Chapter 188: Fun [2]

The moment the monster’s life ended, I could sense mana essence flowing in my direction from the corpse.

Willing the mana in my body, I actively began to attract the essence towards me, and within a second, it had entered my body, being absorbed into my mana meridians.

A rush of instant dopamine release hit me as the essence was absorbed into my core, but—

Along with it, there was a feeling of repulsion in my body.

The essence felt disgusting to absorb, but I didn’t let such thoughts overwhelm my decision.

Haa…

I could also feel a slight crack appearing in my core upon absorbing the monster’s mana essence.

“Graaahhh!”

A loud roar made me look to my left, only to find another gorilla-type monster looking at me with immense rage in its eyes.

Family?

I looked at the corpse below me, and seeing the similarities between the two, maybe—

It was the monster’s wife?

The creature was smaller than the gorilla I had killed earlier, so maybe it was the female of their species.

Sigh.

Looking at the supposed female monster, I felt pity for it.

Such loss would have been disastrous for anyone, so the least I could do was end the suffering of the pitiful creature before me.

Sorting my thoughts, I jumped down from the corpse before walking in the direction of the beast before me.

The monster, seeing me heading in its direction, let out another roar, which was soon followed by a wild charge towards me.

Channelling mana through my core, I began to exert mana pressure on the surroundings once again.

The monster’s speed dropped instantly, as the mana in its body was suppressed, resulting in the creature having to use its own physical strength with little to no enhancements.

I didn’t charge at the monster, as there was no need to do so.

Its top speed was already far too slow for my eyes; then, coupled with my mana pressure, the monster felt like a turtle trying to race.

As the distance between us was reduced to a mere three feet, the monster used its limbs to attack me from all sides.

I dodged each of the attacks with absolute ease before—

Spurt!

My sword made contact with its neck, severing it from the monster’s body.

Haa…

The mana essence was absorbed into my core, resulting in the cracks widening again.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath before spreading my mana sense across the entire mountain range.

The moment my mana sense had encased the mountain range, I was able to spot all the monsters in the vicinity.

There were even some gold cores among them, but I chose not to engage with them.

I wasn’t fighting for survival.

There was no need to fight monsters of a higher rank, as the ones in the Silver rank were enough for my core—at least the peak ones.

As for the Silver 2 or below monsters, I could just hunt them for practice.

As for their mana essence, it wasn’t wasted, but the extent of its usefulness to me was less than what a Silver 3 could offer.

Willing more mana through the muscles in my legs, I charged through the trees around me, heading for my next target.

Within ten seconds, I had to stop in my tracks, as a lone snake stood before me, coiling around a huge tree.

Though the snake was smaller in size compared to the other monsters, it was still a peak Silver core.

The snake seemed to have sensed my presence somehow, as it turned its body the moment I had arrived in its vicinity.

Sigh.

Swoosh!

Without wasting any time, I charged at the snake, which opened its mouth to showcase fangs that were a little red in colour.

The moment I had appeared closer to the snake, it sensed my movements again and shot at me while recoiling its body like a spring.

Tilting my neck to the side, I crouched down at the same time—avoiding the attack entirely.

But—

Spurt!

My sword, which was positioned with its edge pointed upward, had already pierced through the snake the moment it shot across me.

Hm?

“Cough… Cough.”

As I turned to finish the injured snake, some blood leaked from my mouth as I coughed twice—

“Cough.”

Thrice.

Poison?

I willed mana through my core, activating my regenerative abilities.

The poison was immediately dispelled, as my body healed all the damaged organs from the inside.

Crack.

Loosening my shoulder joints, I walked towards the snake, which began spewing more poison into the air.

Not that it would work against me.

As I stood inches away from the little monster, it once again sprang at me—or at least tried to—but I caught it mid-air, and—

Bam!

Crushed its feeble body, which was trapped in my left hand.

The mana essence entered my body as I once again felt a surge in power, coupled with additional cracks to my core.

Hm?

The moment I absorbed the mana essence, I sensed more monsters being attracted in my direction.

There were around thirty of them, the highest being a Silver 2.

I waited for the monsters to appear before me, and well… the wait wasn’t long.

A group of dog-like monsters appeared in a pack, with the leader being a Silver 2.

All the rest were barely at Silver 1, with some Bronze cores among them.

Haa…

A waste of time.

Closing my eyes for a second, I interlocked my fingers, then opened them completely before forcefully shutting my palms…

My ability was activated.

Mirage Clone.

Six identical versions of me were formed, as each of them opened their eyes simultaneously.

It was time to speed up…

The pack of dogs growled at me as they observed each of my clones with hunger in their eyes.

Well… they didn’t have to observe for long, as the moment I bent down for the charge, the dogs did the same.

And…

Thirty corpses were sprawled on the ground below, their heads detached from their bodies, with some having their guts spilled out.

Though the quality of the essence was significantly lower for me, I wasn’t a picky eater.

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