A Wild Boar strayed from its pack.
This Qi Beast was massive, almost as tall as a Goblin at 1.5 meters.
Its brown hide seemed as thick as iron, and its eyes glowed with a menacing light as it prowled the valley in search of food.
But unknown to it, it was already another predator's prey.
Quick Step!
A red streak moved through the green valley with speed, menacingly weaving in between the tall trees and green grass, wielding a short blade as the blade swiftly carved the Wild Boar in two, severing its neck.
One attack, one kill!
The Qi Beast couldn't even react.
DING!
~----~
[You have killed a Lvl. 7 Southern Valley Wild Boar!]
[You have gained +315 EXP!]
~----~
A towering Demon with pale white skin and two curved black horns in a black hunting attire emerged out of the red streak.
The moment the stray Wild Boar died, its death attracted its pack and in no time the Demon was surrounded by 8 Wild Boars with red burning eyes.
Just like every sentient being in this world was an Awakened, so were the beasts in this world also Qi Beasts.
Julian still didn't know the origin of qi in this world but all he knew was that this energy saturated the world, changing the biology of both humanoids and beasts, turning them into Awakened and Qi Beasts.
He was already hunting in this valley for the past hour, and these Wild Boars were his hunting targets this time.
They were originally the Goblins' staple food.
These Qi Beasts had no elemental ability, simply amplifying their strength, agility, and vitality with qi but it made them extremely ferocious and difficult to kill, the perfect targets for Julian's training hunt.
Most of the Wild Boards ranged between Lvl. 5 to Lvl. 10.
Killing them didn't give Julian a lot of EXP, but he didn't abandon them because their tenaciousness and numbers made them the perfect test subject for him to train and master his new skills and most importantly, fighting them taught him to control his emotions in battle.
The training to control his emotions was proving a bit more difficult than expected because these Wild Boars simply didn't have what it took to break through his Dragon Scale.
Still, Julian hunted them.
GRRRRR!
The 8 Wild Boars grunted angrily before charging at him even as barely perceptible brown qi residue flowed around their bodies.
Julian saw their qi residue because his Qi Sight was active.
In the past hour, he already got used to keeping Qi Sight active. No other Level 11 Mage could try this but with his Dragon qi trait granting him vast reserves of qi, he had the luxury to do this.
Having mastered his most potent mage skill already by this point- Aether Bolt, Julian refrained from using it just so he could feel the effect of the training.
As the 8 Wild Boars pounced on him, he welcomed them with open arms.
Tightening his grip on the short blade on his right hand, he sidestepped the first Wild Boar, then he stabbed the Goblin Cleaver under the neck of the Wild Boar.
BAM!
The sword's blade pierced through the beast's skin, emerging from the other side of the Wild Boar as blood sprayed like rain.
It thrashed violently before going limp, it was dead.
Julian didn't stop as his eyes with Qi Sight active keenly tracked the movement of the other Wild Boars.
Kinetic Shield!
His red qi pulsed.
This time, his kinetic shield didn't activate randomly around his body as a sphere. This time, he controlled it, manifesting the white shield as a mirror-like square in front of one of the charging Wild Boars.
The Boar charged head-first into the shield!
BANG!
The collision left the Boar concussed and in its daze, Julian dove in, rolling under the beast as he sliced the short blade across its neck.
He severed the Qi Beast's head in one attack!
Amid the shower of blood, Julian rolled again out of the way just in time as the 6 other Wild Boars rammed into his previous location, but with him gone they rammed their heads into each other.
Before they could recover from missing their target, Julian already pounced.
Quick Step!
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Julian's speed skyrocketed as once again, he turned into a red blur.
He moved between the Wild Boars, cutting deep gashes into their skin with each slash of the short blade as within just a few seconds, he annihilated the entire Wild Boar pack.
DING!
~----~
[You have killed a Southern Valley Wild Boar! ×8!]
[You have gained +340 EXP! ×8]
[You have annihilated a Southern Valley Wild Boar pack!]
~----~
The massacre ended and the Demon was the last man standing.
Julian looked down at the mutilated bodies of the Wild Boars and the sight of their blood ignited a fire inside him as his forehead throbbed.
He staggered and clenched his fists tightly in a bid to control himself.
Once again, he was struggling to contain his bloodlust.
After the initial state of blood frenzy that he entered while slaughtering the Goblin family, Julian's dual bloodlines stimulated his emotions, making him sensitive to any sight of blood.
This was one of the reason why he kept on hunting the Wild Boars because slaughtering them served as training to temper his emotions and to help him control them.
It was hard, but Julian was willing to sacrifice the time and effort to control his emotions against weak opponents now so he won't die because of them when he eventually fought a strong enemy.
Julian didn't stop, he kept on prowling this area of the valley as he hunted the Wild Boars while slowly getting used to his new body and physique, even as he slowly approached mastery with all his unlocked abilities.
The combination of all his abilities made him a menace at his level.
And finally, he slaughtered all the Wild Boars in the region, more than 100 Wild Boars, gaining over 30,000 EXP in the process.
After this, unwilling to stop his training already, he was forced to move deeper in the valley.
Julian hunted deeper and encountered different types of Qi Beasts ranging between Lvl. 8 to Lvl. 15.
He encountered Wild Jumping Rabbits, massive and muscular murderous rabbits with extremely strong jumping and kicking power. Apart from the rabbits, he also encountered Lassa Rats, Gnaw Monkeys, and different species of Snakes.
He hunted them all, going on a slaughter streak across the valley but then, Julian stumbled upon a strange phenomenon.
He walked upon another colony of Gnaw Monkeys but this time, the hyper aggressive specie of Qi Beasts didn't attack him.
In the past dozen minutes, he got acquainted with this unique specie of Monkeys with sharp fangs to kill and devour prey. They were extremely territorial, attacking anything that invaded their territory on sight.
But this time, for some reason, they didn't attack Julian after he entered their territory and immediately Julian sensed that something was wrong.
Rustle! Rustle!
The breeze blew into the valley from the east above the hill, blowing westward as the Gnaw Monkeys cowered in their trees, and then Julian saw a large pack of dozens of Wild Boars charging towards the territory of the Gnaw Monkeys from the hill above.
Julian's eyes narrowed. 'This is abnormal, what's going on?'
And then, he saw a massive shadow suddenly approach from the East also coming from the hill. The mere sight of the shadow instinctively made Julian crouch closer to the ground as his dual bloodlines stirred.
He focused and before he saw it, he heard it.
SCRRRRRRRRR!
The loud cry of a bird reverberated through the valley as a massive bird of prey that was almost 2 times the size of the Wild Boars soared through the air.
This bird was strange- it was furry with predominant yellow, white, and red fur, and it had a red crown on its head. It had a long tail, and it's eyes burned yellow with a predatory glint like a burning furnace.
Julian was taken aback. 'Is that… a cock?'
DING!
~----~
[You have encountered a Lvl. 15 Juvenile Cockatriss!]
…
[You have received a new System Mission: Hunt the Juvenile Cockatriss!]
[Mission Reward: 1,200,000 EXP!]
~----~
Julian blinked. 'A Cockatriss?'