One of the Ironback Bears finally caught up. It lunged with terrifying speed, its armored hide gleaming under the moonlight that barely pierced the forest canopy.
Kael braced himself and then jumped sideways at the last mont. The bear’s claws missed by inches but ripped through a nearby tree, sending wood splinters flying.
Kael landed in a crouch and tossed a handful of black powder from his pouch—black lotus dust. The bear inhaled. It hesitated, blinked, swayed.
Kael struck.
He climbed its back like a wild cat, digging his dagger repeatedly into the thinner joints near its neck—[EXP 1075].
He barely had ti to catch his breath when a lion ca charging in with its teeth bared and eyes glowing red.
Kael rolled backward, barely escaping a fiery bite, and ca up behind the beast. His blade slashed across its hind leg. The lion roared and turned—exposing its throat.
Kael didn’t waste the chance.
He drove his dagger in with both hands—[EXP 1050].
[Progress: 83/100 Enemies Defeated]
The warriors hesitated now. Their formation broke, a few stepping back. He was bleeding. Breathing like a man on his last leg. And yet...
He kept killing.
One of them shouted, trying to rally the group. A Lvl 30 Primal Captain, twin axes gleaming with Primal Energy.
Kael’s eyes narrowed behind the Shadow Veil Mask.
He gripped his dagger tighter.
The captain charged.
Their weapons t in a flurry of clangs—blade against axe, speed against strength.
Kael ducked a wide arc, slid forward, and slashed at the captain’s knee, but the axe caught his shoulder—[HP: 39%].
Blood sprayed and Kael hissed. His foot lashed out, kicking the captain’s knee.
It buckled.
He pushed up, twisting inside the man’s guard, and plunged the dagger under his ribcage—[EXP 1075].
Kael staggered back. He was soaked in blood now—so his, so not.
The last bear roared and charged, crushing a smaller tree underfoot. Kael turned and ran. Not away from fear, but around. He led it into a trap where three spears from fallen warriors were jamd upright into the soil.
The bear didn’t stop its chase. It ran straight into them, and two hit its armored chest—useless.
But one found its open mouth.
Kael was already in the air when it reeled, his dagger aid for the sa soft spot.
A flash of silver appeared. A spray of blood. The bear collapsed—[EXP 1075].
[Progress: 85/100 Enemies Defeated]
There were only fifteen Primal Warriors left.
They fanned out, circling him.
Kael’s hands trembled now. His stamina bar blinked red—19%. HP: 35%. The Essence Latch gave one more pulse. But it was small, faint.
It was not enough, but Kael grinned anyway.
"Seventeen, huh?" he muttered, dragging his blade against a rock to wipe it clean. "That’s a fair number."
One of them snapped and charged recklessly.
Kael caught the wrist, spun, disard him, and stabbed under the chin—[EXP 975].
Another ca with a sword. Kael parried once, twice—but his strength was waning. The third hit cracked across his ribs—[HP: 28%].
He coughed blood, stumbled, and barely raised his dagger in ti to deflect the killing blow.
He countered by falling—literally—grabbing the attacker’s leg and dragging him down. They rolled.
Kael ended up on top and stabbed until the man stopped moving—[EXP 1000].
He stood, drenched in blood, blinking sweat out of his eyes.
Thirteen left. And they ca charging.
Axes, swords, spears—Kael faced them all. Each clash scraped what was left of his strength. Every step felt like dragging chains. He barely had ti to breathe.
But he didn’t stop moving.
He weaved through them like smoke.
A dagger in a neck. A boot to the knee. A slash across the eyes. A parry. A dodge. A stab. Another scream. Another kill.
[EXP 950]
[EXP 975]
[EXP 1025]
His HP was 21% now.
Stamina? Barely 10%.
Kael fell to one knee in exhaustion. They saw that.. the last ten.
They rushed him together, sensing the end.
He didn’t move. Not until they were a few steps away.
[DING!]
[HP at 20%. Eldritch Reversal is Activated]
The system chi wasn’t loud, but it echoed in Kael’s mind like a war drum. His vision pulsed—once, twice—before a surge exploded in his chest.
The world slowed. Everything around him beca clearer.
The sweat on a warrior’s brow. The slight quiver in a man’s right hand as he clutched his spear. The faint flicker of Primal Energy leaking from a cracked core. Kael saw it all.
The pain dulled instantly. His limbs, once heavy as iron, now moved with a fluid ease.
[Controlled Mutation: Initiated]
His muscles tightened. Not bulging, but refined. Sharper. His fingers twitched, eager. A cold calm washed over him, drowning the fear, the doubt, even the fatigue.
Kael stood up. Not fast. Not slow. Just enough to make the fen charging warriors falter mid-step.
Their hesitation cost them.
Kael vanished—Eclipse Step.
He reappeared behind the one on the left, and before the man could turn, Kael’s dagger slid across his throat in one clean motion, slicing his head clean from the neck, blood shooting out like a fountain—[EXP 975].
The second swung his halberd, screaming.
Kael bent backwards, the blade missing his face by inches, and drove his dagger upward into the man’s exposed belly—twisting and turning it. Blood sprayed—[EXP 1000].
The third didn’t get a chance to react.
Kael’s foot lashed out, breaking his knee inward with a crunch. As the warrior scread, Kael grabbed his collar and slamd his head into the ground—once, twice, a third ti—until the red stopped flowing—[EXP 1025].
The fourth and fifth ca together, one with a sword, the other with a staff crackling with low-grade elental energy.
Kael weaved through the sword strikes like he knew them before they ca. He parried one, ducked another, and closed the distance in a heartbeat. His hand grabbed the man’s wrist, yanked it down, and stabbed him through the heart in a brutal finish—[EXP 975].
The mage tried to retreat, but Kael was faster.
He ducked under a bolt of lightning, slid along the forest floor, and sliced across the mage’s Achilles tendon. The man collapsed, shrieking, and Kael ended it swiftly—[EXP 975].
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