Rudolph followed the elf to the nearby stream and took a quick bath to wash away the blood sticking to his body. He chuckled when the elf took out a brush, the size of a toothbrush, and began to mercilessly scrub every nook and cranny of his blood-stained hand.

He wanted to tell Aryn about the bacteria and viruses but decided against it or else the elf would be scarred for life.

Rudolph donned on his clothes which were even more torn after the fight. As he got out of the river, Aryn pulled out a mirror from his ring and held it in front of him.

"You had that in there too?" Rudolph felt his lips twitch but still looked at himself in the mirror.

His black hair and grown much longer than two days ago; reaching his ears. His raven eyes which used to be dull before had acquired a sharp glint and his jaw had gotten sturdier and sharper.

Though he had been born in China, his mother was from New Jersey while his father was from Indianapolis. Because of their work, his parents had to move to China where his father was fired from his job and forced to work as a carpenter.

His eye and hair were inherited from his mother while his father gave him his round nose which was a bit broad considering his face but still strangely compatible with his sunken cheeks.

Rudolph had never considered himself a handsome person but now that he was seeing his reflection, he had to admit that he looked quite suave.

'Even my University fellows wouldn't be able to recognize me.'

Rudolph dried and hand combed his hair to set them in place and both of them continued their journey to the center of the sanctuary.

During the journey, Rudolph got to know that people in this world awakened their soul archives at the age of fifteen, so he wasn't that late in coming in contact with the soul archives. Also, the life expectancy of a normal person was higher than that of Earth; Iron ranked evolvers can live up to 400 years while bronze-ranked and further ranked evolvers can live even longer. Rudolph who was 22 years old, could be considered somewhat a juvenile in this world which he learned was called Xanthia.

Along the way, they passed through many beasts ranging from Basic I to Basic IV such as Horned Rats, Thunder Squirrels, Crystal Antelopes, Stripped Jackals, etc. They also collected herbs and plants on their way such as Blood Cherries that restore 10 health points or the Moon Grass that increases aether assimilation by 5 percent for 2 hours.

The trees gradually thinned out and now both of them stood before a glade. Its most notable feature wasn't the large boulders that marked its center but the large red beast that rested behind them.

Rudolph used his identification skill on the beast.

Overall Combat Ability: 2390

Three Eyed Flame Salamander (Iron I)

Health Points: 600/600

The prompt turned red as soon as the beast sensed two intruders enter his territory. It greeted them by shooting a fireball in their direction which both of them were able to avoid by diving to the sides. The Salamander got enraged when he saw the duo were unharmed. It hissed and crawled its way towards them.

Aryn was about to cast a spell when he was stopped by Rudolph.

"Let me handle this one," Rudolph said.

"Are you sure you can take care of it?"

"Only one way to find out," he said and pulled the ink black blade from its sheath.

He didn't immediately engage in the battle. He blinked in the sunlight and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the flowers and the familiar mossy smell of the surrounding forest.

Soon there would be a smell of blood too.

'First step of a battle, memorize your opponent's outer appearance and identify his strength and weaknesses.'

He activated Thought Acceleration, his thoughts moving at twice the speed as before.

[Thought Acceleration] (Rare) (Active) (Level 1)

Description: A swordsmen's greatest ability is to analyze his opponents. The greater the speed of his analysis, the quicker would he be able to ascertain their weaknesses. Use Aether to quicken up the thought process by 2x.

Activation Cost: 5 Aether/ Second

He looked at two yellow elliptical eyes of the Salamander before shifting his sight to the third one on its forehead. Same color but slightly bigger. The Salamander towered over five meters and had a similar length. When it moved, its scale glimmered with fiery red brilliance in the sunlight.

'I may need to put extra strength behind my cuts if I want to penetrate that defense.'

A chill ran through his spine as his gaze fell on its tail which ended up in a large spiked wrecking ball.

'Definitely need to avoid that.'

He flexed his shoulders and neck, bending the joints till they popped. He tightened his grip on the katana, his fingers wrapping tightly around the unadorned leather tang.

It was time he made his move.

Starting from a brisk trot he gradually shifted into a full-on sprint towards the Salamander, steps kicking dust along the way.

The beast's health bar moved out of his vision but was still in the corner of his eyes where he could see it.

The Salamander shot a fireball at him but this time Rudolph was ready. The moment it neared him, he activated Aether Disruption and cleaved the fireball into nothingness.

Aether Disruption was extremely effective against the fireball which was composed of aether itself.

He trained his eyes onto the incoming salamander, body leaned slightly forward, allowing his feet to take him forward.

'Conserve stamina and aether.' he muttered internally.

The Salamander got more aggressive and shot several fireballs at once. Rudolph activated Flash Step and his figure burst into speed, avoiding the barrage of fireballs by zig-zagging through them.

[Flash Step] (Iron) (Active) (Level 1)

Description: A swordsman must be quick but the Spectral Swordsman must be even quicker. Exert strength in your feet to quicken your speed by 2x.

Activation Cost: 3 Stamina Points/ Second

Smoke rose from the craters where the fireball exploded.

The burst of speed brought him closer to the Salamander's forelimbs.

With his weight and the momentum from the sprint still behind him, Rudolph ducked underneath and slashed with all his might, carving a long gash across its belly.

The health bar was reduced by 76 points.

'First weakness, the unprotected underbelly.' he thought.

Rudolph didn't stop moving instead used his quickness to emerge from the other side and out of the Salamander's attack range. On the way out, he tried slashing at the back limb but the blade skittered across the hard scales, creating sparks and barely leaving a dent behind.

The Salamander hissed in pain as blood leaked out from its belly, dyeing the ground in…

'Blue blood?'

His thoughts were interrupted as the Salamander jumped back with unassuming agility. It must have weighed several tones.

He had barely made it out when he sensed an abrupt change in airflow. He darted to his left, and the spiked wrecking ball whirled past inches away from his nose, blasting the nearby boulders to smithereens.

'That was so close,' he thought, breaking into a sweat. It was his pure instincts that warned him to pull back.

The battle continued but Rudolph made no attempt to get close. He adjusted his steps, circling to his right – just outside the reach of the dreadful tail.

The Salamander also shuffled, shifting to keep Rudolph in front.

'I would have to get closer to use the katana and during that time, the Salamander would have the chance to swing his tail. If I stay at a distance, the Salamander would keep shooting fireballs. What should I do?'

He continued to drift around the Salamander, avoiding the onslaught of fireballs, maintaining the same distance while keeping thought acceleration active. He was mentally assessing the Salamander and trying to ascertain a weakness in the beast's defense. He stopped being aware of his breathing, as his mind subconsciously focused on the subtle changes in the beast's position and posture.

The sun beat down, and Rudolph felt sweat bead up on his neck and drip down the insides of his arms and within his cotton shirt.

He felt a twinge of something deep within his brain, an emotional response. It was excitement. His heart beat quicker and quicker, pumping adrenaline through his veins. The added pressure, the threat of death looming over his head, everything made him excited and he was enjoying every second of it.

Ding! Focus increased 14 >> 15.

Having completed two circuits, Rudolph settled into a low stance.

''Found it,'' Rudolph smirked. The Salamander didn't have any scales on its eyes.

He activated Flash Steps once more and leaped forward. The Salamander responded with a swing of his claw which Rudolph avoided by jumping in the air, leaving him vulnerable to further attacks.

The Salamander swung its tail at him but this time the swordsman was expecting it. Before the tail could reach him, several green shields appeared in front of him but were instantly torn down like pieces of paper.

"Rudy!!" Aryn yelled.

Still unfazed, Rudolph activated Spectral Shift and his figure faded into black smoke, the tail passing through without causing any damage to him. The Salamander missed but Rudolph didn't and his figure reformed near the Salamander's elliptical eyes.

[Spectral Shift] (Unique) (Active) (Level 1)

Description: The Spectral Swordsman must be like a ghost, evading every attack. By sacrificing your blood and utilizing aether, turn into a ghost that can evade attacks 2 times every 4 hours.

Activation Cost: 20 Aether + 20 Health Points/ Activation.

The angle was bad, but Rudolph still spun in mid-air and used to momentum from the flip to cleave at the third eye anyway.

"Die!" he roared.

He activated Quick Strike, putting as much strength as he could in the attack, and the Salamander staggered back, a loud hiss of pain coming from its mouth.

[Quick Strike] (Iron) (Active) (Level 1)

Description: A swordsman's strike should be fast, powerful, and lethal. Exert strength in your wrists and arms to deliver a quick and powerful attack equal to 2x the Strength.

Activation Cost: 5 Stamina Points/ Activation.

Critical hit!

Another 440 health points were depleted from the health bar and the Salamander's health fell in the red zone.

The Salamander jerked backward and the katana was torn out of Rudolph's hand.

Instead of trying to retrieve it, Rudolph used Flash Steps and dash away from the enraged Salamander.

"Watch out, Rudy!" Aryn warned from the distance.

Rudolph didn't need to be told, his instincts were screaming with danger. He glanced back at Salamander who was bleeding from his eye and writhed in pain. Its yellow eyes turned bloodshot and a horrific amount of aether converged into his bleeding third eye. The beast hissed even more loudly and fired a red beam of aether towards him.

The beam was too fast and Rudolph had no chance of avoiding it. He could only sacrifice another twenty of his health points to activate Spectral Shift.

Boom!

The beam passed through his body and struck the ground. The entire glade caved in, the surrounding trees were uprooted from their place. Even Aryn hiding in the distance was flung away from the shockwaves.

The whole place lit up with flames and Rudolph emerged from within, a ball of black flames in his hands. To conjure it, he had used 30 out of his 37 points of aether left, the rest were consumed by constant activation of thought acceleration.

"Hadoken!" he shouted and threw the Apocalypse Fireball towards the Salamander.

The Salamander was still tired from using the overwhelming move from earlier and it could only watch as the Fireball exploded against its scales. For the first time in his life, he had felt despair, and that too from someone beneath his rank.

The Salamander cried out as it crashed onto the ground as the black flames extinguished the last bit of its health.

Ding! You have killed a Three-Eyed Salamander (Iron Il). Gained 23 origin essence.

Essence origin requirement reached. Gained 5 stat points.

Essence origin requirement reached. Gained 5 stat points.

Ding! Class (Spectral Swordsman) leveled up. Level 1 >> Level 2. Gained 4 stat points.

Ding! Class (Spectral Swordsman) leveled up.

Level 2 >> Level 3. Gained 4 stat points.

Ding! You gained experience. The skill [Thought Accceleration] (Rare) (Active) leveled up.

Level 1 >> Level 2.

Ding! You gained experience. The skill [Flash Step] (Iron) (Active) leveled up.

Level 1 >> Level 2 >> Level 3.

Ding! You gained experience. The skill [Quick Strike] (Iron) (Active) leveled up.

Level 1 >> Level 2.

Ding! You gained experience. The skill [Apocalypse Fireball] (Iron) (Active) leveled up.

Level 1 >> Level 2.

Rudolph stared at the dead Salamander as he struggled to remain standing at his feet. The adrenaline has worn off and his lack of stamina began to show its effect. He sat down and saw Aryn rushing towards him.

"That was amazing. Not many people would be able to fight a beast that is on the threshold of entering Iron ll Rank while being in the Basic Rank." Aryn said and channeled his aether into his body to replenish his lost health.

Rudolph didn't try to act modestly because he knew he deserved it but he also knew that if he had to face some intelligent being, instead of a less sentient beast, it would be hard for him to emerge as a victor.

After waiting for a minute, Rudolph stood up and checked his aether and stamina both of which had only been restored by 13 points.

'Perhaps my aether restoration rate depends upon my assimilation stat too.'

After resting and restoring half of his aether and stamina Rudolph continued onward. The forest had almost ended and after three hours, they came across a ruined city.