The one Crowne was fighting was not an ordinary Gorthak. It was the King Gorthak, a beast of rank B. Far above Crowne's rank.
Right now, Crowne was being forced back by the King Gorthak's assault. Even his left hand was trembling and dripping blood from the impact of the attack called Blash Wind that the King Gorthak unleashed.
[Blash Wind!]
A blast of wind shot toward Crowne. Not just one, but multiple, though not fired all at once, and every single one aimed at him.
Seeing that, Crowne only shook his head.
"Isn't this a bit excessive?" he complained.
He took a deep breath, focusing his mind. He would use Learning by Experience and his wind element once again.
Crowne created a new skill.
[Storm Cleaver has been created!]
As the Blash Wind spheres approached—huge balls of wind closing in—Crowne immediately activated his new skill.
[Storm Cleaver activated!]
A slash, like the crescent of a moon, was unleashed by Crowne. A strike formed of condensed wind magic, compressed to such a thin state it was almost invisible.
It was as thin as a thread split in two.
Sliced.
Split apart!
Crowne wasted no time after pulling it off. Without a single word, he vanished. He had used his skill Wind Step Slash.
Appearing above the King Gorthak, Crowne swung down a powerful strike at the exact same spot as before—the back of its neck.
Baam!
The slash wounded the King Gorthak, but it did not kill it. The beast suddenly reared up, violently shaking its massive body upward.
Crowne was flung away, slamming into two tree trunks before managing to stop himself. Without hesitation, he stood again.
A grin spread across his face.
"Come on, you damned pig!" he cursed.
He steadied his stance once more. Three Blash Wind spheres appeared again, this time nearly twice the size of the ones before.
Crowne showed no fear.
"Good boy!"
He repeated the same maneuver again, and succeeded. Though it still didn't kill the King Gorthak, the wound on its neck grew deeper and deeper.
That alone was enough. Eventually, after repeating it five times, Crowne finally claimed victory.
The King Gorthak collapsed to the ground. At that same moment, the rest of the Gorthaks scattered in panic.
When Crowne looked around, he was shocked to see dozens of Gorthaks lying lifeless on the ground. Their massive bodies piled together, resembling small hills.
"Should we chase after the rest?" Sylvara asked.
"No need."
Crowne walked toward several of the fallen Gorthaks, touching their bodies, and stored them inside his Inventory Ring. Only two were left behind.
He drew a dagger—four in total—and handed one to each of his three companions.
"Help me skin them and separate their fangs," Crowne ordered.
Sylvara, Ronan, and Velrisa nodded. They began skinning the Gorthaks, cutting the meat into smaller portions.
Then they lit a fire, placing the meat by the flames and sprinkling salt over it.
Now, all they had to do was wait until the Gorthak meat was cooked.
**
When everything was ready, they ate. One Gorthak was shared between Crowne, Ronan, and Velrisa. The other was reserved entirely for Sylvara, the glutton. She could devour an entire Gorthak on her own.
Crowne felt this was enough. He planned to return to the city of Stromhall.
That was his plan.
"Looks like tomorrow, I won't need to hunt Gorthaks. I've already got more than enough," he said.
He would gain a great amount of points. Enough to request another retest for his rank evaluation. At the very least, he could advance to rank E. That was progress.
But just as he was eating, suddenly, he felt something strange.
An aura, incredibly powerful, was watching him. His heartbeat doubled its pace. Crowne swallowed hard before turning his head.
When he turned, he saw the sun of this world blink at him. Crowne rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the sun returned to normal.
"What just happened?"
He rubbed his eyes again. The result was the same. Nothing strange about the sun anymore. The overwhelming aura he felt had also vanished.
Crowne sat frozen for quite some time. His heart was pounding nearly three times faster than usual, his breath catching in his throat.
"Did you all see what I saw?" Crowne asked.
Sylvara, Velrisa, and Ronan, who were still eating, turned toward him, brows furrowed.
They tilted their heads. "What do you mean?"
Crowne pointed at the sun.
"Did you see anything strange there?"
Sylvara, Velrisa, and Ronan all looked in the direction he indicated. They stared at the sun for a full minute, but saw nothing unusual.
Turning back to Crowne, they shook their heads.
"What was it supposed to be?" Sylvara asked.
"I saw the sun change into a giant eyeball. It blinked at me," Crowne replied.
Sylvara looked back at the sun, narrowing her eyes. But there was nothing different. The sun remained just as it always was.
She scratched her head, thinking her master might simply be too exhausted and seeing things that weren't there.
"Would you like to rest? We'll keep watch over this place," Sylvara suggested.
Crowne nodded.
"Yeah, maybe I'm just tired."
He walked toward a tree and laid his body down, intending to close his eyes. But just as his gaze drifted upward—
The sun blinked at him again.