One of the horns managed to reach him, but he also reacted just in time to block the attack with his palm.
It pierced his skin, and blood gushed out.
Even so, he didn't panic. He jumped back and took a deep breath.
A large amount of Aura gathered on his throat, and it started turning red. When he opened his mouth, a huge stream of fire burst out.
[First Skill- Fire Dragon Roar]
As soon as the stream of fire emerged, those deer panicked. Their horns transformed into a large wall, covering the entire front with just their size.
Bang
The fire collided with the wall; a large amount of dust rose, the ground near the wall began to collapse, and the fire kept pushing against the wall.
Boom!
When the fire couldn't keep its form against the wall, it caused a massive explosion, destroying a major portion of the wall.
At this moment, Tyler saw that several of those horns had been broken into pieces.
'It shouldn't be surprising considering the power of the flame, but, surprisingly, it won't regenerate.'
'Or, is it just slow?'
Thinking about it, Tyler didn't pause for a moment. He had already made a mistake by losing his focus previously.
So, he released his Shadow Manipulation, turning his shadow into several thick shadow lines that went straight towards the deer.
[Second Skill- Shadow Vines]
Some of the deer managed to dodge, but most of them were still captured easily.
Seeing this, Rose immediately condensed a blood lance in her hand. Holding the lance, she dashed forward and stabbed the running deer.
[Fourth Skill- Blood Dash]
Her body kept shuttling around the deer as she pierced their bodies with her lance. But many of them still managed to react and dodge her attack.
[First Skill- Fire Dragon Roar]
While holding them in place, Tyler spat out another enormous stream of fire towards them.
Because his fire was affecting the shadow, he had to put extra stamina and Aura into the shadows, just to keep them working.
Boom!
This time, his fire engulfed the entire herd of deer. Their entire bodies were burnt, but they weren't completely dead.
'It seems like I can't use Fire Dragon Roar as a killing move. Why does that sound so familiar?'
Tyler felt a bit confused, but he shook his head, not wanting to be distracted in the middle of a battle.
He took out a dagger and dashed forward. He passed through those deer while stabbing and slashing them with his dagger.
Blood splattered everywhere, and the herd of deer fell. This time, he didn't let Rose keep these deer inside the scroll.
Instead, he put them in the inventory. When he turned around, he found a few more dead deer and Rose.
She looked apologetic as she said.
"Sorry, sir, I couldn't kill them all."
Tyler shook his head and said.
"It's okay. Let's not worry about that! Run, I will catch up soon."
Hearing that, Rose didn't hesitate and ran away at her full speed.
Tyler kept those deer inside the inventory, and just as he suspected, many monsters were coming their way.
These monsters were still far away, so he ran towards Rose at his full speed, quickly catching up to her.
He quickly picked her up in his arms and continued.
Rose didn't say anything, tightly holding his chest.
She knew Tyler could run several times faster despite holding her. This was simply the reality of the gap in power between the two of them.
While they were running, Tyler noticed one of the monsters tracing his position. It was a purple snake that seemed quite terrifying and fast.
Seeing this, Tyler didn't hesitate to unlock his Totem.
The moment he did that, a white light emerged from his chest, and a five-meter-tall dragon emerged in front of him.
He had made the dragon similar to a lizard with four legs. Its skin was red, and it had a terrifying pressure around it.
The moment it appeared, the purple snake stopped.
It felt like going after death itself.
The dragon swiftly placed Tyler and Rose on its back and flapped its wings, flying away at a terrifying speed.
Because of the pressure from the dragon, the purple snake didn't move, and other monsters also felt obligated to lower their heads for a moment.
It was only after the pressure disappeared, the purple snake realized something was wrong.
Of course, without enough brain, it couldn't understand what was wrong with the dragon, so it simply forgot about chasing after Tyler and moved back.
Outside the forest, Tyler had reached the forest. Only when they got closer to the team, Tyler stop his dragon and jumped down.
"Fang, sorry for bothering you out of nowhere."
The dragon rubbed its nose against his neck and made a full round around him.
"Sorry, but right now, you still need to stay put, okay?"
Fang whimpered but nodded his head.
After being created by his lord, Fang would do anything for him. This was simply encoded in his genes.
That being said, he loved being outside and helping his lord.
If he didn't know that he was already helping his lord by staying within his Totem, he would've left the Totem.
A white light emerged and engulfed the dragon, pulling it within his chest.
"Lord, can't we let Fang stay outside?"
Unlike others, Rose knew about Fang. He hadn't told anyone else about him.
But she didn't think he did that to keep it a secret. After all, his ability was Totem Creation, and that dragon was a totem he created.
Totem could take the physical manifestation, but doing so would make the user lose the ability of the totems.
So, generally, Tyler wouldn't let him out.
Tyler shook his head and explained.
"As much as I want, dragons are rare in the world. If anyone knows that I can create a dragon, they would do anything to capture me."
"After all, the only reason I am not creating another dragon is simply because that will take too much Natural Energy."
Hearing that, Rose nodded.
Tyler continued.
"Besides that, I also need to keep Fang as a trump card inside the forest. You saw how other monsters reacted to his pressure."
Rose nodded, and her eyes lit up.
"Yeah, if we let him out, the monsters wouldn't even come close to us."
"Exactly! I don't know much about dragons, but they have a certain innate talent to suppress other monsters with just their pressure."
"Technically speaking, without reaching Fourth Rank, Fang is at the same rank as that purple snake."
Tyler replied.
Soon, they reached the camp.
Tyler noticed Martin had also begun his training. He looked at Rose and said.
"Make a lot of steaks, okay?"
Rose nodded without much thought. She took out the Ice Tiger and started cleaning it.
On the other hand, Tyler sat on the corner and took out a small glass jar from his inventory.
There was a blue liquid inside the jar. He opened the lid and, without much thought, he drank the whole jar.
As the liquid passed through his throat, Tyler felt a chilling energy emerging from the liquid.
It started going through his chest, entering his bloodstream, and moving towards his brain.
In his brain, there was a special connection to the soul. This connection couldn't be penetrated easily.
But this liquid was made to target his soul. So, when it reached his brain, Tyler only felt chills in his head.
Then, the chilling energy slowly disappeared.
He started feeling the chill throughout his body. It was weird but acceptable.
Since more and more energy gathered within his soul, he was frozen in a different sense.
His soul couldn't react for a moment. He couldn't access his Aura. He couldn't do anything but let his soul absorb this energy.
After an unknown time, Tyler opened his eyes.
Sniff! Sniff!
His nose smelled something. But before that, he wanted to feel the change in his soul.
The best way to feel this change was through his Aura.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and opened them.
His body released an intense pressure, shaking the ground underneath him.
But he quickly pulled it back.
He was worried his action would disturb Martin and John. He was right. If he had held on for a little bit longer, Martin and John would've collapsed.
He saw, except for Rose, who was slightly pale, that the other two were heavily panting on the ground.
As if their soul was sucked out of their bodies.
"Sorry, I just recently improved my Aura and wanted to test it. Rose, is the Steak ready?"
"Yes, sir!"
Rose hurriedly replied and plated several steaks on one large plate. Then, she rushed in front of Tyler and placed it in front of him.
"Nice, with this much meat, I will be able to improve my physical energy, thus improving my Aura."
"Only then can I enter Fourth Rank much faster."