Born In Ashes: The Enigma

As Azrael moved away from the city center, he noticed a familiar face among the crowd of people.

"Rudheer..." He raised an eyebrow and noticed that Rudheer was glaring at Alex with hateful eyes.

'It seems there really is something between him and the Knight Tower...' Azrael thought, recalling how Rudheer had falsely accused the Knight Tower on the day they first met, saying he was in the moon forest because of them.

For now, Azrael didn't care about whatever was going on between them and soon left the city center area.

"I have a total of 30 days to complete the trial and three days have already passed..." He pondered for a moment, then made up his mind.

"Let's see if I can get any result in the next seven days. If it doesn't work, I will still have twenty days to think of something else."

With that thought in mind, Azrael quickly left New Moon City, heading straight for the forest where he had first appeared.

Since he had decided to wait one week for the result of the action he had taken earlier, he couldn't just sit idly during that time.

So, during this week, he planned to hunt monsters in the forest to increase his strength.

Because he was traveling alone this time, his speed was faster than before. In just eight hours, he reached deep into the forest where high-level monsters could be found.

After taking some rest and eating something, Azrael began to search for a suitable target... And it didn't take long for him to find one.

About a hundred meters away from him, he spotted a sleeping bear. The bear was covered in grey, metallic fur, and Azrael assumed that if it stood on its hind legs, it would be around three meters tall.

"An Iron Bear..." He narrowed his eyes, knowing it wasn't an ordinary monster.

Just like humans—where some are considered ordinary while others are called elites—monsters were the same.

All the monsters Azrael had encountered before, including the Swift Tiger and the Mud Crocodile had been ordinary monsters.

They had been stronger than him purely because their level was far higher than his.

However, the Iron Bear in front of him was different. It was a monster from the elite category, known for its powerful strength and defense.

Just like the Mud Crocodile, the Iron Bear was also a level 7 monster.

But its power was far beyond that of the Mud Crocodile.

Not only that, unlike normal monsters, Elite Monsters possess something called resistance.

There are many types of resistance, such as elemental resistance, which includes fire resistance, water resistance, wind resistance, and other elemental types.

The Iron Bear in front of him also had resistance—and it was toward physical attacks.

Because of its physical attack resistance, it wouldn't be easy for Azrael to break through its defense.

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---) Strength: 25.7

---) Agility: 25

---) Stamina: 26

---) Cosmic Energy: 180

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These were Azrael's current stat points. Compared to other level five humans, they could be considered overwhelming.

However, Azrael was certain that the strength and stamina of the Iron Bear—who was just two levels higher than him were likely close to 35 points.

Its agility might be similar to or even lower than his, but its strength and stamina alone were enough to make any level five human run away on sight. Not to mention it also had physical attack resistance.

This was the difference between humans and monsters.

Even though Azrael was overwhelmingly strong compared to any level five human, he still fell short when compared to elite monsters.

"At least my cosmic energy should be far higher than any elite monster of the same level, and once I activate the power of wind, I should be able to face even elite monsters stronger than me without much problem."

Azrael took a deep breath and looked at the Iron Bear with narrowed eyes.

The monster was definitely far stronger than him, but even so, Azrael had no intention of backing down.

Wasn't the Swift Tiger also stronger than him?

He had only been level one at that time, yet he still killed it.

The strength and stamina of the Swift Tiger had been roughly equal to Azrael's at the time, but its agility had far surpassed his—it was so fast that it appeared behind him without him even being able to see how it moved.

Yet even then, he had killed it.

Stat points were just one aspect of a person's power.

Azrael never relied solely on his stats during a fight.

His greatest reliance had always been on his combat instincts and all the training he had received from Lia and Ashara.

With stamina around 35 points and physical attack resistance, the bear's defense would undoubtedly be extremely high.

But with Fallen Star in his possession, Azrael was confident that he could break through that defense.

"What a pretentious guy..." Azrael muttered with a slight smile on his lips as he walked toward the Iron Bear.

The sense of smell of a bear is far stronger than that of a bloodhound—the dog known to have the strongest olfactory sense.

Azrael was just a hundred meters away from the iron bear. Considering this distance and the direction of the flowing wind, it was impossible that the bear hadn't already picked up his scent.

Just as Azrael expected, the moment he began to approach, the bear lazily opened its deep orange-colored eyes and stared at him coldly.

A black light flashed in Azrael's right hand as Fallen Star materialized from his soul space.

The cosmic energy within his body surged and flowed toward his legs.

Since his only advantage against the Iron Bear was agility, he decided to use it to its maximum potential.

Simultaneously, cosmic energy flowed into Fallen Star, and its shiny black blade began to glow faintly with a pale blue light.

ROAR!

The Iron Bear let out a furious roar when it saw Azrael approaching with a sword in hand and it stomped heavily on the ground.

As it stomped, the surrounding trees shook violently and the next instant, a rumbling sound echoed—the ground trembled as if an earthquake had struck, and the bear charged toward Azrael on all fours.

Azrael stared at the approaching beast intently. He pressed his feet into the ground. Cosmic energy burst through his legs, and in the next instant, small cracks spread from the spot where he stood and his figure vanished from sight.