After the Array was activated and Kyle disappeared from the platform, his vision abruptly turned dark.
A strong pull tugged his body in the darkness and in the next second a bright light flashed in front of his eyes and he appeared in between large trees.
Kyle shook his head and blinked his eyes twice to clear his hazy mind.
"A forest?"
His eyes took in the surroundings but the wide tree trucks and thick grass made it impossible for him to look past a few meters.
Kyle's left ear twitched when he heard sounds of rustling behind one of the trees and his eyes lit up.
'My first prey!'
He stepped forward toward the voice with an exciting glint flashing through his eyes.
The air behind him cracked with sparks and blue flames appeared behind him. Kyle didn't even look back and the flames took the shape of a long sword ready to finish the enemy as soon as possible.
The grass rustles under Kyle's feet but he made sure to make as minimum voice as possible.
Kyle grabbed a tree branch and peeked out to see what was behind. He clicked his tongue when he saw a lone blonde elf girl.
'Not a monster.'
The blonde girl who just appeared in the middle of the forest heard a low rustle, she snapped her head to look at her left side but saw nothing.
"Was it wind...?"
She shook her head and took out two sharp daggers from her storage ring. With a flash, she started running between the trees.
On the other hand, Kyle immediately left when he saw the blonde elf and the flame sword behind him dissipate into the air. He spread out his senses to sweep his surroundings. He wasn't running instead he moved with light steps.
After half a minute, Kyle saw a dark shadow. His eyes moved and took in the figure of a large black cat with two horns lying below the tree. The cat's eyes were closed but her spiky tail swirled left and right to show she was awake.
"A terosia."
He had learned about this monster in a lecture. Terosias were extremely agile due to their light bodies. Moreover, they could spew out dangerous poisons from the spikes on their tails.
"A (E-)-Rank Tersia? It's not powerful."
Kyle sighed and waved his hand, another flame sword appeared behind him. In the next second, a cold aura spread out in the air and the sword moved with a lightning-fast speed, heading straight toward the cat's head.
The cat's eyes shot open when her sixth sense kicked in and the black fur on her body stood up. Her eyes narrowed into a slit when she saw the incoming attack.
A chilling shriek escaped her lips. Her body shuddered and moved instantly but it was too late. Moreover, the sword was too fast within half a second it crashed on her head.
The cat cried out because instead of priecing her head the sword broke down into blue flames and in an instant her body started freezing.
Kyle watched from the sidelines, it was the first time he used the flames on a living being and he would be lying if he said he wasn't not stunned.
Under his astonished gaze, the cat's eyes showed horror and within a few seconds, her whole body turned into an ice statue.
'What the...?
Kyle released his held breath but his eyes were twinkling. The flames were truly powerful. He knew the cat was only (E-)-Rank, so weak compared to him but the effect was shocking.
He stepped forward to touch the ice but the moment his fingers grazed the statue, a crack appeared on the thick ice. One crack turned into many and in an instant, the ice broke down into many pieces.
"Amazing!"
Kyle exclaimed and his eyes turned around to look at the trees. He was feeling thrilled and his green eyes gleamed when he sensed the faint sounds of a waterfall at a distance.
He activated the skill 'swift steps' and dashed forward toward the waterfall. Moreover, coupled with his insane agility he was moving so fast that he himself felt a little overwhelmed.
'If there is water nearby I believe I will find more monsters.'
Kyle's lips tricked upward to make a barely noticeable smirk. Within a few minutes, he was standing in front of the waterfall.
He gazed at the crystal-clear water cascading down rugged rocks, surrounded by lush greenery but his eyes zeroed in on the group of blank-horned cats, standing and sitting beside the waterfall.
'1..5...9..14?'
He counted the cats while standing behind them without any care. In this type of situation Kyle felt great he found the white earring that concealed his presence completely.
There were a total of 14 terosia cats, 7 (E-)-Rank, 3 (D-)-Rank, 2 (D)-Rank, and 2 (D+)-Rank.
Kyle hummed when he saw a hidden cave behind the group of cats. He caught sight of a faint shadow moving constantly in the cave.
'14 outside but I can't sense the rank of the one inside.'
One of the sitting cats licked her paw and suddenly looked back with a lazy expression. She saw Kyle's figure and turned around but in the next second her eyes widened.
She shouted out with a hiss and all the cats turned around to look at Kyle with serious eyes.
"Oh? It seems I got exposed. Let's fight then."
Kyle chuckled at his own words and all the cats stood up from their positions with spiky tails wagging behind their backs, ready to throw poison at Kyle.
However before they could attack, Kyle disappeared from his spot. The cats looked at his position with confusion when an amused voice resounded behind their backs.
"Let's test the skill I can finally use after a long time."
The cats snapped their heads back with wide eyes, Kyle was standing above a large rock embedded in the water.
"Ice Domain."
He rasped out loud and in an instant icy aura spread out around him. The mana in his body turned cold and Kyle breathed out a wisp of smoke.
The cold aura traveled with lightning speed and enveloped all the cats within a round ice domain.
Kyle watched the panic in the cat's eyes when long pointy icicles emerged from the ground with a loud rumble, the air cracked and large smoky clouds formed above the domain.
In an instant, round ice pellets dropped from the clouds, heading straight toward the panicked horned cats. The cat's cries echoed loudly when the icicles and ice pallets grazed their bodies.
Kyle cracked his knuckles and felt his strength surging upward. His eyes glowed with a faint green hue and within a second all his stats increased by a sub-rank.
At the same time, he noticed the cat's strength lowered by a fraction.
Kyle's eyes traveled to the cave and he sensed some movements. In the next second, he saw a shadow coming out from the cave with a frantic leap.
"Let's finish this group as soon as possible."
He traced his eyes on the panicked group of cats. Droplets of blood trickled down the many scars present on the cat's bodies.
The cats shivered due to the cold air freezing their wounds but in the next second, they heard a loud shriek coming from the cave and immediately gathered together.
They hissed at Kyle when they heard their leader command from behind.
Kyle raised his brow when he saw a large black cat running out from the cave and his lips curved upward into an evil smile.
He didn't move from his place and watched the leader of the cats entering the sealed area of Ice Domain with bloodshot eyes. She was taller and stronger than the other cats. Also, Kyle could sense she was (C-)-Rank.
In an instant, all the cat's eyes turned to Kyle and amidst the cold fog, black mist appeared around the cat's spiky tails and all of them jumped at Kyle with anger.
Kyle's eyes narrowed, he knew the cats were weaker than him but their poisonous spikes weren't something he could cope with easily.
'Damn, I miss my sword! I am not used to fighting with only skills.'
"Ice Spears."
Kyle waved his hand and the cat's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when they saw five big Ice spears appearing behind him.
Horror flashed through their eyes, and the leader of the horned cats cried out when she sensed the danger. She wanted to stop her jump mid-air but all the spears shot out in their direction.
Kyle watched how the spears easily crashed on their bodies. After hitting the cats the spears shattered into ice fragments and seeped into their bodies.
Loud painful cries rang out in the surroundings, and within a minute, half of the cats died.
Kyle eyed the remaining cats and thick blue flames appeared behind his back.
He willed in his mind and the flames took the shape of arrows. The arrows traveled and crashed on the alive cat's bodies.
Dread flashed through the cat's eyes when they sensed their bodies turning into ice statues.
Kyle hummed and tore his gaze from the ice statues. He looked at the trees and spoke with a chilling voice.
"Have you watched enough?"
A rustle sounded behind the trees and Kyle narrowed his eyes to see a panicked figure running away.
Kyle scoffed and jumped down from the rock. The water around the rock was frozen into ice due to his skills so his feet landed on a hard surface.
"Instant Teleportation."
Kyle disappeared from his place and appeared in front of the running figure. It was a black-haired elf boy.
The black-haired elf's eyes showed terror when he saw Kyle appearing in front of him. He freaked out and tried to run in another direction but stumbled due to a branch.
Kyle watched how the elf crashed down on his butt and cried out again.
The elf turned his head toward Kyle and a trembling voice escaped his mouth.
"I ...am sorry...I was just passing by!"
Kyle sighed and pinched his brows. He knew the moment the elf appeared behind the trees. It just even after seeing Kyle fighting with the horned cats, the elf didn't run away instead he peeked from behind the tree to watch the show.
The elf trembled when he saw Kyle's knitted brows but in the next second Kyle turned around to leave.
"Leave, a kind advice don't peek at others without permission because the next time I won't let you go so easily."
The black-haired elf nodded frantically, he watched Kyle fading back and after Kyle was gone he gingerly stood up and patted his clothes.
"Such a strong human!"
