"Trying to escape! It's too late now!" Lyle saw the Forest Sage Kurashu fleeing at top speed.
He immediately got up, ready to give chase.
Whoosh!
The whipping tail lashed out violently, causing Lyle's eyelids to twitch. He quickly dropped the hilt of the iron sword in his hand, took out his Magic Greatsword again, and held it in front of him.
He found this Magic Greatsword quite easy to use, which was why he had switched to a common iron sword when using his Cursed Power to attack just now.
Otherwise, this Magic Greatsword wouldn't last many uses.
Bang!
A heavy force slammed into the Magic Greatsword, surging through the blade.
Lyle retreated a few steps to dissipate the force, and in that blink of an eye, the fleeing Forest Sage Kurashu had vanished.
"Does the opponent also have magic to conceal its form?"
Lyle's gaze swept forward, hearing not a single sound.
"But! Even with such magic, you won't escape." Lyle's gaze was cold as he stepped forward and crouched down to look at the ground.
On the ground, scattered drops of fresh blood remained.
Even if it could conceal its form, the blood flowing from its body could not be hidden with it.
Cursed Power would inhibit recovery effects!
Moreover, his Cursed Power also contained the strength of "Instant Death Curse."
"Since it could escape under the influence of the 'Instant Death Curse' power, the Forest Sage Kurashu indeed possesses a certain resistance to negative statuses."
Lyle looked at the blood remaining on the ground, his eyes flashing: "Track!"
Guerrilla ability.
Through the residual bloodstains, a blurry path appeared in his vision.
Lyle lifted his foot and quickly gave chase.
In the lush and vast jungle.
One constantly fled, and one constantly pursued, causing a continuous chorus of squawking birds and roaring beasts to erupt throughout the jungle.
The Forest Sage Kurashu was naturally very familiar with the territory it dominated.
As a result, it often led Lyle into areas of the forest inhabited by stronger magic beasts, or communal magic beasts like Hanging Spiders and Magic Wolves.
As time continued to pass!
This chase lasted until nightfall.
Lyle's initial ease gradually turned to solemnity. He had originally thought that with the power of the "Instant Death Curse," even if the Forest Sage Kurashu had some resistance, it wouldn't last long.
But!
Even now, the Forest Sage Kurashu was still able to flee; its resistance to negative statuses far exceeded his expectations.
Night.
In the deep jungle environment, human vision was completely useless, with only profound and oppressive darkness filling the eyes.
Lyle took out his monocle magic tool with "Night Vision" ability, placing it over his left eye, and the night environment immediately became clear.
He bent down to observe the blood on the ground.
Compared to the scattered drops of blood at the beginning, the bloodstains were now much larger.
"It looks like you won't last much longer either." Lyle looked at the residual bloodstains, realizing that the Forest Sage Kurashu's condition was probably very poor.
Even if it didn't die immediately under the power of the "Instant Death Curse," as long as this cursed power existed, it would continue to affect the injured party.
Until it reached the critical value for "instant death."
This was also a conclusion Lyle had drawn from experiments with various magic beasts and wild animals during this time. Just like Renners in the past, as long as the curse wasn't removed, she would continue to be affected.
Of course!
During this process, the Cursed Power would also be consumed.
And those like Lyle, who possessed complete passive resistance to curses, could ignore such effects, or those with abilities like resistance to negative statuses could also delay and weaken the negative effects.
Shhh! Shhh!
The sound of rustling leaves came from all directions.
Lyle raised his head and looked around, as pairs of green eyes emerged in the darkness, surrounding him.
This was the territory of a pack of Magic Wolves!
"How troublesome."
Lyle exhaled, stood up, and raised the Magic Greatsword in his hand.
Magic Wolves were somewhat similar to Ghoul Hounds, but they didn't have horns or bone chains.
In a moment!
The wails of the wolf pack and scenes of flesh and blood permeated the forest, quickly silencing the jungle at night.
The night's search passed quickly.
The sun rose in the eastern sky, casting dazzling light into the jungle, illuminating a small area of forest fissures.
This was an area that, besides some weeds and low shrubs, was noticeably cleaner than other parts of the jungle.
Below a slightly raised mound of earth, there was a conspicuous underground cave.
The Forest Sage Kurashu, the ruler of this territory, lived here!
However, at this moment.
A faint smell of blood permeated the air.
The Forest Sage Kurashu was leaning against the entrance of the cave, more than half of its face and chest completely stained with blood, its breathing very weak, and its twenty-meter-long strong tail twitched occasionally, proving it was still alive.
Step! Step!
A soft sound of footsteps came from the outer jungle.
Lyle walked out of the forest expressionlessly, and immediately saw the Forest Sage Kurashu leaning by the cave, its aura extremely weak.
"It seems I won, Forest Sage."
Lyle stopped, looking at it, and spoke softly.
The injury of a pierced eye alone was naturally not enough to kill the Forest Sage Kurashu. Its current state of near-death was clearly due to the continuous effect of the "Instant Death Curse."
"Damn— — — — human."
The Forest Sage Kurashu opened its eyelids, looking at Lyle with hatred and pain, then suddenly showed a glimmer of hope:
"Human, this humble one is willing to submit."
"I came here to kill you this time," Lyle shook his head and said indifferently.
The Forest Sage Kurashu's body twitched subconsciously, seemingly feeling a mix of shame and anger at having offered submission, or at being rejected, given its status.
Thump!
Its tail involuntarily lashed out, hitting the ground with a dull thud, but the overwhelming weakness in its entire body made it impossible to launch a complete attack.
"This humble one never thought that I would die at the hands of a weak human— —."
"This— —.. this humble one, has not yet re.. produced offspring—." The Forest Sage Kurashu's weak, struggling voice slowly faded into silence. "Experience gained: 9567"
[Experience Slot: 37933 / 60000]
A magic beast around level 30, adding nearly 10,000 experience points?
Lyle was a little surprised, then looked at the corpse of the Forest Sage Kurashu, feeling a slight sigh internally.
It was one of the popular characters in the anime, and now it had died by his hand.
He felt no regret.
Instead, the death of the Forest Sage Kurashu made Lyle see reality more clearly.
Only powerful strength is fundamental; entrusting one's life to others, or begging for salvation and mercy from others,
is inherently a foolish thing!
Under Lyle's gaze.
Only he could see the faint, ethereal soul, identical in appearance to the Forest Sage Kurashu, slowly floating out.
This was naturally not the first time he had seen it.
After all, he had also noticed the souls produced by the magic beasts and wild animals he had killed before.
The "Shaman Mentor" passive merely gave him a unique vision to complement his skills; at least for Lyle, it had no other use at the moment.
"Become my power, Forest Sage!"
Lyle's eyes flashed, and he activated the ability of "Totem Possession."
He had kept the "Totem Possession" slot empty, waiting for the first magic beast to serve as the first possessed totem. In Lyle's eyes, the Forest Sage Kurashu before him was naturally perfect.
Whoosh—
'Skill effect activated, please select the possession location — Head, Arm, Legs, Back, Chest'
Lyle quickly glanced at the five options, without hesitation.
"Arm!"
As the selection was confirmed.
A emerald green light flashed across Lyle's entire body, forming a special gravitational pull that drew the soul of the Forest Sage Kurashu, suspended in mid-air, towards his arm.
In the blink of an eye!
A rat-shaped totem tattoo appeared on both of Lyle's arms.
'Totem Possession successful — Please choose Body Enhancement or Specialization Selection'