SPIRIT SOUL

Kyle felt extremely weird.

On one hand, he felt power surging through every cell in his body but on the other hand, everything was the same as before.

However, at the same time, his brain processed that the latter was only because his body was still adjusting to the sudden change he had undergone.

The difference between an individual who was yet to start cultivating and a cultivator who had just started to cultivate was not drastic.

The small difference was shallow enough to be neglected in a fight.

In a fight between two such individuals, the deciding factor would be their combat experience, tactics, and overall mentality.

Yet, what most non-cultivators failed to realize was that their mindset and will to win were different in the essence.

Cultivators knew that their strength would increase with every single day that passed.

But, some of those beings that were unable to cultivate were oblivious to reality, restricted by their non-existent cultivation, and forced to remain as weak as they were.

Other than that, Kyle hadn't expected that the existing rumors about the difference in a Cultivator's mentality and the importance of a strong fighting mentality would be true.

But to his dismay, he was slowly learning more about the bitter truth.

He opened his emerald-colored eyes and stood up before he held one hand with the other.

Stretching his body, he tried to sense how much his body had been enhanced and what exactly had changed.

Unsurprisingly, his body felt like it had been tempered in a furnace to increase his overall strength and agility, exactly as Kyle had expected.

At the same time, this proved to be more shocking than he had estimated.

Even the beasts he had fought during the last few weeks hadn't been that scary as the things he was just figuring out about his body.

He knew that his strength had only increased by a small margin because he had constructed a tiny, almost insignificant portion of his vessel which he had filled afterward.

Nevertheless, the slight enhancement he was slowly getting used to could be said to be terrifically high for him!

"To think that a newly awakened cultivator is already so strong...No wonder some cultivators thought lowly of us…"

It was the sad truth, but Kyle could finally understand how superior those Yadras that had awakened a cultivation vein must have felt in his past life!

Somehow, this felt so ridiculous that he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He had been denied all of this in his past life, but not anymore.

Once he was done testing out his strength, he decided to sprint towards the town.

He felt that the small jog would help him slowly adjust to the changes he had undergone.

The matured Emerald fox that was now around 20 centimeters tall was running around him and Selene.

Just like Kyle, his Spirit Soul was simultaneously testing its agility, adjusting to the same changes as Kyle.

Coincidentally, it had also reached the Initial Fortification stage.

Due to this, it was now forced to rely on Kyle to nurture its potential and mutation path!

Until that happened, the Emerald Fox wouldn't be able to become stronger.

As such, it was already nagging Kyle to nurture it, once Selene's situation improved.

However, Kyle, who had just gotten a taste of true strength, was beginning to understand why it felt oddly addictive.

The fact that he could increase his strength by cultivating just a little bit made him want to leave everything else and cultivate.

No matter the urge, he had other things to do first. Wanting to stop himself from daydreaming, he shook his head in an effort to calm down.

Their current situation demanded him to think rationally.

They required lots of equipment and the town in front of them was the perfect location to make everything possible!

All of a sudden, a shrill cry resounded through the surroundings, alarming Kyle and Selene.

Turning their heads in the direction of the sound, they saw a bunch of young children.

They were surrounding another child who seemed to have been injured.

They were holding daggers in their small, trembling hands as they stared at a large group of football-sized killer ants!

Each of them had long pincers and it didn't take him long to notice that the children had been overwhelmed by the killer ants.

Their time was running out and soon the killer ants would seriously injure the kids if he didn't intervene.

Kyle was not a Samaritan, but he couldn't just stand and watch small children getting cut into pieces and devoured by ants!

As such he decided to help. In the end, it was beneficial for him too because it served as an opportunity for him to test how strong he had become!

There shouldn't be an earth-shattering difference in his strength but Kyle was eager to fight the ants with a cultivation base at the Initial Pryr Fortification stage!

Rushing towards the children that were around 12 years old, Kyle noticed that the injured girl's leg was not completely severed but only scratched.

Nonetheless, the wound looked deep according to the amount of blood that gushed out of it.

But she was still fine and out of danger!

Selene and the Emerald Fox were faster than Kyle, but he had been the first to react.

Because of that, they reached a bunch of two dozen killer ants at the same time.

Kyle's eyes glimmered as he unsheathed the ranked steel machete.

Only a month ago, he had to ambush beasts at the Fortification stage, with the help of both Selene and the Emerald Fox.

He had been too weak to fight such beasts on their own so he had to resort to laying out traps.

But that had finally found its end!!

Having taken his first step towards being a True Cultivator, Kyle felt confident.

He had accumulated enough strength in the last two months to fight those at the first cultivation stage head-on!

Kyle still had a long way to go, but that was not something he was afraid of.

Instead, Kyle was eager to witness what his future had in store for him.

However, for now, he had to massacre the killer ants in front of him and save the children.

Brandishing the machete at the closest ant, he avoided targeting any specific part of its body.

As such, he simply focused on using every ounce of force to cleave his machete through the killer ant's thick carapace.

Just a moment later, Kyle heard a loud clanking sound that surprised him.

The ranked steel machete seemed to have collided with the highly defensive carapace.

Thus, he realized that his strength hadn't been enough to deliver just one fatal blow.

Instead of seeing blood gushing out of the ant's severed body like a fountain, he was forced to change his tactic.

Despite feeling that he had become stronger than before, he was still weak to make use of the razor-sharp blade his ranked weapon had.

This served as a glaring reminder for him that he still had a long way to go.

However, all was not lost as the blade seemed to have injured his opponent a little.

It had pierced slightly into the carapace before it met an obstruction.

Unfortunately, his attempt to kill the killer ant had been a failure.

And to make matters worse, he had attracted the ant's rage.

It turned around to face Kyle, almost tearing the machete out of his hand as it lunged out with its long pincers.

Running back a little, Kyle jumped above the killer ant that had only one means to attack; its pincers.

Thankfully, his grip over the machete had been tight.

As such it was severely restricted and Kyle could make use of this advantage.

The moment he had jumped over the killer ant, he swung his machete, further deepening the wound he had previously inflicted.

Taking a deep breath, Kyle understood that he was at a high risk of getting killed or severely injured.

His current state was everything but good.

Because of that, he took a short look around to find an escape route and saw something that astonished him.

His eyes fell on the Emerald Fox that had already torn apart two killer ants, whose souls it had also absorbed.

His Spirit Soul had focused on the killer ants' vulnerable spots while utilizing its high agility.

Kyle could have done the same, but he had been too excited to fight.

Hence, he had missed out on killing them sooner.

However, now that his excitement had died down, Kyle could think clearly and strategize without letting emotions affect him.

This made him realize yet again that he had to make use of his brain and not just rely on strength if he wanted to win.

Thus, he lashed out with the ranked steel machete while targeting the pincers.

The moment they collided, Kyle adjusted the machete's trajectory, lifting the killer ant's light body along with it.

Taking a step forward, he used his weight that was several times heavier to exert more force, which allowed him to throw the killer ant over.

Using the opportunity at hand, he retracted the razor-sharp machete before he pierced out, delivering the killing blow.

This time his machete hit the bullseye and it was only a moment later that a faint soul detached from the ant's corpse.

Kyle hastily grabbed it before he pressed it into his chest.

After that, he simply ignored the dead Killer ant, as he lifted his gaze to look around.

Both the Emerald Fox and Selene were busy fighting the killer ants right in front of them.

Hence, they hadn't even realized that the closest killer ants were about to reach the small group of children.

"Fuck!" Kyle felt like cursing at the children for their stupid decision.

They had left the town's safety for whatever glorious reason, only to end up amidst the killer ants.

However, now that he and the others had already joined the fray, it would be truly a waste of their efforts to allow the children to sustain more injuries, or even die!

As such, Kyle gritted his teeth as he catapulted himself towards the group of children.

There were only a few killer ants that paid attention to the children because the Emerald Fox and Selene were more dangerous to them.

Hence, they focussed on taking out the stronger opponents first.

Nevertheless, those few killer ants were already more than enough to terrify the children out of their wits.

Their last ray of hope was the sudden arrival of Kyle, a black-furred Lohar, and a small fox that seemed to belong to their group.

Seeing that Kyle and the other two beings, who were all complete strangers, rush to them for help, made the children's eyes turn moist.

They took a breath of relief as tears streamed down their cheeks at the same time.

They were shell-shocked, and the regret of venturing out of the safety of their homes was written plainly on their faces.

Initially, they had just hoped to prove that the area outside of the town was not as dangerous as everyone made it look like.

The children had been eager to prove that the elders were just cooking up tales to frighten them.

p However, that was a crucial mistake they had regretted less than half an hour after leaving the town.

In the beginning, everything seemed to be placid and they had felt confident about venturing farther ahead.

However, a killer ant had suddenly jumped through a bush, and almost severed one of the little girl's legs.

Distracted by the young children that were screaming and crying out loudly, Kyle's next target didn't even realize that he had neared it.

The noises he made while advancing towards the ant got drowned in the melee caused by the children.

Thus, Kyle emerged behind the first killer ant which he kicked in the rear, throwing it upside down.

Only a moment later, the black steel machete had pierced through the killer ant's soft abdomen, draining it of its life force.

Not wasting any time, Kyle made use of the fact that the killer ants were light-weighted, in addition to the fact that they were still distracted.

Utilizing the same tactic, he swiftly emerged behind the rest of the ants.

Kicking them with all his might, he cut through their abdomens before he took them out one after another.

This was observed by the crying children with weird faces, but Kyle's strategy worked.

They rubbed their eyes and blinked rapidly to see how Kyle was cunningly using tactics instead of brute force to finish his opponents.

As such, he couldn't care less about the glorious kinds of battles the kids might have expected to witness.

He had only two options in front of him- either kill or get killed.

Nobody would ask whether he had fought gloriously or not. As long as he was alive and his opponent dead, it simply didn't matter what way he employed to ensure his victory.

In the end, the winner wrote history and those who won would be remembered!