“Cole!” Lisa shouted as the Demon Goat slashed Cole’s chest, sending him crashing against a tree. She rushed toward the goat while coating her sword with energy. She slashed the monster’s calf, making it trip to its knee.

After that, Lisa moved behind it and slashed it. Then, she moved to another side and slashed it again.

The goat had had enough of her, so it slapped her. However, its hand only touched empty air as she had moved from her spot. The monster tried to slap her again several times, but it could only hit the air or the ground.

Jeff, aware that Lisa couldn’t evade the attacks forever, rushed to help her. He activated his active skill that increased his speed, and he sneak-attacked the monster while leaving afterimages. After a while, Mark joined him too.

Cole ignored his own injury to see them in action. They didn’t lie when they said they had gotten stronger. Their speed was almost comparable to him when he had under ten percent [HP] and under the effect of [Injury Transmutation]. And Jeff was more amazing. With his skill, his speed surpassed even him.

Cole, once again, realized how amazing other people were. Normal people could fill both passive and active skill slots. They were more versatile than him.

To not let them leave him behind, Cole determined to add unique only passive skills into his slot. He would gather unique passive skills like his [Ruin Gust] and [Ruin Flash].

That was his long-term plan. As for now, he had to focus on defeating the Demon Goat. He didn’t want to sit under the tree while they were working hard.

Ignoring his injury, Cole stood up. His skin had been reddening under the effect of [Injury Transmutation]. Roaring, he charged at the Demon Goat.

The goat saw him running straight, and it targeted him, extending its claws toward him. The usual Cole would dodge, but he had been edging to use his [Ruin Flash] again, so he ducked when the arm was about to stab him, and then he went toward the creature. He let his rage flow out of his body like a flame as he struck the monster with the tip of his sword.

Cole had expected the [Ruin Flash] to come out. After all, he had expressed his anger. Too much of his disappointment, it didn’t come out. The attack still penetrated through the goat’s thick hide, but it was just a normal attack.

Cole wondered what went wrong with his method. He knew the chance of letting out the skill was a little even after letting out of his deepest desire, but he had a feeling his method was wrong.

“Cole! Watch out!” Lisa shouted.

Hearing her warning, Cole realized a hand was coming to him. He evaded it to the side, but a sharp nail still managed to leave a deep cut on his shoulder.

After getting hit, the [Ruin Gust] suddenly became active. Red helix was revolving around him and hitting the Demon Goat several times.

The goat wanted to attack him, but it felt like a wall pressing its body. Seeing it stunned, Cole made his move. He lifted his sword with one hand, ignoring the other shoulder’s pain, and then he slashed the monster.

It was a normal attack, but he still shoved the goat away, and it fell on its stomach. Worried it would wake up in no time, Cole jumped onto its body and stabbed its back over and over. He kept doing it with anger, hoping to activate the [Ruin Flash]. However, nothing came out even as the monster’s [HP] hit zero.

Cole shouted desperately, and he didn’t stop attacking even after the goat disappeared; he stabbed the ground like a madman.

“Cole! Cole, stop! What are you doing?”

Lisa’s shout snapped him back to reality. He looked at the stab marks on the ground with a complicated expression. He disliked succumbing himself to the berserker nature in his heart, but he still did it because he hoped to activate the [Ruin Flash]. “I don’t understand.”

“What?” Lisa asked in a concerned tone.

Cole shook his head. “Nothing.” He would reflect and review his method later. For now, he needed to go as soon as possible from this place. The stench of blood from the anteater’s corpse was strong.

Cole summoned the healing cards from his inventory ring and used it. After a while, his [HP] became full again, and his injuries healed. “Let’s continue our journey,” he said.

“How about the resources?” Mark said.

“Just keep it first. We will divide them evenly later,” Jeff said sternly, letting Mark collect the cards. After waiting for Mark to be done, they continued their journey.

On the way, they encountered more monsters, but none of those creatures approached them. It seemed the party was lucky that the stench of blood from the anteater’s corpse far back saved them. For that, they ventured in peace until they arrived at their designated region.

They could relax a little when they saw a familiar place. There were many ponds, and Bullfrog scattered throughout the area. They didn’t feel scared of those amphibian monsters because their levels were higher. However, it didn’t mean they could lower their guards. This place was where they had met the Ace Frost Wolf, the spot where their teammates had died.

They walked through the frogs and arrived at the other side of the place. They wanted to travel out of the Bullfrog Area, but the region beyond it was full of trees and tall bushes; powerful monsters or dangerous plants could live beyond this area.

“Does the monster detector sense anything, Doucette?” Cole asked.

Jeff nodded. “We are lucky to have bought a monster detector because there is one level 15 monster one kilometer from here. I can’t see the name, but I am sure it is our target.”

“One kilometer, huh. So, we should go beyond this area,” Mark said.

“But we never traveled beyond this area,” Lisa exclaimed, expressing her worry.

Cole grinned at her. “Who said we have to go there? Let’s just lure it.”

Cole summoned his greatsword and lifted it with the blade facing down. He was about to do something, but Lisa suddenly grabbed his wrist and glared at him, making him confused. “What?” he asked.

“Don’t injure yourself.”

“Huh? I am not, though. I want to kill some frogs. One of you has to help me.”

“I will keep a watch,” Mark said.

“I will do it with you then,” Lisa said.

“Then let’s go.” After saying it, he immediately leaped to a pond and splashed water on nearby frogs when he landed. Cole didn’t waste a single second. He spun his body non-stop, killing the frogs, dying the water with blood.

When an explorer killed monsters, their remains became, but at least they had left a blood stench before they had disappeared. Maybe it wasn’t enough to lure the wolf, so he just had to kill to his own heart's content until it came.

Cole licked the enemy’s blood around his face and laughed maniacally. He jumped from one pond to another pond, engaging in slaughter. He killed many of them in just a few minutes. As the result, the blood stench didn’t disappear in the air.

His teammates had dumbfounded faces when they saw him. They all thought Cole had a split personality that would come out when he was fighting.

Even Lisa, who was supposed to help him, didn’t have the heart to take part, so she only collected the cards.

On the side, Jeff watched Cole while monitoring the map. His brows twitched when he saw a red dote approaching. “Hey, the wolf is coming.”

Hearing that, Cole stopped his slaughter. He leaped to Jeff’s side, and then he looked at the forest ahead. He gripped his sword harder, thinking it was the chance to train his [Ruin Flash].

Cole controlled his breathing and imagined the feeling when he had triggered the ability. He felt many things lately, but he could still remember the feeling well.

Anger. His anger was there. However, he remembered it didn’t burst like a raging flame. It felt more like a calm candle in a dark room. Controlled but still hot.

Cole tried to apply the feeling again. He was always angry deep in his heart, so it was easy to lit the flame of anger. However, he tried to control it. In his mind, he imagined the wildfire getting smaller until it was the size of a candle flame.

Cole felt his method was correct, so he patiently waited for the monster to come. After a while, the wolf showed up while growling. The air suddenly became colder, and the trees around froze.

Everyone put on their fighting stances. No one dared to recklessly advance. It was a battle of wit to see who would lose patience, and the beast lost. It opened its mouth and shot an ice ball.

The ice ball exploded and froze the ground. Luckily, everyone had jumped back to evade it, or they would be freezing.

They thought they could catch a breath, but the wolf suddenly leaped onto the freezing ground in front of them. The beast looked at Cole and charged at him.

Cole knew it would target him as he could see the anger in the creature’s eyes. It remembered him. Having expected its action, he was calm. He exhaled and suddenly everything became slower for a moment, allowing him to jump to the side.

The wolf’s side was open for him, so he slashed it. However, no red lightning imbued his blade. It was just a normal attack. “Don’t give up. You almost succeeded,” he shouted, encouraging himself.

The wolf was an agile creature. As he had slashed its side, the beast twisted its front body toward Cole. It opened its mouth wide as it was about to bite his neck.

The wolf’s saliva fell onto his shoulder, but the wolf couldn’t sink its teeth into him as Jeff suddenly dropped a kick to its head, pushing the wolf away.

“That was a close one, Cole,” Jeff said as he smiled.

“Thanks for the cover, Doucette.”

“You are welcome.”

Jeff charged toward the wolf, and the other two followed after him. They were using their buff skill, enhancing their bodies, so they could brawl against the giant wolf.

Cole didn’t want to be left behind, so he advanced on the wolf. At the same time, he didn’t want to break his flow. He controlled his breath in rhythm, maintaining the slowed perception.

The wolf was him as an easy target because Cole was running straight at it, so it extended its neck and opened its jaws wide.

Cole, however, saw the wolf slowly coming at him thanks to his current condition. He swung his sword to the air, letting the weight of the sword pull him upward as he jumped.

Everything still seemed slow to him, and thanks to that he could see many openings as he slowly passed through the wolf.

He focused his attention on the beast’s side, and he wanted to target it. He was still floating in the air, but he thought it was possible. First, Cole spun his body one turn and swung down his greatsword, letting the weight pull him downward, to the side of the wolf.

As he saw the wolf’s fat gut, Cole roared and directed his sword at it. At the same time, the blade emitted red electricity and left a tail-like trail as it slashed through the beast.

The beast roared in pain and kicked Cole with its hind leg, pushing him toward a tree.

Cole coughed out blood as his body crashed against the tree. The kick had hit his solar plexus and penetrated through his skin, making blood flow out like a fountain.

He saw his innards jutted out too, and it would be bad to get up, but he stood up again. Cole finally got the gist of it. He wanted to try it out once again.

Sensing strong blood coming from him, the wolf charged at him while covering its body with a thin layer of ice.

Cole solidified his footing as he waited for the wolf to get closer. As it pounced at him, its movement became slow again in his eyes. “This is it,” he exclaimed as he stabbed the wolf in the head, the red electricity flashing at the tip of his sword.

Cole didn’t remember what happened next. When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting under a tree again, and his innards scattered everywhere on the ground. His vision blurred, and he felt the darkness slowly creeping from the corner of his eyes.

He was familiar with this feeling. It was death. He would die again. Cole felt sad about it, but he smiled. At least, the berserker had been doing his best to change his life. There was no regret in this second life.

As Cole thought of that, the light in his eyes faded out. He died, or so he thought. Fate, however, still wanted him to live as his injury suddenly healed in no time.

His eyes reflected light again, and he checked his body. His scars were closed, and he felt no pain anymore. He stood up feeling refreshed too. He felt his body was several times lighter than before.

Cole felt confused about what had happened. He needed an answer, and as he thought of that, a system screen suddenly appeared in front of him.

Congratulation. You have grasped the initial mastery of Ruin Skills. As a result, you have unlocked a new class.