Eternal Temptation: Awakening Sinful Desires

Soon enough, the scenery changed into an endless field of grasslands, which stretched across the horizon far beyond human sight.

Here, the roads weren't paved and instead consisted of dirt paths leading in various directions, while the surrounding landscape remained mostly flat. In addition to these features, occasional clusters of trees scattered randomly about dotted the vast plains.

Although Asher had no trouble navigating through this unfamiliar territory thanks to the guidance system integrated within this bike, he couldn't help feeling overwhelmed by everything before him.

The world appeared larger and vaster than ever, seeming infinite to him at times while encompassing numerous unexplored regions filled with possibilities.

This feeling filled him with a sense of wonder and excitement that sent shivers running down his spine. "How much fun would exploring this unknown universe be?" He wondered out loud while continuing forward at maximum velocity.

As hours rolled by without stopping, Asher eventually reached the vicinity of Black Forest, a dangerous, mysterious, and remote forest in which various peculiar creatures thrived—a place in the world that normal people avoided at all costs.

Asher took in the breathtaking view before him, feeling amazed at how magnificent nature can be. This forest stood tall and imposing, appearing like an impassable barrier that barred access to everything else behind it.

His gaze followed along its length towards both ends until finally falling upon a massive clearing ahead.

The forest opened up widely, revealing an endless sea of trees with thick branches covered with vibrant leaves. Some of these plants reached enormous sizes compared to their counterparts elsewhere, and even some were comparable in height to skyscrapers themselves!

Amongst these giant trees were smaller ones that seemed perfectly normal compared to those giants standing near them. Their trunks were covered in moss and vines, while roots protruded outward beneath their bark, creating an uneven pattern on the ground below.

These trees gave out an eerie aura as their shadows fell upon the earth, casting deep darkness everywhere around them.

Even though sunlight shone brightly above, its light didn't penetrate these areas entirely since it passed through dense foliage overhead that blocked almost everything. Only tiny rays filtered through cracks and gaps between various vegetation gave off just barely enough brightness for one's eyesight.

Such was the scene greeting Asher right now.

However, as Asher approached closer, he noticed something odd about this seemingly peaceful scenery. There were no signs indicating animal activity anywhere in the area before him, unlike what one would expect from a thriving ecosystem such as this. Everything lay silent, without sound.

He frowned as he tried listening attentively to his surroundings, only to come across total silence. There wasn't even wind rustling through the branches or birds chirping amongst each other; the lack of noise made him realize how ominous this location actually felt.

"I suppose I don't need to guess what awaits me further in here, huh? A dangerous zone. One wrong move, and I'll likely be dead already." Asher mumbled while looking around suspiciously. "I can't see far enough either because of the forest's thick greenery. I need to be extra careful from now on."

After pondering briefly, he turned off his bike's engine, hopped off, and put his bike in his space ring as he decided to walk through the area without any further delays, proceeding forward with caution towards what could prove to be his first challenge within this mysterious region.

….

As Asher traversed deeper into the woods, his senses detected a faint scent coming from somewhere nearby; however, before he could identify it accurately, a sudden burst of movement startled him out of his concentration, forcing him to focus on protecting himself. A shadowy blur rushed towards him at high speed, aiming straight towards his backside from behind.

Asher dodged just in time to avoid being caught off guard while still trying to figure out what happened.

Another attack struck, attempting to grab him in its jaws; but this time around, he reacted faster than before and managed to fend off the monster successfully, allowing him enough time to get a better look at what attacked him—two huge wolves with pitch-black fur covering most parts of their bodies, while their claws gleamed crimson red, looking sharp enough to cut through flesh like butter.

Those creatures moved gracefully across the forest floor as if running atop liquid rather than solid ground, making them appear agile and nimble despite their huge build.

Their mouths parted open slightly to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth lining each jawbone while saliva dripped outwards, dripping onto the soil beneath their feet.

Upon seeing them approaching so ferociously, Asher realized why they looked familiar earlier—these creatures resembled regular wolves except with some obvious differences, such as being larger than an average wolf and possessing two pairs of blood-red eyes that glowed brightly while giving off an unsettling glow in the dim lighting.

In short, they were definitely Star Beasts, and of dark affinity, too.

Darkness coiled around the beasts' paws and legs, empowering their movements and attacks while increasing their overall capabilities.

Asher narrowed his eyes, preparing for another assault from his assailants. He glanced around for a quick assessment of his situation—two wolves were at the Initial-Stage of the Rank 3 Star-Beast Level, meaning that these beasts had power comparable to the Initial-Stage of the True Spirit Realm.

While he was also at the Initial-Stage of the True Spirit Realm, Asher was confident he could deal with such opponents.

However, dealing with two Star Beasts simultaneously proved tricky and potentially deadly in the case of any mistakes made on either side. If they coordinated their attacks well, then even someone experienced in battle could fall prey to their fangs or claws. Therefore, Asher chose not to rush headlong into combat like some blind idiot who thinks brawn will win over brains.

After analyzing their strengths, he formulated a plan in mind on how to best handle things while avoiding any fatal mistakes that could lead to serious injury or death.

The two wolves growled at Asher before lunging towards him with incredible agility, from different directions, in an attempt to overwhelm him using their speed and strength.

Asher used his Abyssal Grasp technique, creating sharp thorns that protruded from underneath the ground of their path to intercept them while also sending out tendrils to grasp the beast.

The wolf swiped its paw at the spikes, destroying them easily, but as it tried to continue dashing forward, a shadowy tendril entangled around its leg.

The beast stumbled forward and crashed head first onto a rock jutting out from the ground.

It whined in pain while struggling to free itself, but Asher was determined not to let go. He tightened his hold and used Abyssal Grasp again. More tendrils sprung from the soil beneath his opponent, binding it tighter.

The other wolf tried to attack him from behind by pouncing on him, but Asher used the Shadow Illusion Technique to create duplicates of himself, confusing the beast as it failed to pinpoint his actual location.

Seeing the other wolf confused and unable to locate him, Asher decided to strike with another round of thorns aimed directly at its body. The sharp projectiles pierced its hide, making it howl in agony as blood sprayed out everywhere.

The wounded beast was soon held by tendrils that restrained its movement, restricting its freedom and making it incapable of attacking anymore.

Blood poured out from several holes in their bodies as they howled in pain while struggling against the thorns sticking deep inside. However, neither refused to back off from the fight, even after sustaining severe injuries from only one attack. Yet, Asher didn't give them a chance to recover.

Instead, he formed more tendrils that took hold of their legs during their confusion.

These two wolves tried desperately fighting free from those tendrils wrapped around them with all their remaining strength, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't escape Asher's control, resulting in them becoming immobilized.

Then, with a snap of his wrist, he slammed them heavily onto the ground before wrapping around their bodies like snakes strangling their prey.

"Hmm, this is troublesome. Even with the tendrils wrapped around them, their regenerative abilities are quite fast, and they're still struggling with vigor to break free. The only thing keeping them in check is probably the fact that they aren't able to move properly right now," Asher mused to himself.

"Anyway, I need to kill them quickly. Otherwise, it may cause me problems, as wolves always move in packs," Asher thought and summoned a thorn that straight away pierced their heads through and ended their struggle.

As he looked at his gloves, he realized how much more efficient and powerful his control over the darkness had become as the gloves aided in amplifying his powers. The runes engraved on his gloves also began glowing a dark blue color.

Feeling a certain pull towards the corpses of the two wolves, Ashe raised his hand and pulled them towards himself, using dark tendrils as he stared at them.

He then bent down and touched the corpses with his palm, which caused the two bodies to disintegrate into particles of darkness that were absorbed into his glove, disappearing into thin air.

Asher smiled at this sight as he realized that the glove could be used to absorb the corpses of creatures and beasts with dark elements or origins to store them as energy reserves for him. He could easily imagine that this could be extremely useful for combat.

Soon after that, Asher continued to walk into the forest as he constantly kept an eye out for any monsters or beasts that could appear in front of him.