He walked into the destroyed wall.
Behind him stood a sculpture of himself, depicting Outh in his youth. It rested atop what appeared to be a world surrounded by other, smaller worlds. The platform beneath the sculpture was shattered, and in each of the statue's hands was a tiny planet. Perched atop each planet stood a miniature version of him, frozen mid-stride with his back turned. On the head of the main statue sat yet another small sculpture, completing the recursive imagery.
At the base of the sculpture were a few inscribed lines:
"I have died—perhaps only once—but its weight was enough to make me feel death a hundred thousand times in isolation. I have buried some emotions and uncovered others, and in doing so, I have realized that no matter what danger, threat, or unknown new world awaits me, I will face it all with open arms. I will no longer kneel and weep from weakness. For the sake of survival, I will use this life to the fullest. I will become the strongest and never allow myself to feel or be weak, even if it means bringing death and destruction along with me."
Enopy approached the corner of the stone wall and stabbed it. He injected his aura into the rock, and fifteen feet of the wall crumbled to dust. He walked silently, giving each of his steps a chance to echo through the narrow passageway.
"Dtha, boom, tap, tap, tap, tap…"
"Dtha, boom, tap, tap, tap, tap…"
"Dtha, boom, tap, tap, tap, tap…"
"Dtha, boom, tap, tap, tap, tap…"
"Dtha, boom, tap, tap, tap, tap…"
"Dtha, boom, tap, tap, tap, tap…"
He passed through six 15-foot-thick layers of stone before pausing for an unnecessary break.
"I want to try something," he said, spreading his aura wide before pulling it back in sharply.
Moments later, a black pouch of aura floated in front of him. It was filled with all the dust he had gathered while traversing the passageway.
"Cool. I can make my aura ethereal or solid. Great," he muttered, compressing the dust and attempting to revert it back into rock. A sharp cracking sound echoed around him.
At first, he assumed the noise came from the compressed rock, but soon realized it originated from above.
"Is it collapsing?" he wondered aloud. "No, it's been the same rock for miles. If it were collapsing, the area with the statue would've fallen long ago. So… what is it?"
He stared at the ceiling, mentally sorting through possible explanations.
"The most likely answer is the wolves. They probably found a weak spot and are digging down now."
"Food!" he exclaimed, his calm demeanor flaring into heated urgency. He wasn't too worried; he was strong enough to defeat a rank two, middle-stage wolf. Even if a rank three showed up, he had the advantage of terrain on his side.
It wasn't that he was overwhelmingly powerful—it was simply the difference between humans and beasts.
Intelligence: the one trait with endless potential. It could destroy a world—or create one.
He decided to prepare several escape routes that could also double as traps.
It didn't take long. Once finished, he sat in the center of the prepared space and deployed his aura. He began cultivating. To ascend in cultivation, he needed to help his core access higher levels of energy. Currently, he was in the Solid Stage 1 of Peak Stage, Rank One.
"It'd be great if I could advance quickly, but I doubt it," he murmured through his consciousness while searching for black fragrance particles that matched his aura.
"As I expected, odorless fragrance particles are rare. It's going to be difficult to raise my cultivation level any time soon," he said, continuing his search.
Days later…
Enopy remained in the same spot. In front of him sat a small, perfectly rounded rock, composed entirely of the dust he'd created from shattered stone.
Suddenly, a grin spread across his face. He picked up the rock—it felt like it weighed tens of tons.
"BOOM!"
A massive paw, tipped with deadly claws, burst through the ceiling above him.
Reacting instantly, Enopy hurled the rock upward with all his might.
A moment later, a fountain of blood spilled through the hole.
"CRACK!"
The ceiling gave way, and a flood of dead wolves rained down.
"GRRRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRR!"
A deafening roar reverberated through the chamber.
Enopy's smug expression vanished. His face grew solemn.
From the opening above, a massive pack of wolves appeared—ten Rank Ones, five Rank Twos, and two Rank Threes.
"Shit!" Enopy shouted, fierce and sharp. The wolves didn't understand human language, but they interpreted the scream as the start of battle.
The Rank Twos and Threes held back, sending in the Rank Ones to scout the area, behaving as though it was already theirs.
The Rank Ones charged toward him.
But the moment they entered Enopy's aura range, a surge of danger hit them.
He didn't give them time to react—their heads were split open in an instant.
The Rank Threes took notice, but still didn't view him as a threat. They sent the Rank Twos next.
"There are three peak Rank Twos, the rest are at the first stage," Enopy calculated. "I have to use the traps. I'm not invincible."
He turned and sprinted into a side passage.
The wolves gave chase. Forced into a narrow path, they had to follow in a single line.
After twisting and turning through the passage for what felt like hours, Enopy came to a dead end. The chamber at the end was much larger than the corridor they had been running through.
The wolves poured in, unfamiliar with their new surroundings.
Enopy didn't give them a chance to adapt—he swung his sword into the wall beside him.
Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed, crushing the wolves beneath tons of stone. The sounds of shattering bones echoed loudly.
Enopy grinned.
"Good thing I spent my free time in my past life learning a bit of engineering."
He had created the stone blocks using compacted dust. Climbing onto the fallen rubble, he spotted an opening in the ceiling. Hidden in the shadows were stairs.
He climbed them and emerged onto a small platform, with multiple stairways leading in different directions.
He chose the one on the right.
At the bottom of the stairs, he stepped onto a pressure-sensitive block. Applying weight, the block sank into place.
A sudden crash echoed behind him—two wolves dropped into view.
One was a Wind Wolf, the other an All-Seeing Wolf.
The Wind Wolf lunged, aiming to cut him down in a single strike. Enopy dodged back, surprising the creature.
"That's faster than I expected," he muttered, inspecting a shallow cut on his arm.
He looked up—and the wolf was airborne, just five feet away.
Enopy dashed forward, swords drawn.
"BOOM!"
They clashed, blade against claw, and both were flung back against opposite walls.
Enopy staggered and checked his wounds—three deep gashes ran from his chest down to his stomach.
He looked up, hoping to see the same damage reflected in the wolf.
His pupils shrank.
The wolf's fur was shredded, but its skin showed only faint scuff marks.
Enopy now realized this would be a battle unlike any other.
And for the first time in a while—he wasn't sure he would survive.