Before long, Yekawa finished devouring the entire body of the Chameleon Hollow. Even the shattered fragments of its mask were completely consumed.
The battle with the Giant Hollow level Chameleon had been extremely dangerous, yet the rewards were more than satisfactory. Although Yekawa's body size showed no visible growth and remained over ten meters tall, his spiritual pressure had nearly doubled, resulting in a dramatic increase in overall strength.
At this moment, Yekawa was confident that even if the Chameleon Hollow were to revive and face him again, he could still suppress and kill it without relying on Cero to destroy its tongue beforehand.
Little Yellow Dog, the Hollow beside him, had also finished consuming the lump of flesh that was larger than its entire body. Compared to before, its physique had clearly grown sturdier and more solid.
Woof woof woof!
Little Yellow Dog barked several times at Yekawa, joy evident in its voice.
You said you can help me heal my injuries?
Although the canine Hollow only made simple barking sounds, Yekawa could somehow understand its meaning clearly. Following its indication, he gently lifted the puppy and placed it on his shoulder.
Little Yellow Dog then leapt from his shoulder onto Yekawa's back and gently licked the two bloody wounds that were just beginning to scab over. A miraculous change followed. Injuries that should have required a long period to heal instantly shed their scars, and Yekawa's back returned to its pristine condition.
I didn't expect you to have such an ability. In that case, you can follow me.
Woof woof woof!
Hearing this, Little Yellow Dog barked happily twice in response and obediently settled on Yekawa's left shoulder.
Yekawa then used his tail to coil around the two bone spurs that had nearly killed him and quickly left the area together with Little Yellow Dog.
…
Inside an underground cave formed from compacted sand, Little Yellow Dog lay curled in a corner, sleeping soundly, clearly still digesting the flesh it had eaten earlier.
Yekawa, meanwhile, stared silently at the two large bone spurs in his hands. These were the weapons that had inflicted severe injuries on him during the previous battle. He had originally intended to devour them, but discovered that his current teeth were incapable of digesting such material. One bite had nearly shattered his teeth, forcing him to keep reminding himself of the limitation.
The more he examined them, the more he felt that these bone spurs resembled the protruding spikes found on a Gillian's neck. He could not help but wonder how the Chameleon Hollow had acquired them. Recalling how he had been poisoned when striking the Chameleon Hollow barehanded, Yekawa decided to retain these bone spurs and use them as weapons.
Every man from Blue Star carried a martial arts dream within him, and Yekawa was no exception. In his previous life, he had once studied swordsmanship under a well known Kendo master, paying a considerable sum in tuition for the experience.
He had never imagined that the swordsmanship he learned purely out of interest would one day become genuinely useful.
Yekawa carefully recalled the sword techniques he had learned.
The eight basic sword movements were thrust, chop, upward cut, guard, cloud, point, collapse, and intercept.
It was clear that these bone spurs were only suitable for thrusting techniques. Fortunately, mastery lay in refinement rather than variety. Against low intelligence Hollows, a single perfected thrust would be more than enough.
Yekawa raised one bone spur with both hands, arms aligned straight with the weapon, and then drove it forward sharply. The air split with a sharp whistle, carrying undeniable force.
He continued practicing thrust after thrust inside the underground cave, striking only the air.
Being a Hollow is far more convenient than being human.
In his previous life, years of overwork and minimal exercise meant he would be exhausted after only a few sword swings. Now, Yekawa had thrust thousands of times without showing the slightest sign of fatigue.
Nearby, Little Yellow Dog eventually woke up and stared at the massive figure before it with a puzzled expression, unable to understand why Yekawa kept attacking empty air.
…
Hueco Mundo Desert, New Territory.
Croak!
A bloated, fiery red frog Hollow standing five meters tall was chasing Little Yellow Dog across the sand. The canine Hollow ran swiftly, and just as the frog Hollow was about to abandon the chase, Little Yellow Dog's speed suddenly dropped.
This sudden change reignited the frog Hollow's intent. It resumed pursuit at once. Moments later, the canine Hollow dashed up a sand dune and came to an abrupt halt.
Seeing this, the frog Hollow let out a strange cry and lunged forward wildly. The instant it landed, a sharp bone spur shot up from beneath the sand and pierced straight through its body.
Sizzle!
Violent lightning surged through the bone spur and spread across the frog Hollow's entire body, inflicting unbearable pain.
Croak!
The frog Hollow screamed, glaring at the canine Hollow before it, desperate to tear it apart. Instead, Little Yellow Dog suddenly leapt away, emerging from beneath the frog Hollow's belly.
At the same moment, Yekawa burst forth from the sand. With a decisive horizontal slash, the bone spur in his hand cleaved the frog Hollow cleanly in two at the waist.
Well done, Little Yellow Dog!
Beside the sand dune, Yekawa calmly divided the spoils, tearing off one of the frog Hollow's hind legs and handing it to Little Yellow Dog before resuming his own meal.
During their time in the New Territory, Little Yellow Dog handled the task of luring enemies, while Yekawa focused on ambush and execution. Using this method, they had already hunted more than a dozen Hollows, including five powerful ones. This efficiency was several times higher than Yekawa's earlier solo hunts.
Through these days of real combat, Yekawa's thrusting technique steadily improved. He had also learned to maintain Flash Lightning along the bone spur for extended durations. It was precisely this combination that allowed him to instantly kill the frog Hollow of equal rank just moments earlier.
The only drawback lay in the bone spur itself. In the hands of the Giant Chameleon Hollow, its length had been ideal, but given Yekawa's current size, it was slightly too long to serve as a proper sword.
Even so, this posed no real problem. Yekawa could feel the spiritual pressure within him accumulating to a critical point. It seemed that consuming just one more Freshman Hollow would allow him to advance into a Giant Hollow.
Once that happened, his body size would increase and perfectly match the length of the bone spurs.
With that in mind, Yekawa had no intention of delaying. He planned to strike while the iron was hot and advance to a Giant Hollow today.
Roar!
Before he could take many steps, a crocodile shaped Freshman Hollow charged toward him fearlessly.
What a coincidence.
Seeing the crazed crocodile Hollow, Little Yellow Dog obediently jumped down from Yekawa's shoulder. It blinked its large eyes in confusion, seemingly unable to understand why the crocodile Hollow would rush toward its own death.
Yekawa did not hesitate. He thrust the bone spur forward, impaling the ignorant Freshman Hollow as cleanly as meat on a skewer.
After killing it instantly, Yekawa did not consume it on the spot. Instead, he carried the crocodile Hollow's corpse back to the underground cave. As someone on the verge of advancing into a Giant Hollow, he needed a relatively safe environment to undergo evolution and avoid surprise attacks from Hollows of similar rank.