Dean took the initiative and lunged forward before the hounds could set their formations.
He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. The night bleater had taught him something about the creatures in the zone.
The creatures were definitely not for decoration. They had a certain level of intelligence and were not to be taken lightly.
And six hounds surrounding you wasn't something you allow.
Closing the distance, the slime leaped ahead without Dean saying anything.
Dark fumes burst from its body like thick smoke that spread out in all directions, swallowing the space between Dean and the hounds in blinding darkness.
[Skill Activated: Night Domain]
The Night Domain covered ten metres, making the hounds feel as if the world had being turned off, but Dean experienced it as just another Tuesday.
Dean moved into the darkness with familiarity, and even before the first hound realized what was happening.
He came from below, his left hand drove upwards, catching the hound under its jaw with an uppercut.
The red crystals on the gauntlets gleamed brightly, leaving a searing effect on the hound's neck. The force of impact, alongside the gauntlet's effect, ripped through the head of the hound, sending it flying.
The hound dropped like a sack of potatoes as Dean shifted his attention to his approaching target, even as the slime maintained his environmental advantage.
'Atta-boy,' Dean thought.
Hermit's eyes' clarity even in these surroundings allowed him respond a fraction earlier than the creature that was aiming at his head with razor sharp teeth.
He slid on his knees under the assault. And deduced the creature must have tracked him even in blindness through his scent.
After all, when one sense gets impaired, the others sharpen to compensate.
But smell tells you something's location, but it doesn't tell you exactly what that something was doing.
Exploring the weakness, he drew his tanto, driving it upwards into the midsection of the hound even as it passed over him.
The tanto tore through its flesh and the hound's own momentum did the rest as it screamed and twisted with its midsection opened up.
Dean didn't have time to celebrate taking down two of the hounds when a third came from the right simultaneously.
There was no time to do anything , but he didn't need to. He already has a plan.
"Now," Dean yelled.
And the wind sprite sprung into action, releasing a concentrated burst of Gale breath that slammed into the approaching hound mid-lunge, sending it sideways and away from Dean.
The hound rolled before flipping back to its feet.
This re-direction easily bought time for Dean, he adjusted his stance, watching the four hounds trying to gain formation even as the darkness grew thicker.
They were trying to regroup, but this was the weakness of pack mentality. They relied on formation and formation relied on positioning, and in a domain of blindness, that was difficult.
'Let's make it worse,' he thought as he spoke.
"Combo."
The wind sprite's body began to spin as Dean stretched his right hand forward.
Combining the same gale breath skill. The duo released a wide sweeping burst of wind more powerful than anything either has used so far.
It wasn't powerful enough to send the hounds flying like ragdolls, but it was enough to disrupt and scatter their formation.
The hounds stumbled apart, failing to hold formation. One was pushed beyond the edge of the Night Domain, spilling back into open air.
The domain wasn't solid. it was more like a curtain with threads of darkness woven together.
He moved to the hound in the middle before it found its footing from the Wind skill. Interlocking both his gauntleted hands, he brought them down on the hound's skull.
The skull cracked as the hound dropped, crashing into ground with a thud, going still instantly.
There was just two left inside the domain. And they reacted immediately they heard their pack mate fall. Turning towards Dean and the sprite from opposite directions.
That instinct to attack was also the mistake, Dean looked to explore.
He flipped back as the hounds lunged towards his former position with anger.
They collided. The contact wasn't deadly, but left them confused.
Dean took advantage of the confusion and moved towards the one on the left with his tanto drawn.
He stabbed straight into the neck of the hound on the left, twisting it sharply, causing blood to splutter as he simultaneously grabbed the head of the other, slamming it into the ground.
Without holding back, he punched the skull of the hound with the gauntlet until it was crushed into mangled flesh with scorching marks.
The smell of burned fur was sharp in the darkness as Dean's hermit's eyes glowed menacingly in the darkness.
One to go.
The domain dropped, and the slime landed on his shoulder. It had been hovering like a satellite above the domain it created.
Dean looked out to spot the last hound, but it was already retreating.
Blitzing through the terrain, the creature was putting distance between it and whatever just happened to its pack.
Dean stared at it. He could probably track it if he wanted to but he would rather not. There was something unsettling about the direction it was running to.
The black box absorbed the flux cores of the five fallen hounds, updating the scoreboard.
Dean checked the scoreboard, and he was 19th now with 270 points.
His eyes instinctively drifted to Rogue's, and the blond idiot was now 7th spot with 400 points.
'I need more hounds,' Dean concluded as the system screen flashed into his vision.
[ You have completed a self-imposed objective: Kill shade hounds]
[Rewards: 1500EXP]
[ You have killed five shade hounds ]
[Total rewards : 7500 EXP]
[Total EXP: 7600EXP]
Dean smiled from ear to ear as he proceeded forward into the Zone.
<><><>
The next thirty minutes were quiet. He couldn't seem to find many creatures anymore.
Most of the terrain already contained decaying flesh and participants roaming about.
Nothing he met along the way matched the Night Bleater for danger, and nothing matched the hounds for coordination.
The system rewarded him for one or two creatures he killed, but they were of common class. He fed it all to improve his rank.
Even as his score on the board improved, he was now 13th. Just below the top ten.
Having amassed about 15,000EXP, Dean knew it was about time to upgrade his ranks.
[You have upgraded from Aspirant Tier 9 → Aspirant Tier 10]
[Total EXP Left: 5500]
He was mid-rank-up reading when he noticed something about the terrain.
The rocks were different. He could still see the jagged sky-blue peaks, but the ground-level rocks were becoming darker.
He could also sense an increase in the verge pressure in this region as vegetation had completely disappeared at this point.
Turning back, his white-violet cross eyes grew wide.
The threshold marker he'd been told not to cross was a significant distance behind him.
"Shit! When did that happen," Dean thought.
He turned forward again, and the land grew even darker with a serenity that was more disturbing than soothing.
'System,' he commanded.
The panels appeared before him.
[WARNING]
[You have entered the restricted zone.]
[Environmental Verge pressure: Significantly elevated.]
[Sage Circuit: Active]
[Proceed with caution.]
"Alright," he said, but didn't proceed with caution as advised.
Instead, he scanned the area with hermit's eyes, sweeping through everything in range.
There wasn't anything that appealing as far as he could see, but something was behind him.
It had been behind him since now, and Dean had been stalling until the slime finished its evolution of the sliver scaled armadillo's skill so he could engage with a new skill.
Stopping abruptly, he sensed the shift in the air and knew the ten minutes that were left before the slime was done had just grown thinner.
Without turning. Dean spoke with a calm and detached voice.
"Why are you following me?" he turned as he noticed the steps behind had stopped.
Just as he turned, his eyes reflected the tip of a blood- red spear travelling directly towards him.
A/N: If you're enjoying the story, add to library and support with power stones.