We sprinted through the forest, weaving between thick trunks as we pushed deeper toward the looming mountain range.
Steve, as usual, had some completely made-up logic about "staying low profile" and flat-out refused to let me fly, even after I offered to princess-carry him just to speed things up.
My feet slammed into the ground as I launched myself forward again, crossing several meters in a single leap. The terrain blurred past me, the wind stinging my cheeks. A crackle of blue lightning danced across Steve's body as he kept pace.
He shouted over the rush of wind, "How long are you planning to keep running like this?"
I grinned mid-air. "Well, I was thinking we make our way into level 150 territory. They won't expect us to hide there."
I heard his footsteps falter for half a second. When I glanced sideways, his eyes were wide in disbelief.
He picked up the pace until he was running alongside me. "Did you say one-fifty?" he yelled.
I nodded, barely containing a laugh.
"Are you insane?" he shouted again, his tone somewhere between exasperated and impressed.
I nodded once more and winked at him. "Yep."
As we moved, I checked my Essence Storage. It was full. Without slowing, I added the Essence into the Null Heart. The core pulsed in my chest as it devoured the Essence, spinning faster now, humming with power.
It had reached just past the halfway point.
I wanted it full by tomorrow.
So I focused, channeling harder, drawing in more energy from the atmosphere through the Essence channels carved into my body. My limbs felt lighter as my circuits thrummed with life.
We passed another stretch of dense trees when my perception pinged.
My eyes sharpened.
An abomination.
I whistled as I locked onto the creature's location.
Then I veered sharply to the right and said over my shoulder, "Found something. Let's go say hi."
In just three more leaps, I was in front of the creature.
I skidded to a halt, my boots digging into the soft forest floor, and my eyes locked onto the beast ahead.
[Spiky Mauler - Level 122]
It was resting right in the middle of a massive clearing.
Every single tree around it had been obliterated—reduced to nothing but splinters. It looked like the creature had intentionally created this open space. For nearly a hundred meters in every direction, not even a stump remained. Just torn earth and scattered debris.
The Mauler was enormous, at least sixteen feet tall. Its thick brown fur clung to a hulking frame, and its glowing yellow eyes glared with lazy menace.
Most disturbing were the pulsing green spikes that jutted out from all over its body. Thick, smelly liquid oozed down the tips, sizzling where it hit the ground. I didn't need to touch it to know it was poisonous.
Steve's voice came from beside me, a cautious whisper.
"Don't tell me you actually want to fight that thing."
I nodded with a grin. "Of course I want to fight it. I'll show you just how strong I've gotten."
Without waiting for his reply, I slipped off the vest the Holts had made us wear and burned it to ash in my hand.
I rolled my shoulders and stretched my arms, letting the tension out. My body had changed a lot lately, no longer the lean frame of a seventeen-year-old. I looked like someone in their early twenties now, muscle-toned, tall, and heavier with power.
I glanced at Steve and whispered, "Step back to the treeline."
He gave me a small nod and moved away a few steps, just enough to give me space, but—of course—he didn't actually go all the way back. He simply walked back ten feet and stopped staring at me.
I shook my head and ignored Steve.
My eyes stayed fixed on the beast. It was actually snoring—loudly—right in the middle of broad daylight. The level gap between us was massive, but I had a feeling my stats could make up the difference.
I started walking toward it, not bothering to stay quiet. My boots crunched against broken stones and shattered wood as I closed the distance step by step.
When I was about five feet away, the snoring cut off abruptly.
In a blink, the beast surged upright, standing tall on its hind legs.
I was genuinely surprised by how fast it moved.
Its towering form loomed over me, like a mountain of fur and muscle. It looked a bit like a brown bear—if bears came covered in dozens of thick, pulsing spikes. They jutted from its shoulders, arms, even down its back, and each one dripped that same toxic-looking green liquid.
The beast didn't growl. Didn't charge.
It just stood there, staring down at me in silence.
I blinked—
The beast was suddenly right in front of me.
Its massive paw swung toward my head with terrifying speed. I spotted a thick spike jutting from its palm, aimed to crush and pierce in one brutal motion.
My legs bent. I pulled power into my muscles and exploded upward with a bang, launching straight toward the beast's face, completely bypassing the deadly swing.
I brought my knee up, aiming to drive it into the beast's exposed chin.
But before I could connect—its mouth snapped open.
A spike shot out of its throat, growing in an instant and darting straight toward my neck.
My instincts kicked in.
[Spatial Shield].
Compressed space formed in front of me—one layer, then two, then three in rapid succession.
The spike tore through the first barrier.
It ripped through the second.
But before it could reach the third, I was gone.
I twisted midair and landed cleanly on the ground, my boots skidding slightly against the dirt.
Without missing a beat, I raised my palm toward the beast.
Bang.
A massive ice spike erupted from my hand, four feet thick and glowing with cold Essence. I had forced raw Essence into its form, overloading it with freezing power.
The spike slammed into the beast's ribs with a brutal crack, forcing it to slide backward across the ruined earth.
The beast snarled. The green-tipped spikes on its body pulsed, then retracted into its skin.
I tensed.
Two massive spikes burst from its palms, long and thick enough to be called spears.
The beast let out a guttural roar and swung its right arm at me.
I dodged smoothly, sidestepping the first swing.
But I didn't even get a second to move.
Its left arm was already coming down from above—fast. Much faster than before. At least ten times faster.
I twisted my waist, pulled back my arm, and roared as I threw my fist up to meet the incoming spike.
Bang!
The shockwave shattered the air around us. Dust and broken stone blasted out in every direction.
The beast pushed down harder, trying to force its spike through my guard. I held firm, locking its weapon in place with my bare hand.
But before I could grin in victory—
Two new spikes shot from its abdomen, slamming into my chest.
The impact made me skid back, dragging my boots through the dirt.
The place where the spikes hit the skin sizzled just a little.
But I didn't hesitate.
[Seismic Burst].
I blasted forward, Essence exploding from my legs, closing the distance in a blink.
I lifted my hand and whispered.
[Havoc Sfera].
Essence surged through my body. Fire roared into existence, spinning violently in my palm—a condensed, burning sphere of destruction.
I shoved it forward, aiming for the beast's exposed gut.
But the beast didn't flinch.
With another roar, a thick plate of armor formed across its stomach—made from the same hard material as its spikes.
My fireball slammed into it.
The explosion of heat and shock rolled through the air, sending waves of pressure in all directions.
Neither of us moved.
We both stood our ground.The black plate on the beast's stomach began to grow fast.
In seconds, its entire body was encased in thick, spiked armor. Head to toe, it looked like a living tank. A monster now dressed for war.
Menacing didn't even begin to cover it.
I jumped back, widening the distance. Its speed was no joke—even in full armor, it was fast. Too fast.
The beast roared and charged, barreling toward me like a wrecking ball.
[Psynapse Overdrive].
The moment I activated the skill, the world changed. My senses sharpened. Every movement, every vibration—I felt them. My will spread through the battlefield, syncing with the flow of Essence around me.
I grit my teeth and forced the energy surging through my channels into a new form.
Blue lightning sparked across my body.
Then I launched myself forward.
The two of us collided again—me, wreathed in lightning, and the armored beast, swinging its giant spike-arms like a mad berserker.
It came at me fast.
I slipped past the first swing.
Then the second.
I was already shifting to dodge the third—
When the spike in its hand detonated, splitting apart mid-swing and catching me off-guard.
The shattered spike slammed into my bare chest like a barrage of spears.
Pain exploded through my ribs. My breath vanished.
My body flew backward, flipping through the air before crashing hard into the ground.
Dirt and dust shot up around me as I slid to a stop, carving a trench through the forest floor.