Path to Transcendence

Chapter 465: Cute Foxes

Julius stared across the field as the sound of the crowd rumbled through the entire stadium. He let his focus skill help him remain calm, not allowing the crowd’s emotional auras to overwhelm him. It was at these times that he disliked his advanced aura senses. It was like having the nose of a wolf and being perpetually stuck in a sewer.

He kept his eyes closed as the referee explained the rules, and it was only when he heard the final countdown that he opened them. He was in time to see a massive horde of monsters spawn on the other side of the field.

He chuckled at what he saw. So far, there have been a large variety of monsters. From humanoids to golems, there have been many species that have appeared throughout the initial stage of the tournament. However, these monsters were easily some of the cutest that have spawned.

They were some kind of red fox species, but they weren’t very large. They were around the size of a small dog and had incredibly fluffy fur. Not to mention adorable yellow eyes that seemed to refract the sunlight with a brilliant glow and had cloud-like tails.

The only ones who weren’t as cute were the stronger variations. These foxes were much larger and seemed to be the more mature versions. Of course, that didn’t mean they weren’t cute either. They still had really fluffy tails and adorable faces, the main difference was that they had sharper claws and exuded a powerful aura.

He was so surprised by these monsters that he didn’t even make a move when the horn rang out. However, unlike him, many of his competitors didn’t have any compunctions about taking out these foxes. They were merciless and immediately attacked the horde of monsters with powerful blasts of mana and swift swings of their chosen weapons.

He heard the crowd shout out in protest as the Empire’s top talents slaughtered these cute creatures without compunction. With that being said, their protests only lasted for a short period because it became apparent that these foxes weren’t just cute, helpless creatures.

He watched in shock as an ominous pulse of aura was released from deep in the horde. Julius suspected that it came from the boss monster of these foxes. But he didn’t see where the creature was. It was hiding, and he wasn’t able to spot it amongst all the other foxes. It must have had some stealth skill.

Then, without any warning, the cute small foxes suddenly released a similarly powerful surge of mana and aura. Their red fur became dark bloody red and their adorable yellow eyes turned a sickly yellow, then they began to retaliate in earnest, moving with a speed that rivalled a Tier 4.

Some people were caught off guard by this sudden change, and several people quickly fell to the newfound animalistic violence of the foxes. Seeing the foxes tear out the throats of several young girls quickly had the crowd change their opinions, and their protests quieted down.

As for Julius, he decided that it was finally time to start participating as well. After all, he still needed to earn the hundred points required to proceed.

He frowned severely as he was forced to side-step a feral fox who had gone straight for his family jewels. He made sure to kick it as it went by. He didn’t appreciate someone attacking such a spot.

However, he reminded himself that he was supposed to be a mage for this stage. So he quickly gathered his mana and formed several spikes of mana. His new [Spirit Fortification] skill helped him create the aura-woven constructs with so much more ease than before.

Then, without further ado, he started to shoot his spikes at the now feral foxes. He didn’t go all out, but he quickly accumulated several easy kills. He did note the weird skill surrounding these foxes.

It was almost as if there was some sort of illusion and disruptive magic around their fur. If he wasn’t mindful and kept a tight track of them with [Absolute Spatial Perception], he might have missed them with his spikes.

He ducked as a burst of fire flew over his head. It had come from several foxes organized behind him. They had some kind of ranged fire attack, but it was pretty interesting since the flames didn’t feel that hot, more eerie than anything else. On top of that, these flames had several Concepts that he wasn’t able to decipher.

It almost felt like a weird mix of illusion magic, mind magic, and curse magic. He had no idea how it worked, but he was tempted to allow the flames to hit him so he could examine the effects firsthand.

Thankfully, he didn’t need to do that. He had plenty of eager volunteers who got hit for him. He watched as a mage who had gotten hit in the back by the flames flew by him, and Julius quickly analyzed his symptoms as the mage scrambled to their feet.

From what he could sense, the attack must have had an effect that disoriented the victim. The mage’s accuracy quickly fell, and their reaction speed dropped drastically. He had taken out almost a dozen foxes on his own, but now Julius would be shocked if the guy could hit the broad side of a barn.

The guy was so disoriented that he didn’t even notice when a larger, more powerful fox snuck up behind him. By the time he spotted it, the creature had broken through the mage’s barrier like it was nothing. Before the mage could do anything, the fox had already dug its claws into his throat, and its fangs were ripping away chunks of flesh from his face.

It was only when his cries of pain ebbed out that he was whisked away in a flash of blue light.

While the bracelets saved someone from death, it didn’t mean they saved them from injuries altogether. They still experienced the pain and would only be saved when fatally struck.

Stolen novel; please report.

Julius swiftly realized that these foxes were actually really dangerous. Something that the crowd was beginning to understand as well. This round already has more casualties than some of the entire rounds.

He would have paid more attention to these foxes to inspect their abilities, but Julius was busy furrowing his eyebrows. He didn’t know why, but for some reason, he was having a harder time accumulating points than he was expecting to.

The foxes’ tricky abilities were simply one part of the equation. The most concerning reason he was having a hard time was the fact that he found himself unable to finish off his kills. Whenever he would send a spike at a fox, he would quickly sense half a dozen other people attacking the exact monster.

If it only happened occasionally, he wouldn’t think much of it. However, it happened every time he sent an attack toward a fox. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that they were purposefully sabotaging him.

If not for his spikes being quite fast, he didn’t think he would have gained a third of the points he had gotten so far. Even with that, he had over half of his points stolen right under his nose.

His gut told him that something was going on here, and so he extended his senses outward, taking in the entire area around him. What he sensed almost made him laugh in sheer disbelief.

However, he wasn’t sure if he was correct, so he dashed forward to test something out. He could only shake his head in exasperation when his suspicions were confirmed.

Around a dozen people were surrounding him. They gave him enough space, but essentially caged him in, separating him from the rest of the arena and the other fighters. They followed him when he made a move and adjusted their actions solely based on his current position.

It wasn’t just that either. But they had activated several skills that essentially locked down the area. While attacking other tournament participants was against the rules, there was no mention of using skills to “accidentally” interfere.

Over a dozen barriers had been jammed together, and whenever they saw him targeting a monster, they sent their own attacks. They weren’t even trying to kill the fox either. But their attacks interfered just enough with his own constructs that the fox’s natural allusiveness was enough to do the rest. This meant he wasn’t able to accumulate points, and at this rate, he might not be able to get the hundred points required.

What the hell is going on? He thought to himself, feeling bewildered at the whole situation. Why would all of these people be trying to stop him from gaining points?

He didn’t know them, and by doing this, they were just ruining their own chances. It didn’t make any sense. He had a sneaking suspicion that someone had it out for him. The question, though, was who?

With all of that being said, he wasn’t going to allow these assholes to stop him from advancing. If they thought they could stop him just with this, then they were sorely mistaken.

While he didn’t want to go all out, he increased his output by a considerable margin. He began to infuse his spikes with a little more mana and aura. He then added some rotational speed to them as well.

They soon became bright blue swirling spikes of death hovering over his shoulder. The high-pitched whine from them rang in his ears. He stretched his senses out and ramped up his focus skill. He already had an idea how he was going to handle these annoying insects who were stealing his points.

He didn’t move from his spot. There was no point; they would simply follow him. He had already tried.

However, he waited for his opportunity for one of the foxes to get near. The fast little buggers were everywhere, and not even the dozen people harassing Julius were able to dictate their movements.

When he found his chance, he let loose. He sent three spikes blitzing toward the foxes, and as expected, half a dozen attacks all converged on his target. While some of them were closer and their reaction was impressive, his spikes were still faster.

With the extra speed he had added to his spikes, there was nothing they could do as his spikes tore gaping holes into the foxes. Not even a second later, three fox corpses fell to the ground, and his three spikes reappeared over his shoulder. The blood dripped down from their tips and onto his shoulder. He didn’t care, though; he was already locked in on his next target.

He did notice that the people who were interfering with him looked very surprised at the much faster attack. So far, they had been pretending like he didn’t exist, not looking in his direction very often. But now he saw them simultaneously pause and stare at him with confused looks.

Before his saboteurs could get themselves together, he was already sending his three spikes to attack another group of foxes. One person actually managed to get to his target before he could, but Julius reached out with his aura and ripped the mana construct apart with a savage twist of his willpower.

The construct fell apart into mana particles, and his spike managed to pierce the slippery fox, killing it on the spot.

Julius commanded his spikes to return to him, and as he did, he stared directly at the mage who had almost stolen yet another one of his kills. It was another young boy, and Julius spotted a nasty snarl on his face.

Julius welcomed it, though, and as they met gazes, he sent his spikes directly at the mage’s face. A look of stunned shock bloomed on his face, clearly not expecting Julius actually to break the rules and attack another fighter.

However, instead of shattering the barrier the mage had created in front of his face, they whizzed past his ears and slammed into a large fox. This creature was just as fast as the smaller foxes and had tried to lean out of the way when it detected the attack, but it wasn’t enough. It was half a split second too late. The spikes were already right in front of it, and it let out a cry as it was pierced in the chest.

In addition to their strength and aura, there was a noticeable difference in physical resilience. His spikes weren’t able to pierce all the way through, but got lodged halfway through its chest. This was okay with Julius, and without waiting for a second, he detonated the charge he had placed inside the spikes.

The resulting explosion tore through the arena, and half of the fighters turned to look at the commotion, trying to figure out who had created such a disturbance. Pieces of dead fox flew everywhere, splattering against the barrier surrounding the field.

Julius himself got splattered with blood, but he didn’t even bother to wipe it away. Instead, he chose to stare at the rest of the tournament attendees who were stubbornly trying to interfere with his points.

He let his blood red eyes stare deep into their souls, and he gave them one last warning look to back off. Some of them stared at him with uneasy gazes, looking at the bodies of the monsters he had quickly taken care of. He spotted some hesitation, but they still didnʼt back off.

Regardless, he didn’t care what they chose to do. There was no way he was going to be stopped by the likes of them.

Plus, who was he to stop them? If they insisted, he would be more than happy to teach them a lesson.