As quickly as I cut down the ones nearest to me, more keep joining the mob around me. These are not just rank ones, but even the rank twos and threes are dying in one hit from the naginata. Right now the only questions is, which will run out first, their numbers or my stamina.

Since this is the shadow plane they probably have unlimited numbers. But this particular area should have a limit on the number of shadow demons in it. My plan is to kill them all and then explore until Krenocia gets back to me.

While the girls would call me cocky or reckless, the truth is I am cutting down several demons every second. So far they haven't even managed to scratch me and with my endurance they won't wear me down anytime soon. Besides, the more I kill the stronger the naginata will get, it might even evolve again.

That reminds me, I really should ask someone what the ranks of artifacts are. After all, I can't aim for the strongest level if I don't know what it is. Bringing my attention back to the shadow demons I realize they are already thinning out.

While there are still dozens around me waiting to be killed I can no longer see more joining the back of the group. A few minutes later the ones left around me are all piles of ashes and I'm not even out of breath. I quickly check myself, but as I thought, I don't have a single wound on me.

92 Rank 1 Shadow Demons defeated! 92,000 Exp gained!

47 Rank 2 Shadow Demons defeated! 94,000 Exp gained!

11 Rank 3 Shadow Demons defeated! 33,000 Exp gained!

'What? Even with all that I didn't level? The exp requirements for the higher levels are ridiculous!'

Since I am stuck here for now, I should try to find more demons and see if I can level up. I have no idea what happened in the city, but since I can't see it here I know the spell failed. However, if all the shadow demons in the city died then my easy source of exp is gone.

I just hope the explosion didn't kill the king, I really want my face to be the last thing he sees. That is just one of the promises I want to keep, although it is close to the top of the list. Since I promised both Mercy and Mericel that I would kill him it is actually three promises.

Just as I am about to start walking again I spot something shiny near my foot. When I bend over to take a look I find the tip of a crystal poking out of a pile of ash. Picking it up I find it to be a beautiful dark purple crystal and out of curiosity I flap my wings a few times.

As the wind from my wings sweeps away all the ashes I can see a lot more crystals. They must have come from the shadow demons, but the ones I killed on my plane never left anything behind. So partly out of curiosity I spend a few minutes gathering up all the crystals.

In the end I find a little under two hundred crystals, the exact same number as the shadow demons I killed. When I look closer there are some crystals that are bigger than the others. Once I separate all of them I have 92 small crystals, 47 medium crystals, and 11 large crystals.

From that I can determine that not only did all the shadow demons drop crystals, but that the rank of demon determines the size. Yet I have no clue what they might be good for, they don't have any energy that I can detect. I doubt I will find a shadow demon that is willing to talk to me, but if I do I will ask about the crystals.

Failing that, I will have to wait and ask Krenocia if she knows what they are. As I resume walking, I keep a sharp eye out, I want to find more demons to kill, not get ambushed. After walking for a while I spot something different on the horizon.

Tired of the endless wastelands I turn towards it, curious to see something different. After walking for a bit longer I can tell it is a forest I am heading towards. Once I am close enough I can see that the trees have black trunks with purple leaves.

With nothing better to do I decide to enter the forest and look around. The first thing that strikes me as odd is that other than the trees I don't see any other plant life. The forest is silent, with no wind to rustle the leaves, and no sounds of small animals or insects.

The only sound I hear is my own footsteps, yet my instincts are telling me I am being hunted. When I find a small clearing I stop in the middle of it and take a good look around. It takes me a minute to spot what is hunting me, it is a cat type creature made of shadows.

The one I spot is about the size of a bull, but other than its size it looks just like a panther. The thing that strikes me as the most curious is the fact that it is up in the trees. The trees themselves aren't all that big, how is the shadow panther not bringing the tree down with its weight?

As it slowly creeps towards me I am impressed by the continued silence. The tree branches don't bend under its weight and the leaves don't rustle at all. It has to know that I spotted it yet the thing is still coming towards me.

That kind of bravery seems odd so I quickly look around, spotting fourteen more shadow panthers. With fifteen total surrounding me its bravery makes more sense. Still, I am not really worried, I don't get the sense that I am actually in danger.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

As if they had been waiting for my invitation all fifteen of the shadow panthers move to attack. They all leap at me from the trees, almost simultaneously. That kind of coordination means they are a pack, not just all out hunting at the same time.

Either way, the result is the same, because I am way too strong to be their prey. Spinning in place I manage to strike them all down with the naginata before any of them can reach me. As they all turn to ash I manage to spot fifteen crystals falling to the ground.

15 Rank 4 Shadow Beasts defeated! 60,000 Exp gained!

*DING*

Congratulations! You have acquired the combat skill Whirlwind Attack!

Whirlwind Attack

Level: 1

SP Cost: 50 Damage: Weapon x 1.5

Attacks all enemies within 10 feet.

'Nice! It's been a while since I created a new skill!'

After gathering up the fifteen crystals I am surprised to find that they are the same size as the ones the rank one shadow demons drop. It must have something to do with them being beasts instead of demons. I could probably figure it out if I knew what the crystals were or could be used for.

Leaving that for later I continue moving deeper into the forest, those shadow panthers were really good exp. Eventually my wandering leads me to a large clearing and it is occupied. The shadow panther currently sleeping in the clearing is about the size of a jumbo jet.