Orin hurriedly leapt to the side in an attempt to dodge, but the beast's strike still clipped his thigh, breaking his momentum and hurling him into a nearby tree.
"Damn it!" he spat, pain flaring through his left leg like fire. The last thing he'd expected was for a beast to charge him when his guard was down. But there were no clear signs of blood on his leg.
After an agonizing few seconds, Orin managed to push himself upright, balancing most of his weight on his right leg. His left leg trembled a little, refusing to bear him fully, forcing him into a half-crouched, uneven stance.
Once he was on his feet, he finally got a clear look at the beast. "A shade prowler?" The words slipped out, and his pupils shrank.
A Shade Prowler was a lithe, panther-like creature with fur so dark it seemed to drink in the light, its body wreathed in wisps of shadow, and its faintly glowing amber eyes gleaming like embers in the dark.
A low-tier beast specializing in ambush and evasion rather than raw power, its ability to hide in shadows makes it dangerous even among mid-tier beasts—carelessness could mean death.
Orin could only curse his luck.
The Shade Prowler's expression twisted in surprise, as if thinking, That strike should have killed the human.
The Shade Prowler slid a step to the left, its body low and tail swaying. Orin followed suit, drifting to the right, eyes locked on the beast. For a heartbeat, they circled—each weighing the other, waiting for the smallest slip.
The Shade Prowler slipped into the shadows and vanished, waiting for its next attack.
Orin's nerves tensed up. He moved to the center, where the shadows weren't as deep, and got into a guarded stance.
"One strike from my dagger would be enough to kill it," Orin thought. "But how can I match its speed?"
Orin stood there, tense and guarded. Seconds turned into minutes, and before he knew it, half an hour had passed.
Before Orin realized it, a tingling sensation ran down his neck. Instinct kicked in—he twisted away from his spot. A blur of shadow swept past, the Shade prowler's silhouette slicing through the space his neck had occupied a heartbeat ago.
"Sneaky little bastard!" Orin barked, hurling his dagger toward the spot he knew the Shade prowler would land.
But the Shade Prowler evaded the dagger, letting it sink into the ground before melting back into the shadows.
Missing the target, Orin leapt to retrieve his dagger, but before he could, the silhouette of the Shade Prowler loomed above him, its lethal claw descending in a deadly strike toward his head..
Orin turned his head, locking eyes with the Shade Prowler. He could see the glint of victory in its gaze—yet a mischievous smile spread across his face. "Got you," he murmured.
Noticing Orin's smile, the Shade Prowler felt an unmistakable chill—a threat of death. It tried to melt into the shadows, but made a fatal mistake: there were no shadows here. It had been fooled.
On the far side, where the dagger had lodged itself, it suddenly tore free, hovering in the air for a heartbeat before streaking forward in a blur. In a single, fluid motion, the blade sliced across the Shade Prowler's neck.
The body of the shade prowler fell to the ground, lifeless with the dagger embedded in its neck.
"First kill," Orin murmured, pulling the dagger from the beast's neck. He wiped the blood clean on its dark fur.
"I can't believe I was forced to use one of the dagger's properties so soon," he muttered, a frown creasing his face.
What Orin had used was one of the dagger's properties—Soul Bound.
This meant the weapon was tied directly to him, granting him telekinetic control over it and the ability to summon.
But the control had a limitation—Orin could only manipulate the dagger if it was within ten meters of his reach.
"But it's still good enough. It's a basic dagger, after all… and even that's deadly when it's sharp." Orin's lips curled into a faint smirk.
"But the Shade Prowler's ability to blend with the shadows is really annoying. If I hadn't tricked it into thinking I was powerless while the dagger wasn't in my possession, it would've been much harder to kill." The Shade Prowler was merely a low-tier beast, weak in strength but quick on its feet, but was still troublesome.
If he ever came across a creature that possessed both great strength and speed, it wouldn't be such a simple fight.
"If I had two daggers, it would be easier to kill," he thought. "One ready to strike and the other kept hidden for a surprise attack. But creating a second dagger now is impossible."
"Let's leave that for later. It's safer to get out of here now—the smell of blood will draw other beasts," Orin murmured, fully aware of what that scent could invite. Without wasting time, he sliced off both ears of the shade prowler as proof of the kill, then slipped away from the scene.