"Big sis! Big brother! Did you see? I actually used Double Casting!"
Suzy's eyes shone like two burning stars as she jumped in place, squealing and spinning with joy. Her voice rang through the clearing, echoing against the trees, and her hands trembled as if she couldn't believe what she had just accomplished. The flames from her Fireball still flickered across the charred ground, smoke rising in twisting patterns.
Maya's jaw had dropped, and even Tony's eyes narrowed with genuine surprise. Double Casting—executing two spells simultaneously—wasn't just rare. It was something most players only dreamed of after years of practice, requiring a perfect balance between mental focus and bodily coordination.
"Suzy, that was…" Maya started, her words stolen by awe.
But before the praise could sink in, a guttural roar split the air.
From within the lingering flames, two surviving boars burst out. Their red eyes glowed with savage hatred, their tusks glinting with sharp menace. Smoke curled from their hides, and their hooves tore deep grooves into the soil as they charged straight toward Suzy.
"Ah!" Suzy froze, happiness instantly vanishing. Her body locked, limbs stiff, as the two monsters closed the distance. In her joy, she had forgotten the most important truth of Ancient Myth—battle never waits.
"Suzy!" Maya cried, trying to dash forward, but the boars were faster.
Yet even before Maya moved, Tony had already anticipated it. From the moment Suzy let her guard down, his focus had never wavered. His body moved with frightening speed, sword glowing with crackling light as he invoked [Lightning Strike].
A thunderclap split the forest.
The two boars shrieked as arcs of blue lightning wrapped around their bodies, their HP bars instantly plummeting to zero. They collapsed in smoking heaps, the air thick with the stench of burnt fur.
Suzy blinked, her body still trembling. "…Thank God big brother is with us."
Maya turned sharply, her face pale with both fear and anger. "Suzy! This is not the time to celebrate recklessly! How could you do something so stupid during a fight?" Her voice cracked under the weight of the near-disaster.
Suzy shrank under her sister's glare. Her lips quivered as she muttered, "But sis… I was just happy." Then her voice fell to a pitiful whisper. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."
Maya's heart twisted painfully. It was the first time in her life she had raised her voice at her little sister, and the sight of Suzy lowering her head like a scolded child made her chest ache.
"…Well, if it were me," Maya sighed, softening as she placed a gentle hand on Suzy's hair, "I would have done the same thing after achieving something so impossible."
Tony chuckled. "Achieving Double Casting without any formal training is beyond rare. Anyone in your shoes would've lost their composure. Don't beat yourself up, you little monster."
"Hmph!" Suzy puffed her cheeks, stamping her foot on the ground. "Big brother, don't call me that! I don't want to be known as a monster!"
"Too late." Tony smirked. "What you showed us proves you're a certified monster. Wear it with pride."
Maya laughed softly, the tension broken. Suzy turned away with exaggerated indignation, but the corners of her lips betrayed the smile she was trying to hide.
"Alright, enough fooling around," Tony said, his tone steady again. "Go loot the corpses. Consider it your privilege."
The sisters blinked in surprise. In most parties, the leader or strongest member always handled the loot. For Tony to give Suzy the honor was no small gesture—it was trust, encouragement, and recognition rolled into one.
Suzy skipped toward the fallen boars, humming a tune as she bent down to collect their drops. She had just stuffed a tusk into her inventory when a deep rumble shook the earth beneath their feet.
The forest trembled. Birds scattered in panicked flocks. The villagers gasped, paling as an enormous shadow emerged from the trees.
A boar stepped into the clearing—no, a beast. Its body towered like a moving hill, muscles rippling beneath coarse black fur. Tusks the size of spears jutted from its mouth, glowing faintly with earthy energy. Its eyes were burning coals, filled with fury as it gazed at the corpses of its kin.
Then it roared.
The ground split beneath their feet, and the sheer force of the sound rattled their bones.
"Th-that's…!" One villager screamed. "The Boar King!"
"We're doomed!" another wailed. "Why has the Boar King left its forest territory? This is a disaster!"
Even Maya staggered back, pulling Suzy close. The air around them grew heavy with the monster's killing intent.
But Tony's lips curved into a grin.
[Name: Boar King]
[Rank: Special Elite]
Level: 5
HP: 1000
Attacks: Charge
Skills: Earth Stomp, Angry Roar, Ferocity
"Well, well," Tony murmured, excitement sparking in his eyes. "To think I'd come across a Special Elite this early… interesting."
While others saw death, Tony saw only challenge. He tightened his grip on his blade and strode forward to meet the beast head-on.
The Boar King lowered its massive head and charged, the ground exploding beneath its hooves. But Tony was already moving, his sword flashing in three arcs, slicing across the beast's thick hide. Damage numbers floated up: –12, –11, –20. The beast bellowed in pain, eyes narrowing on Tony.
"Come then," Tony whispered, dodging to the side as the boar redirected its charge with terrifying agility. At the last moment, Tony braced his sword, blocking the impact. The collision sent a shockwave through the clearing, and his HP dropped by –49.
"Brother!" Suzy cried.
But Tony only grinned wider.
The Boar King wheeled around for another charge, but this time Suzy raised her staff. "[Gravity Pull]!"
A glowing circle expanded, pulling at the beast's massive frame—
Only for the ground to erupt as the Boar King slammed its hooves down, invoking [Earth Stomp]. Cracks spider-webbed across the soil, nullifying the spell.
"Impossible!" Suzy gasped. "It countered my skill? A monster—countering?"
Tony's eyes gleamed. "So this is what the guide meant by intelligent monsters…"
The battle raged. The Boar King wasn't just powerful—it adapted. It dodged Suzy's Fireballs, stomped to negate her crowd control, and timed its [Angry Roar] to send both sisters into panic twice. Maya nearly died when her HP fell to just 15, saved only by Tony intercepting a killing charge at the last second.
"This stupid boar's learning my patterns," Tony muttered, his strikes landing only 80% of the time now. To others it might seem negligible, but to him, perfection mattered. A low-level monster forcing even this margin of error meant higher-rank foes would be far deadlier.
"This game…" Tony thought, sweat dripping down his face, "is truly a masterpiece. To underestimate it is to die forgotten."
The Boar King lunged again, tusks aimed to impale. But Tony's body shifted—not in predictable arcs, but in fluid, formless movements. His sword no longer followed rigid patterns. His footwork bent like flowing water.
The Boar King's eyes widened, its momentum faltering as every strike missed, cleaving only empty air. Meanwhile, Tony's blade carved steadily into weak points, draining the beast's HP with ruthless precision.
Suzy gasped, realizing the change. "Big brother… he's fighting differently…"
Maya nodded, mesmerized. Tony's movements were irregular, unreadable, yet graceful. But they also noticed something else—his face had paled, his breathing uneven.
"Big brother, are you okay?" Suzy called, her worry piercing through the chaos.
"Don't worry," Tony said with a strained smile. "I just… nearly depleted my hidden attribute: Conscious."
The sisters exchanged confused looks. Conscious? They hadn't heard of such a stat before.
"To think," Tony muttered under his breath, "using the Formless Style even briefly pushes me this far…"
For the first time in Ancient Myth, he had successfully merged martial arts principles with in-game mechanics. The results were extraordinary—but draining. His vision blurred, his mind heavy, but his strikes continued with relentless precision.
Then the familiar chime of the system echoed in his ears.
Ding!
System Notification: Congratulations for being the fifth player to achieve a unique fighting style.
Reward: Conscious +1, Bronze-rank Equipment (random).
Tony barely glanced at it. His thoughts burned elsewhere. Four players… already ahead of me.
A grin curved his lips. "Good. The more rivals there are… the sweeter it will be to crush them."
The Boar King roared again, thrashing wildly, but its HP was already dwindling. The battle wasn't just against a monster anymore—it was against the limits of their own understanding of Ancient Myth.
And for Tony, this was only the beginning.