The strike was very sharp, and it landed heavily on Ox King's head.
Ox King didn't even react in time. He let out a painful scream and then looked around in anger.
"Lost a big chunk of health," Victor took a deep breath and got into a defensive stance.
No wonder he was level 21. His Holy Light Dragonbane Slash didn't kill him in one hit.
"Human, how dare you attack me!" Ox King looked at Victor with red eyes, full of anger.
Since he had taken over the Twilight Forest, no human had ever dared to challenge him like this.
Victor snorted coldly and carefully studied Ox King's features.
He was about three meters long. Though he had a human shape, his arms, legs, and body had clear bull features.
And his head, with a huge bull horn on top, still had some blood on it.
"Big size, not good for a direct fight," Victor thought to himself. He decided to wear down Ox King slowly.
"Die!" The furious Ox King swung both fists and smashed at Victor.
Victor used Phantom Dash at once, slipped to the side, and dodged the Ox King's attack.
But to Victor's surprise, even with that massive body, the Ox King's attack speed wasn't slow.
Even with Phantom Dash, he almost got hit.
"Looks like 'clumsy' is relative." Victor thought to himself.
Maybe to awakened fighters of his level, the Ox King's reactions were slow.
But to Victor, who was only Level 7, he was still very fast.
While the Ox King hadn't turned back yet, Victor used Frostshatter Sky-Cleaving Slash again.
This strike shaved off a full 10% of the Ox King's HP, adding a fresh red wound across his waist.
"Damn it!" The Ox King roared and unleashed a sonic attack.
In an instant, a huge noise blasted into Victor's ears, slowing his reactions.
"No wonder he's a Level 21 Orc. He's scary strong in every way!" Victor took a deep breath and sighed inside.
Seeing Victor already struggling to move, the Ox King laughed. "Human, I have to admit, you're weak, but your talent is real. Given time, you'd be one of the best among humans!"
He paused, then said coldly, "Too bad you overreached. Since you met me, the only thing left is for me to send this 'genius' on his way!"
Victor let out a soft sigh and shook his head.
He admitted it. At the start, he did want to beat the Ox King with the strength he had.
But it was a pity. The gap between Level 21 and Level 7 was just too big.
"In that case, you're the one who forced me." Victor gave the Ox King a pitying look.
Then—add points! Upgrade!
Victor always believed there is no enemy you can't knock down; if there is, it only means your skill level isn't high enough.
[Consumes 10,000 skill points, upgrade complete: Phantom Dash upgrades to Shadow Trail.]
[Consumes 100,000 skill points, upgrade complete: Shadow Trail upgrades to Phantom Trail.]
[Consumes 10,000 skill points, upgrade complete: Golden Stone Fist upgrades to Mountain-Splitting Fist.]
[Consumes 100,000 skill points, upgrade complete: Mountain-Splitting Fist upgrades to Phantom Light Godfist.]
After the upgrades, Victor let out a light breath.
Right now he felt no joy from getting stronger, only the trouble of being unbeatable.
At this moment, Victor held three Level 5 skills: Frostshatter Sky-Cleaving Slash, Phantom Trail, and Phantom Light Godfist.
You should know, even Mid-tier awakened fighters may have only one Level 5 skill, and that one is usually their signature move.
But now, Victor alone had three Level 5 skills!
Though Victor was only Level 7 right now, his skills were too strong to ignore:
[Skill: Phantom Trail (Level 5)]
[Type: Active Skill]
[Trait: Each use costs 20 mana points.]
[Upgrade Requirement: 1,000,000 skill points and one Heart of the Undead.]
[Effect: Become a phantom and drift around; no one can see your trail. Lasts one minute per use.]
[Skill: Phantom Light Godfist (Level 5)]
[Type: Active Skill]
[Trait: Each use costs 30 mana points; usable once every half hour.]
[Upgrade Requirement: 1,000,000 skill points.]
[Effect: Gather holy light in both hands and fire countless phantom light god fists. The more evil a person is in their heart, the higher the damage they take!]
"What are you laughing at?" The Ox King saw the smile on Victor's face and felt annoyed.
Was this human an idiot? He could still smile with death right in front of him.
"Why can't I smile?" Victor said calmly. "You think you can kill me?"
"Insolent!" The Ox King burst into rage. He didn't expect Victor to mock him at the brink of death.
He swung his fists at once, flashed to Victor like lightning, and smashed both fists down.
But then, he suddenly saw Victor's body start to flicker and twist like a ghost.
His fist hit Victor's body, and it went straight through, not hurting him at all.
"Th... This is impossible?" Ox King stood still, doubting his own eyes.
He had just used all his strength, and Victor had still managed to dodge it.
At that moment, Ox King suddenly felt a cold chill in his back, and then a heavy punch hit him right in the back.
The punch was very hot and made Ox King suffer a lot.
He hurriedly turned around, but only saw a faint shadow of Victor.
Then, his chest took another punch, still filled with that burning heat.
This was the trait of Phantom Light Godfist. It greatly increased its attack power against evil people.
"What is going on!" Ox King roared, his face full of confusion.
The Victor who had just been so weak was now making a fool of him.
"Die!" Seeing that Ox King's health had reached the kill line, Victor made a quick decision and went all out.
He pulled out his sword and cast Frostshatter Sky-Cleaving Slash. In an instant, cold light flashed, and he slashed at Ox King's neck.
Though Ox King's neck was thick, it still couldn't escape being cut off.
A moment later, blood sprayed out. Ox King's eyes widened in shock, and he fell to the ground in anger.
"Just so so," Victor took out a towel to wipe the blood off his sword and muttered.
At the same time, a message appeared in Victor's mind about the reward from killing Ox King.
[Defeated lv21 Orc Ox King. Gained 15000 XP, one skill book of specified type, one random Level 15 weapon, and one bull horn.]
[Gained 15786 XP. Level up to lv13. Gained 60 stat points.]
"15786 XP? The experience from killing Orcs seems less than from Beasts," Victor thought for a moment. He guessed it was because Orcs had human blood in them.
The panel used beasts as the base for EXP.
That is to say, killing humans gives no EXP, and killing Orcs gives EXP based on how strong their human blood is.
"Level 13. If I kill a few more beasts, I should reach Mid-tier awakened!" The thought made Victor a bit excited.
His plan was to become a Mid-tier awakened before the awakened exam.
The Federation is full of talent. Only as a Mid-tier awakened would Victor have the right to fight for the top spot.
After killing the Ox King, Victor went back to find Erica.
As he neared Erica, he heard a faint sound of sobbing.
"Erica!" Victor called softly.
"Who is it?" Erica heard Victor's voice and asked at once.
She could tell it was Victor, but she could not imagine he was still alive.
"It's me, Victor," Victor said.
"Victor, you're not dead!" Erica's voice burst with joy.
"Yeah. I got lucky and killed that Ox King," Victor walked to Erica and cut open the chains on her.
"Lucky? It was Level 21!" Erica stood up, shocked.
"Mm… he was kind of weak. Probably one of the weaker ones at that level," Victor lied without blinking.
"Really?" Erica asked, half-believing, half-doubting.
She remembered Victor had used the same line when he taught Watson a lesson at the foot of the mountain.
"Don't ask more. Let's get out of here," Victor said, afraid more talk would give him away. He picked Erica up and headed for the cave exit.