Reivan stared at the strange massacre going on in front of him. After all the falling feathers made contact with the ground, a vast expanse of land that had previously been an inky black color was now stony grey. The trees and all the nightmare spawns that had occupied the land dried up and turned to stone, then eventually crumbled into dust.

'Ah. Wait, I know what this is...'

Reivan brought up Zouros' status screen.

~^+— Unit's Statistics —+^~ Name: Zouros

Species: Archon Fragment (World Devouring Serpent)

Realm: Mortal (Degraded Archon)

Age: 12

Sex: N/A

Special Abilities [World Devouring] [Wings of Desolation] Might: 1000 Extra Skills Elemental Affinities: [Chaos] [Darkness] [Chaos Origin]

[Qi: Unleashed]

[Contract: Reivan Aizenwald] Favor: (Loyalty / Protectiveness / Familial Love) 100 / 100 Threat Level: N/A (This unit's favor is too high)

'There it is. [Wings of Desolation], huh? Hey, you little rascal. Did you really not know about this?'

Zouros' head drooped. It apparently didn't expect this outcome either and even felt wronged that Reivan was blaming it.

Valter finally snapped out of his daze and offered his opinion. "I think this is also part of another special ability. There is qi in the feathers and it seems to want to suck resources from those it touches, but seeing as the power that... turns everything to stone nullifies it. This is strange since spirit beasts normally have complementary skill sets, never contradicting ones like this."

"...Yes, it is strange." Reivan nodded, ruminating on where the ability had come from.

'Was it Zell? Did she make Zouros eat something before sending me here? Or is having these wings normal for her kind? I'm so confused... but this is a good thing.'

Reivan tried to be optimistic. "It seems like a good power."

"Indeed." Valter also agreed, his arms crossed as he continued to examine the surroundings. "I've noticed this before, Your Highness. But it seems that Zouros seems to do very well against a large number of weaker foes. His absorption skill means he can just keep fighting endlessly as long as there are things to kill and eat. And then he even has this new ability."

"Oh, that's true." Reivan nodded, also impressed with his soul roommate. Then, he suddenly had a realization. "Isn't he the perfect match against nightmare spawns?"

"I thought so as well. Spawns only have their numbers and their strange abilities going for them, after all. And in addition to his mass-slaughter capabilities, it seems Zouros is also immune to the nightmare spawns' tricks."

'Oh. That's true. Way to go, buddy.'

Zouros smirked as it licked the air. It looked around excitedly, seemingly eager to hunt more prey.

Reivan chuckled at its actions. "Well, I suppose we won't have to ask what it wants. Zouros wants to come here more often."

"That can be arranged." Valter smiled. "This is a very good thing. But we can't have him visit all the time, though. The mortal knights need something to train against."

"I'm sure there are plenty of spawns to go around."

In fact, as they were speaking, more of them were coming from a distance. They were like a horde of cockroaches scurrying across the black plains.

"You Highness, I would like to show you something that Zouros may be able to do as well." Valter urged Freed forward and the black chick instantly transformed into a majestic black falcon. "I have... spent some time in the republic, you see. And I have encountered a few spirit beasts with the darkness attribute. They could all do this technique so I had Freed try it too, and it worked."

"Interesting..."

"Xander has even managed to do it even though he doesn't have a beast to bond with."

"Okay, let's see it." Reivan paid attention while mentally urging the massive serpent to do the same."

The guardian knight nodded to the black falcon.

Freed screeched as its body was surrounded—no, it became black mist. The falcon's form was maintained and only the eyes glowed a deep dark purple, but there was an ethereal feel to the beast's body now.

"I don't know what the republic calls the technique but I simply call it 'Shadow Form' since I'm not very creative."

"What does it do?"

"While in that state, the user is intangible. It makes one faster, especially in places that lack light. It is to the point that the user seems like they're teleporting. Of course, even when used in bright areas it will still make the user faster."

Reivan nodded but saved his amazement for later. "What are the downsides?"

Valter smiled down at him and said, "It has two downsides. One, the user cannot attack or do much else except move. Two, unless used in total darkness, the cost of maintaining the state is very high."

'So it has high utility but high cost too.'

The condition of being cheaper to use in dark places was a very nice addition since the Outlands were very dark and Reivan would likely spend a lot of time fighting nightmare spawns.

'Oh wait. I'm treating it as if it's decided that I'm learning the ability but I don't even know if Zouros can do that. It's not exactly a spirit beast despite the similarities...'

He looked at the giant snake and it nodded at him, eager to try. It slithered around in the air for a few moments before its body turned into a transparent haze of black mist. And when Zouros flew lower, its body passed straight through the thousands of newly-gathered spawns.

'Holy shit. You did it, buddy!'

Reivan could only sigh at how seemingly easy it was for Zouros to learn new techniques.

Valter hummed and nodded in satisfaction as he watched the serpent. "How truly envious. Your Majesty, did you know? Spirit beasts are essentially beings of pure energy with a consciousness of their own. That's why they can learn and easily do things we think are difficult. To them, learning a new technique is... like moving fingers in a certain order or shaking their head at a certain speed. They are amazing creatures..."

'Damn. For real? Now I'm getting envious.'

But when Reivan thought about it, spirit beasts were beings that couldn't exist in the material plane without finding someone to be their "anchor", so they were very limited in that way.

'Pros and cons, huh?'

"So..." Reivan turned to look up at Valter. "Now what?"

"Now, you fight."

"I knew this was gonna happen..."

Reivan stood with his sword out, calmly observing the numerous nightmare spawns surrounding him with every intention of ripping him apart. If it weren't for Valter's barrier, they would already be trying to do so.

"Your Highness."

"Yes?"

"You already understand why we're doing this, yes?"

The prince nodded. "To stimulate my survival instincts."

"Good." Valter nodded then proceeded to explain as he stood in the air above the tiny barrier that protected Reivan. "There is a difference between sparring against someone and fighting something that you know wants you dead. It awakens something within us all—no matter how safe we think we are."

"And that's why you're going to have me chaotically fight hordes of nightmare spawns?"

The guardian knight chuckled. "Not all at once. Just enough to... stimulate you."

"Uh-huh..."

"It would be great if you could successfully borrow Zouros' abilities, but please prioritize survival. And you can go ahead and activate all of your buffs before we begin."

"Well, that's kind of you. I'll take you up on that."

Bodily Reinforcement through Magic Power application has been detected. Your manipulation of Magic Power has resulted in a Perfection Rate of 50% Perfection Rate becomes 100% due to [Formless Will]!! Your Might has been increased by 300 points. A perfection bonus of 100% has increased the bonus to 600 points. Might: 219 → 819 Your racial skill, [Beast Gate] has been activated! Might: 819 → 1038 Armament Energy surges through your veins! Your Might has been increased by 300 points! Might: 1038 → 1338 And finally, Reivan activated his new power. Qi Reinforcement has been used! Your Might has been increased by 300 points! Might: 1338 → 1638

'This is it. This is my current peak...'

"Alright then, I'll stop here. Please stay ready. I will start letting monsters in at a random time to catch you off-guard."

Reivan wordlessly nodded as he clutched his longsword with both of his hands. He scanned his surroundings and waited with bated breath for what he knew was coming.

'Way to keep the suspense, Valter.'

Even after dozens of seconds, nothing happened. So Reivan was forced to stretch his focus endlessly, watching out for anything entering his range. Inadvertently, he ended up staring into the eyes of many of the spawns. In their beady little obsidian eyes, he could see himself reflected clearly and their strange growls and howls filled his ears. Limbs of different lengths and thickness clawed at the invisible barrier, eager to rend his flesh from bone.

'They... want to kill me.'

Reivan had known this for a long time. But nothing made him feel more danger than when he was actually faced with the things. Perhaps he'd even looked down on these nightmare spawns because the knights under his family's command could massacre the lot of them, and even Zouros could mow them down with ease.

Now, in this very moment, Reivan realized they weren't a joke. That they were dangerous creatures that should never see the light of day.

Gulp.

Reivan gripped his sword tighter as his breathing grew a bit ragged. The malice around him was palpable and he could practically taste it. And as he did, his heart beat faster and faster, pumping hot blood through his chilled body.

'I just... gotta fuck 'em up before they get me. That's all.'

Your overwhelming willpower has activated Sub-Skill #2 - [Intent]! [Intent] has temporarily changed into [Battle Intent]!

Reivan stopped the flood of notifications before it could get too far. He really didn't need any more distractions right now.

And it was just in time too since a nightmare spawn passed right through the barrier in front of him.

Although slightly surprised, Reivan's eyes narrowed in focus as he ducked, letting the monster's worm-like body fly above him. His sword flashed, tracing a line across the monster's body, severing it in two.

'I'm not even using > and I'm cut through that thing like butter.'

He knew not to let these small wins get to his head though. A certain old man with an eternally balding head had already taught him that bad things happen when one gets overconfident.

'Always assume that the enemy is stronger. Aim for weak links. Avoid tanking hits you're not absolutely sure you can take.'

Reivan leaned to the right and dodged some kind of projectile before forming a gun in his left hand and shooting at where it came from. Without even looking if it had died, Reivan took a step back just in time to avoid a literal hand that burst from the dark soil.

He severed it instantly and scanned his surroundings again, wary of other attacks. For a moment, none came. But he knew it was to create a fake sense of safety within him and he wasn't falling for it.

More of the monsters penetrated the barrier after that and Reivan cut them all down rather easily. The numbers soon ramped up and he was forced to create four swords and control them with [Formless Will] to cover his blindspots. Four swords became six, then six swords soon became eight.

None of the nightmare spawns were a threat to him individually, but they were relentless and didn't care about their lives. Their numbers also put a ridiculous amount of pressure on him.

Soon, his stamina started running dry so he used [Effect Reproduction] to replicate the beast king's ichor. However, this did not cure the mental fatigue from maintaining focus for such a long time. He also had to use some aetherblade arts earlier, so his mana pool wasn't exactly topped up either.

At some point, Reivan had lost track of time. His strength and speed allowed him to finish off any monster with a single attack. Reivan was like a human meat grinder as his arms swung wildly but with trained precision.

'Is this... never gonna end...?'

Reivan had been leisurely at first, thinking he would find time to test out Zouros' skills later. Then at some point, he'd lost any leeway. It felt like if he stopped his swinging his sword he would die.

But as he swung his sword he finally noticed that there was now nothing to cut.

"I... I did it! Holy shit!" Reivan chuckled lethargically as he realized that he'd run out of enemies. But then he stiffened when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle. "Fuck!"

Lightning surged from his feet as he was brought forward by dozens of meters. When he looked back, his grip on the sword tightening, he saw a human face.

No, it was a nightmare spawn with the face of a human. Three of them, one for each head, and with constantly changing expressions of pain and agony. Countless squirming black worms could be seen wriggling around in their eye sockets.

The monster looked like a strange caricature of a bird. Except its feathers seemed more like hair and its feet were massive human arms. A ghastly aura surrounded the ten-foot-tall creature as all of its faces licked their lips.

'What the fuck...'

Reflexively, Reivan used [Supreme Insight].

~^+— Unit's Statistics —+^~ Name: N/A

Species: Archon Fragment (Dream Weaving Moth)

Realm: Mortal

Age: 15

Sex: N/A

Special Abilities [None] Might: 2042 Extra Skills Elemental Affinities: [Lightning] [Fire] [Ice] [None] Favor: (Malice) -100 / 100 Threat Level: B

"Hey, Valter!" Reivan immediately called out to his guardian. "A weird one got in! You wanna help with this?"

"Please do your best by yourself, Your Highness."

"... Fine." Reivan took a deep breath and forced a smile, the sword gripped tightly in his hands.

'Why do all my teachers have personality problems?'