—

[ Name: Moon ]

[ Race: Human ]

[ Class: Classless]

[ Level: 36 ] [62%]

[ Lives: 212,681 ] [Super Lives: 0]

[ Strength: 155 ] [ Agility: 215 ] [ Constitution: 177 ] [ Mana: 257 ] (+20 to all stats)

[ Attribute Points: 10]

[ Skills: Elemental Attack, True Elemental Physique, Tenacity, Golden Skin, Ignite, Runemaster, Eye of Truth, Thunderclap Raiju, Calmness, Beastmaster, Minor Mend, Cleanse, Stone Clasp, Heaviness, Air Step, Bird dance, Bullseye, Feint, Rune Enhancement, Weaponmaster, Curse, Mark of Omen, Battle Instinct]

[ Talent: Grim Reaper ]

[ Class Skills: Class Slot {0/1}, Life Burn]

[Beast Souls: Fire and Nature]

—

He had leveled up once during the hunting spree, crossing the halfway point toward the next level. His lives had swollen by a little over sixty thousand, a staggering haul that put his reserves at a comfortable height.

His fourth acupoint, housing Runemaster as its foundational skill, had filled to roughly half capacity. The progress was solid, but Moon noticed something he had been expecting. Each successive acupoint demanded more spiritual energy than the last to completely fill. The increase wasn’t dramatic on a per-acupoint basis, but the trend was clear. By the time he reached the forties or fifties, filling a single acupoint could take considerably longer than it did now.

The solution was obvious. He needed richer, and purer sources of spiritual energy.

"The spirit pavilion will help with that." Moon muttered. "I can’t delay it any longer. It’s time."

A pulse of excitement ran through him. He had been circling this moment since his first day on the island. Every fight, every skill evolved, every acupoint filled had been building toward this.

"But before a direct attack, it was only natural to thin their numbers first."

Moon didn’t care if he was called cowardly for doing so. He was entering a battle with significantly less prepared warriors, and if he could maximize every advantage...he would.

The spirits weren’t innocent, neither was he.

The last time he killed a single spirit, the entire pavilion had gone into distress. Waves of spirits swept the island, slaughtering every beast in their path, searching for the culprit. All of that from one death.

Moon was curious what their reaction would be when he slaughtered an entire group.

"Time to find out."

He grinned and jumped onto Mirage’s back. His spirit returned to its pocket space, ready to be summoned at a moment’s notice. The hydra, the Fire Hound, and the ten First Star beasts fell into formation behind him.

The group moved out from the mistwell, heading closer to the pavilion.

With a group this size, stealth was impossible. Two Second Star beasts flaring their auras made sure of that. But it also meant nothing dared to approach them. Every beast in their path sensed the pressure radiating from the hydra and the Fire Hound and gave them a wide berth.

The island parted for them like water before a ship.

◇◇◇◇

Moon continued to scan the terrain as they moved closer to the pavilion’s territory. He made sure to stay in the outskirts of the base of the peak where the pavilion was situated.

Then he found his target. It wasn’t a group, but that was okay.

It was a single spirit, alone, in the middle of a fight against a large beast. Its weapon moved in quick, efficient arcs, carving through the creature’s defenses without much resistance. The spirit was clearly stronger than the beast, but was merely using it as a training dummy.

The spirit noticed Moon at the same moment Moon noticed it. Its pale eyes flicked toward the rider on the white horse and the army of beasts behind him. The diamond on its forehead pulsed.

But it was mid-fight. The beast it was killing wasn’t dead yet.

"Human." The spirit spoke without stopping its assault, its blade finding the beast’s throat between words. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing much." Moon smiled from atop Mirage, his body relaxed, his hands resting on the horse’s mane. "Just watching two beasts fight, it’s entertaining."

The spirit’s face furrowed, but didn’t reply. Its pace quickened, strikes coming faster, harder, trying to finish the job. And, within moments, the job was done.

~Whoosh~

A final slash opened the beast from chest to belly. It collapsed in a heap of blood and torn flesh. Crying out weakly for help that would never come.

The spirit straightened up and turned to face Moon completely. Its weapon hung at its side, blood dripping from the edge. Its pale eyes studied Moon coldly.

"You are brave for a mere human. You must be strong." It said.

"So and so." Moon tilted his head. "But you... must be weak, if I say so myself."

"Insolent!" The spirit’s expression twisted.

Moon’s words had clearly struck the pride and ego of the Spirit. For a race, deeming themselves as the strongest, most intelligent species, being called weak from someone they thought amounted to nothing was very insulting.

"You, a human, dare speak to me in such a way? Do you know how many of your kind I have slaughtered since my birth?"

The spirit began to walk toward Moon slowly, its weapon lowered to its side, the tip dragging a thin line through the dirt.

Moon didn’t move. He watched the spirit approach with the same relaxed smile on his face.

"You see, legends are worthless once buried. And, dead men have no victory.

So tell me, why should I care about your achievements...dead man."

The spirit’s eyes blazed.

It dashed forward. Its body blurring, crossing the distance between them in a second, its blade arcing upward in a killing strike aimed at Moon’s chest.

"Die!" The spirit coldly spat.

Moon’s smile didn’t fade. He summoned his sword mid-leap, launching himself from Mirage’s back to meet the spirit head-on.

Their blades collided in the air.

The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward that flattened the grass beneath them and cracked the stone under their feet. Both of their arms shook from the force, locked together for a single, trembling second.

Neither gave ground.