Alicia stared at the beast before her, eyes cold as glacial ice. Her grip on the sword tightened to the point where if the blade were alive, it would have died long ago from suffocation. Her knuckles had gone beyond pale—they were bone-white, trembling with the strain.
The massive creature before her simply stared back, its sunken eyes devoid of thought yet filled with primal hunger. A calm, silent growl emanated from deep within its chest—a sound more felt than heard, vibrating through the air like a warning bell.
Then it moved.
The Dead Strangler brought its massive arms up, muscles bulging grotesquely beneath toxic-weeping skin, and swung its enormous axe downward with devastating force.
Alicia reacted instantly.
She moved swiftly past the attack, her enhanced speed allowing her to slip aside just as the axe blade carved through the space she'd occupied. The weapon struck earth with a thunderous impact, sending dirt and stone fragments exploding outward.
Without hesitation, Alicia sprang upward, her legs propelling her into the air with supernatural strength. She landed on the creature's broad shoulder, maintaining perfect balance despite its lurching movements, and slashed a deep line across its chest.
Black blood sprayed from the wound, sizzling as it struck the ground.
The creature roared in pain and rage, swinging its free arm in a wild backhand. Alicia leapt clear, twisting mid-air and landing in a crouch several feet away.
The battle became a deadly dance.
Alicia moved like water, flowing around the creature's attacks with practiced precision. She darted in when openings appeared, her blade flashing silver-white in the firelight. A slash across its thigh. A stab between ribs. A cut along its extended arm.
She used every tool at her disposal—when the creature overextended, she drove her boot into its knee, feeling bone crack beneath the impact. When it turned too slowly, she punched with her free hand, knuckles connecting with its jaw and snapping its head sideways.
But the Dead Strangler was relentless.
Its endurance was monstrous, absorbing punishment that would have killed lesser spawns ten times over. Every wound she inflicted seemed superficial, barely slowing its attacks. The axe came again and again—wide horizontal sweeps that forced her to duck, overhead chops that cratered the ground, diagonal slashes that whistled through the air with terrifying speed.
Alicia was wearing out.
Her movements grew incrementally slower. Her breathing became labored. The Wolf's Speed skill that had granted her superhuman reflexes flickered once, then dissipated entirely—the stolen power expended, her speed dropping by thirteen points in an instant.
She felt the loss immediately, her body suddenly heavier, reactions duller.
Blood ran freely from multiple wounds now. The gash on her forehead had worsened, and new cuts decorated her arms and torso. Her uniform was torn in several places, dark stains spreading across the fabric.
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
Air came out from her mouth in rapid gasps, each breath shallow and pained. Sweat ran down her frame like she was some monument drenched by rain. Blood filled her head, pounding behind her eyes with every heartbeat. With every second she stood, she could only feel tiredness—exhaustion pressing down on her like physical weight.
"I c-c-can't lose!" Her voice came out weak and strained, barely more than a whisper.
She was holding onto something. Some memory. Some purpose that drove her forward despite her body screaming for rest.
"I'll kill... you!" Her voice emerged again, weak and tired but laced with grit. With determination that defied logic.
Why did she want so desperately to kill this creature? For what reason? Couldn't she just run? Escape into the forest and survive to fight another day?
But running wasn't an option. Not for Alicia Dion.
Before she could catch her breath, the Dead Strangler attacked from above.
It had leapt impossibly high for something so massive, silhouetted against the smoke-filled sky. Its axe swung down with tremendous force, aimed directly at her head.
Alicia threw herself sideways, rolling across broken ground. The axe struck where she'd been standing, cracking the earth and sending a shockwave rippling outward. Stone fragments pelted her back.
Then the creature's body began changing.
The pores covering its skin started appearing in greater numbers, spreading like a disease across its torso and arms. They twisted and moved violently beneath the surface, bulging outward as something writhed within.
Alicia's eyes widened.
'No... not that.'
The pores began to rupture.
-----
Meanwhile, Kyle stood just outside a cave entrance, staring into darkness that seemed to swallow light itself. The opening yawned before him like a hungry mouth, eerily quiet in a way that set his instincts screaming.
He could sense something within. A gathering. A congregation of presence that made his skin prickle.
'Points. Lots of them.'
Above his head floated a glowing, rotating sigil—an intricate pattern of geometric lines that pulsed with soft azure light. It was a detection construct, designed to sense movement and life signatures within a certain radius. The auto-turrets he'd manifested earlier were long gone, their duration expired and their specific manifestation locked for seven days.
Kyle had killed with brutal proficiency and accuracy everything that stood in his way since the wolf pack slaughter. At this point, he'd accumulated thirty additional points beyond his previous total—bringing him even further ahead in the rankings, though he had no way of knowing that.
Now, he was prepared to enter this cave.
With a confident stride and a deep exhale of breath, Kyle stepped into the darkness.
And immediately, everything changed.
"What!"
Before Kyle could say another word, he felt it. He felt it clearly. He felt it intensely.
There were many. Too many. Far, far too many.
A wave of cold sweat began forming at his back, starting at the base of his spine and spreading upward. A gulp of saliva made its way down his throat, audible in the oppressive silence. A single bead of sweat rolled down his cheek, following the curve of his jaw before dripping onto his collar.
"This is insane!" he said aloud, though the word 'insane' didn't even begin to cover it.
His detection sigil was lighting up like a constellation—hundreds of signatures registering throughout the cave system. The density was staggering, overwhelming. This wasn't a small nest or a scattered pack.
This was an infestation.
"Just how many of these monsters are there?" Kyle spoke with forced calm, though hesitation crept into his voice.
If this amount of spawns were concentrated here, how did the instructors expect anyone to survive—let alone win? How? These were students who'd only recently awakened, most barely understanding their abilities. And weren't these monsters just tier-one? The "weakest" classification?
'Something doesn't add up.'
Kyle forced his complaints down his throat, swallowing his confusion alongside his fear. His mind raced, analyzing the situation from every angle.
He prepared to advance, squaring his shoulders and steadying his breathing.
Fear had abandoned him—or perhaps been suppressed by the system's emotional dampening. Either way, he no longer felt the paralyzing dread that should have consumed him. After all, he had the system. He had an ability that defied conventional limitations.
"It may be impossible for the others," Kyle murmured, his voice gaining confidence, "but not for me."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he began making his way deeper into the cave.
The detection sigil above him flickered and transformed, reorganizing its geometric patterns into something new. Light bloomed from the construct—not the soft azure glow of before, but bright white illumination that pushed back the darkness in a fifteen-foot radius.
But the sigil wasn't just for visibility.
A second layer materialized around it—a circular shield pattern that rotated slowly, humming with protective energy. It would defend him from danger, at least from tier-one attacks. Not invincible, but sufficient.
Kyle's boots echoed softly against stone as he ventured deeper. The cave walls were damp, glistening with moisture that reflected his light in scattered patterns. The air grew colder with each step, carrying the familiar stench of corruption and decay.
And everywhere—absolutely everywhere—he could sense them.
Waiting.
Watching.
Hungry.
Kyle's hand rested on his blade's hilt, ready to draw at a moment's notice. His jaw set with determination.
"Let's see just how far this power can take me," he whispered into the darkness.
The cave seemed to answer with silence—heavy, expectant, and filled with terrible promise.