Even though several system notifications were flashing in his vision, Ethan didn't have the luxury of paying attention to any of them.
The roar echoed across the mountain, shaking the ground beneath his feet.
It wasn't just loud.
It was terrifying.
The moment that sound reached his ears, an indescribable sense of danger surged through Ethan's heart. His instincts screamed at him that whatever had produced that roar was far beyond anything he had faced so far.
Ethan didn't hesitate.
The first thing he did was look for a hiding spot.
In every situation he encountered since arriving in this world, he had learned one important lesson—his own safety always came first. Only after ensuring his survival would he even think about dealing with whatever trouble lay ahead.
His eyes scanned the surroundings rapidly.
Soon, he found a dense patch of bushes covered by thick trees. The vegetation was tangled and layered, providing excellent concealment.
Without wasting a second, Ethan rushed toward it.
He wasn't sure whether hiding was the right decision or not. But this wasn't the time to overthink. The situation was urgent, and he made the best decision he could in that instant.
ROOOAAARRR!!!
Another roar thundered through the air.
Ethan froze mid-step.
His heart sank.
Judging from the intensity of the first roar, the monster should have been far away. He should have had enough time to hide properly before it reached his location.
But now—
It was already here.
Ethan instinctively turned around.
The moment his eyes landed on the source of the roar, his mouth fell open in shock.
The monsters he had fought earlier were roughly his height.
This one was not.
This monster towered over him like a walking mountain.
Ethan estimated its height quickly.
Fifteen feet.
At the very least.
Its massive body blocked out the surrounding greenery, casting a huge shadow over the ground. Thick muscles rippled beneath its skin, and its claws were large enough to crush his entire body in a single strike.
Ethan's breath hitched.
But something else confused him even more.
This monster was enormous.
With a body of this size, every movement should have been loud and obvious. It should have crushed the ground beneath its feet, snapping branches and shaking the surroundings.
Yet Ethan hadn't sensed anything.
No footsteps.
No vibrations.
Nothing.
"How…?" Ethan thought.
He didn't take long to reach a conclusion.
A creature of this size should naturally attract attention wherever it went. The fact that he hadn't sensed its approach at all meant only one thing.
This monster possessed an extremely high-level stealth ability.
That realization made Ethan's scalp go numb.
He had been terrified while facing those twenty-six weaker monsters. Even with sneak attacks and careful planning, his nerves had been stretched to the limit.
When he fought the final six monsters, he was still cautious to the extreme. Every move had been calculated. Every step had been deliberate. He had relied heavily on psychological warfare rather than brute force.
Most importantly, his confidence back then came from one thing alone—
His upgraded speed and agility.
That advantage allowed him to escape danger, reposition himself, and control the flow of battle.
He had planned every action before facing those monsters.
Even the psychological tricks he used were carefully thought out.
Despite all that preparation, victory had not been easy.
And now—
A fifteen-foot-tall monster had appeared out of nowhere.
The pressure radiating from it was overwhelming.
It wasn't just strong.
It was fast.
And it could completely conceal its presence.
For someone like Ethan—an amateur who had only recently entered real combat—this was nothing short of a nightmare.
Ethan tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.
His entire focus locked onto the giant monster.
He didn't know when it would attack.
So he prepared for the worst.
But the pressure alone was terrifying.
He had never felt such an oppressive aura since arriving in the Mortal World.
Swallowing hard, Ethan spoke internally.
"System… what is the cultivation base of this monster?"
The answer came instantly.
[Name: Modigere]
[Species: Kapius Race]
[Cultivation Base: 1st Level of Physique Strengthening Stage]
"…Physique Strengthening Stage?"
Ethan felt his heart plummet.
"Are you kidding me?" he muttered under his breath.
Physique Strengthening Stage.
That was an entirely different realm.
A realm far above the Elementary Stage.
The gap between them was not small.
It was terrifyingly vast.
Ethan cursed inwardly, but his eyes never left Modigere for even a moment. One lapse in attention could cost him his life.
Yet something felt strange.
The monster wasn't looking at him.
Its gaze was fixed elsewhere.
Ethan subconsciously followed its line of sight.
The moment he realized where it was looking, his heart sank even further.
"Shit… I'm screwed."
The direction the monster was staring at was exactly where the bodies of the last monsters lay.
The corpses.
The heads separated from their bodies.
A heavy pressure suddenly descended upon Ethan.
Thanks to his strong and upgraded Soul Attribute, he managed to remain standing. His legs trembled slightly, but they didn't give way.
If an ordinary cultivator with a similar cultivation base were in his place, they would have collapsed instantly.
Ethan took a shaky breath.
Back on Earth, he had read countless cultivation novels. One common rule always applied—when there was a huge gap in cultivation realms, the weaker party would be crushed effortlessly.
Unless—
That weaker party was the protagonist.
But Ethan knew the truth.
He wasn't like those protagonists.
Those characters were destined to reach the apex of the cultivation world. Their courage was written by authors. Their survival was guaranteed.
He didn't have that luxury.
He was different.
He was afraid.
He had lived most of his life as an ordinary person on Earth. Even now, he was still adjusting to the brutal reality of this world.
Killing was necessary here.
Survival demanded blood.
But he wasn't accustomed to it.
ROOOAAARRR!!!
Modigere roared again.
The sound jolted Ethan back to reality.
In that instant, Ethan understood.
This giant monster was most likely the parent of the twenty-six monsters he had killed.
Seeing the corpses of its children had enraged it.
And since Ethan was standing nearby—
The monster had concluded that he was the culprit.
It had come for revenge.
Shew!
Before Ethan could even blink, Modigere vanished.
Ethan's pupils shrank.
"What—?!"
Before he could react, the monster reappeared directly in front of him.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
Ethan barely had time to raise his sword when Modigere's massive claw slammed into his chest.
The impact was brutal.
Ethan's body was sent flying like a ragdoll.
He crashed violently into a thick bamboo tree behind him.
Crack!
The bamboo shattered.
Blood burst from Ethan's mouth and splattered onto the ground.
Pain exploded through his body.
Ethan gasped for breath as his vision blurred.
This was the first serious injury he had suffered since arriving in this world.
Back on Earth, he had lived as a civilian.
Physical injuries were rare.
Even when he had been bullied or harassed, the pain had never reached this level.
Blood had never poured out of his body like this.
Now—
It was.
His chest burned.
His entire body screamed in pain.
Ethan struggled to stay conscious.
This battle…
Was far more terrifying than anything he had imagined.
And he knew—
This was only the beginning.