Chapter 2 – Part 2: The Fangbeast's Lair
The cavern stretched endlessly before Ryo, its walls shimmering faintly with minerals that looked like frozen starlight. Every echo of his footsteps made him feel like an intruder trespassing into a world that had been waiting to devour him for millions of years. He gripped the crude stone spear he had crafted, sweat dripping from his palms.
"Alright," he muttered under his breath. "I was just some random guy who got hit by a restaurant sign. And now I'm… here. In hell. With glowing rocks. Fantastic."
The System panel shimmered faintly in his mind's eye:
[Name: Ryo]
[Cultivation: Early Qi Refinement (Stage 1)]
[Strength: 12]
[Agility: 11]
[Endurance: 14]
[Qi: 23/30]
It wasn't much, but it was something.
Ahead, he heard it—a low growl, guttural, animalistic, but filled with a strange resonance that made his chest vibrate. Ryo froze, crouching low behind a jagged rock. His heart hammered so loudly that he was convinced the creature would hear it.
Then he saw it.
A beast the size of a cow, but its skin was gray and stone-like, with jagged horns sprouting from its head. Its fangs glowed faintly with blue light, as though dipped in frozen moonfire. Its eyes, devoid of pupils, scanned the cavern with predatory calm.
[Fangbeast – Rank 1 Abyssal Beast]
[Threat Level: Moderate]
Ryo's throat went dry.
"Moderate?!" he hissed in disbelief. "That thing looks like it eats 'moderate' people for breakfast!"
The beast sniffed the air, its ears twitching. Ryo felt his knees shake. He remembered the words of the old abyssal wisp that had appeared before him when he first awakened his Qi: "The abyss rewards hunters, not cowards."
Taking a deep breath, he whispered, "Fine. If I'm going to die, I'll at least make it entertaining."
He surged forward, Qi flowing through his legs, boosting his speed beyond what a normal human could achieve. The Fangbeast's head snapped toward him, its glowing fangs bared, and it roared with a sound like crumbling mountains.
Ryo thrust his spear. The crude weapon struck the beast's shoulder—but shattered instantly against its stone-like hide.
"…Oh, crap."
The Fangbeast swiped at him with a paw the size of his torso. Ryo rolled aside, barely avoiding being turned into a pancake. His heart pounded. His weapon was useless. He needed another plan.
Then instinct struck him. He channeled his Qi, not into his arms, but into his legs. With a burst of force, he leapt onto the beast's back, clinging desperately to its rocky skin. The Fangbeast roared and bucked like a maddened bull, crashing against cavern walls, trying to dislodge him.
"Hold still, you ugly cow!" Ryo yelled, digging his fingers into a crack in the beast's armor. His nails split and bled, but he refused to let go.
Qi surged again. He focused it into his hand, condensing it into a faint, glowing blade. It wasn't much—just a flicker of energy barely strong enough to cut wood. But he didn't need to cut through the whole beast. He just needed a weak spot.
The glowing fangs.
With a roar of his own, Ryo grabbed the beast's lower jaw, forcing its mouth open, and drove the Qi blade into the joint where flesh met stone. The beast screamed, thrashing wildly. The cavern shook with the sound.
Ryo's body was battered, his ribs aching, blood dripping from his forehead—but he kept pushing. His Qi blade sank deeper, until with a final burst of power, one of the glowing fangs cracked, then shattered.
The beast convulsed, blue energy spilling from the broken fang like liquid fire. Ryo was thrown clear, slamming into the cavern floor. He gasped for breath, vision swimming.
The Fangbeast staggered, then collapsed, its body twitching before finally going still.
Silence.
For a moment, Ryo just lay there, staring at the glowing shard of fang lying a few feet away. Then he laughed. A weak, cracked laugh, but laughter nonetheless.
"Hah… hahahaha! I did it… I actually did it!"
The System chimed in his head:
[You have slain a Rank 1 Abyssal Beast: Fangbeast.]
[Reward: +100 Qi, +5 Strength, +5 Endurance.]
[Item Obtained: Fang Shard (Rare).]
Ryo dragged himself to his knees, clutching the glowing fang shard. He felt the Qi inside it pulse, resonating with his own.
For the first time since falling into the abyss, he didn't feel powerless. He felt… alive.
"Guess I'm a hunter now," he whispered, smiling despite the blood on his lips.
Far above, unseen in the abyss's endless shadows, something stirred—watching.