Brock had no idea what a Guragura was, apart from being his biggest nightmare, but what he did know… was that he wanted to cry. As he prowled forward to meet it, Lament at the ready, its furs bristled, and its mandibles chittered excitedly, eagerly awaiting his arrival. Brock felt his nerves rising with each step, and behind him, while he didn’t dare look away, he swore he heard Mio eating popcorn.

Calm down mate. It’s… it’s ok.

He took a steadying breath. Then another one. Then one more after that. The light shining upon the spider flickered and jolted as he heard Mio cackle at him, and he tensed. The woman was far enough away that the creature was only illuminated in dim light, many features left to the imagination, and its rear masked by darkness.

Far behind the beast, Brock could feel the flows of energy being radiated off of whatever Treasure awaited him. They were powerful, not overly so, but enough that he had no doubt he’d crest race level 80 with it. In other words, he knew fighting this spider would be worth it.

Growling, Brock glanced up and met the monster’s many, glistening eyes. He let his aura roam free and hissed out a breath as the surroundings darkened further. Oppressive Might, while a boon to combat, was certainly working against him in this case. He watched the spider’s eyes dart in several directions, and he readied himself as its many legs bent and flexed.

The sound like the crack of a whip resounded as the beast launched itself forward.

“Oh fuck!” Resisting the urge to scream, Brock hit the ground rolling, his ears picking up the sounds of blades on stone half a second later. Those claws… are sharp…

Quickly, he pushed himself to his feet and lowered his stance. The creature’s eyes snapped toward him, and it chittered, moving to face him. Brock swung Lament experimentally. He blurred forward, grimacing.

Blade met blade, and sparks flew. Brock slid under a counter strike, narrowly avoiding decapitation. Venom glistened upon those bladed claws, scenting slightly of lavender, for whatever reason. As the creature snarled, and its legs swung wide, Brock spun on his feet, his aura manipulation already at work.

Come on… His felt his attention detach somewhat from the fight as he focused upon forming a shell on the sole of his foot and imbued its contents with intent. To his left, he caught movement, and he leaned back, a claw skimming along his chest and drawing blood. He felt poison enter his bloodstream. Shit.

Hissing, Brock finally completed the enhancement, and his foot flew, planting itself in the monster’s face. For a second, it only jolted slightly, its eyes portraying confusion even as its legs moving around to skewer him.

Then a sickening crackle and a bang resounded, and the beast stumbled backwards, the chitin of its lower face cracked and orange blood oozing from in between. The monster snarled and lunged, attempting to snag Brock in its fangs.

He was quick on his feet, however, having already retreated to check his wounds. The beast lurched and an ivory blob blurred toward him. Lament flashed through the air, the blade gleaming in the light as he sliced the sticky projectile out of the air. It can shoot webs out of its face too? Great.

Licking his lips, Brock took a glance at his wound and chose to ignore the venom for now. While it would certainly be an issue further down the fight, for now, he was void of its effects.

His eyes narrowed and Brock refocused as the Guragura lunged, its two forelegs stabbing down toward him. He rolled back, dodged pair of blows, and his blade blurred again, slicing another web out the air.

Before he could even get back to his feet, his was forced to roll along the ground again, dodging another strike. Then again, to avoid a volley of webs. The sight of each projectile slopping across the floor sent chills down his spine, but he kept his wits about him.

This time, as the next leg struck downward, Brock didn’t roll away. This time, he twisted, hissing as it passed by him, the barbed claw catching him on the shoulder. Ignoring the pin prick of pain, his blade flashed out and impacted the soft flesh of the leg, hidden in between the chitin. A splatter of sunset blood coated his face, and the creature squealed, backtracking immediately.

“Hey, good job.” Mio said. Brock looked at her, noticing that she was eating popcorn. She pointed at his own missing arm and chuckled, “Now it’s you.”

He turned back to the fight and growled, “Just keep the light on it.”

Asshole.

Slowly, Brock rose to his feet. The monster seemed to be on the defensive now, having tacked his threat level up a notch. Snarling, it circled him, either too cautious to attack or awaiting his offensive. It chittered angrily, and Brock felt rather unnerved with how intently the disgusting creature was watching him.

Wait… I haven’t been using Oppressive Might to its full potential, have I? He recalled his current uses of it, focusing upon utilising the Technique to assist in his aura manipulation. Because of that, he’d been neglecting to experiment with its own versatility.

Brock chuckled, “Hey spider. Look behind you.”

O.M. nudged the creature on the back, and it spun around so fast Brock heard the air hiss. A claw raked through empty air, and he grinned. His legs blurred, his blade slicing downward. He weaved a shell around his foot once more, although this time, as he struck and carved a gash into the rear of the distracted beast, he didn’t kick.

Instead, when the monster spun once again and raked at him with its claws, he kicked off, his enhancement giving him enough acceleration to clear the attack in an instant. Offense, and mobility.

The Guragura seemed confused no, its many eyes darting in every direction, its legs twitching, ready to slice. By nudging it, Brock had made the creature believe that there was a second attacker. If he was unnerved by this fight, why not give himself a partner in anxiety?

An issue with that, though, was that the monster now believed itself corner, and cornered beasts were always the most aggressive. It charged at him, and Brock readied his blade.

From the left, the right and above. Barbed claws struck at him, and sparks further illuminated the dim cavern. Soon, a fourth claw joined the fray, and Brock found himself on the back foot, force to deflect attacks and weave between those he couldn’t.

Occasionally, the creature would shoot a blob of webbing in an attempt to pin him down, though he kept himself aware enough to avoid them. That did mean that he had no mental space to use his aura enhancements, however.

“Need help?” Mio called out. Her voice was followed by the crunch of popcorn.

The beast reacted to the sound and shot a blob of web her way. A shadow rose up and took the blow. Amidst the distraction, Brock lunged and his fist plunged into one of the monster’s eyes, carving its face and sending it reeling, “No. I’m… fine.”

Two claws swung in from either side, and Brock jumped, soaring through the air. That proved to be the wrong move, he realised, as another two claws stabbed toward him. Clicking his tongue, he deflected one with the flat of his blade while the other plunged into his abdomen. The poison burned as it entered his bloodstream, and blood spurted from the wound.

Hissing in pain, Brock grabbed the limb the Oppressive Might, and he tugged. Instantly, he felt over half his aura simply disappear, but a squelch and a scream resounded, and Brock collapsed to the ground, a giant limb coming along with him.

He had no time to regain himself as the raging creature thrust at him in his moment of weakness. Dropping Lament for the moment, he grabbed the leg still stabbed inside him and pumping in poison, and swung himself to the side, knocking the attack away. It razed the earth a few meters from him, carving a gouge in the stone.

“Fuck,” he yanked the limb out of him, rewarding his clothes with a fresh coating of red, “that was such a dumb idea.”

His arachnophobia leaving rather distracted, coupled with the limited light and his continuous attempts to weave aura manipulation into his fighting style left him on the losing end of the fi…

Wait… I’m… so dumb.

He was trying to weave aura manipulation into his fighting style. That was the problem. He already had aura manipulation woven into his fighting style, in the form of Oppressive Might. Why was he trying to replace it?

Grinning, Brock rolled, dodging a blob of web and a slash of its claws. His aura enhancement had been here the entire time. So had his force projectiles, and everything else he was looking for. The reason his aura was gaseous was to accommodate for Oppressive Might, not to make things harder for him.

Or perhaps, it was even the other way around. Oppressive Might was here to resolve his issue with his aura.

Creating shells and using imbuement was just inefficient. He could already imbue his aura, so why make the shell? It was so simple to him that he almost chuckled as Lament flew into his hands and the spun on the ground, avoided a claw and severing it in one swift motion. A screech resounded.

I overthink simple things… that’s my problem…

Oppressive Might grabbed him and lifting him to his feet. The monster was certainly regretting fighting him now, bleeding from multiple limbs and its face, and screeching in fury. Rolling his shoulders, Brock felt O.M. settle upon his arm like an exosuit. He found that he didn’t even need to imbue intent.

His Technique was a part of him and understood his intent intuitively.

A blob of web sent him twisting out of the way, and the monster lunged, attempting to end the fight then and there. The sound of crunching popcorn behind him increased in intensity. Growling, Brock ducked and weaved around the attack, his arm flying downward the next second.

“Woah!” Brock’s body lurched to the side as his blade impacted carapace and cleaved through with fanfare. The raw force contained within was enough to send him from his feet.

Grinning widely, he regained his balance and kicked off the creature, escaping a slash. It was so simple. I just needed to use Oppressive Might to enhance the force behind my attacks.

He glanced at Lament, slick with blood. The possibilities raging through his mind were endless. Heightened jumping, flight, ranged force attacks, basic body enhancement; Oppressive Might was theoretically capable of it all.

As the Guragura lunged again and its fangs reared to puncture him, Brock heard a groan and felt his aura hit rock bottom. A sickening tear resounded the next moment, and he felt immense regret at his actions as O.M. made the creature explode, showering him in its chunks, blood and organs. Mio didn’t even so much as snort, rendered silent in a mix of confusion and awe.

Oppressive Might… is so much more than I thought…

While he wasn’t at all well versed in the matters of aura manipulation, his Aura Technique seemed to grant the ultimate skill; complete control over one’s aura. Perhaps its original use wasn’t even the ability to touch material things, but that was just a form of aura mastery, by converting aura to physical energy, as Fon had said.

Brock felt his level raise to 60, finally, although he held off visiting his status page. His eyes pierced through the darkness and to the source of the energy fluctuations in the cavern. The Treasure awaited him, and his cells were screaming for its consumption.

It better not be a fucking spider fruit or some shit.