As Kurushimi moved forward, the black mist looming around her followed behind. Kurushimi was slowly approaching the pack of canisfangs and the canisfangs had yet to notice her. When Kurushimi got to what she felt was close enough, she crouched down and began constricting the mist around her.

-This black mist is still probably visible so it can be seen by the canisfangs. Though I’m not sure how they will react to it…

Thinking about it, Kurushimi realised that it may be better to use ‘Camouflage’ instead. The added benefit to ‘Shadow veil’ was that she could use it wherever. But in this dense forest, there was plenty around her to blend into with ‘Camouflage’. So it would have been better to use ‘Camouflage’ here as it is less conspicuous.

-Well, it doesn’t matter too much. I’m just testing some things with the canisfangs anyway.

Kreee ee eee!

The canisfangs started shrieking at the incoming black mist. Kurushimi had gotten close enough for the canisfangs to notice her. As the canisfangs watched the mist, they grew increasingly wary of it. They were at least smart enough to be careful but clearly not smart enough to run away in the face of an unknown black mist approaching them…

Kurushimi, still hidden in the mist, readied mana in her shadow. Her shadow thrived about violently but the mist hid her shadow and the canisfangs were completely unaware of its movements.

《Used skill: 『Shadow magic Lvl. 3』!》

Kurushimi’s shadow formed into a single strong tendril. Ready to direct it at the leader, the strongest of the group, Kurushimi aimed and prepared to send it forth. But before she could, she quickly cancelled the skill. The shadow tendril quickly disintegrated as the unassuming canisfang leader stood still, watching the black mist.

-I did this the last time I came across a leader too… I want to see if I can find more out about this leader-type this time.

Previously, when Kurushimi had encountered a canisfang leader for the first time, she had used a similar shadow tendril to connect to its shadow and take control of the canisfang leader. From there Kurushimi had used their own biggest advantage against the canisfangs, forcing them to fight with each other. Ultimately, through that method, Kurushimi had gotten them to kill each other off. Leaving no survivors.

But Kurushimi had ended it too quickly that time to gain anything. With no information on what that leader-type canisfang is, if she were to find a stronger one that could somehow resist the effects of ‘Shadow magic’, she would be in deep water.

So Kurushimi felt that it was important to experiment now, now that she had found another leader-type that she could still handle. Not to mention that she wanted to find out as much about ‘Shadow veil’ and how the canisfangs would interact with it.

Resigning her ‘Shadow magic’, Kurushimi continued to approach the canisfang pack again. Now that she was very close, the pack began to move more sporadically. But mostly, they were trying to avoid the black mist that was looming close to them.

STEP. STEP.

Suddenly, to Kurushimi’s surprise, the leader canisfang started to approach her. The other canisfangs had come to a standstill, standing behind their leader and watching closely. Apparently the leader itself had chosen to inspect the black mist. Kurushimi grinned as it got closer.

-Quite the valiant leader, aren’t you? Going first and all… But that will be your downfall! Let’s see what happens if I attack from the veil~

Kurushimi condensed a load of her shadow and grasped it into her hand. The shadow had taken a few seconds to prepare and was unusually heavy. As the canisfang leader got closer to Kurushimi, it suddenly noticed something. Kurushimi was unsure if it had noticed the shadow she had just condensed or if it had noticed her specifically, but she knew it didn’t matter anymore.

《Used skill: 『Shadow magic Lvl. 3』!》

A dense formation of shadow barrelled towards the canisfang leader. At the same time, the black mist instantly dispersed. The veil similarly broke just after, revealing Kurushimi to the canisfangs. The canisfang leader attempted to dodge but it wasn’t able to in time and took a large majority of the impact head-on.

“So the veil seems to break on attack after all, huh?”

Kurushimi smiled as she watched the leader canisfang get knocked back by the recoil of her shadow. The canisfangs surrounding her began to shriek in unison as Kurushimi spoke.

“Hm? ...That didn’t do as much as I thought it would?”

Kurushimi scratched her head. The canisfang leader that had just been hit had been damaged a little, but surprisingly less than Kurushimi had expected. Kurushimi wondered as to whether the canisfang leader hadn’t taken much damage because of its level or because of the leader buff or perhaps both. Kurushimi sighed before looking back at the canisfang leader again and raising her hand.

《Used skill: 『Blood magic Lvl. 3』!》

Before the canisfang leader could react, its open wound suddenly fluctuated before exploding. Rupturing around the area of the wound caused its own blood to tear through its skin. But despite the gruesome scene that even made Kurushimi a little queasy, the canisfang leader still was standing. It was injured, but quite evidently far from dead.

“This canisfang leader should be Lvl. 15 like me, right? Even with whatever buff being the leader gives you, I would 100% have died to that!”

Kurushimi felt that the leader canisfang’s resistance was simply too high. The buff felt a little unfair in the eyes of Kurushimi. Not only did they get to be in larger numbers than her already, but the strongest one got an overpowered and unknown buff. Kurushimi traced her eyes over the canisfangs.

《Used skill: 『Appraisal Lvl. 1』!》

《Canisfang Lvl. 9》

《Canisfang Lvl. 8》

《Canisfang Lvl. 15》

《Canisfang Lvl. 10》

《Canisfang Lvl. 9》

《Canisfang Lvl. 7》

《Canisfang Lvl. 8》

《Skill proficiency reached. Skill: 『Appraisal Lvl. 1』 has become 『Appraisal Lvl. 2』》

Kurushimi’s head hurt a little from the excessive use of ‘Appraisal’. Specifically 14 uses of the skill in close timing. But beyond her headache, a system message popped up.

“Appraisal leveled up… About time! That skill has been Lvl. 1 for so long even though I use it so much!”

《Used skill: 『Appraisal Lvl. 2』!》

Kurushimi instantly used the new ‘Appraisal’ to look at the canisfang leader. She was hoping she could at least attain some information about the buff or something.

----------------------------------

Canisfang

Lvl. 15

HP: 17/30

MP: 10/10

SP: 26/30

(Currently under ‘leader’ buff. Affected user will have complete influence over the ‘partied’ users and will receive 40% damage reduction)

---------------------------------

Among the new information from the leveled-up ‘Appraisal’, there was also the buff it was under. Apparently the benefit it had gained was a 40% damage reduction buff. Kurushimi could now understand the damage it took but she could also tell that even without the buff, the canisfang leader would have survived with a fair amount of health anyway.

“I thought I was stronger than that…”

Kurushimi pouted, seeing the buff hadn’t been the only factor stopping her from one-shotting the canisfang leader after all. Kurushimi looked down to see the canisfangs in a new formation.

While Kurushimi was busy looking around at the canisfang leader’s stats, the canisfangs had moved about. The canisfangs were now in a ‘protect the president’ kind of formation. With the canisfang leader in the back, while the other canisfangs stood in between it and Kurushimi. Kurushimi felt that the canisfang leader wasn’t being quite the valiant leader that it was before, but she also felt that, in the situation, it was understandable.

As the frontiering canisfangs got increasingly rowdy, the canisfangs were about ready to jump on Kurushimi. Kurushimi stepped back as they got closer. Seeing this, the canisfangs' morale rose in response. Without hesitation, they lunged forward towards Kurushimi.

KREEEE EEEE!

As they shrieked in excitement, ready to tear Kurushimi to shreds, they came to an abrupt stop. Confused, the canisfangs looked around. Their target had seemingly disappeared from where it had stood.

《Used skill: 『Camouflage Lvl. 1』!》

“Though they are scary, canisfangs aren’t the smartest of creatures.”

Kurushimi had stepped back into a thicket of foliage. The thin and transparent veil caressed her skin, taking on a green hue. The canisfangs angrily shrieked louder, unable to find Kurushimi. Ignoring them and sticking to the foliage so her ‘Camouflage’ didn’t break, she circled around the canisfangs.

The leader stood warily behind the other canisfangs. It too seemed to be confused by Kurushimi’s disappearance. Kurushimi got closer to it and started conjuring mana. The veil slowly broke as she separated herself from the foliage.