The charging Sand Beetle was a reddish-brown blur of clicking mandibles and furious intent. There was no room for error, no time for a planned attack. Jin Park's body moved on pure survival instinct, but his mind remained a pocket of chilling calm. He sidestepped the charge, the monster's hard carapace scraping against the canyon wall with a shower of sparks.
He didn't try to counterattack. It was pointless. The monster was faster and stronger. Trying to trade blows would get him killed.
He ran.
He fled deeper into the winding canyon, his boots kicking up dust. The furious shrieks of the crippled beetle echoed behind him, a sound of pure hatred. It was slower now, its injured leg throwing its gait off balance, but it was still relentlessly pursuing him.
This wasn't a panicked retreat; it was a tactical repositioning. He was leading the monster into a battlefield of his own choosing.
He rounded a sharp corner and saw exactly what he had been looking for: a section of the canyon that narrowed significantly, with steep, jagged walls on both sides. More importantly, the ground here was littered with loose rocks and scree of all sizes. It was unstable terrain.
He skidded to a halt, turning to face his pursuer. The Sand Beetle rounded the corner a moment later, its beady eyes locking onto him. Seeing its prey had stopped running, it let out a triumphant shriek and launched into another clumsy, hate-fueled charge.
This was the moment. Jin Park didn't brace for impact. He didn't raise his cleaver. Instead, he activated Power Strike and slammed his fist not at the monster, but at the ground beside him.
CRACK!
His empowered fist struck a large, precariously balanced boulder at the base of the canyon wall. The rock shuddered, and the impact sent a tremor through the unstable ground. It was the first domino. The loose scree above it began to shift. Small pebbles started to rain down, then larger rocks.
An avalanche. A small, but precisely targeted one.
The charging beetle, its simple, insectoid brain focused solely on its target, had no time to react. A cascade of rocks and dust slammed into its side. The force of the rockslide threw the monster off its feet, sending it tumbling onto its back with a sickening crunch.
It lay there, helpless, its five good legs flailing uselessly in the air, trying to find purchase. Its soft, unarmored underbelly was completely exposed.
The shrieking became desperate, pathetic.
Jin Park walked calmly towards his trapped prey, the Gnasher cleaver held ready in his hand. The dust was still settling around them. He had created this opportunity not with overwhelming power, but with observation and leverage. He had used the environment itself as a weapon.
He stood over the overturned beetle. It was a brutal, ugly creature, but now, it just looked pitiful. He felt no sympathy. This was a resource. A key to his future.
He raised the heavy cleaver high. He channeled every ounce of his mana into one final, decisive Power Strike. He brought the blade down with all his might, aiming for the soft part of the neck where the head joined the torso.
The Gnasher plunged deep into the monster's flesh. There was a wet, tearing sound, and the beetle's shrieks were cut off abruptly. Its legs twitched once, then went still.
A wave of notifications flooded his vision.
[You have defeated a Crimson-Shelled Sand Beetle (E-Rank). You have gained a large amount of experience.]
[You have leveled up!]
[You are now Lv. 2.]
[Your stats have increased slightly.]
[Skill: Power Strike (Normal) has reached Lv. 2.]
[Skill: Chop (Normal) has reached Lv. 2.]
The feeling of leveling up was a warm, invigorating surge of energy that washed away some of his exhaustion. His mana pool felt slightly larger, his muscles a little stronger. It was a minuscule improvement, but it was a start.
He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, the adrenaline slowly beginning to fade. He had done it. His first solo kill.
But the work wasn't over. This was a culinary exam, not just a hunt. He knelt beside the dead monster, the heavy cleaver still in his hand. Now came the part where his true expertise would shine.
He examined the creature's shell. It was as tough as the exam description had promised. A brute-force attempt to crack it would shatter the delicate leg meat inside, rendering it useless. He needed to be a surgeon.
He flipped the monster back over. Using the pointed tip of the Gnasher, he began to work at the thin, membranous joint where the leg connected to the main body. His movements were precise, economical, born from a lifetime of experience in a different world. He wasn't hacking like a hunter; he was butchering like a master chef. He carefully separated the connective tissue, sliding the blade through the joint until the entire leg came free with a clean pop.
He repeated the process for the other five legs. He then turned his attention to the main body. While the exam only required the leg meat, he wasn't going to waste the rest. He found the seams in the underbelly's armor and, with skilled cuts, peeled it back to reveal the internal organs. He located the monster's primary mana core—a small, faintly glowing crystal—and carefully extracted it. E-Rank cores weren't worth much, maybe ten Aurum, but it was better than nothing.
He had his ingredients. Six pristine Crimson-Shelled Sand Beetle legs, their meat undamaged, and a low-grade mana core.
He carefully wrapped the legs in the same cloth he'd used for his cleaver and packed them in his satchel. He was covered in monster blood and dust, and utterly exhausted, but he was successful.
As he prepared to leave the ravine, a flicker of movement caught his eye. He peered back towards the entrance of the canyon and saw them—the party of four Awakeners from before. They were fighting their own Sand Beetle, but their method was completely different. The warrior was tanking its attacks with his shield, the lancer was stabbing at its shell with a mana-infused spear, and a mage was launching fireballs from a distance.
It was a battle of overwhelming force, loud and flashy. They would win, but their powerful attacks were chipping and cracking the beetle's shell. He knew, with the certainty of an expert, that the meat inside would be bruised and torn.
They were powerful fighters. But they were terrible chefs.
A small, knowing smile touched Jin Park's lips. He turned and melted back into the shadows of the ravine, leaving the noisy party behind. He had everything he needed.