Looking at the figure in front of him, Emery could tell that the transformation this time was something unnatural. The shiny, black gem-like stone that could be seen on her chest was proof of it.

He could clearly perceive the overwhelming power radiating from her without utilizing his [Spirit Reading], and the feeling of oppression became even more prominent when he saw the other party through the lense of the ability. Tremendous level of power was perceived from the current Meave.

Her threat had just increased to another level, and Emery keenly understood it. As soon as he saw her about to dash towards him, Emery immediately proceeded away with his [Blink].

Swisshh! A split second after his figure disappeared, a streak of massive shadow went past where he previously was. If Emery was late, even for a moment, he would have been hit by the other party straight away and his fate would certainly not be pretty.

Meave's speed had been increased, incomparable to what she previously showed. If it wasn't because of the [Blink] spell that he had mastered, Emery definitely would not have been able to dodge the attack.

Emery firmly decided to keep his distance and attack the witch with the trick utilizing his [Spatial Gate] because he was sure he would be beaten black and blue if he got close and personal with the current her.

Thrusting his dagger into the spatial tear he made, Emery planned to stab the witch's neck from afar. Unfortunately, the result was disappointing to say the least.

Clank!! A loud metallic sound rang out in the air as the blade hit Meave's black fur covered neck. The sound signified the failure of the attack, and proof that the tier 3 dagger did not have that much effect on her. It simply couldn't pierce through the other party's fur.

Receiving Emery's aggression, Meave seemed to be enraged as she charged again at him. Alas, her attempt was fated to be fruitless.

[Blink]

Emery disappeared from where he was and reappeared at another location several meters away. Meanwhile, Meave once again was left with the empty air.

While Meave was becoming more furious due to her repeated failures, Emery was lost in thought. He knew that even though she couldn't hit him at the moment, it would only take him one moment of carelessness to spell his doom. Because of that, he had to end this fight as soon as possible.

Emery accessed his dark core and channeled his spirit core to it, casting the enhancement spell [Dark Infusion] at his tier 3 dagger. Immediately after, he cast [Spatial Gate] and sent the witch another attack of his.

Splat!!

ROARRR!!! An ear-deafening, animalistic roar resounded through the air as Meave attained her first injury after her abnormal transformation. The dagger successfully embedded itself deep into her neck, but before Emery could pull his hand back, Meave defied expectations and managed to bite his arm in that split second.

Splat!!

In the end, Emery was successful in recovering his hand. The muscle part of his arm that was bitten was torn off because he forcibly pulled his arm from her clutch, while the dagger was left behind and stuck in the wolf's neck.

A puddle of blood quickly formed beneath Emery's feet as blood dripped profusely from his arm. On the other hand, Meave roared furiously as she charged at his direction one more time.

With his current physique, Emery knew the seemingly serious wound that he currently had would not affect him much and would heal on its own fairly quickly. He was about to cast [Blink] and ran away when abnormalities suddenly appeared in his body.

He suddenly felt the spirit energy flowing through his body disrupted. As a result, he wasn't able to cast [Blink] fast enough and Meave's figure was nigh upon him. Her claws were brandished at him, intending to tear his body apart.

In such dire situations, Emer reflexively grabbed the tier one sword at hand and tapped into his one hundred plus battle power as he used [Heroic Slash], swinging the sword toward the incoming monstrosity.

CRACCKK!! The tier 1 sword was shattered into countless pieces when it received the claws. Because of that, an opening was created in Emery's defense which was quickly taken by the witch to swoop in for another attack, leaving a deep three-line gash on his chest as well as throwing him dozens of meters back.

While still in the air, although he was in deep pain, Emery didn't lose his focus and quickly opened [Spatial Gate] in the trajectory he was flung through the air. His body quickly disappeared into the gate, leaving the witch alone in the area.

Emery arrived a mile away from where they fought, and the moment he stepped out of the gate, he immediately fell to his knees. Blood spilled out of his torn out arm and wounded chest like crazy, and the healthy color on his face quickly faded away.

However, Emery didn't care about those things, not even one bit. His main concern was the sudden flow of his spirit energy being interrupted.

He quickly sat in the lotus position and circulated his spirit energy throughout the body to find out the reason. The moment he discovered it, he was utterly dumbfounded because it was something so shocking.

The reason his spirit energy flow was suddenly interrupted was apparently due to his wounds. Through a thorough examination, he discovered that his spirit energy was leaking from his injured hands and chest!

When he connected the dots, Emery was so shocked that no words escaped from his mouth. He couldn't believe how dangerous Meave's new transformation was.

With [Spirit Reading], Emery could sense that the witch was rushing toward him, and according to his estimation, she would arrive at where he was very quickly. Therefore, he quickly took out his [healing paste] and applied it on his arm and chest. He then tore his clothes, using it to roughly bandage the wounds before casting [Soothing Mist], the tier 2 water element healing spell.

This was one of the basic spells he bought before returning from the academy. But because his [Nature Blessing] spell was much more effective, he hadn't used this water spell. Now that he can cast tier 2 nature spells, this water spell suddenly becomes useful as his one and only healing spell.

Just within half a minute since he perceived her, Meave's massive figure could already be seen in the near distance. Knowing that his spirit energy was still leaking, Emery decided to play the battle cautiously and cast another [Spatial Gate] as he retreated another mile.

As soon as he touched the ground, Emery immediately cast [Nature Grasp] and filled his body with nature energy in the surroundings. While absorbing the rich energy, he could feel the leak gradually decreasing, especially the wound on his arm.

At least now he knew that the wound caused by the witch didn't have a permanent effect.

Emery's nature core reacted fervently as it was filled with nature energy thanks to the [Nature Grasp] spell. At the same time, his dark core was still leaking its spirit energy despite its reduced quantity. Then, Emery suddenly had an epiphany.

Ever since he managed to evolve his bloodline and upgrade his nature core to stage 2, Emery had felt substantial growth in his nature core. Now was actually a good time to once again attempt to balance the two cores.

This should be a good opportunity; with the spirit energy of his dark core leaking and that he needed another boost to his power to be able to combat the witch. Making up his mind on attempting the crazy, near-suicidal idea, Emery quickly got into action.

He cast another [Spatial Gate] and moved a little bit farther, creating more distance between him and the witch but not too far so she could still perceive him and vice versa. He then sat in lotus position once again and chanted the [Dao Divine Technique] as he started linking the two cores again.

Surprisingly, it seemed to work really well this time as Emery could feel the bridge connecting the two cores starting to enlarge. The problem was this process needed time, something that he didn't have that much because the witch could still attack him. And with the current condition, it would be problematic if she attacked him now.

However, moments later, Emery realized that the witch was still not in sight. Therefore, he took a glance at her whereabouts, only to be shocked by the result shown by his reading.

The witch was completely ignoring him and heading toward Camelot.

Emery gritted his teeth when he realized what she planned to do. The witch was not a fool, after all, to be lured away continuously. It looked like she would wreak havoc on Camelot if Emery doesn't show himself.

The situation became more critical as Emery couldn't stop his [Dao Divine Technique] at this important stage. There was simply nothing he could do other than to make the breakthrough as soon as possible. Hence, he did exactly that.

Each second felt like minutes and each minute passed felt like hours as Emery could only hope nothing bad happened before he arrived while his attention continued on this fragile balancing of the two cores.

Within Emery's body, the two different energies continuously charged toward another as the process went on. One was like a calm yet profound ocean, while the other was like a lively gushing river. One was full of life, another filled with nothingness. The two were opposite of another, but the [Dao Divine Technique] taught him the balance between the two.

Not to fight them, but to be the center of them.

After a while, Emery finally felt the two different energies blended together. The previous one tenth imbalance had now become only half. Emery felt both core able to easily synergize.

At the same time, a notification appeared in his mind.

[You have obtained a new understanding of Dao, stage 5]

[Spirit force increased exponentially]

Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,