Arthur pulled the parchment notice from the guild board, admiring the crisp ink lettering before turning back to Elena’s counter.
"I'll take this one," Arthur said, placing the contract onto the polished wood.
Elena picked up the parchment, her eyes scanning the details. "The Razor-Fang Pack contract? It's logged as an E-Rank hunt. Normally, we require a small party of three or four F-Rank rookies for this, but given your assessment results..." She stamped the parchment with red guild wax and handed it back with a approving nod. "You're cleared for solo deployment. The den was sighted near the rocky ridge, roughly two miles past the eastern gate. Bring back ten razor-fang lower jaws as proof of completion."
"Understood," Arthur said, sliding the stamped parchment into his jacket. "I'll be back before evening."
Ten minutes later, Arthur crossed the outer perimeter of the town, stepping into the dusty, sun-baked hills of the border badlands. The terrain was rough, broken up by jagged granite rocks, dry shrubs, and steep ravines—ideal terrain for ambush predators.
As he walked, Arthur focused inward, feeling the smooth flow of magic coursing through his body. Unlike back in his old world where fatigue set in quickly, every step here felt weightless, grounded, and sharp.
Two miles...
When he reached the base of the rocky ridge, the scent of damp earth and iron hung heavy in the air. Beneath an overhang of jagged black stone lay the dark opening of a shallow cavern. Scattered around the entrance were cracked bones and dried bloodstains.
[Body Reinforcement: Lv 1]
A faint ripple of gold-tinted aura spread across his limbs. His heart beat rhythmically, his reflexes sharpening to a fine edge.
A low, collective growl vibrated from the dark depths of the cavern. A moment later, five large, wolf-like beasts with dark grey fur and protruding, blade-like lower fangs prowled into the open. Their crimson eyes locked onto Arthur, saliva dripping from their jaws as they spread out in a deliberate hunting crescent.
"Five of them," Arthur murmured, adjusting his grip on the hilt. "Good field test."
The beast let out a sharp bark, and two of the razor-fangs lunged simultaneously from his left and right flanks, their sharp claws kicking up clouds of red dust.
He planted his back foot and swung his blade in a swift, clean horizontal arc.
SWOOSH!
Enhanced by his magic, the strike was so blazingly fast that the first razor-fang was sliced cleanly through the chest mid-air before it could even snap its jaws. Without pausing his momentum, Arthur pivoted on his heel, dodging the second beast's leaping bite by a fraction of an inch, and drove a flame-coated left fist straight into its exposed ribcage.
[Fire Magic: Lv 1]
BOOM!
A burst of vivid red flames detonated on impact, sending the second beast crashing into the stone wall with a dull thud, instantly limp.
The remaining three razor-fangs froze, their predatory instincts screaming in alarm as two of their pack members were eliminated in less than three seconds. The alpha snarled, backing away slightly, but Arthur was already moving. This chapter was copied from novelping . com without permission.
He closed the distance in a fraction of a second, his body leaving a faint streak of golden motion through the dusty air.
SLASH! CRACK! SWOOSH!
Three precise, fluid motions. A clean thrust through the throat, a heavy reinforced kick that broke the collar of the second, and a final flaming slash that felled the alpha on the spot.
Silence returned to the rocky ridge.
Arthur stood in the center of the clearing, his chest rising steadily as he lowered his iron sword. Wisps of smoke drifted from the blade, but his breath wasn't even ragged. His mana pool was barely touched.
Flawless, Arthur thought, a confident smile breaking across his face as he looked at the defeated pack. The combination of physical enhancement and elemental magic makes combat almost second nature.
He knelt down beside the fallen alpha, pulling a short hunting knife from his belt to begin harvesting the required bounty proof.
"Ten lower jaws," he said softly, getting to work. "That's one step closer to buying a real home."