Wang Ling's face kissed the dirt as he crashed into the ground unceremoniously. The air reeked of ozone which was residue left behind by the transportation array. He could also smell rotted vegetation amongst other things.
Without the necessary equipments ought to be prepared for him by the Sun family and still not meeting the average quota, all Wang Ling could do when he landed rather painfully face first against a surface of jagged rocks and sharp sand, was check his surroundings for immediate dangers.
He had learnt this back in his past life, to first gather sufficient information and ascertain the level of danger before action. Observing the risk level and reward ot brought with it.
The first thing Wang Ling saw was the trees, gargantuan and robust, easily contesting with the largest trees of his previous world and winning. He reached out and ran his fingers over the bark, it was rough and as hard as iron, with a a dark color and a blue hue.
The leaves of the tree gave off a subtle metal scraping metal sound as they waves about in the wind. These leaves were also dark with a blue hue making them look very strange.
Out of a few trees sprouted milky white mushrooms with purple spots on them, to gather more information Wang Ling carefully picked up a fallen leaf and poked one of the mushrooms with it.
"Interesting."
Wang Ling muttered to himself as just then the leaf visibly began to gather rust at an immensely fast rate obviously being corroded by the spotted mushrooms at a rapid pace.
"This place definitely is dangerous, I have to be careful when moving about so as to avoid coming in contact with other plants and things that might be poisonous as well."
Wang Ling came to a conclusion and began to move carefully though the massive intimidating forest, trying to make s little noise as possible.
As he moved he called up the system to check his progress when practicing the Martial arts technique and skill.
Techniques: Heavenly Body Tempering Method (small success) | Progress: (20%)
Skills: Basic Cleaver technique (Entry) | Progress: (90%)
After intense training, Wang Ling had been able to raise his progress in technique with 8% but was only able to raise his progress in technique by 2%.
'Seems like I need that directive manual if I want to progress further.'
Wang Ling thought as he walked through the eerie forest. The gray sky was getting clouded and dark hinting at the fact that night was approaching and fast. He needed to secure shelter and also find consumables to retain his physical strength.
*Click* *Click* *Click*
Just then, Wang Ling heard a clicking sound ahead of him, he turned his head with a calm expression and looked ahead if him to find the source of the sound. His instincts honed from years of being a cold blooded killer making him stay calm and make beneficial decisions.
He kept his cool searching the expanse if the forest for clues on what could have generated that clicking sound. It had sounded organic
As he looked around he caught sight of a dark figure moving with terrifying speed towards him with the corner of his eye. No it wasn't moving, it was running with a mad frenzy evident in it's movement pattern.
The figure looked like it had gone crazy running into the iron bark trees without stopping and heading straight towards Wang Ling's position.
'What is that? A defiled or perhaps a native life form from this world?'
'Doesn't matter now what it is, it's dangerous. I have to gain terrain advantage and prepare to attack.'
He didn't have a weapon, he didn't know how strong his opponent was neither did he have any advantage over it.
Logically he knew running wasn't a solution, whatever that creature was it was at least three times faster than him. Able to catch up quickly if given enough time. What he had to do was find a weapon first then try his best to overwhelm the enemy using whatever little skill he had while also making sure he had terrain advantage.
Since his enemy didn't seem to be in the right state of mind it would not be able to think rationally, this way Wang Ling was quite confident that he could defeat it once he found a suitable weapon, although it would prove to be an hard feat to accomplish, he really didn't have a choice.
*Pound* *Pound* *Pound*
The clear sound of something hitting the earth with force and in rapid succession reached Wang Ling's ears alerting him that it had finally caught up to him.
Wang Ling instinctively slid against the ground and watched as something leaped above him in a blur of movement completely missing him.
'If I hadn't dodged surely I'd be dead meat by now.'
The dark figure crashed into a slender tree branch with terrifying force, separating it from the tree it had been attached to. Wang Ling hurriedly rushed to his feet as he sized up his pursuer.
The creature crashed into the ground, bumping into iron hard roots and sharp leaves that left various marks and small wounds on it's dark body. For a moment it didn't move but then all of a sudden it laept unto it's feet if one could call it that, showing it's true form.
The creature was humanoid, with dark grayish and pale skin with long slender disjointed limbs that ended in sharp needle like pincers. It's head had no eyes or nose, only a vertical maw laced with rows upon rows of terrifying teeth that grinded and chattered against one another, giving off a clicking sound in an eerie rythm.
Wang Ling, having seen what he was facing against gulped, never had he seen such a thing before. He didn't need telling that this was a defiled, a creature that could have once been human or peaceful but had been devoured and corrupted, an embodiment of disaster.
Without hesitation Wang Ling springed into action, diving into a clumsy roll to pick up the tree branch that had been smashed down by the defiled.
Upon seeing Wang Ling move and grab the slender branch with it's leaves still intact, the defiled let out a shrill blood curdling scream and lunged at him as it raised one of it's long limbs and swinging it down with force.
Wang Ling having picked up his temporary weapon raised it to block the defiled's attack. Upon contact Wang Ling felt his bones creak and his arms go number from the force it exerted against him.
Taking it into account that it's speed was higher than his and now it's strength was higher too, Wang Ling naturally came to the conclusion that his enemy was leagues above him.
Almost able to crush him without expending too much strength or power. Almost. Although it was superior when it came to physical attributes such as speed and strength amongst a few others, it lacked the intelligence to back it up.
Without intelligence it was expected that it couldn't properly integrate it's strength and agility in battle to create a devastating killing machine.
'I'll take advantage of it's lack of intelligence and rash attacks and overwhelm it with whatever skill I have gathered.'
Wang Ling thought as he pushed back the creatures limb and leapt out of the way just in time to avoid another piercing strike that penetrated the spot he had previously been.
Standing up without hesitation, Wang Ling charged at it while gripping the slender tree branch and swinging it with all his strength, aiming to deliver a devastating blow.
The sharp leaves met the creatures open side and tore through the it's dark grayish flesh offering little to no resistance. Wang Ling pulled out of the wound and retreated a back a few steps as the creature swinged two of it's arms at once in retaliation.
*Shhhrrrriiiieeeekkkk*
The creature shrieked as dark blood sprayed out of the wound Wang Ling had inflicted upon it, his attack had left it with a deep gash in it's side with blood constantly streaming from it.
The creature jerked it's head towards Wang Ling and lunged at him with madness evidently embedded in it's movements. It raised all four arm like limbs and thrusted fast towards Wang Ling giving him no time to evade.
'Damn it's fast. I can't evade so I'll just block and deflect it's attacks then disengage and counterattack.'
Wang Ling's mind quickly analyzed the situation and came to workable conclusion. He swinged the tree branch and deflected a few attacks with a calm expression. After successfully deflecting a few he raised the branch once again and moved it to block a few other attacks.
The strength behind the attacks made Want Ling grit his teeth and groan in pain internally. Although he was calm and calculating mentally, his body was quite weak and with only a tree branch he couldn't execute the forms of the skill he had at his disposal. If only he had a proper weapon.
Suddenly the defiled tilted it's head and stopped attacking giving Wang Ling a long needed break albeit a short one. Perhaps seeing it couldn't get through Wang Ling's awkward defense it wanted to try another method.
Wang Ling kicked up dust from the ground aiming to distract the defiled, then he charged to it's blind spot which was it's unguarded back and swinged the branch with all the strength he could muster.
*Swissh*
The sharp leaves coated in dark putrid blood whistled as they caught through the air, aiming for the defiled's open neck.
He breathed in and out, keeping out distractions and focusing on the goal...a fatal strike that ensured death.
*Shhhrrrriiiieeeekkkk*
The defiled let out one final shriek as the leaves cut through the flesh if it's neck, cutting through flesh and muscle like an hour knife through butter, only meeting resistance as it came in contact with it's sturdy bones, only chipping at it a little.
The rotten putrid smell filled the air as blood sprayed out from the monstrous gash on the defiled's neck like a fountain. It fell upon Wang Ling's face, the rotten smell invading his nostrils and making him frown in displeasure.
The defiled staggered and then fell to the ground with a soft thud.
{Ding!}
{Trial taker Wang Ling, for slaying a wandering defiler and vanquishing evil, you have done a deed considered meritorious by the universe!}
{You have earned 5 universal merit points!}
{Trial taker Wang Ling, for fulfilling a part of your role as the Arbiter of Death and causing death to a creature either directly or indirectly, you have done a deed considered meritorious by the universe!}
{You have earned 8 universal merit points!}