35) Lunar Peak (II)

He pulled out his Misery Blades and prepared himself to send them flying against any enemy he saw.

[Misery blades - two pairs of Somber Iron double-bladed daggers, for a total of four blades. They are attached to each other by a chain of Corrupt Gold. The chain can resist up to Tier 6 spells. Basic damage: 70. One special trait: [Manasteal] One spell available: [Cyclone]]

[Manasteal - when the blades successfully land a hit on an enemy, 50 MP will be drained and passed on to the user.]

[Cyclone - the blades start flying crazily around the user for as long as mana is used. The longer they fly, the more speed they gain and the deadlier they become.]

He thanked Golak in his heart as he saw the stats of his weapon once more. He really had no idea how tough his enemies would be but he felt unusual confidence brimming within. Still, he treated carefully.

He walked slowly and crouching down. The air around him seemed to literally ignore him, almost as if it was rejecting his presence here. From time to time he heard an animal cry coming from deep within the woods that surrounded him at the moment. The weird thing was that all he could see was grey, he knew that most of the beasts living here also had this color scheme and they could easily be overlooked by travelers due to their camouflaging abilities. Or at least that is what he read in the library.

He heard a twig snap to his right and when he turned around, the color of his face drained. There was a Crescent Wolf the size of a tiger looking at him through the grass. He was able to recognize it due to the upside-down black crescent moon mark on its forehead. One Crescent Wolf was not that dangerous but everyone knew that wolves like to hunt in packs, these packs had between 5 to 20 wolves. And so before he even knew how many there were, Ryker was already cursing his luck.

He didn't even think about it when he activated the Cyclone spell of his Misery Blades. They started spinning and orbiting Ryker like the Earth orbits the sun. It spins both on its axis and around the sun, the same was happening with his blades. They did not have a fixed orbit tho, they would go around and up and soon the grass surrounding Ryker had been cut down and small blade marks were starting to appear in the soil.

*Awoooo*

The wold he had spotted howled into the evening sky and in less than ten seconds at least ten other wolf heads had come out of the grass surrounding Ryker and joining the howl.

"Oh sh*t" -Ryker muttered. He knew what this meant. So in response, he applied more mana into his blades as they started spinning so fast they were leaving afterimages behind.

The Crescent wolves that had joined the howl started convulsing and bulging. Their size doubled and their fur changed colors from grey to silver/white. It was their ultimate ability so why had they used it now? Because they felt that Ryker was a threat to the forest. They had become Full Moon Wolves, but only temporarily. Thus buff also had serious side effects but it was worth it.

The ten Full Moon Wolves pounced at Ryker and his flying blades. Ryker thought he was screwed but what happened next caught him unprepared. As soon as they came in contact with the blades, they literally turned into minced wolves. And all of Ryker's mana was restored. Hundreds of cuts were made in under a second and so he had stolen their lives and their mana. The blades did slow down significantly but Ryker poured more mana into them allowing them to fly as fast as they had been just a few seconds ago.

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[Congratulations! Bestiary entry acquired [Crescent Wolf (buffed]]

He had killed ten Crescent Wolves in an instant. Not only him but also the remaining wolves were dumbstruck. If they could talk they would have said "just who is this monster?!".

"Hahaha, HAHAHAHAHAH" -he started laughing maniacally when he realized what had happened.

It was after looking at the wolf's stats in his bestiary. They were level 25 but after being buffed they jumped all the way to level 35. Their total stats added up to 560. Ryker's stats added up to 1100. He had almost double the stats of them. Plus the fact that his blades had basic damage of 70 he was literally a very low leveled powerhouse. At that moment he realized how OP the food affinity was under the hands of someone who knew how to use it, or a very lucky individual this time.

He also promised himself he would eat as much as he could every day in order to increase his stats. He was also lamenting the fact that he had not been able to participate in the Sosage eating competition when he looked back on all the lost status points he had lost.

His laugh only intimidated the wolves more and before he could react, they had all given tails and started to run away. Unfortunately for them, Ryker was too greedy and he was not going to let all of these experience points just run away after he discovered he had the upper hand. So he stopped using the Cyclone spell and stored the flying blades away. It was time to bring out the big guns, metaphorically speaking.

He pulled out a black double-edged sword with silver runes all over the blade. He then closed his eyes, pushed a button at the hilt of the sword, and let his mana flow through the blade.

*Clank*

The broken pieces of the blade fell to the floor. The silver writing then started to glow and soon the pieces of the sword were levitating in the air. A silver string of mana then slowly connected all of the pieces of the blade.

*Crack*

The air cracked when Ryker cracked his whip for the first time. This was the weapon he had gotten from Golak. A sword that has the ability to turn into a razor-sharp whip after using some mana and a very strange mechanism he didn't know how it worked.

He then opened his eyes and stared at the new weapon he was holding. A wicked smile then slowly appeared on his face as he muttered.

"This is going to hurt… but not me"

It was also his first time trying out his new stats since he got them. He crouched down in a sprint position and he then started running.

*Swoosh*

He turned into a blur and soon reached his first victim. It was a slightly brawnier wolf than the rest so it was just a tad slower, not that it would make a difference as they would all perish at the end. So Ryker cracked his whip and the head of the wolf was blown to pieces. It was very gruesome but there was a certain thrill that came with it.

He immediately expanded his senses and caught up to the rest of the wolves. It was nothing short of a massacre.

[Congratulations! Bestiary entry acquired [Crescent Wolf]]

[Congratulations! Bestiary entry acquired [Crescent Wolf (alpha)]]

[You have leveled up!]

After these notifications appeared he finally stopped. He had killed the alpha and did not even realize it. And so he created his first skill.

[New original spell created! [Bloodlust]]

And a new server-wide announcement was made.

[Congratulations to Player "Ryker" for being the first one to create a spell!]

[Bloodlust - Ryker's bloodlust overflows and completely makes him lose his mind. Lasts for one minute. For the duration of the spell, he will not feel any pain but all the damage taken will double once the skill is over.]

'Goddammit! I let it get to my mind again'

The first time he let out his brutal side was when he lost the championship over a year ago and beat up his girlfriend at the time. He had promised to himself to never show that side of him again but he was not expecting that hunting wolves with a whip would make the beast resurface.

He then plopped on the grass and just rested for a while. It had taken a toll on his mental health and now he could do nothing but regret his actions. He practiced the breathing technique he was given in anger management to calm down. After about an hour he had finally calmed down and was ready to continue with his quests. He also promised to himself not to use the whip or the bloodlust spell unless that person deserved it. Not even if he was in a life or death situation.

When he stood up, he saw how all the blood that had been left from the wolves had now disappeared and where it was, there were a few small bushes with some deep blackberries in them. It was like staring into the void.

'What the hell are these?'