……

In a large training field spanning fifty meters, the air was still, save for the soft whisper of wind carrying dried leaves and flower seeds. The scent of wildflowers lingered, mingling with the earthy aroma of the ground beneath. It was a place of quiet solitude, where the world seemed to hold its breath.

A very tall young woman stood peacefully with eyes closed in the field, completely motionless. She wore simple, loose black pants and a comfortable vest. Her long black hair was tinged with a faint but vibrant red as it caught the morning light.

Her hair cascaded down her back, framing her statue-like figure. Her basic stance could only be described as perfect as she wielded an intricate 1.2 meter wooden sword. She seemed to be in a meditative state as she contemplated her swordsmanship.

'What is a sword? A weapon used in duels? Well, that works for mortals. In my grasp however, a sword is an extension of my Will. Each slash and thrust is an act of imposing my Will onto reality. And that Will is—to kill!'

Breaking the absolute stillness, she shifted her feet slightly, widening her stance as she performed a crisp horizontal slash. An intangible energy coalesced on the blade but faded the next instant.

'That's not right.'

With a small frown, she loosened up her body and stepped forward with an angled thrust, then a diagonal slash.

Each attack, step, turn, and shift was performed fluidly and at ease but still could not capture the phantasmal energy she was after. Her attacks came so fast and measured that you could barely track her movements. A sign of her profound mastery of the sword.

As she kept up with this routine, her beautiful face became serene as she didn't show any emotion, much less discomfort. With her eyes still closed, all that was left in her mind was her sword.

With one final wide vertical slash, a sharp translucent energy flew out. It cleaved the ground in front of her with a perfect ten meter stroke, leaving a clean fissure in its wake. Her movements came to a stop as she heard the gentle chime of a notification.

She stood upright as she expelled the breath she had been holding all this while. She finally opened her ruby eyes and stared down at the wooden sword in her grasp. A faint smile appeared on her face as she thought to herself.

'I have finally mastered it. Let's see what [Achievement] I got.'

{ Requirements met, Achievement—[Grandmaster swordswoman].}

She felt a swell of pride as she read it, her ceaseless practice had bored fruit.

'With this I can finally move to another weapon. Should I go for a spear or an axe next? Or maybe something more niche?'

As she thought to herself with slightly wrinkled eyebrows. Her expression evened out when she saw a woman standing at the far edge of the empty training field. The woman noticed her gaze and waved at her excitedly with a broad smile.

The woman wore a simple yet practical black dress and a crisp white apron. What stood out about her however, were the two animal ears protruding from the top of her short black hair and her long bushy tail wagging behind her.

The swordswoman walked over to her presumed maid. The Beastkin appeared much smaller as the swordswoman towered over her. She gazed down at her as she spoke, her voice carrying a melodic precision that felt almost too perfect.

"Am I needed, Sasha?"

The young woman nodded subconsciously before blushing as she spoke,

"Yes, Mistress. The Queen requests your presence in her office. She said it was not very urgent however."

Evélyne just nodded softly before petting the woman softly between her ears causing the young woman to wag her tail even faster. She smiled at the sight before releasing her. Sasha hurriedly bid her farewell before scurrying out of the training field with flushed cheeks.

With Sasha gone, Evélyne walked over to the weapons rack and placed her wooden sword back. She walked out of the training field and towards the mansion in the distance, with a steady stride.

On her walk through the brick layed path, she passed by quite a few residents of the manor. Each and everyone of them being Beastkin of various shapes and sizes. When they noticed her, they all greeted her respectfully before going back to whatever task they were performing.

After about a quarter of an hour of walking, she stepped into the house and headed straight upstairs. The interior design of the house was grand yet charming. Various exquisite portraits and paintings adorned its wall, accompanied by some well placed antiques.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

Evélyne didn't pay much attention to all this since she was already used to such sights. When she got to her destination, she knocked at the rich and heavy black wooden door twice before stepping in.

The room was quite spacious. It contained quite a few strange artifacts and paintings on the walls as well giving it a feel of luxury and elegance. Evélyne calmly walked in and sat opposite to the only person in the office.

They both shared almost the same facial features, same phoenix eyes with ruby pupils, same soft cherry lips, and the same perfect oval face. What differed however was their hair color and overall demeanor.

The woman wore an elegant black and gold dress woven from the finest fabrics, while her vibrant crimson hair was styled into an intricate crown braid, wrapping around her head like a regal circlet.

A few loose strands framed her face, softening her sharp, dignified features. Small, golden hair pins shaped like constellations or circuitry patterns were subtly placed throughout her hair, giving her a regal, almost divine presence.

The woman smiled brightly at Evélyne, her ruby eyes almost glowing as her gaze pierced through her.

"How did your training go, darling?"

She asked softly. Evélyne couldn't help but smile as her previously stoic face melted into a genuine smile.

"It went well, mother. I feel I have truly mastered the sword, it now feels like an extension of my will."

The woman nodded as she said.

"That's good Evélyne, it's just in time as well. I recall you have always wanted to explore an uncharted domain right?"

Evélyne felt a thrill of excitement but she suppressed it as she nodded patiently. Her mother just opened her palm, projecting a detailed 3d hologram as she continued.

"I think this is an appropriate present for you. These are coordinates to a 1-star domain. I have assigned some… workers to scout out the domain. When they are done, I shall give you the coordinates. But take care okay? I won't send any guards with you this time."

Evélyne immediately circled the table and wrapped around the woman in a fierce hug not saying anything and speaking with her actions. The woman in turn just smiled softly, stroking her hair.

Looking at the map, the coordinates were the same as the map handed to Flynt's squad. Evélyne's destination was—the cavern.

…….

Back at the cavern…

Thud.

Lucas tossed aside Jaxsyn's corpse with a soft thud. Grains of what looked like black sand swirled in the still air for a few moments before everything went silent. The red wisps in Lucas's eye sockets flickered for a bit before dimming considerably, as he collapsed to a knee.

'Fuck… I'm almost out of Life energy. My Spirit energy is pretty low as well. That was a tough fight…'

He thought to himself as he checked on his core. Struggling to get to his feet, he heard a very faint hum from Crash. If he still had lips, he would crack a small smile as he responded.

'Yeah, we made it bud. We just need to find a quiet cave. You can go to sleep now.'

Crash hummed once more before going quiet. Lucas frowned and thought to himself.

'Each time we fuse, Crash gets weaker and weaker. I should refrain from doing that as much as possible.'

Taking note of this, Lucas turned his focus to the two corpses. He could tell they were thinking and feeling people he had murdered but… he had no choice. Killing them didn't provoke any deep negative emotions from him. In fact, he felt almost nothing and that scared him.

Throughout the entire fight, only two things had been on his mind, fear due to getting his head vaporized and anger for not attacking first and letting the situation progress so far.

Stifling his thoughts, he looked around at the carnage throughout the tunnel. Almost stumbling forward, he moved towards some fresh corpses. Not wasting any time, he impaled them with his tendrils and absorbed the meager scraps of Life energy left in them.

After he felt rejuvenated enough, he moved over to the corpses of Jaxsyn and Dahn. He picked them up with his lower tendrils and picked up their weapons by generating an extra pair.

With everything set, he rushed through the tunnel. The unusual darkness did nothing to hinder his perception as he sought a safe haven. His steps and swings resounded throughout the tunnels due to the extra weight he was lugging around but his mind was too distracted to care. Too many things had happened in just a few minutes.

From the cavern going crazy, the bloodthirsty bats, and facing off with the team of strange humanoids, it all felt like it had happened in an instant. He had to think through all this, browse the notifications he had received throughout all the fights, make sense of them, AND think of a suitable step forward after all that. Lucas could already feel a phantom migraine coming if he thought through all of this right now, so he chose not to.

'Let's find a safe space first. All that can come later.'

After what felt like hours of searching, he finally found a suitable cave on the cavern floor. He immediately made his way to it and placed the corpses down.

He sat on the floor and stretched his senses as much as he possibly could but he didn't sense anything. Not even the usual bioluminescent plants and critters on the wall. The Spirit energy in the air was also shockingly faint as if it had been sucked dry. For some reason, the thought caused his heart to sink. He could instinctively tell that whatever was going on in the cavern was far from over.

But at the same time, he was too tired and beat up to be truly considering such things in-depth. So with a heavy heart, exhausted body, and stretched Mind, he passed out on the cave floor. Falling into a deep slumber.

As Lucas slept, his core buzzed with the absorbed Life energy. It flowed through him as a low but powerful hum could be heard. With each passing moment, his grimly injured head mended itself at a slow but steady pace.

…..

At some point, he jolted awake. The first thing he noticed was, he could actually feel his face on the rough cavern floor. He could also pick up the ever present heavy aroma of death the cavern floor always had. Opening his eyes to the dim lights around him, Lucas blinked twice as he said.

"My face, it's healed! I can see again… not just that. All my senses, they are back! Hahahahhahah—woah!"

Lucas brought a hand to his face. He felt himself up as he laughed like a giddy lunatic before jerking back in panic when he noticed the state of his hand.

Looking at his black, metallic looking hand which now had razor sharp claws instead of fingernails, he was confused. He then remembered how he fought against the humanoids with guns.

All that ferocious anger and fear he felt during that encounter had subconsciously guided him to change his body this much.

"I really got by with the skin of my teeth once more, huh?"

HUM.

Crash let out a firm affirming hum. Lucas clenched his fist tightly producing an audible crack. After looking at it for a few seconds, he didn't even bother to change back as he had a lot to do and quite a bit on his mind.

'Well, it doesn't matter. I survived and I will get stronger. But first off, let's check our notifications shall we?'

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.