Dark Berserker: Rise of the Forgotten Progenitor

Chapter 14: Forbidden domain

[>status<]

[Name: Cristian/ Vladimir Athelstone.]

[level: 8]

[Race: Dark Huma]

[Class: Dark Berserker]

[Title: Lord of the Night Castle]

[Affinity: Decay {Bane of all life}]

[Class abilities: Decay {opened}, heavy weapon mastery {opened}, regeneration {opened}, unknown {locked}, unknown, {locked}, unknown {locked}.]

>stats<

[Health: 100 {100}]

[Strength: 82{10}]

[Agility: 64{10}]

[Dexterity: 30{10}]

[Intelligence: 45{10}]

[Stamina: 40{10}]

[Mana pool: 225]

His mana pool had refilled since he spent two days doing nothing except learning how to control the mana in his surroundings. There weren't any training weapons, so he could not gain some knowledge of how to handle weapons.

"Bane of all life. That's new, and doesn't sound nice at all." Cristian didn't need to guess an outsider's expression when he/she spots his status.

'Regeneration, huh? Does this mean my arms can regrow or just a wound?' his thoughts ran wildly but dispersed when a mild glow caught his eyes.

A treasure box hovered above the ashes of the bear. "Finally, the fruit of my labor," his cheeky voice rang and as he touched the wooden box, it burst into particles and a coat fell on the ground.

The brown fur matched the one the bear had, and while exquisitely made, it emanates a wild vibe and a dominating presence like that of a bear.

'Inspect'

[...]

[Scarlet coat: made from the soft fur of a bear, resistant to cold. Strength +5]

[Rank: Common]

[character: wild aura]

'Common? I didn't expect better. Too bad it's not snowing, but it's comfortable though,' he wore the thick coat that reached his knees and snuggled himself. "Soft," he moaned and resumed his journey.

Equipment of common rank was the lowest, for boxes, after Common came Rare, Epic, Diamond, Mythical, and Ancient.

Higher-ranked items came from high-ranked treasure boxes and were gained from the corpses of powerful beasts.

Cristian had questioned Lia about this and she told him that the beings at the Sacrifice forest belong to someone, so in exchange, he would level up faster but there won't be any drops.

Awoo! Awoo!

The howls of a wolf pack quaked his eardrums. The leaves rustled, and the ground vibrated as countless prey ran toward their hiding place.

"Shit! Just when I spoke about Luck." Cristian cursed, for the growls of a nearby wolf had drilled into his ears.

The dried leaves made rustling sounds as the soles of his boots made contact. His speed made his hair flutter, and the pouch bounced, but he tied it well so he wasn't worried about losing it.

The guttural growl of a wolf slithered into his ears, and he halted. He almost fell, but stopped his face from kissing the ground with his palms.

The growls got louder, and he raised his head. His hair covered his face, but he could see from the gaps.

Three dire wolves came out. Their towering height and piercing blue eyes made his spine tingle. They were even bigger than the largest tiger he had ever seen. The biggest one lunged at him and he quickly rolled to his right.

The path he stood on had no grass, and it also made it a lot harder to get lost, but now that three wolves stood before him, he had no way forward.

Cristian clenched his hands and got ready to pummel these oversized dogs. Even when hungry, they still stared at him cautiously and crept forward in sync.

'Inspect'

[...]

[Wind wolf]

[Name: soldier 234]

[level: 20]

[Innate skills: swipe, lunge, wind blast, great speed, pack call]

His eyes widened. ' level twenty!'

Bam!

His boot made a small dent in the soil and he bolted into the thick forest, leaving the cleared path.

It was a matter of survival here and there were three level twenty elemental wolves after him. One, he might fight a bloody battle and maybe come out on top, but three!

Cristian couldn't see any outcome that he survived.

Awoo! Awoo!

He quickly scratched that number. The number of wolves was definitely higher than three. The howls from the distance made sure he didn't forget that.

Whoosh!~thwark!

As he ran, a compressed, transparent arc slammed into a thick tree and it fell. Cristian's eyes nearly popped out because that tree stood just a meter away from him. To run in a straight line wasn't a good idea.

The thick grasses that came up to his thighs made it hard for him to run at full speed. He could hear the growls of the wolves as they closed the gap.

They were rulers of this domain and had hunted here for years. The grasses aided them in sneak attacks against larger prey. They had long adapted and now ruled.

A thick vine caught his leg, and he fell, his top became stained by the moist soil. "Ahh!" Cristian yelled with furious eyes.

His fingers wrapped around the snake like a vine that coiled around his leg and ripped it off. In that same motion, he twisted his waist and used the thick vine like a whip to smack the wolf that had lunged toward him with its sharp teeth exposed.

The force of 82 strength stat, coupled with the swinging motion, made the vine a deadly whip, and a loud sound rang as it hit the wolf's face.

Cristian dropped the vine, which wiggled like a cut-off tail, and ran. He could hear the wolf whispering and suddenly, with a piercing sound, it stopped.

And he could hear the sound of something big being dragged. It did not take long for him to recognize that a different beast, or maybe whatever was attached to that vine, had killed the wolf.

But he didn't relax as more howls echoed and a good number of wolves made their way toward this path.

Both he and the beast that killed a pack member were in danger. And Cristian did not stupidly think of meeting up with that disgusting vine beast.

The grass got taller the deeper he went. Cristian could not see a shred of sunlight, as the trees had sealed it off with their canopies.

The soil was so soft that every step he took caused his feet to sink and his linen top clung to his body, revealing his skin.

He could hear the powerful beat of his heart and with each thump, he marched forward, some leaves stuck to his hair, face, and body, but Cristian didn't care.

'I will not be a meal for any beast!' he hollered internally. His eyes burned with a steadfast will to survive.

After moving for an unknown amount of time, he fell to the ground panting, his wet hair stuck to his face and with each exhale, he yearned to find a suitable spot and rest his weary body.

Suddenly, he finds out there were no more howls or growls. The wolves had given up for a while, but Cristian didn't realize it and kept on moving deeper.

Strangely, he had not encountered any large beast. And rarely saw the small ones. He guessed the tyranny of the wolves must have driven off other predators to find a better and more forgiving hunting ground.

And most of the prey might have gone to a safer place.

But right now, he couldn't hear any sound. Not even the sound of a cricket or a frog taking a nap. Cristian summoned the screen and zoomed in on the map. "Fuck, I'm lost," he cursed whilst panic rose and his breath got more rapid.

However, he noticed a tiny red line and found out it was the path to the town. He just needed to find his way back to the red line.

The eerie silence of this place heightened his vigilance. The fog covered the distance, but the short, weird-looking trees with vines coiled around their trunks and branches made Cristian quickly turn back.

He knew one thing; this place was not normal, and he would not stay long enough to find out why. Not at this level.

Unknown to Cristian, he had entered a forbidden domain. He took five steps backward, turned back, and got ready to bolt, but what he saw made his jaw drop.