Eric stood in front of Hunter in a battle stance, his right leg placed forward for balance and his black sword pointed straight ahead.
His left hand gripped the base of the hilt, while his right hand held the grip strategically, allowing for both pushing and pulling motions.
In contrast to Eric’s seriousness, Hunter stood in a relaxed posture.
He didn’t even bother to raise his sword.
Its tip pointed toward the ground, while a mocking grin spread across his face.
Eric bolted forward and slashed downward, but Hunter countered with an upward swing.
Rather than meeting the attack head-on, Eric loosened his grip and allowed Hunter’s slash to knock his sword backward.
Then, tightening his grip again, he used the momentum to swing toward Hunter’s underbelly.
Hunter grinned.
He had already anticipated the move.
With lightning speed, he blocked Eric’s slash before kicking him in the waist and sending him crashing into a tree.
Eric quickly got back to his feet and dashed forward, continuing their clash.
But the battle remained heavily in Hunter’s favor.
It couldn’t be helped.
Hunter was a Transcended beast, while Eric was still only an Awakened.
It had been a month since Eric awakened, and the two had maintained a constant routine.
Eric practiced sparring in the morning, cultivated at noon, and rested at night.
The time he had spent with Hunter had taught him a lot about the beast.
First of all, Hunter was a Transcended Shadow Wolf.
Literally.
His species was known as Shadow Wolves.
He was just as arrogant as he was powerful.
Hunter had once said that being prideful was simply part of being a Transcended.
Eric’s core had also grown by a few centimeters since he first awakened.
However, the larger it became, the harder it was to enlarge it further.
“It’s high time for you to fight a real life-and-death battle,” Hunter said, causing Eric to stop his attack.
“Sure, if you say so.
But I can’t use this damn sword of yours.
It doesn’t come with me when I Flash Step,” he complained.
Just after Eric finished speaking, the mana in front of him changed state.
Lightning crackled through the air before coalescing into the shape of a sword.
Eric carefully picked it up and gave it a few swings to test its weight.
After confirming that the sword was indeed light this time, he turned toward the lake and bowed.
“Thank you, Mistress,” he said, grateful for her assistance.
“So, where are we going?” Eric asked Hunter with a confident smile.
A few moments later, a black wolf raced through the forest at an insane speed.
They were heading toward the outer layer of the forest, opposite the side facing the Lionel Kingdom.
This time, it took them only a day to reach the outer layer.
Hunter dropped Eric onto the ground before turning away.
“If you can kill this beast, the Mistress will let you leave.” With those parting words, he dissolved into the shadows.
“What beast?” Eric thought.
He immediately sensed a living soul gazing at him with malice.
This time, the soul wasn’t suffocating or vast.
It was his equal.
Eric raised his head and found a spider twice his size staring down at him from atop a tree.
Arcs of electricity flowed from his hands and coalesced into the shape of a sword.
It was a gift from the Mistress—a parting gift, to be precise.
Because whether he died here or survived and earned his freedom was entirely up to him.
The spider suddenly jumped down from its nest, landing gracefully on the ground.
It glared at the annoying human who dared to disturb its nesting place before stomping one of its massive legs into the ground.
Each leg ended in a sharp tip.
Eric vanished from sight in a burst of sparks.
The spider was confused for a moment.
Then its senses suddenly tingled.
Eric was coming.
The spider immediately leapt out of the way.
A split second later, Eric crashed into the spot where it had been standing, a hammer in his hands.
“Damn, it can sense danger too?” Eric thought.
“This is going to be a pain.” Eric dashed toward the spider, attempting a straightforward confrontation.
Since it could predict his attacks, there was no need for him to rely on surprise.
The spider spat a stream of red liquid toward him.
Eric dodged, then zipped forward with Flash Step.
The spider immediately struck at the spot where it expected Eric to reappear, but its attack missed by a few centimeters.
Eric used that opportunity to smash his hammer into one of its legs.
With all his might, he struck the beast’s leg.
Cracks appeared across its hard surface, but Eric didn’t escape unscathed either.
Using the brief moment created by Eric’s swing and the collision, the spider clamped him between its mandibles.
It lifted Eric’s body from the ground and spat its red, corrosive liquid toward him.
But Eric had already disintegrated into sparks of electricity.
He reappeared a short distance away, clutching his limp arm as his soul slowly healed his body.
Eric deliberately limited the amount of breath he allowed his body to consume, trying to conserve as much as possible.
“I might not have a shadow, but my soul can still become exhausted.
And if that happens, I might just cease to exist.” As a result, his healing was much slower, preventing him from returning to peak condition.
The spider and Eric stared at each other for a moment.
They both seemed to reach the same conclusion.
Their opponent wasn’t weak.
After hesitating for a while, the spider charged forward.
It was careful with the leg Eric had smashed, but it still moved with terrifying speed.
Unlike Eric, it couldn’t simply heal its wounds within seconds.
No matter how carefully Eric controlled his healing, he was still in better condition than the spider.
Eric didn’t fail to take advantage of that.
He deliberately left openings for the spider.
Whenever it took the bait and pressed its advantage, Eric would accept an injury in exchange for dealing damage of his own.
Then he would heal himself just enough to continue fighting.
The battle became a contest of attrition.
And Eric was winning.
Once the creature’s legs finally gave way, Eric streaked upward and brought his hammer down onto its head.
The spider collapsed.
Eric felt its soul enter his core, making it slightly larger.
Battered and bruised, Eric left the scene.
He had to leave quickly in case another beast followed the scent of blood back to the battlefield.
He wasn’t in any condition to fight another opponent.
Night Hunter followed the boy, unwilling to let him die.
If Eric had died in battle, that would have been fine.
But he had survived.
And because he had survived, he still had a debt to his mistress to repay.