Chapter 47: Gaunt Shadows

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Gaunt Shadows

Eric knelt beside the fallen ocular abomination, unscrewed the brass cap of an alchemical vacuum vial, and carefully drained the glowing, violet vitreous fluid from the ruptured optic mantle.

After prying loose the crystalline Soldier-Rank E-Grade Mana Stone from behind the severed pupil, he stored both materials into his inventory. With a firm nudge of his boot against the rubbery mass, he sent the worthless, deflated carcass tumbling over the ledge into the swirling fog below.

"Not a bad start," Eric murmured, wiping a speck of violet grime from his forearm with a rag.

Shouldering his canvas pack and keeping the Wavecaller unsheathed in a relaxed low guard, Eric advanced along the winding shale path.

For the next hour, the jagged ridgelines of Parva were eerily desolate. Bitter alpine gales whistled through narrow limestone crevices, and loose scree clattered rhythmically down the steep drops beneath his reinforced boots.

High above, Coal drifted seamlessly through the thin cloud banks, acting as an unseen aerial sentinel.

Suddenly, a sharp mental pulse fluttered across their shared soul tether.

Coal had tightened his orbit, circling low over a shadowed rock shelf flanking a dark, recessed cavern mouth seventy meters ahead.

Eric dropped into a soundless crouch, ascended a jagged limestone outcrop, and peered through a crevice between two boulders.

Prowling along the loose gravel in front of the cave were two nightmarish figures.

They were tall, gaunt bipeds standing nearly eight feet high, their leathery, pitch-black skin stretched tight over an emaciated, sinewy skeletal frame. Massive, yellowed ivory tusks jutted upward from their split lower jaws. Their most grotesque anatomical feature, however, was their arms, disproportionately elongated limbs that dragged almost down to their ankles, terminating in wicked, curved obsidian claws.

Eric focused his vision, channeling his ocular talent.

*Appraisal.*

│ Race: Gauntreaver

│ Rank: E

│ Stage: Soldier

│ Level: 3

His eyes shifted toward the second creature resting against the frozen rock wall. A jagged, ugly gash spanned its lower ribcage, crusted over with dark, dried blood.

*Appraisal.*

│ Race: Gauntreaver

│ Rank: E

│ Stage: Soldier

│ Level: 4 (Weakened / Injured)

"A Level 3 and an injured Level 4..." Eric whispered across the soul link, his pulse quickening. "What do you think, Coal? Can we take them?"

*Caw.*

Coal responded through the mental channel with a cold, predatory hum of confidence.

"Right. We haven’t crossed paths with another living soul for miles. Let’s do it."

Before rushing down, Eric tapped his silver smartband, querying the Association’s tactical bestiary database on the species.

The entry was concise: *Territorial ambushers. Typically roam in mated pairs. Freakish strike radius. Primary vulnerability: The base of the lower spine along the lumbar vertebrae—their elongated torsos leave the spinal column structurally brittle and weakly protected by muscle mass. Commercial value: The dense radius and ulna bones within their forearms boast exceptional tensile flexibility, traded as premium core material for Soldier-grade bows and spears.*

"We have a plan," Eric murmured, checking his footing on the scree. "Coal, I’ll draw the healthy Level 3 away and lock its attention. You drop from the blind spot on the wounded Level 4 with everything you’ve got. Shatter its lower spine for a rapid kill, then loop around to collapse on mine."

*Caw!* Coal’s dark eyes narrowed with razor focus.

Eric moved.

*Shadow Steps!*

He exploded from behind the boulder, his boots skimming the shale as he vaulted off a raised limestone ledge, landing squarely before the cavern with a sharp crunch of gravel.

"Hey, ugly!" Eric barked, sweeping the Wavecaller in a wide, whistling arc that cleaved through the alpine wind.

The healthy Level 3 Gauntreaver snapped around, twin crimson eyes flaring with primal malice. With a guttural screech resembling stones grinding together, its freakish arms whipped forward.

*SWOOSH!*

The monster cleared ten meters of rocky ground in the fraction of an instant, its abnormal reach catching Eric off guard. A set of jagged obsidian claws swiped horizontally like reaping scythes.

Eric dropped into an emergency crouch.

The razor-sharp claws skimmed inches above his scalp, cleaving the freezing air with an audible shockwave. Rising from the pocket, Eric lunged upward, thrusting the pale-blue ivory edge of the Wavecaller straight toward the beast’s exposed sternum.

*CLANG!*

The Gauntreaver reflexively snapped its forearm downward, catching the blade against the calcified bone crest of its wrist. Sparks showered across the gravel.

The sheer kinetic force of a Tier 2 monster vibrated violently up Eric’s forearm, jarring his wrist and testing the grip of his fingers.

*Damn, their leverage is insane!* Eric gritted his teeth, executing an evasive pivot to slip beneath a follow-up backhand that pulverized the boulder behind him into powder.

Meanwhile, high in the gray overcast, Coal struck.

*Skystride!*

Bursting through the fog at blinding velocity, Coal tucked his obsidian wings and plummeted like a guided mortar directly behind the wounded Level 4 beast.

The injured Gauntreaver caught the sudden shift in air pressure and began to twist, but its cracked ribs delayed its reaction by half a second. Before its elongated arms could sweep upward, Coal’s talons ignited in dense, pressurized Shadow mana.

*Shadow Talons!*

*CRACK!*

Coal drove his reinforced talons directly into the base of the beast’s lower lumbar region. The crushing kinetic momentum of a Soldier-rank aerial dive paired with the piercing shadow blades instantly snapped the exposed spinal column.

The Level 4 beast let out a choked, gurgling howl as its legs went limp, collapsing face-first into the dirt.

Coal banked hard off an atmospheric air pocket with *Skystride*, looped around its neck, and drove his iron-hard beak straight through the monster’s jugular, severing the throat and extinguishing its life in seconds.

Down on the lower ledge, however, Eric was locked in a desperate struggle.

The Level 3 Gauntreaver’s anatomy made it an agonizing target to duel in close quarters. Its elongated limbs allowed it to strike from distances where Eric couldn’t reach, continuously whipping curved claw sweeps that hemmed him against the cliff face.

*RIP!*

Eric leaned back to slip a vicious downward claw, but the trailing claw tip sheared clean through his reinforced leather chestplate, gouging three shallow, burning furrows across his chest.

A searing jolt of pain flared through his torso.

Eric ground his teeth, sliding three paces backward with a tight *Shadow Step* to reset his guard. *It’s too fast to trade blows with in a straight line!*

Before the Gauntreaver could press its offensive advantage, a piercing war cry shattered the canyon silence.

*SKRRRAAAK!*

Four pitch-black Shadow Clones plunged from the mist in a frantic dive, raking their phantasmal talons across the Gauntreaver’s face and gouging at its crimson eyes.

Blinded and thrashing in wild fury at the illusory crows, the monster’s frontal defenses blew wide open.

Eric saw his opening.

Channeling his liquid mana into an explosive burst through his calves, Eric glided through the beast’s blind spot like a silent wraith. He circled behind the flailing fiend, dropped his weight into a rooted stance, and unleashed a two-handed horizontal cleave with the sword.

*SHLICK-CRUNCH!*

The pale-blue serpent-bone edge bit deep into the Gauntreaver’s unprotected lumbar spine, shearing cleanly through marrow and bone.

The monster stiffened, a silent gasp escaping its tusked maw, before it crashed heavily into the frozen mountain dirt, motionless.

Eric leaned back against a boulder, his chest heaving in ragged, steaming plumes.

Blood soaked through the shredded leather of his tunic, staining the dark fabric crimson. The claw marks burned intensely in the freezing wind, though fortunately, they had only scored the dermis without tearing muscle tissue.

Coal glided down, perching softly atop the boulder beside him, letting out a low, concerned trill as he inspected the blood on Eric’s chest.

"Haah... haah... good timing, Coal," Eric muttered, coughing softly as he pressed a gloved hand against his aching ribs.

He pulled an alchemical antiseptic spray and a roll of sterile gauze from his pack, thoroughly sterilizing the scratches before tightly binding his chest.

Taking out his carving knife, Eric harvested the two Soldier-rank mana stones and meticulously severed the dense forearm bones from both corpses, sliding the prized materials into his spatial inventory.

Looking down at his ruined explorer leathers and feeling the persistent throb in his ribs, Eric exhaled a long breath into the bitter alpine air.

"That’s enough for our maiden run in a Tier 2 rift," Eric decided, sliding the Sword back into its scabbard with a firm click.

"Going toe-to-toe with multiple Soldier-tier monsters without a frontline tank is no joke. Let’s return to the military outpost, trade in the materials, and get these wounds checked properly."