Chapter 39: 1v1

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: 1v1

That night, the attic fell dead silent save for the rhythmic hum of circulating energy.

Eric sat cross-legged upon his woven meditation mat, his breathing calm, measured, and deep. Streams of refined mana coursed smoothly through his meridians, gathering into a dense, rapidly spinning vortex within the core of his Mana Heart.

*THUMP.*

With a sudden, sharp exhalation, a flood of pure spiritual energy surged through his vessels. The invisible bottleneck shattered cleanly, sending a jolt of invigorating vitality racing through his bones, sinews, and marrow.

Eric opened his eyes, a sharp blue radiance flickering in his dark pupils before receding into calm clarity.

Mortal Stage Level 8.

"This feels incredible..." Eric murmured, curling his fingers into a tight fist until his knuckles popped. He could feel the dense, raw kinetic force humming beneath his skin. "I could easily overpower five of my old Level 7 selves without breaking a sweat. The physical scaling in these late Mortal tiers is absurd."

Across their shared soul tether, the surge of breakthrough feedback washed directly into Coal’s beast core.

The crow gave a resonant, appreciative trill from the windowsill, the shared energy had pushed him right up to the absolute threshold of Level 10, leaving him primed for the Soldier Rank breakthrough.

***

The next morning, the sky broke in hues of cold steel and pale gold.

Eric strapped his round buckler firmly to his left forearm, secured his polished steel shortsword to his hip, and double-knotted his boots.

"Alright, buddy," Eric smirked, turning toward Coal with a sharp, fiery glint in his eye. "Tonight, we dine in hell."

Passing through the military checkpoint at Gate 3, they crossed the dimensional rift into the Tyra Grasslands. Bypassing the shallow plains where low-tier beasts scattered at Coal’s presence, they pushed straight into the rugged, limestone ravines of the inner zone.

*DING.*

A jagged crimson prompt snapped across Eric’s line of sight without warning:

│ [DYNAMIC QUEST ENGINE TRIGGERED]

│

│ Sudden Quest: Solo Hunt

│ Objective: Slay a Gorgefiend at or above the Host’s current level (Level 8+) without any assistance.

│

│ Rewards:

│ - [Instant Level Up (+1 Level)]

│ - [Basic Gacha Ticket x1]

│

│ Failure Penalty:

│ Permanent Cultivation Degeneration (-2 Levels).

"Minus two whole levels?!"

Eric’s jaw tightened, a cold sweat breaking out across the back of his neck.

"Are you serious? If I fail this, an entire month of grueling cultivation goes down the drain. Failure isn’t an option. I have to kill this thing solo."

After forty minutes of careful tracking and filtering past lower Level 7 wanderers and an oversized Level 9 brute roaming with a mate, Eric spotted a solitary titan prowling through a narrow, boulder-strewn canyon.

*Appraisal.*

│ Race: Gorgefiend

│ Rank: E

│ Stage: Mortal

│ Level: 8

"Found our mark," Eric whispered, keeping his back pressed against the shadow of the canyon wall. He reached up, gently placing a hand against Coal’s chest. "Coal, hold your position on that high cliff ridge. Do not engage unless my life is in absolute peril. This one is entirely mine."

*Caw.*

Coal let out a low, understanding chirp. Launching silently into the air, he perched atop a jagged limestone spire, his dark, pitch-black eyes locking onto the arena below.

Taking a deep, stabilizing breath, Eric gathered refined mana into his calves and heels.

*Shadow Steps!*

Eric vanished from the rocky alcove, gliding soundlessly along the dark contour of the canyon wall. In the fraction of a second, he launched off a raised boulder, closing a fifteen-meter gap instantly.

Before the behemoth even registered the sudden shift in air pressure, Eric materialized directly before its snout, his steel shortsword slicing forward in a blinding arc.

*SHLICK!*

"ROOOAAAR!"

The titan let out an ear-splitting howl of agony as the blade severed its left eye, thick, dark blood spraying across the dry stones.

Eric immediately kicked off the monster’s broad jaw, executing a mid-air shadow burst to land ten paces back in a low defensive crouch.

The half blinded Level 8 titan went berserk. It swept its massive, tree-trunk forearm across the canyon floor, shattering limestone boulders into flying shrapnel.

*It’s guarding its remaining eye completely with its shoulder,* Eric analyzed, his heart pounding like a war drum in his ears. *No more direct headshots. Same strategy as before, death by a thousand cuts. I just have to manage my stamina and avoid taking a clean hit.*

The titan charged, the earth shaking violently beneath its thundering strides.

Eric remained motionless until the crushing fist was inches from his face.

*Shift, pivot, parry!*

Using Advanced Swordsmanship, Eric angled his buckler to deflect the crushing blow while his boots slipped into a low Shadow Step. The kinetic shock vibrated through his arm, but the blow glanced off harmlessly.

Sliding beneath the monster’s swinging elbow, Eric drove his shortsword deep into the titan’s exposed flank before ripping the edge outward.

*CRUNCH-SHRED.*

Blood poured from the deep laceration, but the monster’s colossal vitality pool kept it moving. It whipped around in a blind frenzy, snapping its heavy, calcified tail toward Eric’s midsection with bone-crushing velocity.

Eric leaped backward, but the blunt tail tip clipped his leather chestplate, knocking the breath straight from his lungs.

He skipped across the gravel, tasting copper at the back of his throat, but sprang back to his feet in an instant.

For twenty brutal, exhausting minutes, the canyon echoed with the clash of steel, roaring shockwaves, and splintering rock.

Without Coal’s clones to draw aggro, every ounce of the monster’s feral fury was locked entirely onto Eric. He had to read every muscle twitch, anticipate every clubbing sweep, and execute precision cuts along the beast’s hamstrings, wrists, and ankles.

His muscles burned like molten lead, his breathing turned ragged, and his knuckles turned white around the sword hilt. But every dodge was tight, every parry was calculated, and every counter-strike deepened the bleeding wounds draining the titan’s life force.

Finally, dragging its severed hamstrings, the blinded giant stumbled forward with a heavy, wheezing gasp.

Eric saw his opening.

*Shadow Steps!*

He blurred straight up the titan’s bent knee, vaulted onto its massive shoulder, and reversed his grip with both hands on the hilt. Channeling every last drop of his Level 8 mana into the steel, he drove the shortsword downward through the base of the titan’s thick skull.

*CRACK-THUD!*

The four-meter behemoth shuddered violently, let out a dying hiss, and collapsed forward into the dust, completely lifeless.

Eric dropped down to the blood-slick gravel, leaning heavily on his sword as his chest heaved. He was drenched in sweat and monster blood, bruised and battered, but whole.

"Haah... haah... took you down..."

*DING!*

│ [QUEST COMPLETED: Solo Hunt]

│ Objective: Slay a Level 8+ Gorgefiend without assistance (Complete).

│

│ Rewards Distributed:

│ - [Host Cultivation: Mortal Level 8 ➔ Level 9 (0%)]

│ - [Basic Gacha Ticket x1]

A soothing, celestial warmth suddenly erupted from the center of his chest.

In a split second, the deep exhaustion draining his limbs vanished. The torn muscle fibers in his shoulders repaired themselves instantly, his depleted mana reservoir swelled to twice its previous volume, and a fresh wave of explosive power settled into his bones.

Eric stood up tall, completely rejuvenated, a confident smile spreading across his face.

"Mortal Stage Level 9," Eric laughed softly, sheathing his bloodied blade. "Now, all that’s left is to aim for the next rank."