Chapter 38: Abnormal Battle

After saying goodbye to Eddie, who just happened to pass by, Charles stood up from the sofa and walked out of the two-storied building. To his surprise, he noticed that the five-meter-long black snake was waiting for him at the entrance and smiled subconsciously.

"We meet again, Shadow Princess." He said while stepping on the greyish yard.

"Meet. again." As usual, the weird snake said in a breaking female tone and then slithered after him.

Both soon appeared out of the Wind Villa and went into the dense woods. Unlike the last time, they didn't meet any dangers on their way to Riverdale City and reached the City entrance in a few minutes.

But as soon as he stepped in, a chilly wind blew past him and gave him a dangerous premonition.

"Go back. I will go on my own." He muttered hurriedly as his gaze swept past the buildings and soon landed on a Dark Wolf-like creature.

Its fur was a mixture of dark and grey color and appeared around 2 meters tall and four meters long. It stood on the mud main street road and appeared to be in the middle of eating its prey!

Upon hearing Charles's words, the Shadow Princess nodded its head, slithered around, and soon moved in the other direction.

Meanwhile, Charles unsheathed his dagger, gripped it tighter, and cast the [Inspect] skill on the Dark Wolf.

A second later, his complexion turned gloomy as he noticed that the [Inspect] skill had failed.

'It means that the Dark Wolf's Wisdom is higher than mine. It is most likely a peak-level Rank-2 creature. If it is a Rank-3 creature, I would be in deep shit.' He muttered to himself as he cast [Conceal] skill on himself and crept towards the Dark Wolf like a sneaky cat.

At that time, a bold idea appeared in his mind.

'Can I able to assassinate it using this upgraded gun and my [Incinerate] spell? Although these creatures are tougher to kill, I don't think it is impossible. Moreover, this one is injured already by its prey.' He instantly calmed his mind and felt something was affecting his inner feeling.

Unlike before, Charles sensed that this emotion urged him to act against that Dark Wolf!

'Why did I think of such a dangerous idea?' He was about to question himself but soon felt an irresistible urge to attack the Dark Wolf.

Before he could understand the situation, his hand pulled out the Ember Pistol from the void pouch, aimed at the Dark Wolf's forehead, and turned the hammer before pulling the trigger.

BANG!

A loud explosion echoed.

The next instant, a reddish bullet came out of the Ember pistol's muzzle, tore through the air, and moved towards the Dark Wolf at an unimaginable speed!

In the meantime, Charles felt an irresistible urge to kill the Dark-Wolf creature and got both anxious and excited.

'My thoughts are deviating...If this wolf is a Rank-3 creature, I will gain thousands of experience points...Staying here is too dangerous and confronting this creature is a terrible idea... I need to escape now... No, this is a good opportunity. I'm very confident in killing it now...'

Charles's mind went chaos for a moment.

'No...I can't end it like this...' Suddenly, he made another bold decision as the crimson fire bullet landed on the Dark-wolf's forehead.

'I will kill it for real.' Both emotions became one as he stared at the wounded Dark-Wolf and sprinted towards it while gripping the dagger tighter.

In the meantime, the Dark-Wolf let out a loud howl in anger, turned its monstrous head, and leaped towards his direction while opening its hideous mouth.

'Damn it, if I get near recklessly, I will die here for sure... I have to think of another plan.' He instantly cast his [Fire Wings] spell and flapped it forcefully.

Due to his swift action, he managed to evade the Dark-Wolf's monstrous mouth in a hairbreadth. Meanwhile, the two crimson wings flapped from time to time and made him suspend in the air.

Although he managed to escape from the Dark Wolf, he felt that his inner emotion was acting weirdly and urging him to kill the Dark Wolf quickly.

Resisting the desire to kill, he stared at the Dark-Wolf for a moment and soon noticed a bloody crack on its forehead.

Dark blood filled with nasty disgusting worms gushed out from its forehead and spread everywhere while releasing a strange smell in the surrounding air.

Charles bit his tongue to stay calm and pointed his forefinger at the Dark-Wolf.

If it were any other Fire Mage, he wouldn't have enough confidence to kill this creature in one go. But Charles was a strange guy and had multiple unique skills.

For a moment, the pupil inside his jade eyes shrunk as he aimed at the Dark-Wolf's wounded area and got ready to cast the [Incinerate] spell on the Dark Wolf at any time.

Simultaneously, he took out a strange black-covered book from his void pouch and chanted in the Runal language.

A moment later, a condensed ray of fire appeared from his forefinger and soon moved towards the Dark-Wolf!

Meanwhile, the Dark-Wolf also looked up at the crimson bird-like human in anger and soon felt a dangerous premonition in its mind.

It was about to evade the upcoming attack using its [Dream Walking] ability, but its thoughts suddenly went into disarray.

It felt that it couldn't move its body at all!

No, the Dark-Wolf got confused all of a sudden and couldn't able to think correctly!

It was due to the Rank-1' Confusion' spell from the Starfall Codex magic book!

Before it could wake up from the dazed state, Incinerate ray came out of Charles's finger, moved towards the Dark Wolf at an unimaginable speed, entered its forehead, and soon burned it from the inside.

A heavy pain assaulted the Dark-Wolf as it howled in pain and anger and started banging its head in the nearby building walls.

Simultaneously, stones and rubbles flew in different directions and destroyed windows and doors of the nearby building.

On the other hand, Charles curled his lips upward, took out a card from the void pouch, and activated it by crushing it a bit.

A heartbeat later, hundreds of green vines, black vines, and grey vines popped out from the ground one by one and soon slithered towards the Dark-Wolf.

Within seconds, all those vines completely tangled the Dark-Wolf and made it immobile.

At that moment, Charles didn't stay idle as he landed a few meters away from the Dark-Wolf, flipped two pages of the Starfall Codex book, and started chanting.

Unlike last time, he took almost a minute to complete the chant and finally closed the Starfall Codex book.

The next instant, an illusionary third eye appeared on his forehead, and soon a purple bolt of lightning came out from it.

It was a unique Titan's Bloodline spell, Eye of Destruction!

The purple lightning bolt flew in a straight path and soon landed on the bounded Dark-Wolf's head!

It then went inside the severely wounded Dark-Wolf's head and destroyed its head from the inside, causing black-colored blood, flesh, and brain matters to splatter in different directions.

[Target Eliminated! 1710 Exp obtained!]

A second later, tiredness and dizziness assaulted Charles's mind as he stumbled a few steps and stood in unbalanced footsteps.

'So much Exp... This wolf is not a normal one. Thankfully, the Dark Wolf didn't cast any spell on him. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to battle against this creature.' He groaned in pain and soon dismissed the crimson wings from his back.

After that, he also deactivated the Arcane Card's nature spell, stored the Starfall Codex Magic book, Arcane Spell card, Ember pistol into the void pouch, and started walking towards El Street.

'My head is aching all over, and my body is not responding properly. I'm feeling fatigued...' He walked in a half-conscious state and soon reached the El street junction. Although he defeated the Dark-Wolf, he still felt it was dangerous to stay in the Dreamworld any longer.

He continued to walk on the El Street road while glancing around everywhere in vigilance and soon reached 45 El Street. He opened the rusty compound gate, walked on the yard filled with weeds and strange plants, and soon appeared in front of the wooden door.

He then pushed the door open, walked into the reception hall, and went upstairs through the spiral staircase.

He soon appeared outside the bedroom, turned the doorknob, pushed the wooden door open, and walked it.

Once he entered the bedroom, he locked the door from inside and went near the old dusty bed.

Charles laid on it without minding the dust and soon closed his eyes.

...

After an unknown amount of time, Charles gasped for breathing in the real world and soon opened his eyes before sitting up.

He instantly felt the tiredness and exhaustion appear in his mind as he started breathing heavily.

'That was a risky adventure... I need to increase my wisdom power and start learning 'Confusion' spell-like skills. It was handy back then...' He muttered inwardly and then took out the 'Nightmare Stone' from his pocket. After that, he stood up with unsteady footsteps, went near the cabinet, opened it carefully with a small key, and placed it inside.

He then closed the cabinet, put the void pouch and dagger on the table cupboard, and went back to the bed.

Once he confirmed no serious injuries in his body, he breathed out a sigh of relief and placed his head on the soft cotton pillow.

Within seconds, he felt darkness invade his mind and soon fell into a deep sleep.

...

The next day morning, around 7 A.M.

Charles woke up from his deep sleep and began to fresh up. He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth using a strange powder, washed his face, and then took a long bath in the cold water.

After that, Charles walked out of the bathroom, wiped his body with a white towel, and wore a casual cloth. He then went downstairs, had his breakfast, and returned to the study.

Once he entered the study room, he locked the door from the inside, went near the table, sat on the wooden ladderback chair, and began to think about the previous battle experience.

'That Dreamworld is much more dangerous. If not for my quick decision, I would have made more mistakes and got killed by a beginner-level Rank-3 creature. No, it doesn't look like a Rank-3 creature but in-between. If I had encountered any Peak level Rank 3 creature, I would have died there. In my previous battle, I lacked two things. One is a defensive spell, and another one is a supportive spell. The Starfall Codex magic book did a great help during the battle... And that last Eye spell was very destructive...' He organized his thoughts and then shifted his attention to Experience Points.

'Hmm, I have extra Exp to level up the main class.' He thought for a moment and then put 337 Exp into the main class.

[337 Exp deduced from the Host!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You became a level 5 Apprentice Fire Mage!]

[2 free attributes rewarded!]

[10 skill points rewarded!]

...

'Hmm, I should increase my Wisdom first.' He nodded thoughtfully and put those two free attribute points to Wisdom. After that, he put the ten skill points to the [Inspect] skill and soon noticed changes in his mind. He felt that he had touched an invisible wall for a second and soon realized that it must be related to the Rank-up process.

'Unlike before, I now can create another four spell models in my mind.' A pleasant smile appeared on his face.

He then shifted his attention to the skill book and started to ponder.

'Hmm, I still have 1733 Exp. With this, I can completely build all the remaining four spell models. The main problem now is about which spell to choose.' He started checking the spell models one by one, and soon a single defensive spell caught his attention.

[Spell Name: Crimson Robe

Rank: Rank-1 unique defensive spell

Effect: Once you master this spell to its peak level, the robe will have the power to block the Rank-2 offensive spell of the normal Mages and other mystics' uncommon weapon attacks.

Cost: 450 Exp.]