The forest was quieter today. Not silent—never truly silent, not with the rustle of hidden beasts and the hum of mana that threaded through the air—but the kind of quiet that settled in when predators had already marked their ground.
He exhaled and lowered his stance, blades drawn. Another direwolf prowled before him, its fur crackling faintly with residual lightning. A Level 27 variant. Dangerous to most hunters—but he'd faced worse.
The wolf lunged. His gauntlet shifted mid-swing, blade reshaping into a curved glaive. He met its charge head-on, steel sparking against fang. A faint coat of fire flared just as his weapon struck, searing the beast's chest. It staggered, but didn't fall.
"Persistent," he muttered.
"More like annoying," the cheeky gauntlet quipped. "You'd think by now they'd just roll over."
"Focus," the calm voice chided.
He did. When the wolf lunged again, he pivoted, the gauntlet reshaping into a heavy hammer. The weapon came down with brutal force, crushing skull into dirt. The beast twitched once before going still.
Breathing hard, he let the weapon dissolve back into its resting form. That made… how many now? Sixteen? No, seventeen, counting the stragglers. His body bore shallow cuts, his mana reserves dipped low, but nothing he couldn't recover from.
And yet… the progress was slowing.
He could feel it in his bones. Each fight gave him less of that surge, that invisible push forward. Where once a single monster felt like a step upward, now it was barely a fraction. His level was climbing, but inch by inch instead of leaps.
"You've hit a wall," the calm gauntlet said knowingly.
"A boring wall," the cheeky one added with a groan. "Ugh, grinding is the worst."
He ignored them both, wiping blood from his cheek. But they weren't wrong.
Night fell by the time he stopped, finding shelter beneath a low cliff overhang. He built a small fire, roasting dried meat, letting the gauntlets rest at his side. The flames cast faint shadows, and in the glow he brought up his status screen.
---
[ Status Update ]
Name: ???
Race: Human (Unconfirmed)
Class: Shadow Hunter (Unranked)
Level: 14 → 15
HP: 1,240 / 1,240
MP: 1,080 / 1,200
Strength: 72
Agility: 95
Endurance: 68
Intelligence: 81
Perception: 89
Skills:
Weapon Mastery (Proficiency 3/5)
Shadow Step (Lv. 2)
Mana Infusion (Lv. 3)
Appraisal (Lv. 1 – Incomplete)
Assassin's Instinct (Passive)
Unique Equipment:
Ego Gauntlets [Twin Souls] (Level 10 – Evolved Form)
Multi-Weapon Transformation
Elemental Coating (Fire, Ice, Lightning – Beginner Control)
Dual Consciousness
---
He stared at the glowing screen for a long moment before letting it fade.
Level 15. For a hunter, that was respectable. For most assassins, it was enough to guarantee survival. But in the grand scale of this world? It was nothing.
The highest levels ever recorded broke past 100. Ancient hunters. Legendary assassins. Heroes who could face calamity beasts that devoured cities whole. Compared to them, he wasn't even a shadow—just a flicker waiting to be snuffed out.
He clenched his fist, the gauntlets tightening with him. "Still weak."
The gauntlets pulsed in response.
"Then we'll keep going," the calm one whispered.
"Yeah," the cheeky one added, a faint grin in its tone. "One step at a time. We'll show the world what we can do."
The fire crackled. Night deepened. And though he felt the weight of the long road ahead, for the first time, he welcomed it.