The Orc didn’t give him another second.
Without hesitation, Algeni charged straight at the towering monster.
His footsteps echoed throughout the cavern, sending small clouds of dust swirling into the air with every stride.
His sword flashed repeatedly beneath the dim torchlight.
One slash.
Another.
And another.
Every strike landed against the Orc’s massive body.
Yet the wounds barely managed to cut through its thick hide, leaving only shallow gashes across its scarred skin.
The Orc slowly lowered its gaze toward him.
Its expression hardly changed.
Then it threw an enormous punch.
Algeni barely managed to dodge.
The giant fist swept past him before crashing violently into the cavern wall.
BOOM!
Chunks of rock exploded in every direction, and the impact sent a tremor through the entire chamber.
“Those punches are dangerous…
In my current condition, even one could kill me,” Algeni muttered as he stumbled backward, struggling to steady his breathing.
Without giving himself time to recover, he rushed forward again.
He aimed a horizontal slash at the Orc’s side.
This time…
The monster reacted.
It shifted its massive body just enough to avoid the attack.
In the same instant, it countered with a devastating blow fueled by monstrous strength.
Algeni barely had enough time to raise his sword and block.
CRACK!
The blade shattered in two.
The impact hurled him several meters through the air.
His body bounced across the stone floor before coming to a stop amid a cloud of dust and scattered debris.
For several long seconds…
He didn’t move.
The only sound that remained was his ragged breathing echoing through the cavern.
Slowly, he lifted one hand.
All that remained was the broken hilt of his sword.
His eyes opened little by little.
“I can’t keep going…
I feel like my body won’t move anymore…” he whispered, his voice completely drained of strength.
The Orc began walking toward him.
Each heavy step made the ground tremble beneath its weight.
Behind Algeni, the instructor watched the scene without being able to move.
She clenched a handful of dirt so tightly that it slipped through her trembling fingers.
She wanted to do something.
Anything.
But the paralysis poison still refused to release its grip on her body.
Meanwhile, Algeni remained trapped within his own thoughts.
“In novels…
whenever something like this happens…
someone always appears to save the protagonist.”
But the moment that thought crossed his mind…
Everything disappeared.
The cavern.
The Orc.
The instructor.
The goblins.
Everything was swallowed by absolute darkness.
Nothing remained except an endless black void.
The only thing that still possessed color…
…was him.
His body emitted a faint white glow that stood out against the infinite darkness surrounding him.
Algeni slowly lowered his head.
A shadow crossed his expression.
In a voice barely above a whisper, he murmured,
His fingers slowly curled into a fist.
“Why do I keep looking at this world as if it were just another novel?”
He tightened his fist.
“This is real.”
He stood perfectly still for several moments.
Then, with tremendous effort, he slowly pushed himself back to his feet.
His body trembled violently.
Around him, tiny fragments of crimson energy began to appear, floating through the darkness like glowing embers drifting through the night.
Algeni watched the particles while struggling to breathe.
“I can’t keep waiting for someone to come and save me.”
His voice gradually regained its strength.
“This…
is real.”
He looked down at his own hands.
“Everything I’ve experienced…”
“…is real.”
Slowly, he raised his head.
“And this…”
His crimson eyes began to shine with an intensity they had never displayed before.
“…is my world now.”
At that very moment, the scarlet energy surrounding him surged violently.
The countless crimson fragments converged toward his right hand—the same hand that still gripped the broken hilt of his shattered sword.
The darkness trembled.
And something…
was beginning to awaken.
Every second, more glowing fragments appeared.
They circled around him as if responding to his will.
At last, Algeni raised the broken sword hilt in front of him and shouted with every ounce of strength he had left.
“I don’t know what the future has waiting for me…
but whatever it is, I’ll overcome it, and I’ll keep moving forward!”
The darkness began to crack.
All of the crimson energy gathered around the sword’s hilt.
First, a small blade of light appeared.
Then it slowly began to lengthen.
The energy continued to accumulate, taking shape until it completely reconstructed the sword’s blade.
The new blade was forged entirely from blazing crimson energy.
It radiated an otherworldly glow that illuminated the endless darkness and made the very air tremble around it.
Back in the cavern, the darkness vanished as though it had never existed.
For the first time since the battle had begun, the Orc stopped moving.
Even the instructor’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Both of them stared at the mana sword Algeni had just created with his own hands.
Taking a firm step forward, Algeni gripped the crimson blade tightly.
The reddish light surrounding it cast eerie reflections across the cavern walls, painting the ancient stone with dancing shadows.
He fixed his gaze on the Orc and declared with unwavering determination,
“And you’re the first obstacle I have to overcome.”
He tightened his grip on the sword.
“And let me tell you something…”
A confident smile appeared on his face.
“I will overcome you.”
The Orc answered with a deafening roar that shook the stone walls and sent loose rocks crashing from the ceiling.
Without wasting another instant, Algeni launched himself forward in an explosive burst of speed.
The mana sword carved a brilliant crimson trail through the air as he charged straight at the monster.
With a powerful downward swing, he unleashed a devastating slash.
SLASH!
The blade struck the Orc square across the chest, carving a deep wound that forced the giant monster several steps backward.
For the first time…
The Orc looked surprised.
Although wounded, it quickly regained its composure and answered with a massive punch.
Algeni ducked just in time.
The enormous fist whistled over his head, missing him by mere inches.
Refusing to waste the opening, he spun on his heel and unleashed a horizontal slash.
SLASH!
The mana blade sliced cleanly through the Orc’s wrist. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Its enormous hand crashed heavily onto the cavern floor.
The Orc roared.
It wasn’t a cry of pain.
It was a roar filled with savage fury.
Its bloodshot eyes burned with rage as it charged at Algeni once again, determined to crush him.
Its attacks rained down relentlessly.
Some he dodged.
Others he couldn’t.
Several devastating blows struck Algeni head-on.
Every punch made his bones creak and shattered what little strength he had left.
Fresh wounds tore open across his body.
Blood streamed down his arms…
Across his chest…
And over his legs.
Even so…
He refused to step back.
Grinding his teeth together, he continued attacking without hesitation.
The mana sword slowly began losing its brilliance.
The crimson energy forming its blade weakened little by little with every strike.
Despite that…
Algeni pushed himself even harder.
His attacks became faster than ever before, consuming the very last remnants of energy left within him.
Finally…
He grasped the sword with both hands.
He leaped with all the strength he had remaining.
And brought the blade down in one final, overwhelming vertical slash.
SLAAAAASH!!
The mana sword descended from above like a crimson bolt of lightning.
The Orc’s massive body remained perfectly still for several long seconds.
Then…
It slowly split apart.
The monster’s body separated cleanly into two halves.
Both pieces crashed heavily onto the cavern floor.
The thunderous impact echoed through every tunnel of the burrow.
Little by little…
Silence returned.
Algeni managed to look at the Orc’s corpse for only a few brief moments.
His breathing was heavy.
His vision began to blur.
His legs finally gave out beneath him.
His completely exhausted body could no longer endure.
He staggered.
He tried one last time to remain standing.
But he had nothing left.
At last, he collapsed onto one knee.
A heartbeat later…
His body fell completely onto the cold stone floor.
But that wasn’t the end of his troubles.
Hidden in one corner of the cavern, a goblin that had survived the battle watched everything unfold with a malicious grin.
Seeing Algeni lying unconscious, it slowly crept forward, determined to seize the opportunity and finish him off.
However…
SLASH!
Before it could take another step, a figure burst forward with incredible speed.
The goblin’s head flew through the air.
Its lifeless body collapsed beside the countless corpses already covering the cavern floor.
The instructor, who had finally recovered enough from the paralysis poison to move again, slowly lowered her sword.
She looked at Algeni for several quiet moments.
A faint smile crossed her face.
“I never expected to meet someone this interesting,” she murmured softly.
Then, with surprising care, she lifted Algeni onto one shoulder.
Without looking back, she began walking toward the cave’s exit.
As she made her way through the dark tunnel, her footsteps echoing softly against the ancient stone walls, a single thought lingered in her mind.
“I need to learn more about this young man.”