"One down two more to go."
Kyle gazed at the two awestruck moths and straightened his body. His brows knitted together when he felt the sensation of warm blood trickling down his thighs. Yet, he stubbornly shook his hand to clear the murky golden blood from his sword.
Amidst the intense pain shooting up to his spine, he took a step forward, his legs wobbled a little but he immediately balanced himself.
This sudden movement successfully jolted the moths out of their trance. They looked at him with raged breathing, contemplating if they should continue or not because the one who died was the eldest among the trio. Of course, they wanted to exact revenge but what if the human killed them as well?
Kyle clenched his empty hand tightly, almost digging his tail in his palm, to maintain his consciousness.
'I can only use instant teleportation one more time...'
His body was screaming with pain and his mana was exhausted, the remaining couldn't even help him if he wanted to escape. However, he had zero plan on falling here. After all, a lot of people were waiting for him. Not to mention, the panicked emotions of Bia that had been stabbing at the back of his head from the moment he saw the bloody sight. He almost thought, maybe she was the one who was injured.
'Did I just block her voice? How...I need to..'
Kyle's thoughts halted abruptly when one of the moths suddenly cried out and pointed his sharp and trembling wing toward him.
"You! Hum...an! How dare you kill our brother!"
After voicing his grief he looked at his companion to seek what he should do. However, his companion was too in panic. After all, the duo always followed the eldest command from the moment they gained sanity. Now the eldest was dead, so their emotions were in a mess.
The second moth suddenly grabbed his brother from behind and threw a seething glare at Kyle but if one looked closely under that anger was shock and fear. He hurriedly flapped his wings and dragged his brother away, his last words echoing in the air like a thunderous roar.
"One day we will kill you!"
Kyle's eyes stayed blank as he watched their figures fade away in the distance. He let out a dry laugh that looked nothing but forced.
"Ah.. "
After confirming that the moths were gone, he finally lost his balance and dropped to his knees. A trail of blood of blood oozed out from his mouth.
"That bug attack was powerful enough to send shock waves throughout my whole body..."
He touched his chest, the shield saved his heart or else it would have been ripped into pieces the moment those sharp wings targeted his chest. Slowly, he tilted his head to look at the place where the girl was lying, but she was a bit far away. That's why he could only catch a glimpse of her feet. He opened his mouth but closed it again. Not sure what he should say. In the end, he could not utter any comforting words.
"Are... you alright?"
Kyle waited but did not get any answer. Not even a whimper. With a hardened expression, he tried to stand on his feet. A painful expression appeared on his face as he forced himself on his feet and stiffly made his way toward the girl. But, he sensed it even before he neared her body.
She was not breathing anymore. Kyle closed his eyes to calm his troubled emotions and waved his hand to throw a blanket to cover her body. He knew the world was ruled by the strong but hearing about something cruel and witnessing it firsthand was an entirely different experience. Moreover, the experience was not pleasant at all.
He grabbed two healing potions from his storage ring and hastily spilled them on his back. A stinging sensation spread out on his skin but he endured it and poured everything on his injuries. After giving it a moment for the sensation to subside, he felt a surge of strength coursing through his veins. Finally, he regained the ability to walk properly. However, he knew his body needed rest. At least for a few hours or else he would not recover completely.
With a loud sigh, Kyle looked up at the brilliant sun. It was still shining brightly above his head, a far contrast to the brutal sight he witnessed a while ago. His eyes turned cold when he saw some dark flying figures in the distance.
"My impression of the dark race was already bad, to begin with, but now it reached rock bottom."
Kyle's face was emotionless as he mumbled under his breath, his words barely more than a whisper.
"....I hope their path doesn't cross with mine. Unlike the person who trapped them in this realm, I am not merciful enough to leave something so revolting alive."
He looked at the nearest mountain and started walking to find a quiet place. So, he could recover his mana. However, before he could leave the area, a glimmering light flashed in his eyes. The light was spilling from the lifeless body of the moth he killed earlier.
Kyle briskly made his way toward the source of light. Immediately, he grabbed his sword and bent down to examine the dead body with narrow eyes. Only to find a round core nestled inside the moth's chest.
"A skill core?"
He wrapped his fingers around the core with little to no interest. It was bright grey and bigger than a fist. Moreover, the light around the core was bright enough to illuminate a dark room.
Kyle stood up and closed his eyes to check the skill.
___________
#*Scent perception (Pseudo divine)-Rank
This skill allows the user to naturally detect all types of hidden scents, enabling them to track down elusive creatures or special objects without any hindrances.
Mana isn't required for this skill.
___________
Kyle's eyebrow twitched when he read the words 'pseudo divine'. He couldn't believe such a powerful skill belonged to a bug.
"Now I know how the moths were tracking me so easily even though normally my presence is hidden due to the artifact."
The skill core in his hand burst into bright particles before vanishing into his body. As he made his way toward the mountain, a wave of scents flooded his nostrils almost overwhelming his senses. At first, he sensed the air around, it was filled with the fresh aroma of grass, the delicate scent of flowers, and the intense smell of blood.
However, only after a second, Kyle's sense of smell expanded in all directions and he retched when hundreds of overpowering scents made his vision blurry.
"What the.. How the hell did they use this skill?"
He wiped his mouth with a frown and immediately deactivated the skill.
"Ugh.. it's a completely useless skill."
Amidst his complaints, he suddenly ran in the opposite direction before stopping in front of a large rock. Kyle pushed the rock away and looked at the ground, only to see a purple color plant.
"I just smell something good from this place."
