Tear A Path 39 New Trap

He was lucky the pole seemed unbreakable, anything else would've snapped in half, but even then the scene shocked him thoroughly. He'd seen the kills stacked up by this beast and racked his brains for an answer. He thought maybe it was attributed to it's speed or ability to camouflage, but never in a million years would he have guessed this.

Up till now, sure, the beasts he met had some unique traits not found in the beasts of the past. This however, was more than just unique, the bond between this muzzle and the shadow was so seamless it was like pure magic. And maybe it was.

He'd seen the status screen and understood the meaning behind all the other resistances. But for light and darkness, it was purely fantasy for him. This would mark his first meeting with an attributed beast. In the future when a certain figure catalogued the beasts of the world, he would always state that although all the other attributes had notable beasts of frightening abilities ability, that of the dark kind would always be seen as the most dangerous and difficult to kill.

Zhao Wei had unconsciously stepped backwards in awe, but as he did the beast also emerged piece by piece. First a head came around covered in a thick black mane with 2 pointed ears on either side. What caught Zhao Wei's attention was the eyes, the pupil was like a boat in a sea of azure which burned with feral intent, if they weren't locked in battle those eyes might've just drawn him into it's endless gaze.

It's forelegs came out, five devastating claws accompanied each of it's robust appendages. This was followed by a torso and hind legs finished off with a bushy tail. From beginning to end, not a single spot of this beasts wasn't covered in it's regal black coat. It was so dark that it seemed to be misplaced in the area, like all the bright surroundings ended once it came to this beast. It finally dawned on Zhao Wei, the hunter was a wolf.

It's shoulder blades showed on either side of it's head, it was hunkered down, teeth bared and giving off a low growl at Zhao Wei. But for a moment, Zhao Wei had felt sympathy for it instead of the urge to fight. It was almost as if it's brutal demeanor was but a front. But this feeling was dashed in a moment as it came barreling at him, claws brandished, ready to shred the meat from his bones. He could only dodge to the side and twist it around with his pole causing it to change directions abruptly in the air.

He really didn't know what beast the hunter was but he'd prepared some things for this moment nonetheless. Right where he was going to drop it a rune activated, but this one was different from his wrap trap's rune, it was time to finally use his new trap.

Within a quarter of a second 2 rows of teeth 2 meters in width closed down on the beast above it, it's outer layer looked like interconnected muscle fibers which gave this trap it's bite. Zhao Wei had thought this hunt was in the bag, but he was destined to be disappointed. Just before his trap brushed the coat of this wold, it disappeared. The teeth closed just a little too late but that didn't stop it from creating a small shock wave from it's bite force.

Zhao Wei had originally decided to make a bear trap. Even people who didn't go hunting very often would know about it from the movies at least. He'd needed something aggressive but simple. Unfortunately a normal bear trap wouldn't cut it. Due to a bear traps composition and function, it needed to be fully rigid, but to create hard objects the density of the energy needed to be much higher than that of the likes of the Wrap Trap.

Noticing this issue Zhao Wei modified his design, the teeth would be smaller but would be supported using the muscle tissue as a force generator. Even then, the consumption of energy to create this version was still huge. In these few days he'd only made two.

This might be due to his own inefficiency in charging the energy itself, but even for the Wrap Trap he could charge a few to full usage in a single day while he had just started.

Just as the trap dissipated after usage the wolf lunged from the shadows again. It's paws scratched at Zhao Wei in split second intervals. He'd been able to use his pole to block the left one but could only grit his teeth and use his left arm armor to take the damage while he took the impact. The claws sunk into his arm as if it had ignored the armor itself.

It wasn't powerful armor which was bulky and c.u.mbersome, but even against the claws of Death Wishes which were several times bigger and longer it would take three times to cut through. This wound as unaccounted for, somehow in most of his hunts up till now he'd stopped bleeding he'd always known what was going to happen and when, the beasts almost became simple chess pieces for him to take out. It'd needed a lot of preparation but he was always relatively safe.

This fight brought him back to his first two fights. The first one when he'd fought Panda who'd overwhelmed him in sheer speed. And his first encounter with a Death Wish pack. Both times, he'd just entered this crazy world, he'd barely even known how to keep himself alive. Then, every split second his mind was going into overdrive to figure out his path, to make sure he lived. Then he was confused and vulnerable. Then he was weak.

In those times he'd only felt constant fear for survival. This time, he had the feeling of fighting above his weight. This time, he had the constant rush of overcoming his opponent. This time, he was the weaker one, he was the prey. But this time, he was excited.