What the heck is a cutling? Dallion asked.

Anger and viciousness pulsed from the creature as it glared back. In the realms Dallion had seen his fair share of scary creatures from blanks to guardians, even Star-spawn. This was on a completely different level. It wasn’t as strong as a free chainling, but enough to tear Dallion to shreds the moment he let his guard down.

Side effects, Nil replied. You asked a few times why so few awakened have familiars. Before the dryads were sealed off, there were lots of them, and not just creatures locked in the realms—real familiars that could go between realms to be along with their owners.

The cutling snarled, circling Dallion from a distance. Fangs and knife shards moved throughout its body as if they were swimming in tar.

Back when magic was abundant, there were seeds that one could imbue with magic, nurturing them into beings that best suited their owners, the old echo went on. When the Purple Moon withdrew its power from the world, both the means to grow new seeds and nurture them were gone. In the centuries that followed, the remaining seeds were stolen and gathered like any artifact, their value only increasing. Since few had the power to use them, owning seeds was reduced to a status symbol. Nobility did it to show off, until a mage found a rather different use. Since the seeds consumed the power lent to them by their owner, it was easy to trick them into consuming wounds, more specifically—

Cuts, Dallion finished the sentence.

The realization of what he was facing made him feel sick to the point he had to struggle to keep himself from throwing up. The creature in front of him was a familiar? It wasn’t the creature’s nature that shocked Dallion; after all, two of his three familiars were linked to the Star, one being an outright crackling. Rather, it was the experience the cutling had been subjected to in order to come into being.

It wasn’t meant to be a familiar, Nil said. Back in the day, the enchanted seeds were used for protection. The children of nobles carried them all the time. That way, any cut done to them was transferred to the seed. In a way, you could say that the creatures ate the cuts off people and even objects. However, that was only until they hatched. Once that happened, the creature had the ability to give what they had received for decades.

The cutling charged at Dallio, the ground beneath its feet splitting in long straight lines, as if a giant invisible blade had cut it open. Instantly, the whip blade reacted, slashing the creature’s back. However, that seemed to make the cutling stronger.

Cuts don’t harm it, Nil said, as Dallion leapt in the air, twisting in order to evade the charge. To defeat it you must clobber it with something blunt or use magic.

That was less than ideal. It also meant that Gleam had been strengthening the creature all along. Even so, the whip blade provided a much-needed distraction.

Gleam, focus on—

I heard, the whip blade guardian replied. Would have been nice to know this before we started fighting.

You know now! Dallion did a few more backflips, combat splitting at each one.

It was quite the creature that Eury had chosen for his first solo hunt. Given that the gorgon was nowhere to be seen suggested that she believed that Dallion had what it took to defeat it. That was a positive notion, although Dallion had no illusions that it was going to be a difficult fight.

A creature that got stronger the more it was cut… Normally Dallion would just go ahead and bash it with his shield, as he had done while fighting slimes. However, as he had seen, that was doing to result in a lot of damage to the shield. Not only did the cutling have the ability to slice through anything non-indestructible, but it only needed contact to do so.

At first glance, it didn’t seem like there was any way Dallion could win or even wound the creature, and yet he had managed to do so. It seemed that Nox had retained his power to inflict damage to cracklings. It was possible the Lux would have some effect as well due to his healing ability, but the kaleidervisto wasn’t a thing that could easily be used as a weapon.

Getting a sense of Dallion’s doubt, the cutling went for him again, this time leaping off the ground in his direction. Lines covered the ground in criss cross fashion. Faced with such a threat, and with no obvious means of defense, the logical thing to do was to move away. Dallion, however, did the opposite, leaping straight at the cutling. He knew all too well that when it came to movement he didn’t stand a chance against such a creature. Maybe he’d be able to avoid combat for an hour, maybe two, but ultimately, he’d lose the stamina contest.

When the two were a few feet apart, Dallion held the kaleidervisto in the creature’s direction. A bright flame emerged, propelling him away, though not before the results of the flame became visible. As Dallion suspected, just as healing abilities had the power to remove cracks and wounds, they had the power to deal damage to creatures that embodied them. Part of the cutling’s torso bubbled like cheese scorched by a flame. The pain was enough to force the creature to twist away from Dallion without even getting a chance to strike. That suggested two things: that Lux was more efficient against this sort of enemy than Dallion had hoped, and also the cutling had never been subjected to it. Based on its general reaction so far, it was even possible that the being had never experienced pain in its entire existence. All its victims so far had done the obvious and tried to slash, claw, bite, or pierce it. Alas, for them, that had only strengthened it.

Vihrogon, how are things? Dallion asked as he landed on the ground.

I won’t be able to withstand a lot more hits, if that’s what you’re asking, the armadil shield replied. Four-five hits at most and I’ll be done for good.

Dallion felt a shiver down his neck. Hearing guardians talk about their demise so casually frightened him, and not only because of his relation to the Green Moon. Even so, there was no way around it—the shield was going to block an attack, maybe two. Hopefully, that would prove enough for what Dallion had in mind.

First thing I’ll do when I pass the next gate is to level you up, Dallion said as he pressed the kaleidervisto against the shield. The healing process was going to be extremely slow, but it was better than nothing.

A dozen feet away, the cutling snarled, now hesitant to blindly attack. Having come across a creature that actually fought back confused it. Thanks to his zoology skill, Dallion was able to tell that the creature was considering running away to focus on easier targets. At the same time, the combination of aggression the creature was made of, prevented it from doing so.

Dallion took advantage of the moment’s hesitation and charged forward, splitting into eight instances. In most cases the cutling managed to react: either leaping away or shredding Dallion to pieces with one strike. However, there was a case in which it didn’t react at all.

You have a blind spot, Dallion thought as he struck the side of the creature up, burying the entire blade of the dagger. The response was immediate. Enraged by the pain, the cutling leapt around, its massive body pressing against Dallion’s shield. Fangs and short blades went through, some even piercing into Dallion’s arm. The pain was much less than what he had experienced in the awakened worlds, although it didn’t fade away after a moment.

Gripping the kaleidervisto tightly, Dallion pulled out the Nox dagger and struck the side of the beast several more times. Each time, a loud screamy yelp filled the air. Dallion, however, didn’t stop, striking on and on until the cutling was forced to leap back.

I was right, Dallion smiled. You aren’t used to pain.

Blue light leaked through the fingers of his hand, slowly healing his arm. Without the notification rectangles, there was no way to tell how much health had been restored, but slowly the pain began to decrease.

You’ll need more than shallow cuts to win this one, Nil said. A cutling this size is quite strong. I’d say your hits have reduced its health by fifteen percent, twenty if you’re lucky.

This isn’t the realms, Nil. Wounds matter in the real world.

That could be said for you. When it comes to cutlings, you might as well be in a realm. You can’t even make it bleed.

I never wanted to.

Pure unadulterated anger cracked through the sticky void that represented the cutling’s emotions. Right now, it was more like a common beast than a Star spawn creature. This was precisely what Dallion had been hoping for. The next attack was going to be the one to determine the outcome. Either Dallion would be victorious… or Euryale would step in, saving his skin again, and proving beyond a doubt that he wasn’t suited to become a hunter.

Raising its horned wolf’s head to the sky, the cutling let out a howl. By now, everyone in the caravan was probably running around in panic, while the guards and hunters stood in front of the wagons, ready to meet any attack.

“Go for it,” Dallion whispered, raising his dagger.

The provocation didn’t pass unchecked. Its entire torso shaking, the cutling dashed forward, almost faster than Dallion could see. Aware that the hand with the dagger was the source of pain, the creature went for the shield arm, opening its massive mouth wide open as if to swallow the shield whole.

“Darude,” Dallion said, and put his plan in motion.

Splitting into fifteen instances, Dallion leapt back, then threw the kaleidervisto straight into the beast’s maw. Of all the instances, he picked the one in which the throw was best, then quickly leapt back as far as he could.

Lux, now! he thought.

The massive jaws snapped, just as a ray of bright blue light shone through. A split second later. There was a loud pop. Had this been the realm, the creature would have burst into a cloud of particles that would have quickly faded away. Here, it merely dropped down like a sack of potatoes.

That was too easy, Dallion thought. His heart was beating like the drum as the adrenaline rushed through his veins. Every fiber of his bean screamed for him to move forward and bash the creature’s head in with his shield. However, the calmer, more experienced part of him didn’t let that happen.

Combining his music and zoology skills, Dallion looked at the creature. The emotions were gone, including the sticky void that surrounded it. The only thing he could sense was the energy coming from the kaleidervisto.

Cautiously, Dallion split into instances, then prodded the creature multiple times. Nothing happened—the creature remained very much dead.

You okay there, Lux? He asked.

He’s more than okay, Gen said from Dallion’s realm. The little guy gained a level.

What? How did that happen? A new brand of euphoria mixed in with the adrenalin rush. Dallion was overjoyed to finally have another of his familiars gain a level, although he still didn’t have the slightest idea why that had happened.

You tell me, Gen replied, his voice ringing with joy. I guess killing the cutling did the trick. I’ll go through the library with Nil, see if there isn’t anything on the topic.

“Gleam, can you do the honors?” Dallion asked as he stood above the massive corpse.

You want me to get Lux from the intestines of that thing, don’t you? the whip blade asked.

“Good job.” Euryale appeared without warning, standing a foot away from Dallion. “Definitely not the way I would have done it, though.”

“A win is a win?” Dallion asked.

“No.” The gorgon shook her head. “You won, but you’re still relying too much on overpowered items. If you had won this in the normal way, you’d have passed. If you had lost, it would have been clear you aren’t fated to be a hunter. Now…” she shrugged. “Now you’re still a big unknown.”

All the euphoria that had gathered within Dallion fizzled away.

“You didn’t think I’d win?”

“I was hoping you’d win. Just not like this.”