Black Phoenix Heir

Chapter 95: Chapter 95 — An Unlikely Rescue

Chapter 95 — An Unlikely Rescue

Two weeks passed.

Victor’s recovery had gone smoothly, and the damage he had suffered from his fight with Monkbala was finally nothing more than a memory.

More importantly, he had made tremendous progress with the Monkey Fist.

After countless hours of practice, repeated failures, and more than a few sore muscles, Victor had finally managed to properly execute the technique.

He had officially reached the Beginner stage.

It wasn’t much compared to the stronger cultivators of the world, but Victor was satisfied.

He could use it now.

That alone was a major improvement.

His Flash Step had also continued to improve. He was approaching the Intermediate stage, and although he hadn’t quite grasped the final piece of understanding required to break through, he could feel that he was close.

His soul-control training was another story.

Victor was stuck at twenty-nine seconds.

He had progressed quickly at first, but each additional second had become harder to obtain than the last.

Still, progress was progress.

Victor wasn’t going to complain.

That morning, however, he had something else on his mind.

Food.

More specifically...

Meat.

Victor had spent the last two and a half weeks living among the Lava Rock Monkeys, and there was one thing he had slowly come to realize.

They were completely vegetarian.

There was no meat.

Victor had eaten vegetables, fruits, roots, and various other foods he had never seen before.

They were actually pretty good.

But after nearly three weeks without meat, Victor had finally reached his limit.

He needed meat.

So that morning, Victor left the settlement.

He intended to hunt something in the surrounding forest and cook himself a proper meal for lunch.

Victor moved through the trees at a steady pace, occasionally activating Flash Step.

His body vanished.

A moment later, he appeared several meters away.

At the same time, he practiced his soul control.

A small Black Flame appeared in his palm as he ran.

He expanded it.

Then shrank it.

He maintained the flame for as long as he could before allowing it to disappear.

It was difficult to practice while moving, but Victor had become accustomed to training whenever he had the opportunity.

Eventually, he rounded several trees and entered a clearing.

He slowed.

Something was moving ahead.

Victor stopped completely.

Rustling.

Heavy rustling.

His eyes narrowed.

Could be food.

His stomach seemed to agree.

Victor cautiously moved toward the sound.

As he approached, the trees opened up.

And Victor froze.

A massive bear stood in the clearing.

It was enormous.

Far larger than any bear Victor had ever seen.

Its entire body was covered in black fur, so dark that it almost seemed to absorb the surrounding light.

Two devilish horns protruded from the top of its head.

Its claws were easily three inches long, curved and razor-sharp.

And its teeth were even worse.

Two enormous canine teeth extended from its mouth, black liquid slowly dripping from them onto the ground.

Victor’s expression immediately changed.

Nope.

His Library knowledge quickly identified the creature.

A barrgauntula.

A peak Tempered Beast.

And not an ordinary one.

This thing was already standing on the edge of becoming a Beast Soldier.

Victor could feel it.

Its presence alone was oppressive.

Fighting it wasn’t an option.

Victor slowly began backing away.

Then he noticed something beneath the beast.

His eyes widened.

A figure lay on the ground.

A female Shadow Fox.

The same Shadow Fox he had encountered weeks ago.

The same one who had tried to kill him.

She was unconscious.

Blood covered her body.

One of the bear’s massive paws lifted from the ground.

Victor stared.

Okay.

He turned around.

She tried to kill me.

He took a step away.

This isn’t my problem.

Another step.

Walk away, Victor.

He stopped.

Victor glanced over his shoulder.

The bear’s paw was still raised.

The Shadow Fox remained motionless beneath it.

Victor frowned.

”No.”

He shook his head.

”This isn’t my problem.”

The bear began bringing its paw downward.

Victor’s instincts took over.

He vanished.

Flash Step.

In an instant, Victor appeared beside the unconscious Shadow Fox.

He grabbed her body and pulled her away just as the bear’s massive paw slammed into the ground.

BOOM!

The earth shook.

Victor didn’t hesitate.

The Monkey Fist was already prepared.

He twisted his body and slammed his fist into the bear’s stomach.

BOOM!

The impact sent the enormous creature stumbling backward.

Five feet.

That’s it.

Victor’s eyes widened.

The bear slowly raised its head.

Its black eyes locked onto him.

Its expression changed.

Victor swallowed.

I just made it angry.

Very angry.

The beast roared.

Victor immediately grabbed the Shadow Fox and threw her over his arm.

He activated Flash Step.

His body vanished.

The bear charged after him.

Victor moved through the forest as quickly as he could.

Trees blurred around him.

His Flash Step had become dramatically faster.

He was already approaching the Intermediate stage, and this was one of those moments when Victor was grateful for every bit of progress he’d made.

The bear was powerful.

But it wasn’t fast.

It relied on overwhelming strength.

As long as he kept moving, he had a chance.

The chase continued.

Victor repeatedly Flash Stepped through the forest, weaving between trees and changing directions whenever necessary.

The Shadow Fox remained limp over his arm.

The bear refused to give up.

Eventually, Victor had been running for nearly half an hour.

His breathing grew heavier.

He glanced behind him.

For several seconds, he simply stood there, listening.

The forest was quiet.

The bear was gone.

Victor exhaled.

”Finally.”

Then he looked around.

His expression fell.

Where the hell am I?

Victor sighed.

He knew that if he retraced his path, he should eventually be able to figure out where he was.

But there was no reason to immediately head back.

He noticed something farther ahead.

A cave.

Victor looked toward it.

That’ll work.

He carried the Shadow Fox toward the entrance.

Once inside, Victor immediately became alert.

His hand moved toward the dagger at his waist.

No signs of monsters.

The cave was completely empty.

Victor relaxed.

”Good.”

He carried the Shadow Fox farther inside before carefully setting her down.

Then he looked at her weapons.

His expression immediately became wary.

He remembered what had happened the last time he’d encountered her.

Victor wasn’t making that mistake again.

He picked up her weapons and carried them outside the cave, placing them somewhere hidden where she wouldn’t immediately be able to reach them.

Only then did he return.

Victor knelt beside her.

She was still unconscious.

Blood continued to seep from several wounds.

Victor frowned.

If he left her like this, she could lose too much blood.

She could die.

And despite everything, Victor couldn’t simply watch that happen.

He carefully adjusted her clothing enough to reach the wounds that needed attention and began treating them.

He bandaged the injuries he could safely tend to, working carefully and quickly.

There were a few areas he wasn’t comfortable treating himself, but he did what was necessary to stop the bleeding.

When he was finally finished, Victor removed his robe.

He carefully placed it over her body, covering her from the cold.

Victor sat back.

For the first time, he was able to get a good look at her.

Her long black hair rested softly around her face, with a pair of black fox ears rising from the top of her head. Even unconscious, her features carried an elegant sharpness, though the cold, murderous expression he remembered was nowhere to be seen.

Her eyes remained closed, hiding the deep purple color Victor had seen during their previous encounter.

Without that hostile aura surrounding her, she looked surprisingly peaceful.

He looked toward the cave entrance.

A sudden rustling sound came from outside.

Victor immediately tensed.

His hand moved toward his dagger.

The bear?

The rustling grew louder.

Victor slowly stood.

His eyes narrowed as he stared toward the entrance.

Something large moved through the vegetation.

Then a massive boar-like creature emerged into view.

Victor stared at it.

The creature stared back.

Victor’s stomach growled.

He blinked.

Then slowly smiled.

”Now that’s more like it.”