169 The Greatest Cat in the Whole Universe (1/2)
The Infernal Leopard's claws hit Snowflake.
However, something did not go as the flaming creature expected.
An illusory image of Snowflake was cut in four by the slash. There was not even a shadow of the enormous white cat's real body.
Carelessly, a soft and white paw stamped on the monster's tail, grinning: ”Asshole, behind you. What, can't you see? ”
ROAAAAAAAAAAAAR
Feeling his pride being literally trampled, the Infernal Leopard gave a terrifying roar, which made all the walls of the Dungeon tremble.
Snowflake's expression became troubled. If that damned creature continued to make all that noise, it wouldn't take long before other Infernal Leopards noticed him.
In such a fight, even a moment of distraction could have been fatal.
***
Meanwhile, Iblis continued to observe that scene from within the Soul of Helial through his own Divine Sense. Although he no longer possessed a body, Iblis was able to use the Divine Sense because it was attached to his own Soul; in this way he could use it even though he was an incorporeal entity.
Moreover, the characteristics of the Devil's Divine Sense were much more mysterious than those of the other Immortals at Orma, so much so that not even the Divine Sense of one hundred Cesars and one hundred Aures would have been enough to identify the presence of Iblis in the Soul of Helial.
”Who do you think will be the strongest, after training?” Iblis asked Helial, yawning open-mouthed, not bothering to cover with his hand.
Helial began to ponder. It was by no means a simple question to answer.
There were so many little monsters in their group. But if he had to choose the strongest, he would certainly have excluded Frankenstein and Lulu, who were lagging far behind everyone else.
Snowflake, Vlad and Lumia were undoubtedly the strongest in Helial's eyes. However, the boy had a sort of prejudice against his sister: having spent his lifetime protecting her, he could not see Lumia as the strongest warrior in the group.
”I think that, after me, the strongest should be Snowflake. Vlad is just as terrifying, with an equal or greater potential than mine. But the cat has a bloodline as old as the universe and, even if rarely, sometimes I see a strange light in his eyes. That beast should never be underestimated, ”said Helial.
Snowflake was, after Lumia, the member of their group that Helial had known the longest; he had seen his changes and his growth day by day and had noticed all his improvements. Moreover, Snowflake's mysterious origins seemed promising.
Helial knew that the cat belonged to the lineage of the Heavenly Star Tigers, but Iblis had never told him what the degree of purity his blood had.
At the moment, in fact, the very body of Helial could be considered a chest full of gold. Considering the Qilin inheritance, the Devil's one and the two Mana of Life and Destruction, he contained within himself an incredible amount of power. His blood could be considered even rarer than that of a normal creature descended from the Heavenly Star Tigers.
But if Snowflake was a member of the Clan aristocracy, the son of some Elders or a big shot, then the matter would have been completely different.
Within the Clans, unlike the Sects, much of one's potential future was based on the purity of one's blood.
Inside a Sect external talents were recruited, and then raised as pupils. On the contrary, inside a Clan, what held everything together was the blood bond between the various students. There could be several families, but generally there was only one ancestral lineage.
And so it was also for the Heavenly Star Tigers. A common member of the Clan and the son of the main family would have two completely different innate talents. If Snowflake was the son of an Elder, then his potential could have been ten, a hundred, a thousand times greater than that of a normal Clan member.
This rule was true not only for the Clans of animal-shaped creatures, but also for the human ones.
The purer a blood inheritance was, the higher the closeness of a member of the Clan to their future Mana Road would be.
Within these institutions, if a member of the central family didn't show enough talent, then he would have been dismissed.
Helial had thought several times that this might be the case with Snowflake, but he wasn't sure. Moreover, he did not have the means to make comparisons with other great Clans, Sects or Guilds of the universe.
Iblis hadn't told him much about Snowflake's talent. However, his sixth sense told him that he was not a common member of the Heavenly Star Tigers Clan.
But if he had not been expelled from his Clan, what could have been the reason for his presence there?
***
Snowflake avoided yet another slash by the Infernal Leopard for a hair width, and his expression became much more serious than before. His body began to vibrate imperceptibly again, showing all the knowledge he had accumulated on the Skill Iblis had taught him.
”Faggot, can't you catch me?” Snowflake laughed. ”Useless as you are you should eat your own dick.” Snowflake's taunts were somewhere in between a psychological guerrilla and simple foul language.
The Infernal Leopard flaming coat began burning even more violently and its legs, covered with scales similar to lava stone, trembled with rage.