Another Bane Variation

Luck. Some people think that most fortunate things happen because of luck, despite the work he had spent so many hours on, the sweat dropped if it was an exercise, or maybe intelligence that saved so many lives with just a simple thought.

No, luck has nothing to do with those cases. And Ash fell into a similar case.

The claw was just a second away from devouring his head into dust of white powder, yet the claw missed his head.

Ash fell to the ground, screaming from pain and was about to faint.

'Shit! I forgot about my back!' Ash recalled. The pain of his broken back subsided but not vanished due to his Skin Fracture. Once he unsummoned it, the pain took control of his nerves.

Ash instantly out of survival instinct, activated his Skin Fracture once more. The white smoke rushed out of his mouth and the white fur of a Hollowbane came to existence on his skin. This time, Ash concentrated the transformation on his back, forcing the pain of his broken back to subside even more than in the last transformation.

Unfortunately, Ash wasn't wearing anything on top. His whole upper body was exposed completely. Now, he wouldn't be able to hide his trump card anymore. Unless, he receives Aeris's healing.

Many would call that Ash was lucky to evade a life-ending attack this way. Not putting in mind that this situation was inevitable. Even if Ash wasn't attacked, he would have fallen too. It has nothing to do with how he evaded that attack.

Ash, after handling his situation, dashed backward instantly. What he saw made his whole body shiver in sheer silence.

What he saw was a new variation of the banes, with white fur with a slight dye of reddish color, a bulky build with muscles forged from iron, two horns like the Hollowbane, and a hand that was similar to a gorilla but had claws attached to it.

Ash raised his gaze above the bane to see its panel, but…

'Huh?! Where is it?!' Ash wondered. Did he hallucinate?! No, he wasn't! The bane didn't have a panel for either its name or its level.

More strangely is that after the bane attacked, it froze in its place. Ash didn't wait anymore. He expanded his partial manifestation on his body like the last time, but with concentration on his back to hold off the pain.

The bane finally moved and retreated its claw beside its body, stared at Ash for a moment and then walked toward Ash with slow-paced movement.

Ash froze and squeezed his hand, preparing for another fight. But something didn't add up. He didn't feel bloodlust from the bane! At least the Hollowbane he had just killed evoked a sheer sense of assassination. But that bane… didn't even evoke anything that was related to a fight.

Ash, as a manipulator, knew when someone intended to fight or not, and that bane didn't want to.

Just as Ash thought, the bane walked beside Ash without lifting a finger and proceeded to walk deeper into the forest. Ash let the bane go and picked up the Hollowbane he killed and went on his way, back to his friends.

"Strange!" That's what Ash could only say.

***

After a couple of minutes walking, Ash wondered how far he had flown away from his friends. The Hollowbane he fought was too powerful for him. If not for the discovery of his trump card: the Skin Fracture, Ash would have been in the Hollowbane's place right now. Ash even thought that the Hollowbane would do the same and return his corpse to his friends after the fight.

"Ah! What a twist!" Like really!

Suddenly, Ash felt something was wrong in the air. Something that spoke of murder around him.

"Murder! Fighting! Killing! Fortunately, not torture." Ash counted loudly. He only feared being tortured, anything else was okay, even if he met his end. He had already met just two days ago.

"It's coming from the right side!" Ash tried to trace that killing intent and actually could and found it.

And a Hollow dash resounded in that direction, confirming Ash's claim. Ash raised the Hollowbane in front of him like a shield. The other Hollowbane struck at its brother instead, their sheer speed comes with a disadvantage too.

The Hollowbane pulled out its claw from its brother and dropped the corpse on the ground, only to find that its prey was nowhere in sight.

"Sorry, but I don't have time for you, level 12." Ash said from behind the Hollowbane, stabbing it from behind in the back of its neck, using the Hollow dash's power to increase his stabbing force. The blade penetrated through the other side with ease, forcing flows of never-ending azure blood on him and the surroundings of the Hollowbane.

[You have slain a LV.12…]

[130 EXP gained!]

[3 SF EXP gained!]

"Hehe, another corpse for another victory." Ash said and sheathed his sword with a click, followed by a laughter. Ash felt superior with his Skin Fracture, though not complete yet, the Skin Fracture showed immense power for its wielder.

"I can't imagine what power it would contain when it completes!" Ash admired his trump card. Well, who won't?

***

BACK TO THE CURRENT TIMELINE

Ash forged his presence in front of his friends with two Fallen Hollowbanes thrown on the ground. All of them stared in awe yet dumbstruck. No one can blame them! Their friend, who is considered the weakest (only in level), came with two banes fallen under his force. Ash soloed two Hollowbanes all by himself.

Even Nyro and Shizuna had to join forces to defeat a single Hollowbane of level 12. If they knew that Ash soloed a level 12 and also another one of level 16, they would become disciples under him instantly.

'If they possessed the same power as me, they would definitely crush me.' Ash logically thought, and he was right.

The group of the Hollowbanes that surrounded them stared at Ash, not daring to move. They were all level 10 with the exception of two of them being level 11. They knew their brothers' level, making them shiver in fear and retreat immediately from the area.

With a vanish into a blur, all of the Hollowbanes rushed away from the place with their Hollow Dash.

Aeris took a step forward towards Ash. Shizuna and Nyro did the same. Suddenly they all erupted in a sprint, hoping to catch Ash in time as he… fainted!