ngukyi, I am a Flesh Mauler, and by the Sacred Lake of Blood, I shall end you!”

With this roar of rage, the giant began to chant in the strange language of the cannibals, and a heavy weight suddenly descended on the clearing, and from behind him, Elias heard the sound of the bleeding heart begin to beat, and it was growing louder.

He turned around with a throwing knife ready, but he did not see the heart that was previously on the unfinished altar. The sound of the heartbeat was suddenly no longer coming from the direction of the altar but from behind him, and Elias turned again, and he saw the heart in the hand of the leader of the cannibals.

Looking at him with hate in his black eyes, the cannibal brought the heart to his mouth and began to chew it.

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