26: First encounter?

The air, heavy with the smell of mud, filled the atmosphere, and his feet felt the cold and resistance of the sludge, hindering his movements and slowing him down.

In such a hostile environment, the key to survival was having sharp senses and an analytical mind to face emergencies and unexpected obstacles. Luckily, Grey possessed both.

His body began to glow faintly as the black spots on his skin turned gray. His silver eyes became sharper, flashing intensely as his senses heightened, allowing him to perceive the world more fully.

The smell of mud intensified, the sound of his steps became clearer, and his breathing quickened. But beyond that, he also caught a faint scent of blood and a subtle, almost imperceptible, sound of something breathing.

He moved cautiously over the mud, following a path meticulously planned during the night. His spear, firm in his hands, was ready for any eventuality.

His eyes moved quickly, scanning every small detail of his surroundings, while his mind processed the information in seconds.

The sound of breathing grew louder, still subtle but closer and clearer. The smell of blood also became stronger, making Grey more cautious with each step he took.

Every meter he advanced brought him closer to a turn between the tall, wide walls of the crimson coral. According to what Grey had seen the previous day, this was a slightly open area, where a muddy clearing stretched out in a circular shape, covering several dozen meters around.

'Strange,' he thought. As he recalled, that small clearing had been empty the day before. There shouldn't have been any creature there until just a few minutes ago, when he began exploring the maze.

When he finally reached the corner leading to the clearing, Grey's body tensed. His muscles swelled, his arms darkened, and his pale skin adopted a grayish tone like ash.

His hands gripped the spear tightly. In the next second, Grey had already rounded the corner, ready to face some abomination.

What he saw was simply disgusting.

There was an abomination of flesh at least three meters long, its body covered in grotesque protruding tentacles.

It looked more like a sea creature than a land one, struggling to breathe while a humanoid monster pounced on it, devouring its tentacles and tearing off chunks of flesh with every desperate bite.

The tentacled thing weakly thrashed, its breathing erratic as its attacker continued devouring it with ferocity.

The moment Grey peeked out, the humanoid creature turned its bloodied head toward him. Its wild, crazed eyes locked onto Grey with a beastly hunger. With a deafening roar, it charged at him.

"Disgusting!" Grey growled, raising his spear in defense.

The creature, twice Grey's size and monstrously bulky, advanced with fury. With a guttural roar, it raised its long arms, preparing a crushing blow.

Grey's skin turned gray as he lifted his spear to block the attack.

BOOM!

The impact echoed across the clearing, and Grey felt his feet sink into the mud from the recoil of the blow.

The creature wasted no time, delivering a direct kick to his abdomen. The brutal hit sent Grey flying through the air, crashing into a coral wall.

"Damn... This is bad," he muttered, catching his breath as he gripped his spear tighter.

His skin began to glow faintly as his senses sharpened, perceiving details of his surroundings with incredible clarity. He could hear the creature's heavy steps approaching, each sound amplified in his mind.

He quickly scanned his surroundings, and a sly smile crossed his face.

The creature was already on top of him, its arms raised for another devastating blow. A second before the attack connected, Grey swiftly dodged to the side.

Wasting no time, he started running at full speed, splashing mud everywhere. The creature, blinded by rage, received a spray of mud in its eyes, giving Grey a few precious seconds.

Grey headed toward a corner of the clearing, where he had detected a web of sharp, nearly invisible threads, dangerously woven between the coral walls.

Of course, they were even less visible to a creature blinded and consumed by fury.

"Yeah, come here!" Grey yelled, taunting the creature. "Come on, you bastard!"

The beast roared and charged at him with alarming speed, its bloodshot eyes fixed on its prey. When the creature was just a few meters away, Grey ran directly toward it, risking everything.

Taking advantage of his smaller size, he placed his spear horizontally in front of him as his skin darkened, bracing for the impact. The monster's momentum, combined with his own, made it impossible to stop.

The monster crashed into Grey, and both were pushed toward the webs. The sharp threads sliced through the creature's massive body, chopping it into grotesque pieces as its momentum carried it straight into the deadly trap.

Though Grey was also shoved by the impact, he managed to maintain enough control to avoid falling onto the sharp threads. However, he was completely drenched in the thick, foul-smelling blood of the creature that had just been shredded.

He wiped his face in disgust.

"I need a bath... urgently."

Grey quickly glanced around, observing the mess they had caused: a cracked coral wall, mud splattered everywhere, and foul-smelling blood covering the ground.

He let out a long sigh as his heart rate and breathing calmed.

"I won."

A small smile formed on his lips as he looked at the torn-apart body of his prey.

"It's a shame it didn't count as a kill... What rank could this thing be?"

He stood up and walked over to the mutilated remains of the creature, his gaze fixed on a round crystal glowing faintly amidst the flesh.

His spear rose, effortlessly cutting through the spider threads, creating a safe path to the glowing crystal. When he grabbed it, he examined it with curiosity before crushing it between his fingers.

[Your souls grow stronger]

Grey felt the essence rise through his body, concentrating in his chest. With an even wider smile, he decided to open his runes to check how much energy he had gained from the core.

Name: Grey

True Name: Legacy of Ruin

Rank: Dreamer

Dual Core: Inactive

Soul Fragments: [2/1000]

Grey's smile faded.

"Only two fragments for all that trouble?" he thought, disappointed. He closed his runes and gathered some flesh.

Just as he was about to leave, something caught his attention. From the beginning of the fight, he had been constantly improving his body, and now, with his heightened senses after the battle, he noticed a new sound: forced breathing and faint groans that he wouldn't have heard before without his enhancements.

"The grotesque creature is still alive…"

A malicious smile spread across his face as he ran toward the source of the noise.

When he reached the place where the fight had begun, he saw the abomination of flesh still breathing heavily in the clearing.

"A consolation prize?"

Grey raised his spear, ready to throw it, carefully avoiding the creature's long tentacles, which could still pose a threat if he got too close.

With a precise throw, his spear sliced through the air and embedded itself in the exposed flesh of the creature. It died with one last pitiful whimper.

[You have killed a Fallen Beast, Kalictis of the Cursed Sea]

Grey stared in disbelief at the rank of the beast he had just slain. A Fallen Beast was equivalent in raw power to the Awakened who had ascended, people like Master Jet.

Killing one was unheard of for a mere Dreamer. Although, after having killed a Corrupt Terror as just an Aspirant, his surprise didn't last long.

"At least I'll get its core—"

[You have received a memory: Kalictis Armor]

[Your souls grow stronger]