Chapter 300: Howl [Bonus]
[Sperm Whale (FFF+)]
[Level: 4]
[Physical: 431]
[Mental: 57]
[Will: 75]
Sylas' jaw clenched. Seeing this creature confirmed something that he had been thinking about for a long time. If stats were scaled based on human biology, then how much stronger were the real predators of Earth? What about the extinct predators of Earth? If he ran into a Blue Whale, what kind of Physical stats would it have just by virtue of its sheer size?
A Sperm whale wasn't nearly as large as a Blue Whale, and yet just staring at these stats...
A true monster.
Sylas forced his heart to remain calm. He had to control himself even more in this situation because he was in another creature's territory and oxygen wouldn't come easy in this situation. Wasting what stores he had would be inadvisable. This whale also wouldn't necessarily attack him.
The head of the sperm whale was enormous, and its eyes...
DOOM.
Sylas heard the sound first and saw the streaks of water second. The sperm whale suddenly whipped its tail, leaving an echoing hum through the water before appearing before him in a flash. Weren't whales supposed to be docile creatures?
This was the only thought Sylas had time for before he was forced to cross his arms and block. As powerful as the whale's Physical was, it too was marred by the water. Its effectiveness was definitely not as high as its stats would suggest. However, none of that would matter if those teeth sank into him.
Sylas didn't know much about whales. He was under the impression that they were all docile creatures and herbivores to boot. What he didn't know was that the sperm whale ate sharks for lunch and happened to be the largest toothed predator in the world. It could only be said that he was truly unlucky, but his reactions weren't slow.
He formed a <Solidify> beneath his feet and pressed off of it hard. He pushed himself up and managed to dodge the open maw of the sperm whale, but in return, he was hit with the force of a battering ram. His body shook and trembled beneath the might and his bones felt like they would shatter at any moment. Had they been on land, this blow would have certainly done at least that, if not much more. This creature weighed tens of thousands of kilograms, and for some reason, it wanted to use his body as a toothpick.
The storm had already made Sylas feel so insignificant and small, but this whale... It was like the period at the end of the paragraph, the last word at the end of a story. This was the gap between humans and the true predators of Earth. He had just been thinking today how far he had come, only to be smacked right back down to Earth hours later.
However, it was in that darkness that Sylas' green eyes blazed. The stormy, turbulent waters seemed to be the only points of light. The angle of the sperm whale's headbutt sent him flying upward on an incline, just like he had calculated. He borrowed the momentum and soared up higher through the waters, instantly appearing meters from the surface.
With the formation of another <Solidify>, he rushed through the rest of the distance. He had barely landed on the surface when he felt the danger signs hit him all at once. Blaring warnings came as the maw of the sperm whale opened up beneath him. The waters churned and a strong suction force was formed. Sylas could only leap upward again with all his Strength, but the sperm whale was hot on his trail, and it could jump far higher than he could. The creature's tail whipped and it soared out of the water, a menacing glint in its eyes. Sylas was right in between its teeth. With a single chomp, he would be finished. There was no doubt that with its Physical, it would tear right through him even if he was fused with the Basilisk King, let alone now. However, Sylas was still in an unprecedented state of calm. He had faced off against an army of Arctic King Cobras, stared down the barrel of the maw of an Arctic Emperor Cobra...
What was this little sperm whale compared to that?
Just as the teeth were about to bite Sylas in half, his gaze flashed with a deathly blue light. <Arctic Howl>.
-
[Your understanding of <Arctic Howl> has deepened]
[<Arctic Howl> has reached Common Mastery]
[Your understanding of <Arctic Howl> has deepened]
[<Arctic Howl> has reached Bronze Mastery]
[Your understanding of <Arctic Howl> has deepened]
[<Arctic Howl> has reached Silver Mastery]
[Arctic Howl (FF-) (Skill)]
[Defense: 550]
[Attribute: Ice-Poison]
A roar left Sylas' lips and an echo of blue fluttering Runes jetted out from him in all directions. The timing was perfect. Just as the sperm whale bit down, its teeth crashed against the violently expanding barrier. Astral Howl had high Defense for a mere FF- Skill. It was almost triple as effective as the Legendary Mastery <Solidify> despite only being one Grade above. But that was because it had a drawback. It was an instantaneous burst skill that only allowed a brief instant of Defense.
But in Sylas' hands, he would always get the perfect timing. Plus, thanks to the Arctic Emperor Cobra's venom sack, he was able to raise its Mastery so quickly. It would become an invaluable piece to his survival. The teeth of the sperm whale shattered against the barrier and a vicious Ice-Poison Aether began to spread through its maw.
Sylas raised up two hands and though they were blades, they were still falling down toward the stomach of the pained sperm whale.
<Chilling Scythe>.
One of his hands swung down with a vicious momentum, activating Basic Aetherflow at the same time and bolstering the Skill. He drove the blue scythe right down the throat of the sperm whale and into its most vulnerable inner organs. Ice and poison began to rot the creature from the inside out as Sylas fell into its mouth.