First came the sound of footsteps.

They were loud but light, like the manner in which the creatures walked was elegant whereas their weight didn’t allow for much of it.

Aural Beasts were no mere beasts.

While they appeared fundamentally the same, they grew in size. Unlike humans who could condense their Cores, the bodies of beasts grew as the Qi within their bodies grew. It repeated on and on until they reached critical mass, and that was when they’d start becoming impossibly durable.

The ones they were meant to hunt had already grown to that level already.

Even with all the preparation in the world, as Adrian stared at a wolf that stood at twice his height on all fours, he froze. It bared its teeth and out of its maw came steam and drool. As if sizing him up and deeming him a non-threat, the wolf simply stood there and stared at him.

The screams of several others snapped Adrian back to reality.

It was bloodcurdling, and more importantly, it may have been the only thing that saved his life.

Moments ago, they came across a pack of wolves, but they were no Mundane Beasts. That much was apparent. By the time they got off the carts, it was already too late. They were among them, over eight of them, covered in gray fur that no mortal weapon could pierce through.

But they weren’t mere mortals and their weapons were meant to slay them.

That’s where it got the name: they were named Aural Weapons, for they could slay Aural Beasts.

The only thought on his mind as the wolf finally lunged at his neck, which was more along the lines of the entirety of his body was… sword!

Adrian summoned his Aural Weapon from his Spatial Ring and held it in front of himself, to protect himself from its packs.

But he’d underestimated its weight and strength.

The Aural Beast wasn’t a creature he could stop with a sword. It weighed at least twice as much as him and its strength defied explanations like he was fighting against Tristan.

Uncomfortably, his arm got pushed back and the fangs of the beast dug into his flesh, making two neat holes in his right shoulder and thigh. And worst of all, he felt himself rising and moments after, the beast started swinging him around like a chewing toy.

His eyes became blurry and hot bale started rising up his throat, but that was the least of his worries. It felt like his neck was on the verge of snapping, now aching. His limbs flailed like he was a straw man, and his blade was thrown aside from all the swinging.

Just when he thought he’d be spending the night inside the belly of the beast, it froze.

Adrian finally found a window of time to take a breath, and that was when he started to feel himself falling down. He fell to the ground, pinned underneath the neck and head of the giant wolf, and groggily looked around.

The wolves were down.

They were lying on the ground, holes in their necks or around the chest area, dripping blood that drenched their silver fur, staining them a dark brown.

“What happened?” he mumbled, or rather, tried to, but no voice came out of his throat.

That’s when the same colorful mist that came out of Diana’s hand when it was cut off left through the mouth of the beast, washing over Adrian. His body absorbed it like it was a sponge dipped into water, not letting a single drop of it pass through.

It entered his body and he felt something that he’d never felt before.

The Qi merged not with the amount held inside his body, which was constantly being used to upgrade his body, bit by bit, but went straight to the task at hand: reinforcing his bones and refining them.

It felt right.

Like he was supposed to have it.

If using the Qi from the Beaumont Estate was akin to drinking hot water and absorbing the Qi in the Shadow’s tomb was akin to putting ice within his mouth, this was water of just the right temperature. The temperature was so perfectly configured that his mouth wouldn’t even feel the water inside it, for there wasn’t a tiny bit of discomfort.

It seeped into his bones like its shell didn’t exist, but in a few places, he felt them entering. It wasn’t the alien sensation of a bug running through his body, but was similar to scratching his back: satisfying and under his control, or at least it seemed that way.

The mouth of the beast was pulled open by one of the Titan’s men: a permanent member of the Steel Fang, letting him out.

Adrian crawled out of it with the vigor of a child and sat up.

Without his consent, a smile formed on his face. He looked down at his hands and clenched his muscles. As small as the gain would be for his flesh and muscles, he felt like they’d be stronger.

That’s when he noticed that the dizziness was completely gone and the injuries didn’t ache anymore.

He took a look at the holes, only to find them closed. They weren’t fully healed yet, but they weren’t bleeding profusely as he’d imagined them to.

“Your first time?” asked the one that pulled open the beast’s mouth, heaving.

Adrian nodded.

“Feels good, right? Even the injuries they cause. As long as you aren’t dead, you’ll survive. Somehow,” said the man with a grin, “They die and it comes out of every hole. Mouth, nose, wounds, cheeks.”

He had a red bandana and a slight goatee underneath his chin, and in his hand was a bloody machete, still stuck to the neck of the beast.

So this was the man that saved him.

The man then pushed the beast onto its sides and dug his sword into its flesh, near the part that joined its belly and chest. After wiggling the blade for several seconds, he pulled out the sword and put his sword into it. From within, the man pulled out a bloody Red Crystal.

He never knew that it’d be this gruesome to extract crystals.

“You’re in bad shape,” said Emma.

“You left me,” hissed Adrian.

“No, I correctly assumed that you could survive until I helped that peasant kill the beast that pounced at him. Who, by the way, just saved your life,” said Emma and raised both eyebrows, “I wouldn’t want my fiancé to die. Especially not against such pathetic bests.”

Adrian bit his lips.

“That’s your definition of… weak?” he asked and his tone shifted to a rougher one, now a full-on shout, “Aren’t you just one layer above me? How the hell are you so strong?!”

“Experience and ruthlessness with a dash of luck,” said Emma and pressed a finger to his lips. She put her face next to his, her forehead touching his cheek and giving him a whiff of the expensive herbs that she washed her hair with, “You can yell all you want when we’re alone. But not now. Too many people are watching.”

She gave him a peck on the lip and pulled back as if that was meant to calm him down.

Adrian took a breath, ready to keep on yelling but stopped.

Not now.

In private.

He wasn’t in the best state of mind, and as his father always droned on, he had to be calm, no matter what. Angry or excited people made mistakes: mistakes that anyone successful couldn’t afford to make.

Adrian stomped on the ground once and turned to the cart, now the cloth that covered the entirety of the carts on one of them torn, revealing its passengers without defenses against the sun and the wind.

That’s when his eyes fell on the fallen ones.

They were lying on the ground in tatters, bleeding profusely. Rather, it was difficult to say that they still had blood in them. Being cut into four pieces didn’t allow for much survivability, and then another one that had their upper body missing, possibly eating.

A dash of luck, huh?

He had that.

If he didn’t, then he’d be on the ground with them.

That wouldn’t do.

Not one bit.

He had to survive and become an Immortal, no matter what. He’d reach Perpetuity and leave everyone in the dust, no matter what it took, and to do that, he had to kill these beasts.

Next time, he told himself.

Next time, he’d definitely kill them. He wouldn’t freeze, no matter what, and he’d fight.

Adrian’s eyes wandered and fell on Diana, a dagger in her one good hand, who was still fighting despite missing a hand. It had been cauterized and that was all they did for her.

Wasn’t a father supposed to care for his son?

Were all of them like this?

Perhaps his father wasn’t the worst of them after all. Maybe there were worse fathers than those that sold their child’s soul before they were even born. Maybe there were fathers like the Titan who only berated his daughter after she got her hand cut off, and then proceeded to drag her around on extremely dangerous adventures.

And Diana?

She was tough as nails to go along with that.

It was absurd, how she could fight with that handicap, but that reminded him: did she even fight?

He didn’t see, but he knew that the Titan could easily take beasts of this caliber down, for they produced Red Crystals: they came from Aural Beasts, and only the ones that produced Green Crystals would be a challenge for someone of the Mind Refinement Stage.

The difference between Stages was astronomical, even if a difference of one or two Layers wouldn’t be the end of the world unless one of them granted an absurd benefit like the Muscle Refinement Layer.

“Four down. That’s good odds against a pack of eight. We don’t see many of ‘em,” said the Titan loudly and turned to everyone. He raised his hands and stretched them out, as if hugging the air, “This is what ye signed up for! It’s war. Anything can happen. You can die. Anyone can die. Even me, if we run into a strong one. So anyone wanna leave now? Last chance.”

Hands were raised, one by one, until six of them were up in the air.

Four down and six out of the game.

“Good. We’ll be using one cart, then. It can fit an extra five and the ones that are returning will take the other. Anyone that can drive a carriage among ye lot? I’d rather not waste manpower to take you to the city,” said the Titan, and one of the ones that raised their hands nodded.

That was good.

The Titan tapped on Diana’s back with impressive strength, which was more a slap than a tap. It could be heard from dozens of meters away.

“I’m staying,” said Diana.

The Titan looked at him with a small smirk and nodded. He turned around and hopped up on the cart, then turned to everyone, “Hop on in. We gotta strike down three more before night falls and it’s already noon.”

Three of them within a single day?

Was this man a madman?

Well, most likely, but still-

Adrian turned to Tim, the one that almost killed him before his father made his second deal with the Shadow, using his mother’s soul as a bargaining chip. For a moment, he had the urge to stab his sword into the bastard’s throat and watch him choke to death, but… sword!

He had to pick up his sword.