Leader

Splotch! "Three hits." Ethan swung his kusarigama in an arc, slicing through the rat lord's wounded stomach. Screech! It screamed in pain, falling back as it tried to escape. Ethan was much faster right now than he was before. The increase in his strength and agility made his attacks faster, letting him get past the rat lord's defences by the sheer difference in their power.

Clang! He swung his kusarigama vertically, crashing it into a rat lord's claws as he deflected its attack. Crack! The claws shattered, breaking into tiny pieces as the kusarigama slashed through them. Clank! Ethan yanked the chain, pulling it back towards him. He wouldn't hurt a single rat lord before he killed the one that had wounded him. It was pointless. Wasteful. Needless. But he couldn't help it. He wanted to kill that monster first. Some part of him was full of a sense of malice that he didn't want to let go.

Splotch! He swung his kusarigama in an arc. "Four hits." Screech! Screech! The rat lords screamed frantically as they watched their comrade getting killed slowly. Screech! They pounced towards Ethan simultaneously. What they lacked in strength, they would make up in numbers. That was how the beasts survived. And that was how theh would take down this prey today.

Clang! Ethan's kusarigama shot up, shattering another rat lord's claws. These rat lords were entering the range of Firestorm. His moves were designed to take care of hordes of enemies at a very close range. The best thing they could have done was to retreat and wait for his mana to dissipate. But they were desperate. They didn't want him to kill a member of their ranks. They were more desperate than when he'd killed the rat lord he'd fought one on one.

Clang! Clang! Ethan whipped his kusarigama through the air, smashing it against a rat lord's chest. Screech! It screamed in pain as a small cut opened on its chest. He frowned. He wasn't perfect as using his weapon. Landing a couple of scratches on his enemies while he was trying to hold back was inevitable. But, it didn't feel good. He stared at the half dead rat lying sprawled on the ground.

Four hits. That was how many times the rat lord had sliced at his stomach. And he'd attacked it the same number of times. He could kill it. But right now, it was too much trouble. And, besides, he'd already payed back the grudge. Now....his eyes glowed blue....he could focus on killing every last monster here.

Screech! Screech! Almost simultaneously, all seven other rat lords started screeching in pain. They started clawing at their fur as if they were trying to get rid of their skin. Ethan stared at the disoriented monsters. Staying in Firestorm's range was dumb. Not just because it was inside Ethan's effective killing range. But because there were tiny sparks of mana lying in the air.

Ethan's sparks that he'd conjured while he was with Sensei were harmless. They hardly dealt any damage, and could easily be shaken off. But, with enough time, the tiny damage caused by them accumulated, singeing the monsters' skin more and more. And now, the rat lords felt like their entire body was on fire.

Splotch! Ethan's kusarigama swung out in an arc, killing a rat lord instantly. Screech! Screech! The other rat lords pushed off the ground, trying to get away desperately. They'd finally realised that they were inside a dangerous area. "Oh no, you don't!" Splotch! Ethan's kusarigama cut a deadly horizontal arc, slitting two rat lord's necks.

Splat! Thud! They fell to the ground face-first, their necks leaking blood as their brown eyes turned lifeless. Clank! Splotch! Splotch! Splotch! Ethan's hands sped up, moving in a blur as he sliced through the air, killing three rat lords simultanrously. He could see a path traced by his weapon in front of him. Or rather, the place where the sparks had been thrust away by his kusarigama. It looked a lot like a constellation. Three dots for three rat lords killed. And lines tracing the path between them. But three stars seemed a little too less.

Splotch! He connected the fourth dot. Screech! The rat lord screamed as the scythe blade raked across its chest, killing it painfully. Ethan stared at the pattern in front of him. Four stars. Now that looked like a good constellation.

Whirr! Bzzzt! The pattern started to fade away as the temperature around Ethan started dropping. He could feel the mana receding as his body started feeling a bit heavier. Firestorm had run out. Well, at least he had managed to kill all the rat lords. All except one.

He glanced at the last rat lord that lay twitching on the ground. The same one that had attacked his stomach. He winced as a wave of pain passed through his body. Thinking about it made it hurt more. Applying physical type mana to the wound while using Firestorm had helped. But now, it had started hurting again. Using mana to block wounds was temporary anyways. And plus, the source of that pain was the monster in front of him. Maybe killing it would help.

Ethan stared at the rat lord. He didn't feel any bloodlust. Nor, any desire to kill this monster. Of course, he'd been annoyed by how much pain it had causef him. But now that he'd done pretty much the same to it, it felt like this was any other monster he'd faced. He wasn't eager to kill it. The smell of blood never faded. The fact that he was killing never escaped his mind. But, at the end of the day, it was a monster. A bloodthirsty, hungry brute that would kill him if he gave it the opportunity to do so. And it would kill innocent humans thoughtlessly, just as easily as it breathed. There was no room for pity

Splotch! He swung his kusarigama into the ground, killing the rat lord. It didn't scream. Perhaps it was too tired. Maybe it had lost consciousness long befire Ethan killed it. Whatever it was, it didn't matter. The monster was dead. And it wouldn't kill any more humans.

Splat! Ethan shifted his feet slightly as he looked upwards. Now, he had to get out of this hole. Clank! He swung his kusarigama vertically, embedding the scythe blade inside the tough rock. Clank! He grabbed the chain high above his head tightly, pulling it towards him slightly.

"Three...Two...One..." Whoosh! Ethan shot into the air, hurtling upwards as he raced towards the ceiling. Whirrr! Smash! Mana churned through his strengthened legs as he pushed off another wall, rushing upwards. He was almost there.

Thud! Crunch! Ethan' feet landed on the dried grass as he finally reached the edge of the hole. Tap...tap....tap. Small pebbles slid from under his feet, falling into the deep hole. He glanced into the pit. He could see the red blood glistening as if reflected the few rays of light that fell on it. A couple of rat lord corpses lay sprawled with their mouths wide open- a permanent scream of death.

Clank! He pulled his kusarigama back towards him. Clat....Clat. The weapon shrunk, morphing into a dagger. He turned around, walking into the dense grass. Now, he'd have to follow Noah's trail once again. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any traps lying in wait for him. Because if there were, he wasn't confident in taking down another set of F-2 ranked monsters.

These monsters would have been a piece of cake for Noah. Unfortunately, he wasn't here. He'd run off to kill some higher ranked rat lords. And, once again, he'd abandoned Ethan. The next time he saw Noah, he'd give him a piece of his mind.

Ethan clutched his stomach painfully. Well, that is, if he had enough energy to do that. Psshhhhh! He pulled out a small can, spraying its contents on his wound. Unfortunately, he couldn't down a potion and magically cure all wounds. Magically, huh?

Screech! Suddenly, an ear piercing screech rang through the air. It was the alpha! Crunch....crunch....crunch. He stepped forward, following a trail of flattened grass as he walked forward. Originally, heading towards an F-3 ranked monster while being wounded would have been a dumb idea. But, unfortunately for the alpha, its cries were coming from right where Noah had gone. Crunch! Ethan stepped forward, ducking beneath a leaf. He was heading towards the site of a slaughter.