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Chapter 933: Challenging the Hierarchy
Chapter 933: Challenging the Hierarchy
Chapter 933: Challenging the Hierarchy
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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."
"I'm 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.
Recalling the Shadow Serpents who'd taken on a humanoid form in the memory Sellifer showed him, Valyr eventually shook his head and pushed such thoughts to the side, refocusing his attention to the task at hand.
Whoosh!
Thankfully, after roaming around the forests of the Shadow Plane for over a couple hours, the pair's adventures eventually came to a halt as Noel found a suitable Shadow Canine.
Taking a look at Valyr's next foe with his identification skill, Noel soon nodded in satisfaction, getting the feeling that it was a good match to see the full extent of Valyr's fraudulent combat power.
"That will be your next opponent."
Unlike the Shadow Boar, the Shadow Canine seemed to be aimlessly roaming around the forest in search of prey.
With how far the two were from it, Valyr's curse had not met the conditions for it to trigger, allowing them to remain undetected.
Looking at the Shadow Canine Noel was pointing at, the young man went ahead and activated his identification skill, wanting to get an idea of what he was up against by himself. "[Superior Analysis]."
Ding!
[Shadow Canine (Mythic Elite)] (Level 90 | Boss)
Class: Shadow Canine (Uncommon)
HP: 170,000/170,000
MP: 92,760/92,760
Attack: 5,060 5,060
Defense: 3,400 - 3,400
Stats: 850 VIT, 1265 STR, 1381 AGI, 1183 DEX, 773 INT, 773 WIS, 668 PER, 300 LUK
Skills: [Shadow Energy Affinity], [Shadow Canine Combat Arts], [Shadow Canine's Fangs], [Shadow Canine's Proliferation], and 32 other skills.
Concepts: [Intent of the Shadow Maw]
Remarks: Considered to be one of the elite predators residing within the Shadow Plane, famed for their immense strength and strong attachment to their territory and their kin.
Once again, you should really pick on someone your own size.
Compared to the Shadow Boar he fought earlier, the Shadow Canine was stronger in all
aspects.
From the amount of HP it had, to its stats and class rank, the Shadow Canine before them was a formidable foe for even Rank 5 class holders to handle.
However, having already fought against the Divine Elite tier quadrant leaders within the Four Pillars' Inheritance that boasted not only strength transcending Rank 5, but also Intents of
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.