In another part of the southern region, various trees were being knocked down as a large figure was bulldozing through the area.
The figure was a giant 10 meter tall ape with silver colored fur. However, its silver fur was currently covered in various slash marks and blood stains.
It was running through the wooded area, knocking down any trees in its ways as it frantically tried to escape.
This silver colored ape was known as the Ape King and was a low leveled Rank Two creature. A few minutes ago it had been gazing lazily with the rest of its tribe in their territory.
The children of the tribe were peacefully playing in the fields, while adults would go around gathering various fruits from the different trees in the area. Although they didn't need to eat when inside the rift, they still enjoyed the taste of the various fruits.
A few hours ago the Ape King heard word that most of the lower ranked creatures had left the southern area due to the emergence of a new predator. The Ape King was completely indifferent when he heard this news.
As a Rank Two creature, why should he care about the opinion of the other lower rank creatures? If they're scared, that has nothing to do with him. He would just peacefully laze here with the rest of his tribe and enjoy himself as the days went on.
However, the Ape King soon came to regret that decision.
While lying peacefully on the soft grass, enjoying the slight breeze that passed through the area, the Ape King closed his eyes for only a few seconds.
When the Ape King reopened his eyes, he was immediately stunned by the sight before him. The playful atmosphere and bustling noise had all but completely disappeared, leaving behind a terrifying silence accompanied by a hellish landscape.
The adult apes that were previously picking fruits were lying down lifelessly on the ground or hanging on the trees with their blood dripping down. The children that were previously in the field were lying down on the grass in puddles of blood, completely motionless.
The Ape King was stunned for a few moments before anger slowly started to well up inside it. It didn't know what caused this massacre but he was suddenly filled with killing intent.
"ROAR!" The Ape King howled at sky as he got up from the ground. He didn't know who did this but he swore that he would kill them to avenge his tribe.
Suddenly, multiple slash marks appeared across the Ape King's large muscular body, leaving it once again completely stunned.
Where did all these slash marks come from? When was it cut? How was it cut? These were the thoughts flowing through the Ape King's mind at that time. Unfortunately it didn't get much time to think as tens of more slash marks started to suddenly appear on its body.
The Ape King could feel its body being constantly cut as it skin split apart to open the wound, completely terrifying the Ape King.
The slash marks weren't deep or particularly harmful individually but with countless marks quickly stacking up on his body, blood started to flow down its body like waterfalls.
This however didn't bother the Ape King. After all as a Rank Two creature, it had an extremely strong vitality that wouldn't be affected even if it bled a small pond of blood.
However, as time went on, fear slowly gripped the Ape King's heart. Even after a few seconds of looking around the Ape King still couldn't find how or what was causing these slashes to appear on its body.
This had completely spooked the Ape King and reminded it of the news it had heard recently about the new predator in the southern region, The Ghost!
The Ape King recalled that the Ghost was rumored to have the ability to vanish and disappear out of thin air. When the Ape King thought of this, the fear that was gripping his heart was greatly intensified.
It thought of the rumors of the massacre the Ghost had committed. Where the Ghost went, it left behind no survivors. It seems that the only creatures that could avoid the Ghost's killing were the flying creatures that were out of its range.
When the Ape King thought of this, it ran without hesitation. However, no matter how much it ran the Ghost seem to be right beside it, constantly layering its body with hundreds of slash marks.
Even with the Ape King's strong vitality, after being cut so many times and losing so much blood, it speed gradually started to slow down as its body got weaker and weaker as time went on.
After running for more than half an hour, the number of cuts that had appeared on the Ape King's body was already over a thousand and its once silver fur was had been completely dyed red by the blood that covered it.
The Ape King was panting heavily as it desperately ran forward. While it was running its leg had eventually given out as a deep cut mark had appeared on its ankles. This cut mark had been created by the repeated slashed of over a hundred slashes.
As the Ape King lied on the the ground, it raised its hand to desperately crawl away but the Ape King was terrified to find that its arms didn't have anymore strength to drag its body forward.
As the Ape King lay there, it suddenly felt a light pair of feet land on top its back.
The Ape King wanted to turn around so that it can finally get a glimpse of the creature that had been tormenting it for the last half an hour but before it could even turn its neck, it heard a sound like thunder as its vision went black.
Till its final moments, the Ape King didn't even get a glimpse of the illusionary figure of The Ghost.
Raising his fist from the broken skull of the Ape King, Lake coldly looked down as he grabbed the Strand of Fate that disconnected from the Ape King's head.
[Beginning the absorption process…]
[Absorption complete.]
Looking at the increase in his RP points, Lake smiled lightly. Pulling up his status screen, Lake took another glance at his current stats and RP points.
Observer of Fate lv2, Writer of Fate lv1, Steel Body Martial Arts (Max), Master of Stealth lv2, Parkour Master lv2, Assassinate lv1, Weapon Master lv2, Sixth Sense lv1.
[RP Points = 476.235]
When Lake saw that his RP points where already high enough to upgrade another one of his skills, Lake was once again reassured that his decision to follow the Empress into the rift was the right one.
Even if he didn't get the fruit in the end, his gains were already enough to satisfy him. That wasn't to say that Lake had given up on robbing the Wolf King and the Empress. When the time came, he will still go to steal the benefits.
The next thing Lake looked at was his upgraded skills. After he had upgraded Steel Body to the final level, Lake's physique went through an astonishing change.
His strength stat had jumped all the way to the peak of the Martial Apprentice Realm. Just with this alone, even if he were just to stand their and let creatures below rank two attack him, he wouldn't be injured in the slightest.
His other stats had also increased greatly as well with his agility jumping to the Mid-Rank and his Stamina reaching High-Rank. With this, his battle prowess had increased tremendously. Lake didn't stop there however. After upgrading Steel Body, he continued to upgrade the Weapon Master Skill to the next level.
[Weapon Master lv. 2 - As a master assassin, you have come to master a variety of weapons which you can use to assassinate your opponent. At the current level you can use all weapons with advanced proficiency.]
Although the change in the description was only one word, going from basic to advanced proficiency, it had an astonishing effect on Lake.
Previously the Weapon Master skill had allowed Lake to use any weapon he could get his hands on with a simple level of application. For example, if he had a sword in his hand he could use it to slash, pierce, block and parry. Simple movements that anyone with some level of training could have performed.
After upgrading the skill, this simple movement had changed once again. Now, he knows how to weave attacks together to perform several combos, combining several movements into a seamless display of continuous attacks.
It was this skill that had allowed him to perform the "thousand cuts" on the Ape King. Combining the control and combos from the Weapon Master Skill along with the assistance of the wind to boost his movement and attack speed, and the hiding effect of the Master of Stealth Skill, Lake was able to perform a set of attacks that was truly deserving of the title the beasts of the southern region gave him, The Ghost.
However, the most astonishing improvement in Lake's strength was in the damage he could unleash using the attack forms from the Steel Body Martial Art.
After he had weakened the Ape King, Lake had attacked with one of the forms from the Steel Body Martial Art for the final blow and the damage he was able to do was astonishing.
Previously, even if Lake had used the attack forms on a Rank Two creature, the damage he would be able to do wouldn't even be able to break the skin of the creature. At most, he could cause some level of damage if he had attacked a weak point like he did back when he used it on the Titian Bear. Not to mention that the attacks would have drained him of half or all his energy when he used it.
Now however, Lake felt like he could still throw out ten more attacks of the same level without breaking a sweat. This improvement in his stamina was much appreciated by Lake and as for the strength of the attacks…
Looking at the back of the Ape King's head that had exploded like a watermelon, Lake didn't need to think twice about the increase in the damage output to know that right now he wouldn't have any problem hunting low level Rank Two creatures on his own.
Lake jumped off the back of the Ape King after assessing his gains and was prepared to continue moving when he suddenly heard a loud roar coming from nearby.
When Lake heard the roar, an evil smile appeared on his handsome face. Before he killed the Ape King he had observed his Fate and discovered that most of the creatures in the southern region had retreated to other regions after his little hunting.
Now, the only creatures brave enough to remain were basically all Rank Two creatures who had the strength and confidence to stay back.
Lake was prepared to leave in search of another Rank Two creature to hunt when he heard the roar in the distance. This was practically sending him an invite to come "greet" him and Lake wasn't going to decline.
With a smile on his face, Lake walked forward before vanishing into the forest's foliage.