Hunter Of The Six Realms-Chapter 43: perfect too to grow stronger

Chapter 42

The second wolf didn’t wait for an invitation. It bolted straight for him, faster than the first. Kaizen barely had time to dodge, and Its flaming jaw grazed his shoulder, burning through the edge of his sleeve, but luckily it didn’t get to his skin.

"Shit!" He staggered back, gripping his blade tighter. This was the first time he was fighting solo with no backup or healer, so he had to be careful not to get severely injured.

The wolf turned on its heels almost instantly, charging again. Kaizen quickly moved, he kicked at the ground and flames bursted from his feet again, and this time, he used the force to launch himself into the air, flipping over the wolf just in time. As he passed above it, he twisted midair and drove the blade straight down into its back. A harsh screech ripped from its throat as his blade tore through his skin. it collapsed beneath him and disappeared into ashes.

He barely landed before the third one lunged. Kaizen stepped aside quickly, this time grabbing the wolf by the scruff of its flaming mane with one hand. The flames from the wolf felt hot again his palm, but he ignored it and slammed the beast headfirst into the burning ground. Before it could recover, he raised his blade and thrust it through its skull. The wolf’s body crumbled away like the others.

You guys won’t gimme a chance to breath huh. He glanced around, four more are already moving.

The fourth and fifth came at him together.

"Of course you’d team up," he muttered under his breath. He bent his knees, letting the flames build beneath his heels again. He could feel a difference, the flames felt more responsive, and he could control them better now.

He darted forward, fast,faster than before. He didn’t even realize how fast he moved until he saw the blurred trail of fire behind by him..

He twisted between the two wolves just as they tried to sandwich him. One snapped at air, the other missed by an inch. Kaizen turned sharply and dragged his hand behind him. A long wave of fire erupted from the ground, chasing one of them like a snake and coiling upwards, wrapping around its leg. The flame gripped the wolves tightly and burned.

"What the hell?" Kaizen stared for a second. "I didn’t even think that would work..." although he was new to all these, it wasn’t hard for him to figure out what would work.

The trapped wolf thrashed violently, trying to break free, but Kaizen didn’t waste time. He rushed the second one, ducked under its leaping attack, and stabbed upward through its gut. Molten lava poured out of it, mixed with sparks of flame as it dissolved, Kaizen turned back and raised his palm toward the trapped wolf.

He controlled the flames, and they obeyed.

They surged up the wolf’s body like a wave, consuming it entirely before it too vanished into ash.

Five down.

His chest was rising and falling rapidly. Sweat beaded on his brow, but his mind was racing faster than his heartbeat.

The sixth wolf was pacing now, not attacking immediately. It seemed cautious and smarter than the reat. It circled him, waiting.

Kaizen narrowed his eyes. He opened his palm again, and this time tried something different. Instead of pushing flame out, he focused on spreading it beneath him.

The ground glowed softly with a steady red light. A thin wave of heat spread out in all directions, like a hidden trap.

When the wolf finally pounced, Kaizen stepped back, and the moment it landed—

Boom.

The ground under the wolf exploded in a burst of flames, knocking it off balance. It flipped midair, dazed, and before it could recover, Kaizen closed the distance and drove his blade into its chest.

He was panting now, but surprisingly, he didn’t feel exhausted yet.

The other two wolves came at him in sync. One from the front, one from the rear.

Kaizen bent low and let instinct guide him. As the first wolf leapt, he spun low and slashed horizontally, fire trailing behind the blade. The arc of flame curved in the air and struck the second wolf mid-jump before its fangs reached him. Both of them hit the ground, one twitching, the other turning into ashes.

Kaizen didn’t stop there, he jumped on the first one’s back and pressed his palm into its neck, releasing a pressure of flame to burn it.

The wolf screeched in pain then disintegrated.

The last wolf tried to limp away, afraid that it would end up dead like the rest of its kind. Kaizen raised his hand again. This time, he didn’t even touch it. A focused jet of fire erupted from his palm, hitting the wolf square in the back and reducing it to ash.

He exhaled, the flames around him calming down and disappearing, his dagger too.

"I did it," he said softly. "That’s all right?"

He straightened slowly, trying to catch his breath. His fingers twitched slightly from exhaustion, but even then, he couldn’t help the small grin tugging at his lips. He had successfully killed them all without getting injured. To him, this felt like a once in a lifetime achievement.

He looked up at the system window, expecting to find new texts telling him he’d cleared this level.

But before he even had the chance to read through what was on the screen, a loud sound of heavy growling and footsteps made him turn.

Weren’t those all the remaining ones?

Thud.

It wasn’t just sound or it’s heavy growling. The ground trembled beneath his feet.

Kaizen swallowed hard, his mind racing. "What now...?"

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Emerging from the orange fog and flame was a shadow. A huge creature with folded wings, it’s tail dragged across the scorched earth, golden-red scales glinting under the firelight, smoke curled from its nostrils, making it look even more terrifying.

Kaizen took a step back, then another. His lips parted in disbelief. "Is that, a freaking dragon?"

He let out a breathy, sarcastic laugh. "Am I supposed to kill that thing?"

This system wants me dead for sure.

He started backing up slowly, but then the system blinked in his vision, the texts changing.

[[EIGHT FLAME WOLVES KILLED.]

[160 EXP POINTS ADDED]

[YOU CAN ALLOCATE POINTS MANUALLY TO BALANCE STATS.]

Allocate points manually? I got 160 points from killing eight wolves. For each kill, I’m rewarded with points. And those points can be shared between my stats, which means I can boost my strength or speed or health. The system...it isn’t trying to kill me, it’s helping me grow stronger.

So that’s what this was all about, now it made sense.