Lysander moved deeper into the Rank-C Zone, leaping from tree branch to tree branch. The air here was thicker, smelling of wet earth and rotting leaves. The deeper he went, the more complex the terrain became. It wasn't just a flat forest anymore; there were ravines, hidden caves, and shifting paths.
He paused on a high branch, looking around the confusing landscape.
"Damn it," Lysander muttered, rubbing his helmet. "I have no idea where I'm going. System, give me a bearing on the Boss"
Whirrr...
[CALCULATING ROUTE...]
[Turn North-West in 400 meters.]
Lysander sighed. "I wish I had a visual map. Having to ask you for directions every five minutes is annoying"
Ding!
[Master, you are aware that you can purchase the 'Cartographer's Atlas (Stratified Domain)' from the Shop, correct? It provides a real-time holographic mini-map"
Lysander froze. He stared at the blue window floating in front of his face.
"...What?"
He gritted his teeth behind the mask.
"You tell me this now? I've been stumbling around this forest for hours! Why do you always tell me the useful stuff after I complain?"
The System's voice responded, sounding colder and more robotic than usual, almost sassy.
[You never asked]
Lysander twitched. "You smart-ass machine"
He shook his head. "Fine. How much is the map?"
[PRICE: 1,500 SP]
Lysander looked at his balance.
[CURRENT BALANCE: 0 SP]
"Of course," Lysander groaned, looking up at the violet sky. "I'm broke. I spent everything on the fruit"
He looked down at his Twin-Star Revolvers. The golden runes on the barrels were dim. He checked the ammo count.
[MANA BULLETS: 12/12]
[RELOAD COST: 50 SP]
"I can't even afford to reload my guns," he realized, feeling the weight of his poverty. "My weapon is at full capacity, yet I cannot afford to squander ammunition as my SP is depleted"
With a heavy sigh, he unbuckled the holsters.
"Inventory: Store"
ZAP.
The guns vanished into his dimensional storage. Lysander felt lighter, but also more vulnerable. He was entering a high-level zone without his primary ranged weapons.
"Back to basics"
He reached into the void and pulled out his
Erebos. The black blade hummed as it appeared, the red eye at the hilt glowing hungrily in the dark forest.
"It's just you and me tonight, Erebos," Lysander whispered, gripping the hilt. "We need to find a monster. Any monster. I need quick SP to buy that map and reload my guns before we face the Boss"
He scanned the forest floor below.
"Come out, little piggies... Daddy needs pocket money"
As if answering his call, the bushes below rustled. A low, guttural growl echoed through the mist.
[TARGET DETECTED]
[Entity: Razor-Back Boar]
[Rank: C]
Lysander grinned behind his mask.
"Found you"
Lysander stood motionless on the thick branch, fifty feet above the ground. His Iron-Wraith Mask zoomed in on the clearing below.
It wasn't just one boar. It was a pack.
[TARGETS LOCKED]
[Entity: Razor-Back Boar]
[Rank: C]
[Traits: Iron-Plated Skin, High Charge Speed]
[Value: High SP Reward]
The beasts were massive—the size of small cars. Their backs were covered in jagged, metallic spines that looked like rusted saw blades. They were rooting around the base of a tree, snorting steam into the cold air.
"Four of them," Lysander whispered, his hand tightening around the hilt of Erebos.
"Perfect"
He didn't cast a spell. He didn't shout. He simply let gravity take the lead.
WHOOSH.
Lysander dropped from the tree like a stone.
As he fell, he channeled mana into his arms. The red eye on Erebos's hilt flared open, and the black blade began to vibrate with a hungry, crimson aura.
[Skill: falling strike]He landed directly on the back of the largest boar.
CRUNCH-SQUELCH.
The sound was sickening. The Rank-B Adamantine Sword didn't just cut; it ignored resistance. It sliced through the boar's iron spine, through the thick muscle, and severed the spine instantly.
The massive beast collapsed without a sound, its legs giving out under Lysander's weight.
[Kill Confirmed: +400 SP]
Lysander didn't pause to celebrate. He used the momentum of the fall to roll forward, dodging the immediate reaction of the pack
ROAAAAAR!
The other three boars squealed in rage. Their red eyes locked onto the black figure standing over their dead leader.
"Come on," Lysander taunted, flicking blood off his blade. "I'm in a hurry"
The three boars charged simultaneously. The ground shook. They were fast—much faster than the Bison. They moved like speeding trains made of meat and metal.
Lysander stood still. He waited until they were ten feet away. Five feet. Two feet.
skill: shadow step
ZAP.
Lysander vanished.
The boars crashed into each other, their tusks clashing against metal skin in a shower of sparks.
Lysander reappeared in the air behind them. He wasn't fleeing; he was flanking.
"Too slow"
He landed softly behind the second boar. He gripped Erebos with both hands, twisting his hips for maximum torque.
sword art: crescent moon slash
He swung the sword horizontally. A wave of black mana extended from the blade, turning the steel into a long-range cutter.
SHING.
The blade caught the second boar in the hind legs. It shore through the iron plating like butter. The boar squealed as its back legs were completely severed. It crashed into the dirt, helpless.
Lysander spun around, driving the point of the sword down into its neck to finish it.
THUD.
[Kill Confirmed: +400 SP]
Two left.
The remaining two boars realized charging wasn't working. They split up, circling him. One from the left, one from the right.
Lysander analyzed the pattern. "Pincer attack? Smart pigs. But I have eyes everywhere"
The Iron-Wraith Mask gave him a 360-degree warning.
The boar on the left lunged, aiming its tusk at his ribs.
The boar on the right prepared to trample him.
Lysander dropped his sword into a reverse grip.
[mana reinforcement: legs]
He exploded upwards, jumping ten feet into the air just as the two boars collided beneath him.
CRASH.
The boars slammed heads, stunning each other for a split second.
Lysander flipped in the air, orienting himself downward. He instinctively reached for his inventory to throw a knife, but his fingers grabbed empty air.
"Right. I gave the blade to Elara," he remembered mid-fall. "I have no projectiles."
"Then I will be the projectile"
[mana reinforcement: right heel]
He spun his body like a drill, driving his heavy, iron-soled combat boot straight down into the face of the boar on the left.
CRACK.
The kick connected with the beast's eye socket with the force of a falling anvil. The boar squealed, its head slamming violently into the dirt, stunned and blinded by the raw impact of the physical strike.
Lysander didn't stop. He used the stunned beast's head as a springboard.
He launched himself sideways, landing perfectly on the back of the right boar—the last healthy one.
He gripped Erebos with both hands and plunged it straight down through the skull.
K-CHUNK.
The beast went limp instantly.
[Kill Confirmed: +400 SP]
Lysander hopped off the corpse. The boar he had kicked was still thrashing on the ground, one eye swollen shut, trying to stand up. Lysander walked up to it calmly.
As it tried to snap at him, he side-stepped effortlessly and swung Erebos in a clean, upward arc.
SLASH.
The boar's head separated from its body, spinning in the air before landing with a wet thud.
[Kill Confirmed: +400 SP]
Silence returned to the forest. Four massive carcasses lay steaming in the cold night air, their iron spines shattered and their lifeblood pooling in the mud.
Lysander didn't sheath Erebos immediately. The black blade was humming with a low, vibrating sound, and the red eye at the hilt was wide open, staring greedily at the carnage.
"Drink," Lysander whispered.
The blood on the ground didn't dry; it began to boil and rise like red steam. The Adamantine sword acted like a vacuum, sucking the red mist into the metal. The blade glowed with a sinister crimson light as it devoured the essence of the Rank-C monsters.
Whoosh.
A wave of warm, dark energy traveled up the hilt and flooded into Lysander's arm. The fatigue from his aerial maneuvers vanished instantly. The minor strain in his leg muscles from the landing knit itself back together.
It was an intoxicating feeling. As long as Erebos drank, Lysander would never tire.
"Good girl," Lysander muttered, patting the cold steel.
The red eye slowly closed, satisfied with the meal, and the blade returned to its dormant black state.
"Inventory: Store."
ZAP.
The massive sword dissolved into black pixels and vanished into his dimensional storage, leaving his hands free for speed.
Ding!
[Enemies Defeated: 4x Razor-Back Boar]
[Experience Gained: +2,000 XP]
[System Points Earned: +1,600 SP]
Lysander checked his total balance.
[CURRENT BALANCE: 1,600 SP]
He let out a sigh of relief.
"Finally. I'm not poor anymore"
He wasted no time.
"System. Purchase 'Cartographer's Atlas'."
[-1,500 SP]
Ding!
[MAP INTERFACE INTEGRATED]
A detailed, blue holographic map appeared in the corner of his vision. It wiped away the fog of war, showing the complex topography of ravines and caves. And there, pulsing with a menacing red light about three kilometers to the West, was a massive Skull Icon.
"There you are," Lysander grinned, staring at the Boss location.
He checked his status bar. It was glowing gold, vibrating with pent-up energy.
[LEVEL: 30 (MAX)]
[XP: 99.9% - LIMIT BREAK REQUIRED]
He had been stuck at Level 30—the peak of a novice warrior—for weeks. The System had locked his growth until he proved himself against a higher-tier adversary. The XP from the boars sat in a pool, waiting to be used.
He didn't just need the money for the medicine. He needed this kill to shatter the glass ceiling that was holding him back.
"I have the map. I have the target"
He clenched his gloved fists, feeling the raw power waiting to be unleashed.
"And I'm done being stuck at Level 30"
He started running again, his speed doubled now that he knew exactly where he was going. He moved like a shadow bullet, tearing through the underbrush.
"Wait for me, Isabella. Tonight, I break my limit"