Chapter 314: Lessons from a Monster
The generator core inside me was heating up fast. Just one or two more full-powered attacks and I was sure my Essence storage would be completely filled.
The panther shook its head violently, let out a thunderous roar, and charged at me again.
Its powerful legs bent, claws digging into the ground, and then it lunged straight at me with frightening speed.
I braced myself, ready to meet it head-on.
But then....something changed.
Its black fur shimmered unnaturally, and in the next instant, tendrils of shadow burst out from its body. They coiled and twisted around it like living smoke, wrapping around its limbs and torso until its entire figure was swallowed in black.
And just like that—
It vanished.
No ripple. No blink anchor.
My eyes narrowed. This wasn’t the same space-step as before.
This was different.
There were no ripples. No spatial fluctuations. No warning.
My instincts suddenly screamed at me. I flapped my wings hard and burst forward....but not fast enough.
A sharp sting tore across my upper back.
Pain bloomed hot and sharp as I felt the panther’s claw rake through my skin.
I gritted my teeth, flared my wings again, and shot upward. I spun in mid-air, my senses flaring.
The creature stood exactly where I had been a moment ago. Blood dripped from its bone-covered claw. My blood.
Its red eyes met mine.
I narrowed my eyes. That wasn’t a simple blink. It hadn’t disturbed space like before. No visible disturbance. No ripple. What did it do?
The panther growled and bolted forward again. Shadows erupted from its body—twisting, writhing and it vanished once more.
But this time, I didn’t run. I didn’t move.
I stayed exactly where I was and closed my eyes halfway.
I let my senses merge into space.
The domain shifted in my mind. I focused on the static layer, then deeper, on the particles that made up space itself. I followed the threads of spatial Essence as they rippled, bent, and anchored to everything.
And that’s when I felt it.
The space particles around me didn’t shift....they tensed.
Something was wrong.
My position, my very place in space, was being contested.
It felt like something foreign was trying to overwrite my coordinates, like it was saying "this space belongs to me now."
That was enough.
"[Sovereign Absorption]," I whispered.
The vortex formed instantly in front of my chest. Just as it finished forming, a beam of darkness erupted from thin air and slammed into it.
The violet vortex spun violently as the energy was torn apart and devoured, fueling my Essence generator. I felt another burst of energy funnel into the core.
But I wasn’t safe yet.
Above me....I felt it.
A flicker of something. The barest twitch in spatial essence. A displacement.
I reacted on instinct.
My fist shot straight up.
"[Seismic Burst]!"
A pulse of power surged into my arm and detonated outward.
BOOM!
The shockwave erupted from my fist and caught the panther full-on in the gut just as it materialized above me.
Its eyes widened, and a choked growl left its throat as its body was blasted into the air before crashing into the hard ground below.
I hovered there, eyes sharp.
I liked where this was going.
The Panther wasn’t just strong, it was creative. Cunning. It didn’t repeat the same pattern twice, always shifting, always adapting. It wasn’t a brute-force creature like many Abominations. This one thought.
But the problem was simple, I was too strong for it.
Even holding back, I could’ve crushed it a dozen times already. My body was faster. My strikes hit harder. My perception, aided by the fractures in my Psynapse, caught every faint anomaly it tried to hide.
And yet... I didn’t.
I let the fight continue. I stood my ground and let it come to me....again and again.
Each time, I watched closely.
It charged, shadows peeling off its form like living smoke. Sometimes it blinked through space, other times it cloaked itself entirely, wrapping those shadows around itself like armor or turning them into spears mid-lunge.
It was trying everything it had. It fought with desperation. With intelligence.
And I appreciated every second of it.
I matched its blows, blocked its claws, and absorbed its beams. And in between those moments, I learned.
The way it merged shadows and space wasn’t just two laws being used one after another. There was a strange harmony in the way it coated its body in darkness and then bent space within that veil. It didn’t disturb the world, it slipped past it.
And just like that, we played our parts—me, focused on comprehending space and recharging the shackle; the panther, relentlessly trying to kill and eat me.
*****
I stood on the cracked ground, breathing steadily, with the panther lying unconscious in front of me. I had to put it down—gently, but firmly. It just wouldn’t stop coming.
My eyes stared at the floating panel in front of me.
Null Heart Charge: 870 / 1000 Essence
"Close."
I rolled my shoulder and called out, "Hey, you there?"
"Yes," came Dante’s whisper, materializing beside me.
"I’m done. I need to head back."
"Huh?" he replied, surprised. "You’re not going to continue?"
"Mm... I’ve got an appointment," I said casually. "And I’m taking the kitty with me."
"If you say so," he muttered. With a flick of his hand, another portal shimmered into existence, swirling open before us. The unconscious panther floated beside me as we stepped through.
Just before we crossed over, Dante spoke again. "Take this."
A black coin marked with a simple ’D’ floated toward me. I caught it, turning it over in my palm.
"With this," he explained, "you can link yourself to a fixed point—right outside the capital. It’ll stop you from landing in random places whenever you return to the Empire."
I raised an eyebrow. "Thanks. That’ll help a lot."
He chuckled softly, his voice like a drifting echo. "I’ll come find you tomorrow."
And just like that, he vanished again, fading from my perception as if he’d never been there at all.
I connected to the realm core and opened a swirling portal. Grabbing the unconscious panther by the tail, I flew straight into it.
The chamber welcomed me with silence and a dim white glow. I stepped through and arrived directly inside the realm’s core chamber.
My eyes were immediately drawn to Steve.
He was still seated in the corner, eyes closed, body still, but the space around him was anything but. Essence swirled in jagged arcs, slicing through the air like invisible blades. Each ripple felt sharp—focused.
Azalea’s voice came from beside me.
"He’s about to finish," she said, watching Steve closely. "It looks like he got something really good."
I nodded and let the panther’s massive body drop to the side with a heavy thud.
She glanced briefly at the Abomination and then back to Steve.
"I’ve also thought of a trait he should take," she added with a small smile. "Something that fits a swordsman. And I think he’ll like it too."
I looked at her, curious. "What is it?"
Her smile widened, but she shook her head.
"Let’s wait for him to finish first."