Eternal Empire Online: The Rise of the Mythical Detective

Chapter 5: The Kings Of The Forest And The World’s Mightiest Disciple 1

Dawn is breaking. And the light of the rising Sun is once again granting colors and distinction of shapes and sizes for the livings and the inanimate. It was such a beautiful scenery, an spectacle is called Sunrise. A daily recurrence that many living beings craves to experience but only granted to counted few.

But despite the wee chance, somewhere around the Forest of Illusion, right in the middle of the fading darkness, this rare opportunity was given to a silhouette of a young man. Unfortunately, with his left shoulder burdened with no less than 50 wooden swords and being surrounded by 21 pairs of jade colored eyes, glaring murderously towards him, he’s in a very dire situation right now to give a damn.

The silhouette owner’s name was Grimm.

And around him are 21 pissed and growling Cait Siths that in any moment will viciously attack him.

Looking back, facing such peril was never a necessity but because Grimm refused to back away, facing and surviving it now is the only option.

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In order to perfect the secret technique that he uncovered behind Bart’s Sequence, Grimm decided to push deeper into the Forest of Illusion and start the hunt ahead of schedule.

This is despite the fact that he lacks the basic territorial data, the appropriate weapons, armors, and the right amount of recovery items needed to ensure his safety and survival. He’d also dawn it during nighttime where the spawned monsters are several times stronger and more ferocious compared to when the sun is up. Still, he would rather take this kind of arrangement than to risk leaking what he knew to the other disciples in exchange of their manpower.

As Genesis, Grimm is born from a family of powerful businessmen where greed can be more of a virtue than a sin. They had prospered for several decades by devouring even the earliest sign of opportunity, enriching every form of potential, reaching for excellence, and ruthlessly eliminating the rise of any competition.

That’s how and where Grimm was raised, and that kind of mindset was deeply engraved into him, down to the very pit of his soul. So yes, he’d rather risk his life than to give up the thing that can bring him to the top.

“I will rise alone and I will fail alone. That’s all there is.”

As he continued walking around the dark woods, Grimm finally came across an area where a huge cat-like shadow is meandering around.

Growl!

With a feral growl, the shadow stalked towards Grimm and with the light of the moonlight, it revealed itself as a Dusk Panther.

Back in Latona, the surrounding areas of the capital are fields filled with low level monsters such as Unihorned Rabbits, Wild Foxes, Gray Dogs, and some rare spawning of Black Wolves, intended for the hunting pleasure of Level 1 to 10 novice players. However, when nighttime arises, novice players and even those with levels as high as 25 does not dare to hunt those field during that time of the day.

And that’s because nighttime is the advent of the kings of those fields, the Dusk Panthers.

Humongous and strong, one can almost tower a full grown horse. And despite their large sizes, their attack and movement speeds are still similar or even better than of a normal panther.

But that’s not all. Due to their black furs, they are hard to trace in the darkness and their nocturnal nature makes them stronger and faster during nighttime.

That is why even Level 25-30 players dare not to engage battles against one. Dusk Panthers are Level 25 but they possess power and speed higher than their level is supposed to provide and their darkness attribute also grants them a 40% stats and level bonuses in the dark.

“What the hell?” Grimm exclaimed as he cautiously stepped back. ‘To think that I’ll encounter a Dusk Panther in a place like this. Damn! Deidre was right to be cautious. This place is no joke.’

However, there’s no time for him to hesitate. Observing the area with meticulous eyes, he realized that aside from his lack of level, everything else can be favorable for him in battling the Dusk Panther.

The area where they are standing is a glade, and the nearest cluster of trees is 15 meters away. It’s full moon and its moonlight shines brightly towards them, eliminating the panther’s option to blend into the darkness. The points on his STR, DEX, and AGI are comparable to a typical Level 30 player. He also has the Dire Wolf necklace that gives him 10% additional damage to feline creatures and 5% recovery rate. If he summed it up to the 15% increase in HP recovery rate that he got for entering the training ground, that’s a total of 20%. For offense, he can utilize up to 4 skills on his arsenals depending on how the fight will progress.

Technically, even with the 40% darkness bonus advantage, he and Dusk Panther are in equal footing and winning the fight will solely base on how he’ll handle it.

Luckily, even though this is his first battle experience as well as his first time facing the Dusk Panther, Grimm is no stranger to its fighting patterns.

During his pre-game preparations, Grimm learnt that all Jenova Simulation Capsules are installed with auto-recorders that records and stores videos of players’ gaming experiences. These videos are often shared and spread to the internet where most of the contents are monster battles.

Grimm watched dozens of these videos, not for the sake of seeing how the uploader handled or mishandled the monsters involved but to be familiarizing the monsters itself.

True power is not about what you have. It’s about what you know. Grimm’s favorite motto that his Great-Grandfather had instigated to him in the past suddenly echoed to his ears as he pulls out his knife and shifted his posture to battle mode.

“Double G, you always knew what to say,” Grimm murmured as he and the Dusk Panther simultaneously dash towards each other.

The panther leapt off the ground, straight at Grimm.

Grimm ducked swiftly to the right side, out of its charging claw’s path, and plunges the knife to its hind leg.

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+Dusk Panther’s attack missed. 

+You dealt a Critical Damage.

+You damaged the core of the Dusk Panther’s power, [Speed reduced by 15%].

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His attack succeeded, thanks to the effect of Wild Aura that reduces the enemy’s speed by 20%.

The panther smashes to the ground and Grimm grinned as it staggers to return to its feet.

With the continuous effect of the Wild Aura and the damage he inflicted, speed, the most fearsome characteristic of the Dusk Panther had severely dwindled.

Now, the only thing left is to finish this off.

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In the fierce world of Martial Artists, there is a rare number of exceptional people that aside from possessing overwhelming power and skills are also gifted with the extraordinary talent to transcend beyond the zenith of martial arts.

They are the Grandmasters, the chosen superhumans personally handpicked by God to be the strongest in the world.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Bored and discouraged, Taekwondo Grandmaster, Angel of Vengeance Ahn Jae Sung sighed as he watched the ongoing Western Mixed Martial Arts Championship from the VIP room.

“They lack brains and they lack guts,” Jae Sung analyzed in a frustrated voice. “I can’t believe these tactless punks are fighting for a championship!”

Once a master reached beyond the pinnacle, the breathing pattern alone is enough for him to identify how talented and proficient one fighter is.

“What do you expect?” White Fang Kagami Sato said with the same unsatisfied tone. “Martial arts the common mortals practice nowadays are severely tainted with too much theatrics. They dance more than they fight, and for crying out loud, what kind of a kick was that!?”

The oblivious spectators below applauded as the Grandmaster of Karate and Jujitsu cursed. Those retards, they love parading themselves as martial arts fanatics and yet, they can’t even tell the difference between a good kick from a bad one. For them, whatever that connects is okay.

Sato angrily shook his head. “Unacceptable, totally unacceptable!”

“Oh, give it a break my friend,” Xiao Li, the Philosophical Grandmaster of Chinese Kenpo told Sato as he stood and approach the bar to refill his glass with another serving of tequila. “They might be horrible fighters but they are wonderful comedians. We should at least thank them for the good laugh.”

“That’s very rude, Li-san,” Sato’s younger brother, Grandmaster of Swords and Blades Kagami Shin, who stationed himself behind the bar to work their liquors remarked.

“Shut it, Shin,” said Sato. “Li is merely stating the obvious. These punks are no fighters. They’re a bunch of clowns. Am I right, Jirayu-senpai?”

Mad Demon Jirayu Klahan who had been lying quietly on the comforter while reading his book is now being drawn into the conversation by his colleagues. However, the Grandmaster of Muay Thai and Muay Boran refused to get distracted on such trivial matter and remain unmoved on his position.

When Sato realized that Jirayu won’t give him a reply, he groaned loudly and cried, “Man! How I wish our disciple is still with us! That boy had never once disappointed me!”

By the mention of the words ‘our disciple,’ Jirayu’s uninterested expression got instantly wavered. Glancing to his friends and fellow Martial Art Grandmasters occupying the VIP room, his mind warped back to the fated day when they met an extraordinary young man.