Chapter 329: Hunter
(Leo’s POV, Time-Stilled World)
Leo exited the Conclave with a mindset completely different from when he had first entered.
He had entered the tunnel as a hesitant and broken man, however, he came out of it a confident warrior.
With a clear understanding of the surrounding geography and his body restored to its peak, Leo began actively seeking out beasts to hunt, using every encounter as a way to push his mana heart closer to its limits.
He did not get reckless or start attacking any random beast that he came across, but rather remained cautious with every step he took, never entering a tunnel without thoroughly scanning for danger first.
But once a beast beneath the Transcendent tier came into view, he immediately marked it for death, as he tracked, stalked, and executed each of them with cold, clinical precision— refining both his instincts and his power with every kill.
Once the psychological horror of the Time-Stilled world began to fade for him, he started to truly enjoy this world for all the unique experiences it offered, and in particular the hunting opportunities it presented.
—-------
’That’s the second Giant Rock Beetle I’ve seen today....’ Leo thought, as he silently stalked a Giant Rock Beetle that was making its way through the tunnel system, trying to find prey of its own.
Had he still had the old mindset, where he viewed every monster in this world as something grotesque and extremely dangerous, he could have probably found a million reasons to avoid fighting this rock beetle, however, with his mentality changed, he just saw it as a juicy challenge, more than an abhorrent monster.
The pitch black armor on the body of the Rock Beetle was so tough, that he had broken two daggers trying to kill the first one he encountered today— and that one looked half the size of this one.
It was a monstrous creature, coated in thick plates of stone-hard shell, with foul green pus dripping between its joints and a thick stench clinging to its every movement.
Its mandibles could easily crush bones, and its screech was loud enough to make the weaker beasts flee without a fight.
In the time-stilled world, it had evolved—or rather twisted—into something far more repulsive than what the old bestiaries described.
And yet, Leo didn’t feel repulsed, but rather excited by the opportunity to kill it when he encountered one.
*Thrum*
*Thrum*
His heart beat with a steady rhythm—not with fear, but with focus—as he stalked it like a predator through the tunnels, observing its sluggish movement and lack of alertness.
The beetle’s thick hide seemed to give it confidence to hunt prey, however, its senses were surely not the sharpest, for it did not notice Leo crawling just a few paces behind, nor the way he eyed its movement to see which tunnel it would take.
And then, it made a mistake.
It entered a narrow tunnel, one barely wide enough for its body to scrape through.
And it was here, where its mandibles were pinned forward, and the beast was unable to turn or twist, that Leo saw his opportunity to attack.
He dashed into the tunnel with silent steps, slid in behind the beetle, and launched himself forward with a burst of mana behind his legs.
*CLANG*
His first strike was clean, but useless.
The dagger hit the shell with a sharp clang and bounced off. A thin scratch marked the impact zone, but that was all.
*SCREEECH!*
The beast screeched in panic, as it increased its pace and began running at full speed, however, Leo did not allow it to escape unscratched.
*SHING!*
*SHING!*
He kept slamming the same spot again and again, gripping the writhing creature’s back as it tried to shake him off, its limbs thrashing against the tunnel walls as dust and rock exploded around them.
"Come on... Come on..." Leo muttered, gritting his teeth, as he landed another stab on the beast’s back, then another, and another.
Then, with his mana coiled into the blade and all the pressure focused on a single fracture, he activated [Kill Strike].
A low pulse of force surged through the dagger as it plunged deep—finally breaking through the armor.
The beetle let out a shrill, ear-piercing scream as its body spasmed beneath him, but by then, it was already too late.
Leo twisted the blade and detonated the mana charge inside its body, as with a muffled *BOOM*, he destroyed the beast’s innards with a single attack.
*PLOP*
The beetle collapsed before him, its mandibles still twitching at the front as acid drooled from its mouth—but it was all in vain.
With its innards shredded and back legs ruined, the creature could no longer move. It could only lie there, waiting for death to arrive, slow and agonizing, while Leo stood above it with the quiet smile of a conqueror.
"Die, beast... die," he muttered under his breath, watching it writhe beneath his feet.
And it was in that moment—just for a second—that he saw it.
A faint new aura beginning to wrap around his body.
It lasted only a breath, and under the soft glow of the surrounding blue mana crystals, he couldn’t be fully sure of the exact shade, but to him, it looked... blood red.
’Blood red... could that be my killing intent?’ he wondered, his gaze falling to his hands.
The aura had vanished, yet he kept staring at his palms, searching for answers in the lingering stillness.
And the more he thought about it, the more certain he became.
He had felt one emotion in that moment—raw, unfiltered bloodlust.
The desire to kill.
And if his instincts were right, then he had just witnessed the manifestation of his own ’Killing Intent’—the second aura color he had awakened.
’I wonder what the [Sevenfold Revelation Codex] has to say about this?’ Leo wondered, as he immediately pulled out the meditation manual and a torchlight, to read what it had to say about this situation.