The Bogbone Territory wasn't just a place to fight. It was a place to bury the dead. Over time, the area fell into disrepair. Broken stone was scattered on the ground. Monuments stood partially submerged. Rusted relics from wars even older than the kingdom's history poked through the mud.
It didn't feel right. It was like the mud was holding its breath, trying to get me to make a mistake.
It felt ancient. As if the gods had left something unfinished, something waiting.
This region hid secrets in its shadows, waiting to trap the unwary traveler.
The first tremor rippled over the mud like a soft knock.
The second responded with a growl.
As the second tremor faded, the marsh began to separate.
The marsh separated. The first Bogbone Golem emerged from the breach, standing ten feet tall and composed of bone, metal, and swamp rock. Dull green light pumped in its chest, like a heartbeat preserved in crystal.
It didn't roar.
It simply slammed one knuckled fist into the ground with a deafening THOOM that cracked nearby stone.
Charles sidestepped just in time.
"Nice of you to say hello."
It swung a wide haymaker, smashing a tree to splinters. Charles darted left. Mud flew beneath his qi-charged boots as he skimmed the ground. He felt each step vibrate through the earth.
"Piercing's out. Let's punch something stupid."
Qi surged into his Gauntlet of the Elemental Ascendant, its sigils flaring violet and gold.
"Titanheart Fist – Seismic Blow!"
He ducked low and slammed his fist into the golem's knee joint.
CRACK.
The stone fractured, and the leg crumpled in response. Without hesitation, he pivoted and delivered a heel kick straight into its glowing core.
The light dimmed.
The golem groaned like a dying mountain—and collapsed into ruin.
Charles stepped through the falling debris and drove his hand into its chest cavity, yanking free a pulsing Golem Core crusted in black ichor and crystal.
"One down."
The second didn't announce itself.
Without warning, the second golem rose from beneath the bog, hidden in muck. As Charles was mid-leap after defeating the first, stone fingers lunged from below and clamped around his waist like a vice.
"SIGMA! Spinal compression warning!"
"Executing adaptive reinforcement!"
Pain flared—white-hot. Sharp. Immediate.
He grit his teeth and yanked Emberfang, surging lightning qi through the blade.
"Raijin Art – Arc Pulse!"
He stabbed backward into the elbow joint, then triggered the pulse. Instantly, a burst of explosive energy shot outward, with arcs of electricity ripping through the limb.
The grip loosened.
He twisted free, slid across the mud, and then launched himself forward with brutal precision.
One shoulder slammed into the knee.
Two quick strikes to the chest.
The golem shuddered from the blows, lost balance, and collapsed.
"Runed Knuckle Shard: Acquired."
The third was different.
Leaner. Taller. Veins of red qi burned beneath its rocky hide.
It didn't walk. It charged, like a freight train fueled by rage.
Charles noticed its speed as he dove aside, narrowly avoiding an exploding tree. "Oh, good. It's fast."
Quickly assessing, he triggered a localized Shock Array, sending energy surging beneath the creature's feet in an attempt to slow it.
No effect.
"SIGMA, options?"
[One: let it punch you. Two: punch harder.]
"Inspiring."
The golem lunged again.
Instead of dodging as before, Charles held his ground and met the charging golem head-on.
Every bit of qi rushed into his core. His arm shook. The gauntlet vibrated with power.
"Titanheart Fist Emperor's Smash!"
Leaping up as the golem charged, he drove his fist into its chest. The impact cratered its armor and sent cracks spidering through its core.
He landed behind it.
The golem staggered once.
Then it imploded, collapsing inward with a sound like stone breaking apart.
As shards rained down and dust choked the air, Charles staggered forward and coughed.
Charles staggered forward. He coughed.
"I really, really hate golems."
He wiped stone dust from his face, pried the second Runed Knuckle Shard from the smoldering wreckage that was all that remained of the golem, and took a long, deep breath.
[Mission Summary – Bogbone Golem Core Retrieval
3 Bogbone Golems Eliminated
1× Golem Core
2× Runed Knuckle Shards
Reward for the mission: 450 gold coins and one Earth Qi Compression Band
Trialmind Sync: System Bonus: 512,000 Gold
Loot: 1× Cracked Earthplate Fragment (part of a relic)
+5.7% XP Boost
Improvement of Technique:
Titanheart Fist +6%
Raijin Style +2% Shock Array Manipulation +4%
Time lapsed: 2 hours, 43 minutes]
Charles fell to the ground, with his back against the still-warm body of the last golem. His glove was steaming. His cloak had more holes than fabric.
He looked at his qi level.
"97%."
He could almost taste it. One last push. Another mission.
He put his hand in his pouch and felt the last scroll. It had a bloodthorn and crimson ink mark on its wax seal.
The name was carved in big, jagged lines.
[B+] Thicketscourge Queen Subjugation
Charles stared at it, jaw tight.
"Time to meet the queen."
He stood.
And began walking alone into the final trial.
Before the Storm
Two hours.
That's how long Charles sat beneath a thorn-laced ebonwood canopy, unmoving. Even the shadows seemed to hold their breath.
Mana crystals circled him like slow moons, held by the calm. Earth qi pulsed under his skin, matching his breath. Each inhale and exhale felt like tides pulled by a distant moon.
The air buzzed faintly. So did the edge of him.
He consumed the last of his emergency elixirs, one by one and in silence: first, the Wyrmroot Restoration Draught to repair the body.
Calmstar Infusion to steady the mind.
Azure Soullace Elixir to fortify the spirit.
His aura didn't roar.
It shimmered, held back and heavy, like a dam about to break.
"99.1%," SIGMA whispered.
"The next major combat may breach the threshold. Core pressure is unstable. Suppression margin thinning."
Charles opened his eyes.
They weren't just sapphire now. They glowed with something older. Something earned.
Predatory. Cold. Focused.
He rolled his shoulders. Grabbed Raijin's Emberfang. The blade shook a little, as if it knew what was going on.
"Keep it down until the crown falls." He looked at Emberfang. "We climb clean, or not at all."
Then he was gone, disappearing into the woods without a sound or a trace. He was only left with his will.
[B+ Queen of the Thickets: Subjugation
Power Level: Rank 3 in the Core Realm
Goal:
1Royal Venom Sac
1 Regal Carapace Segment
600 Gold Coins and an Enchanted Item Hunter's Mark
Status: Active; Guildmaster Approval Needed
Warning: There are more than 100 Scourgedrones guarding the hive nest. Queen has layered venom mechanics, the ability to control mental links, and extremely swift reflexes. Suggest arrays of thunder, fire, and corrosive materials.]
The Hive of Blight
This was no nest. It was a cathedral of corruption.
Dozens of conical towers loomed in the bog like tumor-ridden altars, coated in waxy venom resin and twitching with insect movement. Chitin shimmered between shadows. The central hive pulsed green—like it had a heartbeat.
Charles crouched high in a twisted branch above, eyes narrowed.
Below, a carpet of six-legged, armor-plated nightmares moved in formation. Each drone is dripping venom. Each link in a hive-wide will.
And beneath it all—she waited.
The Queen.
"Time to cut the crown."
The first volley shattered the silence.
Charles hurled six Resonance Blast Talismans into a circular detonation pattern—lightning-triggered midair.
BOOM.
Twenty drones died instantly. Limbs snapped. Shells ruptured.
The hive responded like a singular, screaming nerve. Drones swarmed.
He dropped into their midst like a guillotine, his Gauntlet of the Elemental Ascendant smashing skulls as he landed. He didn't hesitate. His footwork blurred with destructive speed:
Phantom Veil Steps—sliding through their blind spots.
Thunderbreak Waltz—a dance of pulse and rupture, turning his aura into shockwaves.
But they didn't stop. Not yet.
He could feel it deep inside, behind his teeth, in his spine, and under his ribs. The qi was getting stronger.
SIGMA said, [Bottleneck triggered.
"Breakthrough compression starting.]
"Stop it," Charles growled.
His qi rose like a chained beast. He held it back.
"Not yet."
He spun around with his blade out and cut five drones in one swing. Emberfang made a crackling sound. He turned over a pile of resin that was falling apart and slammed a Corrosive Fire Array Scroll into the mud.
It detonated.
Screams tore through the fog.
And then the earth...cracked. A single fissure split open. Silence shattered.
She appeared, towering and foul. The air turned cold in an instant, sending a shiver through Charles as a harsh chill settled around him.
Her crown was a halo of glowing spines, and her body was covered in acidic slime. She had twelve feet of armored exoskeleton.
The air smelled sharp and metallic, unlike the earthy smell that had come with the golems. Her claws were as thick as scythes, and her tail had a stinger that was longer than a longsword.
She screamed. A low, guttural, psychic wave went across the field.
The drones stopped moving and then went back. They were aware.
There was only Charles left.
He muttered, "You brought the throne with you," as he stepped forward. "Good."
His body shook. It wasn't fear. It was pressure.
Qi howled inside his core, threatening to erupt.
[Charles—] SIGMA's voice sharpened. [Suppression window closing. Two minutes max.]
"Then let's finish this."
The Queen charged like a siege weapon.
Charles slipped sideways beneath her strike, letting her tail spear miss by inches. Her mandibles clacked shut around empty air.
He drove his palm into her left flank.
"Qi Detonation Seal Implode!"
A spherical shockwave blasted her backward, shattering two towers behind her.
She recovered fast —preternaturally fast — and came again.
Tail combo. One...two...three.
The first two he deflected with practiced flow.
The third struck.
Armor cracked. His gauntlet shattered. His arm went numb. The shock lingered.
He grinned.
"That's all you've got, your majesty?"
She reared back for the finishing blow.
He slipped under her belly like a phantom—striking quickly. No wasted motion. Titanheart Fist—Breaker Knuckle.
His gauntlet crashed into her underbelly, cracking bone and scale with a thunderous snap.
Raijin Surge – Piercing Arc.
Lightning flashed as his elbow ripped through sinew, carving a deep gouge.
Heavenpiercer Smash – Full Release.
His final strike hit dead center—straight into her core.
The blow tore through her, sending her flying as her core broke apart, qi bursting like a dying star.
Charles lowered his fist, breath steady.
"Down."
She screamed and thrashed, and a dying pulse of poison shot out.
Rain with acid in it. Mist of venom. Death bloom.
Charles yelled and put all of his strength into his last attack.
"RAIJIN STYLE FINAL WALTZ!"
He disappeared in a flash of lightning.
Then he came back up above her head.
One hand.
One death.
The Queen blew up from the inside.
Chitin. Poison. Bone.
[Mission Summary—Thicketscourge Queen Subjugation
Target Destroyed: 1 Royal Venom Sac, 1 Regal Carapace Segment; 103 Drones Destroyed
Reward for the guild: 600 gold coins and an enchanted hunter's sigil
Trialmind Sync System Rewards
725,000 extra gold
Rare Drop: Regal Acid Spine (part of a weapon) XP Completion: 100% Bottleneck Status: Surpassed. The Foundation Realm Rank 10 threshold has been reached, and stabilization is now active.
Breakthrough Suppression: Success
Technique Advancement:
Raijin Style +7%
Titanheart Fist +5%
Array Combat +6%
Time: 3 hours, 12 minutes]
The battlefield was scorched, the towers in ruin, the queen's corpse a melted husk.
Charles knelt in the center—soaked in ichor, knuckles raw, body trembling.
But his eyes were unbroken. Unyielding. He exhaled. And the world responded.
The qi around him pulsed, calm and obedient. It was no longer wild or held back.
He rose to his feet, slow, deliberate.
His aura flared, bright violet streaked with electric silver. It crackled against the sky, full of purpose.
"Now," he whispered, voice rough. "Now… we rise."
The winds were still.
Too still.
Even the clouds above stayed still, as if the sky itself was waiting for a signal to move.
Then it happened.
"SIGMA. Nimbus."
Charles's voice broke the silence like thunder, low and rough, filled with command. It was not a plea, but a challenge to the heavens.
In his mind, a familiar spark flickered to life.
[Awaiting command.] SIGMA's voice responded with military precision.
A pulse of wind stirred the clearing as the dragon's beast ring ignited in a molten-blue blaze.
Light erupted. The air bent.
And then—Nimbus emerged.
Nimbus spread her huge wings with regal strength. The dragon scales shimmered like a living storm. He dug her claws into the earth and exhaled, shaking the trees and making the ground ripple. She curled around the clearing, a living shield made of lightning and fury.
At the epicenter stood Charles.
Chest heaving. Muscles trembling. Veins lit with volatile qi.
The bottleneck was no longer approaching.
It had him by the throat.
Qi churned inside him like trapped stars about to burst. His meridians ached for release. Each heartbeat felt like it could be his last.
"If I don't ascend now…" he rasped. "I'll combust from the inside out."
"I can't hold it anymore… Prepare the array. Nimbus, guard me."
His knees buckled, but he forced himself upright with sheer, murderous will.
As Charles entered the center, memories of their earlier strategy planning flashed in his mind.
Glowing runes lit up under his boots in scarlet, gold, and deep violet, forming rings that pulsed like ancient hearts. With shaking hands, Charles took out a smooth, black vial.
He bit down.
The reaction was instant.
Explosion.
Agony hit him. Pain struck him like a hammer to the chest. His meridians burned like molten rivers. Qi crashed against his inner walls like waves against a dam. He gasped, each breath sharp and rough. not scream.
He bit down hard enough for blood to stream down his jaw.
Then came the second vial.
The Tri-Core Compression Elixir.
"Drink it only when you're ready to command your core, not beg it."
He drank it in one motion.
And his world fractured.