Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

The six Shadowclaws menacingly turned towards him, their fangs bared and their paws transforming as their claws extended.

Simultaneously, the three Thundewings, adorned with gray and blue feathers crackling with electricity, fixed their intense yellow eyes and extended their claws onto the branches they perched upon.

Initially, none of these birds made a move, their attention captured by the fearless Spirit Master who was engaging in combat with the six hyenas using only his sword, opting not to summon his Spirit.

Similar to the three black-beaked birds, other creatures nearby observed with curiosity, biding their time to either escape or seize an opportunity.

A forest like this was dangerous not only for humans hunting crystals but also for beasts that could become the hunters' game, or even targets for other, stronger beasts. If such a human were to fall later, some of them could die if they tried to claim his body in front of stronger beings!

For now, they just watched as the peculiar human move without summoning his Spirit.

Liam had learned that this was not the correct way for Spirit Masters to fight. But did he agree with it? No.

He wasn't an idiot who wanted to go against the system. He just didn't see himself as being of the same standard as the normal Spirit Masters.

Spirit Masters at his level would have two Spirits to rely on, but he only had one. Not only that, he had several enemies in mind and didn't feel comfortable using Thal'Korr to just deal with these hyenas and maybe the Thunderwings.

Spirit was like Earth's powerful firearms. Was it worth wasting it to deal with mere 'rats'?

The process of summoning a Spirit by itself, even without making it fight, would use up 10% to 20% of Liam's mana. He was well aware of this and preferred to use this mana on his own to fight these creatures!

He advanced with a sword in hand, using what little of the weapons handling technique he had already been studying at Demon Gate over the last few weeks.

As he hold his Second Class sword in both hands, he wrapped his mana around it, just as he did with his arms, legs and abdomen.

Much of the handling of a weapon depended on how it was wielded. To wield any weapon correctly, you needed to have good posture, to know how to use your weight to your advantage, which naturally required powerful muscles not only in the arms but also in the legs, abdomen, and back.

Liam hadn't had time to train his muscles, so he strengthened them with mana, while using the shadows of the trees to his advantage.

The hyenas didn't wait for him to catch up. As Liam ran towards them, they turned towards him and moved too. Even though he had a higher cultivation than them, there were six of them, while he was only one.

Just as Spirit Masters knew a lot about beasts, beasts knew a lot about Spirit Masters. The vulnerable point of every cultivator was their body, so every beast would try to take advantage of this weakness by attacking the enemy's body.

Two of the hyenas seamlessly blended into the shadows, becoming nearly invisible in the area, while two others skillfully manipulated the darkness with their unique power. They use their mouths to create a mist of darkness, a haunting melody that sought to disrupt Liam's senses. Meanwhile, two others acted as bait, launching direct attacks on their target.

Regrettably for these creatures, the shadows belonged to Liam, and his next move didn't align with their wishes.

'I chose you for that very reason!'

Liam chuckled at the hyenas' feeble mind games, easily spotting two of the creatures skulking in the shadows, hidden from everyone else, but not from him.

He played the creatures' game, using a fraction of his shadow powers to protect himself and strengthen his body a little, while attacking the two bolder opponents.

When the more advanced of the hyenas attacked him with its sharp claws covered in darkness, Liam dodged the movement long enough to smell the stench of that furry body and the wind of the enemy's movement.

As the second hyena attacking him directly bit towards him, he moved his sword while using the body of the creature that had tried to tear at him with its claws to propel himself towards the opponent with its mouth open.

The crack of ribs breaking reverberated around Liam as he swiftly sliced through the hyena's head, ending the threat.

As he crossed the enemy's head horizontally with his sword, at the level of the open-mouthed creature's tongue, Liam severed the top of the hyena's head. He caused it to fall dead to the ground with half of its head still connected to its body, with tongue, fangs and its large throat showing.

Blood escaped from the wound, while the other creatures saw what this Spirit Master was capable of, feeling goosebumps on their bodies for a moment.

Liam didn't stop there. Standing with his back to the two enemies using the shadows to hide its movements, he paralyzed them before they reached him.

He turned and delivered two blows, slashing the throat of one of the two creatures, before driving his sword into the ribcage of the second, hitting the enemy in the heart.

The sound of two more creatures falling to the ground rang out as the three Shadowclaws trembled. At that moment, they realized their mistake in not fleeing the moment they spotted Liam!

But now was too late. As their fur stood on end and their tails were tucked between their hind legs, they felt shadow demons forming on their sides.

These demons cut into different parts of their bodies. They rapidly invaded their bodies and paralyzed them, preventing them from even barking in fear.

Liam drew his sword from the body of his third dead enemy and didn't wipe the blood dripping from his weapon as he ran at the fourth Shadowclaw. He cut off this enemy's head vertically, leaving half of the enemy's brain connected to the rest of its body and the other half on the ground.

Then, he skillfully hurled one of his daggers with the precision of an archer, piercing the eyes of one of the two paralyzed creatures. Meanwhile, he swiftly maneuvered towards his sixth and final opponent in the vicinity.

When the sixth Shadowclaw hyena fell dead to the ground, Liam purposely weakened his aura apparent to the creatures in the surroundings.

He paused for a moment, pretending not to see the three Thunderwings watching him. He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, simulating agitated breathing.

As he expected, a moment later, the three birds leaped from the branches they were on, flying determinedly at him!

He opened his eyes with a smile on his face, still with over 80% of his mana available in his body.

The three birds flew until they were 2 meters away from Liam, when they each hovered in the air, while beating their wings against him in the same pattern, their metallic feathers glowing with energetic sparks.

The sound of thunder came a few moments later, after Liam felt a powerful bolt of bluish lightning strike him, with the three birds showing him something he hadn't yet learned from books.

'Oh? A formation combining the same powers?'

He opened his mouth as he felt pain, even though those birds were 3 stars weaker than him and he still had most of his mana available for battle.

Fortunately, he had hidden his true level and was better than the three Thunderwings thought. Even though they hurt him by showing an attack level well above their individual level, the three failed in their attempt.

Liam's Dark Regeneration kicked in to recover his body from the shock, and he grinned. He moved his hands and formed three dark silhouettes in the shadows of the enormous birds surrounding him.

These creatures, as big as ostriches but with bodies more like hawks, twitched their eyes as they felt swords of darkness penetrating their bodies.

Liam danced with his sword, the metallic clang of steel against steel echoing through the air, as he effortlessly sliced through the paralyzed bodies of his enemies.

He killed the ninth enemy of this first moment of hunting, frightening the other observers, forcing some creatures to move away. Others put aside their plans to act against him, even if they didn't move away from the area.

With nine bodies in his surroundings, his clothes and weapons soiled with blood, Liam quickly used his dagger, stuck in the skull of one of his targets, to collect his Arcane Crystals from the enemy bodies.

He wouldn't take the bodies of these creatures with him, no matter how valuable they were. Once he had taken the crystals and some valuable parts of such bodies, as the claws, fangs, and some feathers, he would set off, leaving the nine corpses to be devoured by the creatures that would seize the opportunity after his departure.

This was his first of many fights in this area. Soon, he would face more opponents in completely different situations than the one at dusk today!