Chapter 247 - Black Panther

*"Move"* one of the whispers I usually heard before ever making a decision echoed in my mind.

At the same time, as I absorbed the ambient mana through my nose, mouth, and the rest of my pores, I could not help but feel a shudder shoot through my spine like an electric shock, making me open my rays immediately before flickering to a few dozen meters away from my previous position.

*BOOM* 

A loud explosion rang out causing flocks of birds to fly away as the trees around the area I sat shook violently.

I quickly started to look around vigilantly, trying to find out what had attacked me from the shadows as I was sitting there peacefully, not hurting anyone.

"You are not human, are you?" A voice rang out from the shadows of the forest, making me take a few steps back in wariness.

"I'll tell you if you come out..." I smiled outwardly, completely forgetting that I did not have my mask on at this moment in time.

"Your smile is not very welcoming though" The voice chuckled

"Of course not. For someone who just attacked me, you sure are shameless. Is your name Alekzi or what?" I chuckled before returning to my unperturbed state, leaving myself completely open.

"You do act like a human though... And you sure are cocky like one. I could kill you whenever I want but I have chosen not to. Yet you feel like you have the right to not only enter my territory but also boast and walk around in confidence with your measly strength? Absurd!" It laughed back

"How about we use our fists instead of our words to fight. Seems a lot more reasonable than this unneeded blabber." I scoffed before putting my hands behind my back, oozing utter and complete confidence in my capabilities of beating whatever was attacking me.

"Good! You have the mentality of a beast, the tongue and overconfidence of a human, and the mana of an elf... I like it! However, you are stupid to underestimate me" It roared, getting ready to pounce, however, it was only then that it felt and saw something that it would have never imagined to see from a human that it had perceived to be weaker than it.

"H-How" It stuttered, retreating a couple of branches.

"You can't hide from me" A cruel smile appeared on my face before my eyes began to glow gold, penetrating through the darkness of the forest and landing on a black-furred panther.

"A lighting panther huh... But you also have the darkness element and can speak the human tongue even though you are still below the Peak of the Solidus stage... What race are you from?" I tilted my head, more out of curiosity than anything.

"How can you see me!" It roared back, unable to believe what it was seeing.

Within the human race, few mages were able to unlock the darkness element, and even within them, there were few that we were able to attain higher power due to the shame having the darkness element would not only bring on you, but your entire family and anyone aligned with you.

This was why people usually cut all connections with those who unlocked the darkness element, even if they were siblings, twins, their parents, or even their friends. 

Anyway, right now I was seeing the darkness element for the 4th time in my life, 2 of the last 3 dying before they could use the darkness element, while another one I was forced to kill after it had attacked me in the middle of the forest when we were near a lake. Thankfully, I had awakened right after it had attacked or we would have been dead.

"I haven't encountered the darkness element much in this life. How about you teach me a thing or two about it" I smiled mischievously, something that only came out after I had tried to purposely give a warm smile to stop it from running.

I am not very good at giving forced warm smiles because the instant it looked at me, it began running away at full speed, coated in both darkness and lighting.

"Oh? He thinks he can run" I smiled again, but this time I did not try to hide the cruelty behind my smile.

*BOOM*

A loud explosion followed by the sound of cracking rang out through the forest. In the next instant, a light moved at lighting speed before leaving a golden trail behind as lightning crackled around the figure, sometimes coming off it and zapping things to the side.

*Woosh*

The air whistled as the black figure also started to move faster than before, but this time, its aura was a little more chaotic compared to before.

As the gap between the both of us grew smaller, the panther could not help but feel a cold sensation go throughout its body, making adrenaline pump through its veins alongside mana and blood.

However, right before I was about to catch it, I stopped mid-air and dashed back.

*BOOM*

A loud explosion rang out from the place I was previously standing, making me look at it with a mixture of worry and a small trace of fear.

When the dust finally dissipated, one would be able to see that the ground had a huge crater, almost 50 meters in width and 100 meters down in length.

'Oh fuck' I inwardly shouted.

"Hmm?" A surprised sound echoed from extremely far away, yet even though it felt like the thing had spoken from quite a distance, it still reached my ear at a volume that was just loud enough for me to hear it.

Looking in the direction of the sound, I activated my divine eyes before squinting, finally allowing me to see the figure of a panther, much taller than the one that I had been attacked by, almost 750 meters away from our current spot.

[Oh damn...]

'What is it?' I asked.

[Ah. Two things. You actually got a little scared and the fact that I can't see the power level or cultivation of that panther over there. On the one hand, it might just be the work of the darkness element, because, without it, you would have been able to see them both without them having to make their presence obvious to you. On the other hand, there might be a chance that he or she is on Rose's power level... If that is the case, then we are fucked....]