22 Arrogance because of Intelligence. (2/2)

Before leaving, Ozul informed Raven that he might be late.

As Ozul walked towards the woods, he did not forget how the Shop Owner had sent some men to bother him, but for now, he was too lazy to do anything.

'Just a small fry.'- Ozul thought it unbefitting of him to go out of his way just to crush a fly.

When Ozul meets him again, he will pay him back then. Sunlight was just too sickening for Ozul so, he hurried his footsteps.

When Ozul arrived in the forest, he kept his alertness at maximum. One or two Rank-4 Beasts could not threaten him, but what if a herd of Rank-4 Beasts or a Rank-5 Beast ambushes him?—leaving unscathed would be difficult.

Ozul ignored all the Rank-3 and below Beasts; he would not gain anything by killing them.

After four hours of hunt, Ozul only obtained 2 Rank-4 Cores. He was thinking of just ending the day, but walking back, he faced something he did not want to.

'I just had to jinx it!'- Ozul was happily thinking of how he did not encounter any difficulties as of yet.

But now, the atmosphere turned solemn as there stood a 3 meters tall monkey-like Monster in front of Ozul.

This Beast was, in fact, called Lightning Fist Monkey—a Rank-5 Beast! As the Ranks of the Beasts increased, their intelligence did so too.

Experts say that an ordinary Rank-5 Beast has the intelligence of a 12 years old human kid!

Ozul began to formulate a plan, but the opponent, this time, is also intelligent.

'Sigh... I will have to look for his weakness if there is any.'- Ozul hoped that it had some sort of weakness that he could exploit. But so far, the Beast did not show any vulnerability.

The monkey charged at him as electric sparks began to swirl around its arms. It became apparent as to how it got the title of ”Lightning Fist” from this gesture.

As it arrived before Ozul, it sent a punch to him. Ozul generated a shield from the Ball of Purity. He did not know if it could survive the attack, but it was his only option.

The shield did not get damaged, but the impact from the force pushed Ozul a meter back as he began to cough. Just the energy from that Beasts attack had damaged Ozuls' internal organs!

Ozul knew that it was not the time to show gaps as he braced himself for the upcoming confrontation.

The only way Ozul could win was to outsmart the Beast somehow. This was difficult as the Beast did not just have the instincts, but also the intelligence to make the correct decisions!

The monkey was glaring furiously at Ozul because he survived its earlier attack. It could not understand why a puny human could sustain his life after its strike.

Ozul knew that he would not be able to even penetrate the hide of the Beast with just single strikes.

He had to think of a plan as the Beast stared at Ozul with his big round eyes.

'Wait, Eyes! That's it. I just need to create a blind to strike its eyes.'- Ozul finally found a weakness that he could exploit.

'The next time it punches, that will be my opportunity.'- Ozul waited for the Beast to throw the punch.

The monkey was already enraged so, this time, it put even more power into its punch. It expected the human to deploy that strange black shield again.

But, Ozul decided to dodge the attack as he created blades from the Ball of Purity and sent them to the Beast's right eye.

The Beast was stunned by the sudden attack, but with his right hand, it quickly blocked the blades.

After the block, the Beast should have been fine, but instead, it fell onto the ground! The Beast had protected his right eye, but he did not anticipate the thin-black needles that struck its left eye and into its brain!

Ozul defeated the Rank-5 Beast! It was only because of the Beast's intelligence. More accurately, because of the arrogance brought by its knowledge. If the Beast were not so arrogant and defended properly, It would have been alive.

How could intelligence bring arrogance? It was simple, really. The Beasts survived in the jungle only because of their instincts, but when they gain just a small bit of intellect, they forsake the very instincts that saved their lives up until then.

The Rank-5 Beast underestimated Ozul because it thought that Ozul was no threat due to having no Mana. If he trusted his instincts, though, the battle could have turned out differently.

It was difficult cutting the chest of the Beast, but with some effort, Ozul saw the gains of the life-threatening battle. The Core of a Rank-5 Beast!