Transcending Dreams
B2 - Chapter 72

He gave the gap in the mountain range frequent glances. The place where the spirit beast mob came from, and more importantly, where the massive eye of the appeared briefly.

Kae was still chasing after the few stragglers left alive from the previously massive beast mob, but all of that was basically a distraction. The only thing the mob could have accomplished was to tire him slightly and to Kae, who was merrily rampaging, provide him with some fun.

“SO SQUISHY!”

Whatever elixir Kae had downed, it changed more than just his appearance… obviously. The previously blunt, soft-spoken boy had turned into some crude, foul-mouthed battle maniac.

Perhaps William and Kae were always meant to be friends. Two cultivators, despite their chosen discipline, have somehow become pseudo-body cultivators.

“HAH—WAIT! THEY’RE ALL DEAD!”

They were, indeed.

William grimaced at the blood-stained ground, with puddles of blood congealed in the areas where an excessive amount of spirit beasts met their death.

He stiffened when Berserker Kae stared right at him. Thoughts of having to fight the cultivator-beast hybrid took root. He used [Observe] instinctively.

[-20 Spiritual Energy]

Name: Kae

Age: 16

Level: 133

Cultivation: Foundation Establishment (Early Stage)

Health: 9483/12000

Spiritual Energy: 87/100

Spirit: 237 (20)

Strength: 150 (1000)

Stamina: 225 (1000)

Agility: 218 (500)

William looked over the stats and realized just how dead he would be if this monster decided he was next. Kae’s transformation made him a walking, angry, possibly psychotic, high-speed tank.

[Force Multiplier], his trump card, would be of zero help. None of the attributes it would enhance would be able to compare to Kae’s monstrous stat increases. He would get crushed exactly like those beyond-dead spirit beasts.

Running would be of no help either. Berserker Kae would still catch him easily. In fact, he was unbeatable for anyone in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

“YOU! ARE THERE MORE?! I SAW YOU KILLING SOME! GIVE THE REST TO ME!”

William couldn’t figure out what the best option here was. Should he treat Berserker Kae like a predator? Where running was the mistake, and standing completely still was the right move?

He warily watched Kae stomp toward him, each step shaking the ground slightly as it left deep imprints of a foot. If Kae looked like a familiar animal, he could have tried to use the survival tips he learned on Earth.

What was it about bears? Play dead, and they’ll leave you alone? Or was it play dead, and the bear will make sure you’re dead?

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

William honestly didn’t know, so perhaps it wouldn’t help if Berserker Kae seemed familiar. In his defense, he had lived in a city where wild animals were the last thing he expected to see outside a zoo. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“SPEAK! WHY ARE YOU SILENT?!”

“K-Kae,” William cleared his throat, “there are none left. You killed all of them.”

“TSK!” Berserker Kae made a disgusting, snarling, hacking sound before spitting out a glob of blood. “THEN THIS IS NO LONGER NECESSARY.”

He watched with a stunned expression as Berserker Kae’s fist slammed into Kae’s own face, cracking his jaw and knocking loose far too many razor-sharp teeth. It was enough to knock him out.

William winced when Berserker Kae’s heavy body crashed onto the ground. It didn’t take long for him to understand why the boy punched himself.

If Kae’s transformation into a beast could be called surprising, the reverse was unsettling at best.

His overly large muscles squirmed as if thousands of words were under the skin as they slowly reduced in size. His bones cracked and shifted in jerky motions, returning his body to a typical human structure.

However, the hair didn’t retract into Kae’s body. It shed in large clumps until bare skin was left behind. Not that it looked normal.

The negatives of whatever Kae used to transform into a beast were immediately apparent. His previously pale skin was bright red, entirely coated with blood. William knew this was not splattered spirit beast blood from the rampage Kae went on in berserker mode. This was all his own.

“Kae!” William pulled a Vitality Restoration Pill from his ring and was prepared to shove it down his throat if needed. He didn’t have the opportunity.

Kae’s eyes flickered open before he flinched away from William’s hand, avoiding the pill.

“N-No. Hate that,” Kae coughed weakly as he tried to push himself up.

William frowned as he helped him up. “If you don’t take it, I doubt you’ll live much longer.”

“This isn’t the first time I had to use my transformation elixir,” Kae wheezed. He pulled out a few vials, different from the stamina elixir and the elixir that turned him into a berserker. “Keep an eye out for me. It’ll take me some time to recover.”

William nodded, but Kae had already downed the vials and closed his eyes. This had to be some sort of healing elixir. There was no other explanation for it if they were enough for Kae to reject his pill.

He uneasily returned the pill to his ring and backed away, just in case that elixir was something else that turned Kae into a non-human. He looked around to confirm that the beast wave leaders hadn’t shown themselves before moving behind Kae to face the opening in the mountains.

It would allow him to keep watch of both at the same time.

William glanced at the alerts that had been flashing far too often.

[1 XP] x 129

An expected but still disappointing result. All of the spirit beasts he slaughtered have been a major realm below him, so it was obvious that they would only give him one experience point per kill.

William eyed the bloody field from the side of his eye. Even though they might have been useless to him personally, there was still a chance that it wasn’t a complete waste.

His egg might still benefit.

He looked down at the blood-splattered egg, matching his own blood-caked visage. It was almost tragic at how nonchalant he now was at being in such a disgusting state.

William stepped back steadily, refusing to take his eyes off the gap in the mountains or turn his back to it. He learned enough by now that Murphy’s Law most definitely applied to him.

Plus, the simple nature of the beast mob was frightening. He expected something to go terribly wrong at any moment.

The bloody slop he stepped into was a good sign. He backed up more until he was almost knee-deep in impossible-to-recognize shredded flesh and guts.

These were vaguely enough pieces to combine into one whole spirit beast.

“You better eat up, egg,” William muttered as he placed it next to him, seating it gently atop the slurry of spirit beast parts.

It did nothing.

He couldn’t be more disappointed.

If Kae had told him about his ability to turn a psychotic berserker, it would have been possible to let him know such an action wasn’t necessary for such a weak beast wave, even if it was six of them. The same applied the other way around. William could have offered up the information himself.

Of course, William knew why neither happened. Kae likely didn’t want to scare off another potential partner, and he had paranoia making things harder than they needed to be.

He glanced at the egg, which was still being utterly unresponsive atop the slop. Clearly, minced spirit beast was not its preference.

William was about to pick it up before a thought appeared. The egg didn’t have anyone near it when it consumed the preserved spirit beasts in his spatial stone.

Not seeing any harm in giving that a try, he walked back to Kae and waited.

And kept waiting.

William would have given up far earlier in impatience if not for his recent obsession with unlocking Healing and Lightning Qi.

He heard the faintest sound of wind behind him. A smile grew on his lips as the wind picked up speed.

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