Bound By Fury:The Forced Path

Akira stood still, his bright white glow getting a bit weaker, though he was still very confident.

His sharp eyes looked over the battlefield, thinking of every possible outcome.

A great circle of Werehyenas moved in a circle around him, their glowing eyes fixed on every move he made.

Their growls filled the air with a low and threatening sound of hunger and bad intentions.

He exhaled softly, his lips curling into a sly grin.

"Twenty of them. maybe more. It's going to be tough to conserve stamina for the boss fight."

"But then again… the tougher it is, the more I'll grow...the more i will level up"

The thought sent a shiver through him.

He clenched his hands tighter together as he thought on.

"My speed in the water is not ideal, but it is sufficient to evade their attacks. Defense isn't the problem—the issue is offense. I dare not to strike first. That'd leave me wide open."

He looked at the body of the Werehyena he had just killed, floating in the yellow water.

His smile grew into something that seemed almost like a predator's.

"Hehe. That'll do."

Without thinking, Akira took the body of the Werehyena by its neck. His relaxed but careful action looked strange to the people watching from the shore.

"What's he doing now?"

Anna whispered, her voice trembling

Victor, still sitting on his sword, let out a loud cough and said,

"I don't get this guy at all."

"He was a normal, mannered kid when we first met him."

"But what he said to me—"

His jaw clenched as he thought about Akira's nasty reply.

"It wasn't just words."

"It was filled with pure venom."

"Now… I don't even know what to think of him anymore.".

Grido he came closer to Victor and Anna."

His keen eyes stayed on Akira as the boy moved slowly through the water, pulling the Werehyena's body behind him.

"I don't understand him either," Grido said, his voice level but curious.

"But… look closely."

He waved a hand slightly.

"All the monsters are watching him now."

Victor and Anna blinked as they looked at the Werehyenas by the ocean.

The pack's gleaming eyes were fixed on Akira, and their growls were directed only at him.

No one else in the group caught their attention.

Grido smirked faintly, leaning back slightly.

"We're not even worth hunting for them anymore."

His words weighed heavily on them as they looked at Akira.

Akira stood amidst the murky yellow ocean, his face stretched into a grin sharper than ever, and he raised the mangled corpse of the Werehyena high above his head. There was huskiness in his voice, like a mocking sarcasm, as he faced the snarling pack surrounding him.

"You want your dead friend back, fishes?"

He sneered, cocking his head as if he really expected an answer.

The Werehyenas snarled and snarled louder, their eyes glinting with a barely contained rage.

They had done nothing yet, but that won't be the case for long

Akira didn't hesitate he gave a swing and had the corpse crash into the water face-first with that dull, sickening thud. It sent a wave out from the point of impact, with yellow water splashing all over him like a crazy halo. Then once more Akira with his free hand started smacking her face again again and again.

Each blow was deliberate, cruel, relentless-each blow sounding like war drums.

Anna was staring at it on the beach in utter shock.

"What is he doing why he is smacking her face like that"

She exclaimed, laced full of disbelief.

Grido's eyes widened, and in an instant, comprehension clutched the thought.

An impressed smile curved on his lips.

"He's a genius,"

He told himself in a whisper.

Anna turned on him, venom in her voice.

"Explain it!"

"What is he doing?"

Grido lifted a hand and listened intently to Akira.

"Shh."

"Wait and see."

Akira didn't cease his brutal display, continuously smacking the dead body into a mushy pulp of fur and flesh that was no longer distinguishable.

Anger sat amidst the Werehyenas on the edge of the circle among whom Dazzle stood, their growling turned to cacophonous howls bodies shook with the urge to jump ahead, clawing in the slimy mud beneath the water.

Akira finally stopped, his head rising up to meet their glowing eyes as his smirk spread wide over his face, and with a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed the mangled corpse toward them.

"Go on,"

He said his hand beckoning toward the body,

"Take it."

"He's all yours."

The body hit the water with a resounding splash, impacting hard against one of the Werehyenas and sending it reeling.

Perhaps for a second, the pack was still, its rage fermenting as it digested the slight; then, in an instant, it was surging toward Akira in a messy tide, slashing claws outstretched and glinting fangs.

"Now we're talking,"

Akira muttered, his grin turning feral.

In one smooth, flowing motion, he called the system and reached into his inventory and called his shining Pantho Sword into view, its sharp edge gleaming as he grasped it tightly-the water hissing and steaming as his aura flared around him.

The first Werehyena to have seized the mangled corpse dove at him and was exceptionally violent.

Akira moved in less than an instant; his blade sliced easily through its neck before it could do anything.

The body folded into the water, splashing onto his feet.

Anna watched in horror from the shore as Akira wheel-kicked quickly to the next, dodging a claw swipe with a smooth sidestep and pressing his sword deep into the creature's chest, twisting the blade as the Werehyena let out a last guttural snarl before falling to the ground.

Grido's smirk deepened as he observed Akira navigating the chaos with unsettling efficiency, deftly turning the Werehyenas' blind fury to his advantage.

Each swing of his sword was exact, every step meticulously planned.

"He's letting them attack him one at a time,"

Grido breathed, an edge of admiration in his voice.

"Their anger is clouding their minds."

"He's breaking their coordination, using their numbers against them."

Yet, his expression grew a shade darker as he continued watching Akira-now full of water and blood, his movements starting to show even the faintest hints of strain.

Grido narrowed his eyes, his smirk fading.

"But…" he murmured, very softly; to himself, rather than to anybody else.

"He'll soon have no other optionsleft."

The yellow water moved with blood and chaos as Akira stood in the ruin of his destruction.

Wiping sweat from his forehead, he still held the red Pantho Sword, a witness to the killing done by him. More than ten floating bodies of the Werehyenas were the ugly trophies of his sharp skill all around him.

His chest would rise and fall, but the grin stayed on his face—a teasing one.

"Ten of them"

Akira said, his voice low and even, as he shifted his sword, sending splashes of blood into the water.

"It took ten of them for me to get to level up two times.

"The exp is getting larger again."

He spat into the water, feeling disgusted but determined.

He stared out at the pack of Werehyenas who were circling cautiously at a distance.

Their growls were more subdued now, and they moved slower.

They had learned what happened when they underestimated him.

From the island, Victor frowned with concern.

"Did he… reach his limit?"

He asked, trying to sound a little hopeful, but not wanting to actually say it.

Grido crossed his arms and watched Akira closely, his eyes sharp and careful.

"I think…"

Grido said softly, both respect and fear evident in his voice,

"Sadly, yes."

Anna bit her lip, her gaze darting between Akira and the Werehyenas.

"Then why isn't he backing away?"

"He knows when to pull back we can buy him a bit of time till he recovers his stamina right?"

Grido smiled a little, but it did not show in his eyes.

"Does he seem like the type of kid to quit?"

Akira looked down at the shining yellow water, his reflection staring up at him, distorted.

He took a step back and edged closer to the rim of the island.

His feet sunk a little in the sodden, treacherous ground, but he held his balance.

"I can't go deeper,"

He muttered to himself, his voice cold but calm.

"If I go too far, I'll lose my footing, and attacking will be impossible."

He looked at the Werehyenas again, seeing how far away they were.

"And these guys… since I've taken down so many, they won't even come near me anymore."

The Werehyenas growled and stirred, their eyes aglow, fixed on him, but not one dared cross the unseen line he had cast across their minds.

Victor took a step closer, his fists clenched.

"Then what is he doing?"

"Is he waiting for them to attack him again?"

"They won't be fooled by the same trick two times!"

Out in the field, Akira let his breath out quickly, and his smile turned into a scowl.

"Tch,"

He clicked his tongue, frustration in his dark eyes.

"They're not giving me a choice."

"My skill soul infusion doesn't last forever i have only a bit time left so i need to do it Now!"

The air around him shimmered a little as the effects of Soul Infusion started to wear off.

He could feel his extra strength and speed slipping away like sand.

Akira stood up straight, holding his Pantho Sword but then he opened his inventory and put the sword back at it

"This is it,"

He said softly, his voice low but full of resolution.

"It's now or never."

Then he made a sudden, cautious step forward.