Crossing the swamp, Zoe carefully located a secluded burrow.
Using shadows, he condensed threads and set up concealed warning devices around the burrow.
Then, he crawled into the burrow.
With his four minds merging into one, his consciousness crashed like an overloaded computer, and he plunged directly into a deep sleep.
Zoe slept for a full ten hours.
“By my count, this should be the third day of my escape with Ethan.”
“I cannot go on like this.”
He absolutely did not have the luxury of time to rest. If things continued this way, it was only a matter of time before the narrowing dragnet caught up to him.
He had to master segmented sleep.
Zoe divided his consciousness into four. One of these minds controlled the Shadow Clone to activate the Golden Eye.
Under the Golden Eye's precise vision and learning capabilities, Zoe guided one of his minds to drift into sleep.
It went smoothly this time. The key, however, lay in maintaining it.
Once he had mastered Parallel Thought, letting his consciousness fall asleep was something Zoe could already achieve.
But maintaining that sleep was the most crucial part.
The sleeping mind had to remain asleep at all times, completely unaffected by whatever noise the other three minds made, or whatever sensory perceptions, emotions, and visions they shared.
“Maintain it, maintain it...”
Controlling both his clone and main body, Zoe rushed out of the burrow and continued his flight...
“You won't escape, hiss!”
A sharp arrow flew toward him along with a loud shout.
Zoe swung the shield on his left arm to deflect the arrow, his body launching forward like an arrow released from a bow.
“You are the one who won't escape. To think you'd try to ambush me with just this.”
Zoe instantly closed the distance, swinging his blade to break through the block of two lizardmen. At the same time, his chest puffed up.
Acid Severing Wave!
Zoe spat out a sharp blade of pressurized water, slicing two lizardman crossbowmen in the distance right through their waists.
Clang!
A heavily thrust spearhead pierced through the dense fog, driving straight toward Zoe.
A golden light flashed in Zoe's right eye. His left arm precisely met the spear, deflecting its force. Even so, the sheer strength transmitted through his shield forced him back several steps.
Using this force, Zoe quickly cast an appraisal.
[Lizardman Spearman Lv26]
[Mana: 2812/3011]
“There's actually a Mid-tier lizardman lying in ambush?”
The Lizardman Spearman stared at Zoe. He could not tell what kind of creature this pitch-black, humanoid entity in front of him actually was.
With one hand gripping his spear, he raised his other hand and unfurled a beast-skin scroll, firing a yellow fireball high into the sky, which exploded into a conspicuous flare.
Even through the dense fog blanketing the Death Swamp, Zoe could clearly see the exploding signal.
“Dual Shadow, hand over that human willingly, and I shall spare your life, hiss.”
The lizardman delivered the standard offer of surrender.
He believed that no matter how powerful or rare and mysterious a Dual Shadow was, he was a Mid-tier spearman. No matter what, there was no way he could fail to take down a Low-tier Dual Shadow.
“Stinking lizard, spare me your nonsense.”
Zoe took the initiative to strike, sweeping toward the Lizardman Spearman with his sword.
The sharp blade collided with the bone spear.
The lizardman's pupils instantly elongated into vertical slits. His flexible body absorbed and deflected the sword's force.
Then, he slapped out with one hand.
Flowing wind gathered in his palm and erupted instantly, blasting Zoe away just as he got close.
Zoe repeatedly stomped his feet against the swamp to absorb the momentum, sending splashes of muddy water flying into the air.
Within the vision of the Golden Eye, the lizardman had already thrust his spear toward Zoe again. His speed was completely unaffected by the swampy terrain, moving like an absolute phantom.
Zoe stomped down hard behind himself, instantly stabilizing his posture. The shadows on his chest swelled as he gathered all the corrosive gas within his body.
Corrosive Gas Slash!
Zoe spat out a sharp slash, aiming straight for the lizardman's neck.
“You can actually see it clearly? Is it because of that Golden Eye?”
Was the Golden Eye not supposed to belong to that human?
How was this Dual Shadow able to use that Golden Eye?
For that matter, why did this Dual Shadow take a human form?
The lizardman was forced to swing his spear to deflect the Corrosive Gas Slash, his eyes locking onto Zoe at the same time.
Mind Venom Bite!
A mental attack?
Feeling an inexplicable force emanating from the lizardman's vertical pupils, Zoe quickly fell prey to the attack.
But this time, Zoe was prepared. He quickly let another mind take over for the one hit by the mental attack.
Even under these conditions, Zoe still kept one mind asleep.
Since the training had begun, he had to maintain that sleep with all his might, no matter the circumstances.
“How is this possible? The attack should have hit!”
The lizardman, who had just blocked the Corrosive Gas Slash, watched in disbelief as Zoe merely blinked in a daze before instantly returning to normal.
Acid: Shadow Blade Heart-Piercing Needle Rain!
Regaining his footing, Zoe spat out a massive swarm of pitch-black shadow needles at the approaching lizardman.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The lizardman swung his spear, blocking all the shadow needles.
Activating his Golden Eye, Zoe manipulated several steel needles hidden within the shadow needles to fly toward the lizardman.
Seeing this, the lizardman agilely bent his waist to dodge. Behaving like a real lizard, he slid rapidly across the swamp, thrusting his spear toward Zoe's chest.
Zoe reacted by violently throwing the broadsword in his right hand.
The spear knocked the broadsword away, but under the control of the Golden Eye, the broadsword spinning in midair joined the steel needles in thrusting back down toward the lizardman once more.
With his right hand now empty, Zoe reached out to grab the spear directly.
The spear impaled Zoe's right hand, which was made of shadow.
[Shadow Transformation]! [Devour]!
Zoe's impaled right hand instantly dissolved into a viscous fluid, splashing toward the lizardman's body.
The lizardman's neck puffed up at the sight.
Whoosh!
He spat out a powerful gust of wind, blowing away Zoe's splashing slime.
But Zoe caught the moment the lizardman finished his breath and opened his own mouth.
Corrosive Torrent!
Zoe spewed out a massive wave of yellow-green corrosive gas.
Accumulative Corrosive Burn!
In the next split second, he spat out Dragon Flame, igniting all of the corrosive gas.
The blazing Dragon Flame exploded into a violent inferno.
“Dragon Flame?!”
The lizardman scrambled to pull back, but the spear in his hand was tightly bound by the pitch-black shadows that Zoe's right hand had transformed into.
Caring no longer about reclaiming his spear, the lizardman leaped backward to distance himself.
Zoe seized the opportunity to direct the broadsword and steel needles in the air to strike.
Having lost his weapon, the lizardman's right arm and chest were also severely burned.
Faced with the incoming steel needles, he could only dodge awkwardly. Gathering the airflow within his body, he found an opening and spat out a sudden gale, trying to blow away the attack.
Zoe pushed his Golden Eye to its limits.
The gale spat out by the lizardman belonged to wind magic, one of the main six forces.
However, Zoe's Golden Eye represented the Seventh Force, which reigned supreme over wind magic. It forcibly pierced through the gale and impaled the arm the lizardman was using to block.
Even the rough, hard black scales were punctured.
“You bastard!”
The lizardman grabbed a bone spear from a fallen comrade on the ground. But at that exact moment...
Zoe's main body, which had been lying in ambush all this time, finally struck.
Corrosive Gas Slash!
A fully charged ambush of Corrosive Gas Slash sliced the lizardman's arm clean off at the shoulder as he reached for the spear.
Without giving the lizardman any time to react, the clone Zoe lunged forward and swung a heavy hammer formed of condensed shadows with all his might.
Bam!
A dull impact echoed right after the sound of tearing air. The lizardman's ribs shattered one by one, sending him flying into the sky.
Acid Severing Wave!
The clone Zoe quickly spat out a pre-charged Acid Severing Wave. The sharp water blade cut the defenseless, airborne lizardman cleanly in half at the waist.
The main body took this chance to expand the Shadow Pool, swallowing the bisected lizardman into the space and completely severing his neck.
[Killed Lizardman Lv26, Experience +3600, Talent Modifier, Extra Experience +3600]
[Level raised to Lv21]
[Strength +1, Agility +2, Constitution +1, Free Stat Point +3]
[Your class has changed, advancing from Low-tier Monster to Mid-tier Monster]
[Strength +10, Agility +10, Constitution +5, Intelligence +7]
[Max Mana +1000]
[You may select any one skill to receive Proficiency +3000]
Rate on N.U.
