Daru's brows rose at the notifications.

He already somewhat expected leveling up, so he snapped his fingers and allocated the five attribute points he gained: one in strength, one in dexterity, one in agility, and two in perception.

==

Strength: 55 (+20)

Dexterity: 56 (+20)

Agility: 56 (+20)

Stamina: 45(+20)

Vitality: 40 (+30)

Perception: 70 (+20)

Luck: 0 (+65)

==

He didn't obtain anything crazy from this kill. In fact, it could even be said that the gains were rather underwhelming.

But the so-called map item got his attention.

Daru touched his belt bag to open the inventory, tapping on the [Putrid Fang of the Hackstroke Matriarch] to check its description.

There was a red text at the very bottom of the information pop-up.

Apparently, it was only tradeable in the Sunblade Savannah, which meant he couldn't sell it or even do anything meaningful with it at any other location.

===

Name: Putrid Fang of the Hackstroke Matriarch

Type: Miscellaneous / Map item (Sunblade Savannah)

Tier: N/A

Description: The most voracious and aggressive among its kin, a hyena matriarch's fang would naturally smell the worst.

Innate Abilities:

[Royal Challenge (Passive)] - Wear this item as a necklace accessory to conjure an illusion barrier that would make you invisible in the eyes of Sunblade Lions and Lionesses. You will be visible to only the king.

==

'Oh?'

Daru found the item's innate ability quite interesting, and so he temporarily replaced the [Necklace of Scalpward] he got from Alopecion with it, placing the item in the appropriate inventory slot.

It turned into a simple, thin vine necklace with the fang as the pendant.

'Ah…it truly stinks, doesn't it?' he mused.

His attention was then snatched as a translucent-vermilion barrier appeared and enveloped him.

This should allow him to bypass the underlings of the Sunblade Lion King, as per the item's description…

Daru naturally tested it.

The territory of the Sunblade Lions was just a few hundred meters away from the Hackstroke Hyenas', so he arrived in less than ten minutes, standing just a few meters away from the rather intimidating swordspawns.

He read in an article that it was highly recommended for novices to register as a large party in the nearest starter city, clear the hyenas, and then clear the underlings of the Sunblade King before attempting to take down the field boss.

He strangely did not see any information about this [Putrid Fang of the Hackstroke Matriarch], so Daru could only test the limits of the item himself.

He stepped into the aggro range of the nearest Sunblade Lioness, ready to fight, but nothing happened.

The swordspawn continued patrolling as usual.

Daru walked closer, and closer…and closer still, practically standing in front of the Sunblade Lioness.

He even bumped shoulders with it.

Yet, still no response…

'Then what about…'

*SHING!*

Daru's face momentarily reflected in his blade as he casually slashed at the neck of the Sunblade Lioness, causing a glaring red damage value written in bold text and ending in an exclamation mark to appear:

[-3,500!]

In the next moment, the swordspawn's head separated from its body, dissipating into red cubic particles before it even hit the ground.

[You've slain a Sunblade Lioness Lv. 32!]

[You've obtained 640 + (640) Experience Points.]

[You've obtained 30 Swordcoins.]

[You've obtained (3) Thick Hide.]

Daru merely watched with an indifferent expression as the swordspawn he killed slowly vanished, shifting his attention to the notifications soon after.

The moment they all disappeared, he sighed, faintly smiled, and held the putrid fang pendant.

He then pulled hard, causing the vine string to snap.

[You've unequipped the necklace accessory: [Putrid Fang of the Hackstroke Matriarch].]

Daru, without hesitation, threw the item to the side as though it were merely a waste of space in his inventory.

[You've discarded the item: [Putrid Fang of the Hackstroke Matriarch].]

In the next moment, the barrier flickered, then vanished completely.

The ears of two Sunblade Lionesses immediately twitched, and they quickly turned the instant they heard the footsteps behind them.

With hostile gazes, they drew their steel cleavers, each bearing a sun carved in the middle of the blade's body, and growled at Daru.

Cold resolve reflected in his eyes as he dismissed his tachi's scabbard, gripping Onimaru Kunitsuna's handle tightly with two hands as his faint smile slightly widened.

"Come at me, lions!" he challenged.

The lionesses growled furiously before charging at him together.

Similar to [Havoc Rush], they ran in a curved path—one attacking from the left and the other from the right, small clouds of dust forming in the wake of their powerful legs.

Daru waited for the perfect moment.

He then somersaulted forward, his light-golden hair swaying in the wind as he nimbly shifted his body and slashed at the air once, firing a modest-sized red crescent at the two lionesses.

The projectile cleanly struck their muscular backs.

[- 200]

After a neat and graceful landing, he charged like a sprinting panther at them, waving his sword at the air once before brandishing it at his opponents again.

Metallic clangs, growls, grunts, dull thuds, and the satisfying sound of clean strikes filled the air as Daru fought the two lionesses with ferocity and an unwavering heart.

He was outmatched in raw strength, but his techniques were superior, and he was just as fast as they were.

He moved like a divine warrior—his footwork graceful yet steady, his strikes fast, precise, and fairly powerful.

Like so, he chipped at the lionesses' health, and, whenever he got the chance to, aimed for vital spots.

Three minutes of intense battle later, the hit points of one of the two massive felines decreased to zero after receiving a fairly deep slash to the chest.

It then dissipated with one final growl of unwillingness.

The Sunblade Lionesses couldn't defeat Daru even after teaming up, so how could the remaining one stand a chance?

He easily overwhelmed it with high-level techniques, forcing it to lose balance and rhythm before ending the battle with a neat neck slash.

Another set of notifications appeared before him.

He glanced at it for a moment.

Since he gained nothing special, he quickly shifted his attention to the other lionesses, continuing his massacre in the same manner.

He fought two more.

Then, when he felt it was becoming a bit too comfortable, he would increase the number of his opponents.

A dozen minutes later, Daru was lost in a trance again, this time a bit deeper, as his opponents were stronger and more ferocious than the Hackstroke Hyenas.

He naturally wouldn't notice the bewildered observer who had just returned.

Moonpiercer was a free-spirited young woman, and even though she was wasting time watching Daru's god-like feats, she was all for it.

In fact, she didn't even think of it as such.

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