After leaving the forest, Noah followed his previous plan: wander the world, hunt creatures, and maybe find opportunities along the way.
As he walked through a village that was once alive but now completely abandoned, wooden houses with doors wide open, the wind whispering through broken windows, as if the land itself mourned the absence of those who once lived there.
"It's been fifteen days since I've been completely alone in this world…"
Noah murmured as he observed the village, looking for a house where he could rest for a few hours and ease the weight of exhaustion on his shoulders.
After a few minutes of searching, Noah found a relatively intact house. It was simple, made of wood, but solid enough to serve as shelter. Most importantly, the door faced an open street, which would allow him to spot any creature approaching.
The windows, though broken, were strategically positioned; he could monitor the surroundings with ease and, if necessary, escape through the back.
"Good enough for today…"
he murmured, pushing the door open with his shoulder, making it creak loudly.Inside, there was only dust, a few toppled furniture pieces, and marks of a life that no longer existed. Still, it was safer than sleeping out in the open. Noah dropped his backpack to the floor, leaned against the wall, and let out a long sigh.
Sigh ~~~
Next Day
After a silent and relatively safe night in the abandoned house, Noah woke up to the first rays of light filtering through the broken windows.
He stretched slowly, feeling his stiff muscles protest after days of walking and battles. Even so, he couldn't afford to stay there long. With swift, habitual movements, he packed his things, slung the backpack over his shoulders, and made sure everything was in place.
As he stepped outside, the soft crunch of his boots sounded louder than it should in that deep silence. Cold wind swept through the deserted streets, whistling between crumbling structures and lifting small clouds of dust. Every step echoed as if the whole world was listening.
While walking through the abandoned buildings, something caught his attention, the dull gleam of his katana blade. He pulled it slightly from its sheath, observing it under the light. Small cracks on the surface, impact marks, and an already worn edge told the story of countless battles.
His spear, strapped diagonally across his back, was in slightly better condition, sturdy and still sharp, but also showing signs of continuous use.
"I need to get a new weapon soon…"
he murmured, running his thumb along the side of the katana.
It was still the same sword he'd found in that small shop during his first stop in this world. A simple item, even generic, but it had been with him since the earliest days of survival. It was a weapon that shouldn't have lasted this long, and yet, it endured. Just like him...
PPAHHHH!!!
A dry boom echoed through the silent village streets, like a thunderclap breaking clear skies. The impact was so sudden that the air seemed to vanish for a moment.
"Urgh!"
Noah barely had time to react.
A colossal hand—grotesque, misshapen, as if made from forcibly fused flesh and stone, burst through the rubble of a side wall with a brutal, cracking snap. It moved in a blur, smashing the air around it, heading directly for him with unnatural speed for something so massive.
BOOOOM!
The strike hit him square in the abdomen before his brain could even register the danger. A dull thud. His body was flung like a ragdoll, feet leaving the ground, air ripped from his lungs.
But in a desperate reflex, an instinct forged through days of fighting and survival, Noah drew his sword mid-air.
SHIIIIING!
The blade gleamed for a moment, flashing under the dim light that pierced through the gaps in the abandoned village.
CRASH!
The sword intercepted part of the blow, scratching the monster's flesh and ripping shards from its obsidian carapace. But it wasn't enough.
The creature's overwhelming force shattered the blade like glass. The steel cracked with a sharp snap, and even so, the remaining impact hurled Noah violently into a wall across the street.
KRAAACK!
The structure gave way under his weight. Dust, bricks, and splinters exploded in all directions.Noah dropped to his knees, coughing. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, hot and bitter.
His ribs throbbed, one or two might have been fractured. Still, he kept his eyes locked on the enemy before him.
"Damn it… where was that thing hiding?"
he muttered, spitting blood and wiping his mouth with the back of a trembling hand.And then, from the shadows between the debris, it emerged.
[
Level: 10
Name: Gloomfang Devourer
STR: 20
STA: 15
CON: 16
INT: 9
CHA: 4
Mana: 20
Skills: (Savage Rend – C), (Shadow Leap – C), (Obsidian Hide – D)
]
"Shit... a level 10 with two C-Rank skills..."
Noah's voice was low, tense, almost a whisper laced with calculation and adrenaline.
The creature walked toward him now, slow and deliberate. Its black claws dragged along the stone floor, leaving deep gouges in their wake. It stood about two and a half meters tall, but its presence
felt much larger, a pressure that crushed the chest, smothered the senses.Its skin looked like a fusion of dark leather and cracked obsidian plates, with a bluish gleam reflecting through the crevices. It was as if its very body had been forged in hatred.
Seven glowing eyes, scattered across its face and upper torso, moved independently, scanning everything around it. Each blink seemed to measure, calculate, decipher.
GAARRGHHH
Then, it growled.A deep, guttural sound, like ancient stones grinding apart. Its claws clicked rhythmically, as if challenging him, taunting.
'…This damn thing's pissed. It wanted to catch me off guard… and failed.'
As if understanding his thoughts, the creature snarled louder. A brutal roar echoed through the silent village, shaking shattered windows and kicking up clouds of forgotten dust.
"Tsk… with that INT stat, it's probably smarter than it looks."
Even injured, Noah adjusted his stance. Feet spread, right hand gripping his spear tightly. His muscles trembled, but his eyes were sharp as blades.
His broken katana lay useless on the ground. But his spear, his other weapon, was still intact, firm in his hand, an extension of his will.
The tension between them was suffocating, like a string about to snap. The air seemed to stop. Time held its breath. And then—
TCHAA!
The Gloomfang Devourer lunged with savage brutality. Each step shook the ground, and its black claws tore through the earth like razors. The eyes scattered across its body glowed with bestial fury, but also with calculation. It was studying Noah.
Noah spun his spear in a fluid motion and launched to the side, narrowly dodging a swipe that pulverized a wall behind him.
"Dash!"
His body exploded with speed, like a living arrow. In less than a second, he crossed the distance between him and the monster, appearing by its right flank.
CLANK!
The spear's blade bounced off the Obsidian Hide, leaving only a shallow crack.
"Tsk… as expected from a D-Rank defense skill."
The monster turned with a roar, trying to counter with a swipe of its claws. Noah leapt back, but one tip sliced his shoulder, hot blood sprayed, staining the street red.
"Haaah… ha…"
He fell to his knees for a moment, pain burning through him.But then—
"Regeneration."
His skin began to glow faintly with a purple hue, and the torn tissue started to rebuild itself. Muscles pulsed as they stitched back together, sealing live flesh with supernatural speed.
"I just need an opening..."
The Devourer didn't wait. It leapt instantly with Shadow Leap, appearing from the roof of a ruined house directly above Noah like a comet of pure force.
"Shadowflame!"
Noah raised his free hand, and a black flame burst from his palm, twisting like a hungry serpent. The fire wasn't normal: it roared in silence, burning the air around it with a spectral aura.
BOOOOM!
The attack struck the creature mid-air, forcing it to crash to the ground with a guttural grunt. Shadowy flames clung to the obsidian skin, melting part of the rocky layer.
"Now!"
He ran in a zigzag pattern, dodging the monster's frenzied attacks. With the spear firmly in hand, he charged again, his body moving like a dark lightning bolt, and thrust the blade into the crack opened by the flames on the Devourer's flank.
SHLUUUK!
The creature roared. A scream of pain and hatred that reverberated through the entire village. The eyes on its chest flickered, confused, faltering for a moment. Noah didn't back down.
"Shadowflame!"
This time, he channeled the flames through the spear itself. The black metal glowed red and violet, and the fire spread from within the creature's body outward.
BOOOOOOM!
An explosion. Shards of obsidian and charred flesh flew through the air. The creature fell to its side, writhing, its torso aflame, eyes blinking erratically.But it still lived.
Even burning, even wounded, it still tried to rise. One of its arms lifted, trembling, aiming at Noah.Noah staggered, breath heavy, body covered in blood and soot.
"Tsk… still standing, huh?"
He tossed the spear aside, broken, ruined by the heat.
[+3 Strength]
Then closed his right fist, aiming for what was left of the creature's head.
"Die."
All of Noah's newly awakened strength focused into a single point, the creature's head. The punch landed with brutal precision, and in an instant, the Gloomfang Devourer's skull exploded in a grotesque spray of black blood and bone fragments, scattering like shrapnel amid the still-burning flames.
PLOOOSH!
Silence reigned.
Only Noah's ragged breathing remained, and the crackle of the black flames that slowly began to fade.