Chapter 933: Challenging the Hierarchy
Whoosh!
After Noel had told Valyr that he'd be fighting against a Shadow Canine, the two proceeded to move through the vast forests of the Shadow Plane, darting at speeds that were impossible for a normal human to unleash.
While they were doing that, the old man gave Valyr a quick rundown on the hierarchy of the Shadow Plane, making most out of the time they were taking to find the young man's next foe.
"We've already become acquainted with the prey of the Shadow Plane before," said Noel as he began his explanation. "The mammoths, bears, lions, and tigers."
"Though these beasts would be considered to stand at the apex of the food chain in Veldanyr, these beasts are merely livestock in the Shadow Plane, prey made both for the predators and the Shadow Serpents to consume."
"After that, you have the middle-ranking beasts." At these words, Noel glanced at Valyr, who nodded back to show that he was still listening.
"These beasts have the strength and the ability to act as predators against the beasts I've mentioned before, however they're still a far cry from the true predators of the Shadow Plane."
"From weakest to strongest among the middle-ranking beasts, they would be the Shadow Wolf, the Shadow Deer, the Shadow Elephant, and the Shadow Boar respectively."Nêww chapters will be fully updated at novelhall.com sure I don't need to say anything about what they're like back in Veldanyr, no?" asked Noel after that, to which Valyr slightly shook his head.
Nodding back in response, Noel eventually reached the end of his explanation.
"Last but not least would be the true predators of the Shadow Plane. These beasts appear and act exactly opposite to how they would in Veldanyr, bringing confusion to many people who arrive at the Shadow Plane for the first time."
"Though these beasts were on the smaller side in Veldanyr, these beasts boasted bodies larger than even mammoths within the Shadow Plane, instilling great fear into those who were unlucky enough to fight against them."
"In terms of their strength, the weakest among them would be the Shadow Birds," said the old man. "After that would be the Shadow Pig, then the Shadow Cattle."
"The Shadow Canines and Felines come after those beasts, their strengths more or less equal in the world of the Shadow Plane."
"As for the beast that stands at the peak of this hierarchy..." Taking pause to give his next words a dramatic effect, Noel looked at Valyr with a faint smile. "That would be none other than the Shadow Rabbits."
"With how strong they are in the Shadow Plane, the system has even gone so far as to give them titles usually attached to nobility."
"Of course, the higher the nobility rank attached to the Shadow Rabbit's name, the greater the strength they boast."
By the time Noel was done with his explanation, Valyr went through all of it in his mind as he organized and processed what he'd learned.
'In total, there are 14 beasts that are considered to be part of the hierarchy,' thought the young man to himself. 'The first four are prey, the next four are in the middle, while the remaining six are considered predators.'
'If I were to include Shadow Serpents into the mix, then it would be considered 15,' the young man continued thinking, only to be briefly reminded of Sellifer's existence.
'But of course, there's a good reason why they're not part of the hierarchy, considering that they have the ability to wield strength far stronger than even the Shadow Rabbits.'
'In a way, I guess they're the humans of the Shadow Plane,' said the young man to himself, feeling a bit more disinclined to hunt Shadow Serpents because of that.
considerable grade...
This fight seemed too easy in comparison.
"[Truth Weaver Scripture: Tetrad]."
"[Intent of Shadow Energy]."
"[Limit Break: Second Verse]."
"[First Encore]."
"[Refined Offense Aura]."
Activating the Truth Weaver Scripture and his usual stat-boosting skills, Valyr went ahead and activated [Refined Offense Aura] as a type of assurance, proceeding to arm the Supreme
True Arquebus for firing.
After going through the motions of arming the arquebus, Valyr then proceeded to infuse mana into it, allowing [Extended Charge] to accumulate energy as he kept an eye on the distance between him and the Shadow Canine.
'Hmm... now that I think about it, I haven't used [Refined Offense Aura] on the boar earlier.' While waiting for the arquebus to reach its maximum charge, the young man's mind began to wander about, thinking about the damage he dealt to the Shadow Boar before.
'I guess this attack would be a more accurate representation of my usual combat power?' thought the young man as the idea came to mind, nodding in agreement soon after. 'After all, I still have [Rage of the True Wyvern] and [Descent of the True Wyvern].'
'Not to mention the [Primeval Immolation] skill attached to the Supreme Blade of Primeval
Flames.'
'I wonder how much damage I could deal with the arquebus if I were to go all-out?' Feeling that the arquebus had finally reached its limit, Valyr took in a deep breath as he proceeded to move closer to the Shadow Canine.
"Awoooo!!!" Within seconds of the beast entering the range of the curse's activation, the canine's eyes flashed a deep crimson as it whizzed through the forest at terrifying speeds.
Of course, just like the boar, Valyr wasn't going to give the canine the opportunity to land an
attack.
"[Grand Burst]!"
Bang!
With the young man pulling on the trigger, a terrifying amount of power soon escaped the barrel of the arquebus, forming a dark blue beam that headed straight for the canine's skull.
The result?
'-1,165,800!!!'
Utter annihilation, once again.