Maximilian stared at the strange creatures beneath him. He was pretty sure he had found the first of his enemies. There was a family or group of boars with metal tusks and metallic armor. From what he could tell the creatures ate the minerals in the mountain which only made him more curious. Either the minerals here were decent and the Network brought them here to die or there was some resource in the ground. Something like the crystals. His instincts didn't help him one way or the other. He had stood here for an hour and whatever boss monster hadn't shown itself. Which irritated him. He would've preferred to eliminate it with a sneak attack but there was nothing he could do. He needed to fight. He activated Severing Disc followed by Static Bolt. He hadn't imbued either skill with his dao. He could form two discs at once, but it wasn't enough. Not for what he wanted. He took a moment to form more bolts of electricity. His mental energy depleting until he was swarmed with over a dozen firefly like darts. He shifted his focus to the Dao of rain but couldn't come with a ray to use it. He figured this kind of attack would be perfect for the Dao, so it had to be his own in experience. Not that it helped him now. When he was ready, he unleashed his offensive.

  Electricity rained down on the boars like the rage of a roman god. The smaller boars died faster than he could count. Both Severing Disc had been used to bisect the larger ones yet the boss beast hadn't shown up. He wasn't sure if these creatures could be considered family or if they had any kind of positive relationship with each other, but he had hoped so. If he could use them to fight the bigger monster in a open battle that would easier. Just as he was about to give there was a roar and then a wall to his left exploded. A boar the size of a minivan charged out. Maximilian couldn't tell if the creature understood what happened, but it seemed angry. Before he could begin a new round of attacks the boar charged into a stone pillar. The pillar crumbled like it was made of glass. His surprise froze him long enough for his brain to process what the boar was doing. It was trying to bring the cave down. A third pillar collapsed before Maximilian made his move. Two imbued Severing Disc shot for the boar. The boar let out roar of fury and then charged into the buzz saws.

  The blades dug less than half an inch into the beast's hide. Maximilian cocked his head but before he could decide what to do next. He was hit with a premonition of danger. He was in the air before his brain had processed the threat. A metal spike had shot out of the wall behind him. It was no bigger than his arm, but the edge felt like it could puncture a warship. Maximilian unleashed a blast of water to alter his position in the air. He landed ten feet behind the boar. No sooner had he touched down did he receive another warning. He leaped backwards avoiding more spikes as he did. His eyes shifted toward the boar as it began a charge. He fought the rising fear in the pit of his stomach as he assessed the situation. He doubted the boar would be stupid enough to impale itself but he wasn't against trying. He pushed spiritual energy into his legs and waited. He avoided another spike and leaped into the air mere seconds before the boar arrived. Two Severing Disc appeared, one above each hand. A moment later the boar had crashed into the metal spike and then had the back of its neck cut. The beast's neck resisted the imbued attack for less than a second before its head fell to the ground.

  "Hmm? I had expected more." He pulled up his quest menu to confirm when a hair-raising aura descends on him. He blasted off the ground like a rocket. He dug imbued fingers into the cave ceiling and waited. A few minutes later a boar three times the size of the last lumbered into the cavern. Maximilian wasn't sure if this was what spiritual energy did to creatures or if this was something else. The creature didn't look like a boar anymore. Instead, it looked like a moving tank of muscle and metal. It had four tusks and a metallic covering over its face that made him think of an armored knight. It felt like a hand had grabbed hold of his heart and had begun to squeeze. He gritted his teeth, and his own aura exploded. A second war began as their killing intents clashed in the center of the cave. In the next moment everything stopped, as if the world held its breath.

  The stillness shattered as a rain of metal blasted out from the boar. An uncountable shower of metal arrived seconds before Prismatic Barrier activated. The defensive barrier stole almost ten percent of his spiritual energy to endure the assault. As soon as it finished Maximilian retaliated with electricity only for something to tug at his control. More than half of the electricity was pulled into the boar's largest tusk. Maximilian cocked his head at the beast. Had it known? Its tusk acted like a lightning rod. His curiosity was pushed to the back of his mind as the boar roared and charged the wall beneath him. The wall trembled with the impact as Maximilian slid down almost three feet. He couldn't tell if the boar would be strong enough to cave the whole place, but he knew he couldn't take the gamble. The boar might survive being buried alive and it might eat its way out. Maximilian wasn't sure he could do the first and knew he couldn't the second. He released his defense and launched a renewed assault. If he was going to survive, he had to deal with the main horn. A pair of imbued Severing Disc shot toward the beast's head.

  The boar roared in defiance before shifting to take the hit on its facial armor. Maximilian stared at the ugly creature with contempt. He would have to get closer if he wanted a chance at killing the thing. Which meant he had to take a gamble. Energy surged into the soles of his feet a moment before he blasted off the wall with enough force to crater it. Time slowed as the boar turned and tried to gore him on its tusk. Maximilian grabbed tip of the horn and used it to arrest his moment. He landed onto the creature's head and was seconds away from landing an imbued hit when his instincts screamed of danger. He leaped backwards before the metallic facial armor shifted into a lance like spike. Maximilian unleashed a blast of electricity. When it was pulled away, he didn't resist. Instead, he doubled the output turning the dart into a continuous stream of power. He rushed for the horn. When the boar didn't create another spike, he felt confident in his assumption. The creature either couldn't or wouldn't be able to shape the metal while it was adsorbing electricity.

  He unleashed another pair Severing Disc this time aimed at the base of the horn. The first dug in almost a quarter of an inch. When the second joined in they split straight through the metal. In the next moment he unleashed a blast of both his dao into the face of the beast. The electricity traveled along the water. Combined their power doing what they alone couldn't not. Maximilian grimaced as the electricity surged into him as well. The effect was weaker since he wasn't the target, but it still hurt. He was forced to retreat when the bore came back to its senses. Another set of metal spikes shot up at him. He avoided the first three but was forced to rely on his robes for fourth. He leaped from the boars back to reassess the situation. At first, he thought the boar was unaffected by his attacks, but he realized that wasn't true. The boar struggled to control its muscles. The muscle spasms somehow made the creature look even more frightening. He unleashed a handful of probing attacks. Attacks that revealed that things were not as bad as he thought.

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  Once he confirmed the beast had no more tricks for him the battle was over. It was a war of attrition where only one side was in any danger. Despite the reality it still took almost an hour before it died. When the battle was over, he took a seat against the corpse and circulated his cultivation technique. The energy from the beast brought him close to threshold. Which made the decision for him. He let himself sink deeper into meditation. Energy poured into him until he felt the familiar pop that signified his breakthrough. He didn't open his eyes. Instead, he let himself enjoy the respite. The peace after a battle was something he was learning to savor. Despite the peace he knew he couldn't stay look this for long. He wasn't safe. Even if the battle should've scared most creatures away. They would come back to see who won and if they could pick the bodies clean. He opened his eyes with the smallest bit of reluctance. His three points were spent. He was about to close the screen when he realized he had gotten a new title and his attributes had all crossed one hundred.

  Perfect 100: Gain at least one hundred attribute points in all attributes while in the Foundation Realm. Reward: Potency of Attributes +5%

  He did a quick mental calculation and realized it should've happened when he got the last title. He hadn't even noticed. He shrugged his shoulders and closed the screen. Either way he had gotten stronger. Much stronger. He wasn't too sure, but he figured that was the last title fora while. He doubted there was anything in the mountain to help him earn one. Unless there was a title for killing a lot of things. Now that he had the thought, he figured that wasn't a crazy idea. He shook his head and focused on what was in front of him. There was no way he could take this thing's corpse, but he could take the horns. He doubted the others could take his electricity, but they could still work. Against normal electricity. If not, someone could make something out of them eventually. Or he could throw them at other people. Once he was done, he exited the chamber. He wasn't sure where the next monster would so he focused on getting as far away from here as fast as he could. He didn't stop until he was outside of the caverns and back into the forests. He took a deep breath of the fresh air and then looked up at the night sky. It had already been two days of this and he had only managed one beast.

  At this rate he would be wandering this mountain for more than a week. The delay was irritating but it wasn't enough to make him desperate. Slow and steady would win the race. When he was ready he sat out again. He resealed his aura and killing intent to make sure he didn't give himself away too early. He might not have been a hunter but he understood that it was bad to scare your prey. There was also the chance that something would ambush him. The trees in this area felt more ominous as if the branches and canopy above his some sort of malice. The sensation wasn't directed at him as far as he could tell. Rather it was like his killing intent only weaker and more pervasive. It made him feel like he was in some sort of horror movie.

  The spiritual energy was also denser in the forest. It wasn't at the same level as the crystal cave, but it was amazing. Once again, he found himself wanting to sit down and gather it all. He resisted the urge. He was pulled from his thoughts when he saw something in the corner of his eye. He resisted the urge to look in that direction. Instead, he focused on his pace. He had either imagined it or something was about to attack him. He ignored the former and braced for the second. If it was just his imagination than no harm. Just as he was ready to chalk it up to his imagination his instincts went off. Only this time they were muted. Almost as if they were being muffled. He took a step back and to the left a second before a massive black dog appeared and bit down where his head had been. As soon as it missed the attack dog disappeared in puff of black smoke. The whole process happened so fast that he wasn't sure he hadn't imagined it. He stood stalk still and strained his ears for any signs of a follow up attack. When none came he let out a breath. Not only was something stalking him but that thing was fast. It had to have Agility in the mid to high one hundreds.

  Now that he thought about it a pattern was starting to materialize. There wasn't enough information for him to say for sure, but the boar was a tank. Relatively slow with high durable. If the next threat were these dogs than they would be fast but fragile. Was the Network training him further? He shook his head. This wasn't the tutorial. That creature had wanted to kill him. There was no doubt about that. Yet it would fit if the Network's goal was to make the strongest warriors it could. He shook of the speculation. He could worry about the secrets of the Network later. The question was how would he deal with the dog. It hadn't attacked so either it had good instincts or he scared it off. He considered blasting his aura and killing intent. Though that could cause new problems. It might scare the beast away. Lastly that wasn't the biggest problem. That beast wasn't the big boss of the area. He would need to head into the heart of the forest to find it. He waited another few minutes before he gave up and started walking. He had traveled for less than ten minutes before he felt the sensation again. This time he took a step back and launched an imbued straight jab.

  Another large black dog appeared, its teeth closed down on empty air right before he slammed a fist into the right side of its face. The beast shot almost ten feet away. Maximilian felt several facial bones crack under the impact. Before he could follow up, he received a surge of kill energy. He paused for a beat and stared at the beast's corpse and then his hand in confusion. He had assumed the beast would be fragile but that seemed too easy. He was about to collect the body when his instincts screamed at him. Even muted it was enough to force him to retreat. He pushed off the ground like a missile before five more black hounds appeared. The black dogs let out a snarl that made his skin crawl. Now that he took the chance to see them, he realized he was wrong. They weren't dogs. They were loosely shaped like Dobermans only their bodies were darkness. An inky flowing darkness that defied a physical form.

  Maximilian landed on a tree branch fifteen feet above the ground. He formed a dozen darts of electricity. He was about to launch them when the dogs dissolved into the darkness. He decided not to attack as they disappeared. He doubted he could get all of them at once and he still had no way of seeing where they'd end up. If he blasted one of them but left himself open for the others he would likely die. Based on their positioning the dogs weren't stupid. Four of them had tried to immobilize his limbs while the fifth was meant to rip out his throat. Which meant they sacrificed the first one to determine how fast I was. The thought sent a chill down his spine. He wasn't sure if that indicated sentience or sapience, but he leaned toward no. Though he wasn't sure if that was because he believed it or because he wanted it to be true. He knew wild animals could hunt in packs, so it wasn't like they needed some special intelligence to do it. Even the strategy they used wasn't that complicated.

  Either way there was nothing to do about it for now. He continued forming darts of electricity. The space around him was more a minefield than anything else. He had another assumption that he wanted to test, and this should make it possible. He leaped back to the ground and continued on his way. He considered taking the dead dog's body but most of it was gone. Dissolved into darkness or shadows. There were some teeth that could make blades or throwing weapons that he did decide to take. Between them and the horns he held a small arsenal. Not that he had any experience with thrown weapons. He scanned the forest behind him one more time before he sat out. He didn't like being stalked but there was little he could do.