Chapter 68: The Beast in the Cave

A brutal tearing sound pulled Neo out of his sleep.

It was followed by a low growl, and then a short, terrified cry that cut off halfway. Neo’s eyes snapped open. The rain had stopped at some point, and gray morning light was falling in from the mouth of the cave, but something huge was blocking most of it.

He slowly turned his head.

A beast stood in the middle of the cave, so big that its back scraped against the ceiling whenever it moved. It was almost ten meters long, covered in thick, dark gray skin that looked more like metal plates than hide. Two curved fangs, each as long as a grown man, jutted out from its lower jaw, and blood dripped from them onto the rocky floor.

Under one of its front paws lay the remains of the deer Neo had fed the night before.

The other animals that had shared the cave with him were gone. Some had run away. Some, judging by the red stains on the walls, hadn’t been fast enough.

The beast lifted its head, chewing slowly, and its sharp yellow eyes turned toward Neo.

’Well, that’s one way to wake up.’

He rolled sideways and jumped to his feet, putting as much distance between himself and the beast as the cave allowed, his back nearly touching the far wall. His body still ached, but it listened to him better than yesterday. He kept his eyes on the monster and called up the system.

[Ding!]

[Do you want to Appraise the target?]

[Y/N]

He clicked yes without looking away.

[Appraising begins...]

[Ding!]

[Name: Ironhide Direfang]

[Type: Magical Beast]

[Level of Threat: High]

[HP: 3800/3800]

[Description: A large predator that lives in the deep forests of the Desolate Land’s borderlands. Its skin hardens with age and can turn away ordinary blades and weak spells. It is a meat-eater by nature, but it usually hunts alone and avoids humans. When starved or angered, it will attack anything that moves.]

[Skills: Iron Hide, Bone Crusher, Rampage]

Neo’s eyebrow twitched.

’He is stronger than I expected. Judging by his rank, he should have been roughly as strong as my original self, more or less. And I’m still only half-recovered.’

The Direfang finished swallowing, licked its bloody lips, and let out a deep rumble. It was clearly still hungry, as the drool was still dropping from the corner of it’s mouth.

"Let’s not do this, I don’t taste good. Trust me."

The beast didn’t seem interested in his opinion. It lowered its head, dug its claws into the stone, and charged.

Neo moved before the sound of its steps even reached him. He dropped low and rolled to the side, the tusks smashing into the spot where he had just been standing. Rocks cracked and fell from the ceiling.

He pulled his hand back and reached for the strange warmth he had felt in the void, the blue flame sitting deep inside his soul. He could sense it there, quiet and waiting. He pushed his mind toward it.

The moment he mentally tried to pull it, a sharp pain stabbed through his skull, as if someone had driven a nail straight into his forehead. His vision went white. His knees buckled, and the flame in his hand died before it had even properly formed.

’Damn it. Not now!’

The Direfang did not waste the chance. It swung its huge head sideways and hit Neo square in the chest. The world spun, and then his back slammed into the cave wall with a crack that shook dust from the ceiling. He slid down to the floor, gasping, the air knocked clean out of his lungs.

The beast let out a low, pleased growl and started walking toward him, slowly this time.

Neo lay there for a second, waiting for the pain to explode through his body the way it had during the fight with the Dreadlord.

But it didn’t.

It hurt, of course. His back throbbed and his ribs felt sore. But it was a dull hurt, nothing like the broken feeling he had expected after being thrown into rock by something that heavy.

’That’s strange. I should be in a lot worse shape than this.’

He pushed himself up and rolled his shoulders, testing them. Everything perfectly moved. Everything perfectly held. He remembered how the frost had spread over his skin when he had used the First Ascension, and how his body had felt sturdier ever since the awakening.

’So my body got stronger too, after awakening. I guess the bloodline did more than I thought.’

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth despite everything.

’Good. That means I can afford to take a few hits. Not that I want to get beaten up, but... let’s fight properly.’

The Direfang lunged again. Neo jumped straight up, kicked off the side of its snout, and landed behind it, already gathering mana in both hands. He couldn’t use Soulfire without another headache, but he still had everything he had trained for years to use.

He thrust his palms forward, and a dozen sharp shards of ice formed in the air and shot at the beast’s side.

*Tak!* *Tak!* *Tak!*

The shards hit its skin and shattered into tiny pieces. Not a single one left a mark. The Direfang turned around, snorting, looking almost bored.

"Yeah, I figured, Fine. Let’s try something else."

He let the mana swirl in his right palm, gathering the ice element around it, shaping it tighter and tighter until it hardened into a long blade of ice, clear and sharp, about the length of his arm. He tightened his grip, wrapped a layer of mana around the edge to make it cut better, and dashed forward as the beast charged again.

He slid under its jaw, twisted his body, and drove the blade into its front leg with everything he had.

*Crack!*

The ice sword broke in half against the hard skin. The tip flew off and clattered across the floor.

The Direfang roared and swung a paw at him. Neo threw himself backward, the claws missing his face by a hand’s width, and rolled away, dropping the useless handle.

’It’s too powerful to break through head-on, but at least it’s not fast enough to catch me easily.’

He let the broken hilt melt in his hand and made a new sword right away. Then he dashed in again, stayed close to the beast’s body this time, and slashed at its side before jumping back out. The blade bounced off, leaving a thin scratch. He made another one and cut at the same spot. Then another sword, another cut, another jump away.

The Direfang tried to crush him with its paws, its tusks, its tail. Each time, Neo slipped away just in time, using gravity to make himself lighter in the air and heavier when he landed, so his feet stuck to the ground exactly where he wanted them. His movements grew quicker with every exchange, his body warming up, remembering every sparring lesson Eiris and his father had drilled into him.

The cave filled with the sound of breaking ice, heavy breathing, and the beast’s furious roars. Small cuts began to appear along the Direfang’s side, thin at first, then a little deeper as Neo kept striking the same weak points over and over.

’That’s the way. If it can’t catch me, it can’t hurt me. Just keep moving.’

The beast grew increasingly enraged. It unleashed a furious roar that shook the walls before swinging wildly, its eyes darken.

Its consciousness slipped into a rampage, and its speed suddenly surged.

One of its tusks clipped Neo’s shoulder, tearing through his sleeve and cutting into his skin.

"Gh—!"

Neo grunted as the impact sent him skidding backward across the floor.

He wiped the blood off his arm and looked at the enraged beast.

’Alright. I’ve had enough of this. Time to put an end to it.’

He came to a halt and slowly spread both arms to his sides. Mana surged from his body, gathering around him as the spell took shape.

The temperature inside the cave plummeted.

A thin layer of frost crept across the ground as one ice sword after another erupted from the floor. Their long, slender blades shimmered under the faint light, gradually filling the air around him.

Ten. Twenty. Thirty.

Dozens of icy blades hovered motionlessly around Neo, their razor-sharp tips all pointed toward the beast.

The Direfang stopped mid-step, feeling uneasy for the first time.

Neo raised one of his hand, and a soft, silvery glow spread across each of the swords, starlight crawling along every blade until they shone like frozen pieces of the night sky.

"This one might hurt," he muttered under his breath.

Then, with a simple motion, he lowered his hand.

The moment his hand fell, every sword launched forward.

The icy blades streaked across the cave like flashes of starlight. This time, the beast’s hide offered no resistance. One after another, the swords pierced through its thick gray plates and buried themselves deep into the flesh beneath.

Twelve. Twenty. Thirty.

The Direfang released a final, agonizing roar.

Its legs buckled beneath its massive frame, and a moment later, its enormous body slammed into the cave floor.

*BOOOOOM!*

The impact sent a tremor through the stone, rattling the ground beneath Neo’s feet.

The scream died away. The light in the beast’s eyes dimmed and went out.

The cave was quiet again.

Neo stood there, chest heaving, his shoulder bleeding and his whole body trembling from the effort. Bits of ice melted and dripped from the fallen swords, mixing with the blood on the floor. A few drops had splashed across his cheek. He flicked his hand and wiped them off.

A faint grin tugged at his lips. Even with the danger of the battle still lingering in the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

"Well... training like this is really exciting."