Tatehan had gotten quite used to this particular region of Mars. It was, after all, the first area he'd explored upon arriving on this planet, or rather, upon waking up in his new life with no memory of how he'd gotten here.

The terrain was familiar now in a way that was almost comforting. A landscape dominated by scattered boulders of various sizes, rocky outcroppings that provided natural cover, and patches of hard-packed dirt that made walking pretty easy. The ground was uneven but navigable, with occasional depressions and elevated sections that created natural pathways through the area.

This was Bruteneck territory. He'd learned that the hard way during his first mission. Back then, he'd been weak and confused, still adjusting to his enhanced body and abilities. The Brutenecks had nearly killed him.

Now, months later, returning to this same region felt almost nostalgic.

The area wasn't particularly close to where the spaceship was hidden, he'd deliberately walked about thirty minutes away from the crash site to ensure he wouldn't accidentally lead anything back to his shelter. But it was close enough that he could return quickly if needed.

He walked with confidence now, his enhanced senses alert but not anxious. His armor was fully materialized, the plating comfortable. His Shadow-Forged Blade was ready in his hand, the enhanced weapon feeling almost eager for combat.

He couldn't wait to test it out on the neck of the brutenecks. Even pebbles had been very easy to pierce the stuff, how then would it be for a forged blade as this.

Even a gentle blow of the wind from the slight movement of the sword could thrust the necks and kill the creatures.

Tatehan found himself remembering the layout of this territory with surprising clarity. That cluster of boulders to his left—he'd hidden behind those during his first encounter. That flat section ahead—he'd fought Brutenecks there before.

He seemed to remember exactly where the Brutenecks were most commonly seen, which areas they used as feeding grounds, which routes they patrolled. Fighting them numerous times had given him an almost instinctive understanding of their territory and behavior patterns.

What he was really hoping to encounter, though, were the Lunatic Carapace Brutenecks, the variant species that was significantly more dangerous but also more valuable. Unlike the common Brutenecks, the Carapace variants possessed cores. Upgrade glowing cores, specifically.

If he could collect a few more of those cores, he could potentially upgrade his abilities even further. Or save them for future use?

That would be highly ridiculous. He needed all the help he could get. And upgrading his abilities from their current levels immediately he got the cores would be very beneficial.

Imagine if he upgraded his partial Regeneration ability to much higher level. Imagine how fast he'd be able to heal.

The more higher he went in upgrading his partial Regeneration, the more closer he'd be to immortality. Though the Spaceship's AI had told him that in highly unlikely.

He was outrightly aiming for immortality. He just wanted to be able to heal faster because he knew that he'd engage in more terrifying battles and he needed to avoid pain.

Either way, they were worth hunting for.

He was surprisingly at ease as he walked, scanning the terrain. Not even a morsel of fear existed in him anymore when it came to Brutenecks. The creatures that had once very hard to fight to him now seemed almost... manageable. Insignificant, even.

It was like he could kill them with a snap of his fingers if he wanted to.

The thought made him smile slightly inside his helmet. Growth was a magnificent thing. What had once been life-threatening was now merely "light exercise."

After about ten more minutes of walking and searching, Tatehan finally found what he'd come for.

Ten Brutenecks, gathered in a loose cluster around something on the ground.

As he moved closer, staying low and using a boulder for cover, he could see what had attracted them: the corpse of a dying Carapace Bruteneck, one of the armored variants he'd been hoping to find. The creature was still barely alive, its chest rising and falling in shallow, labored breaths, but it was clearly finished. The ten common Brutenecks were already feeding on it, tearing chunks of flesh from its sides while it was too weak to fight back.

The sight was a bit shocking to Tatehan. He hadn't exactly seen brutenecks feed on still alive carapace brutenecks.

The only scene that slowly resembled this was the one he saw of brutenecks feeding on an already carapace brutenecks.

Then, he thought the carapace bruteneck might have died of hunger or something bigger and the brutenecks just happened to stumble on corpse.

But this…, seeing common brutenecks eating a carapace bruteneck to death.

'Eating to death is wild!'

Nature on Mars was brutal. No honor among monsters.

Tatehan assessed the situation quickly. Ten common Brutenecks, all distracted by their meal. Their weakness was well-known to him now: the neck region, where the armored plating was thinnest and the flesh was softest. A clean strike there would sever the head from the body, killing them instantly. Their regeneration ability couldn't fix decapitation.

He summoned his Tri-Edge Shadow Discs, his enhanced chakrams. For multiple targets clustered together, the chakrams were perfect.

He stepped out from behind the boulder, took careful aim at the nearest group of feeding Brutenecks, and threw both chakrams simultaneously.

The enhanced weapons moved so fast they were barely visible — dark blurs cutting through the air with a distinctive whistling sound.

The first chakram struck the neck of the nearest Bruteneck, the blade cutting through the soft flesh like it was paper. The creature's head separated cleanly from its body and fell to the ground. But the chakram didn't stop, its auto-tracking enhancement immediately adjusted its trajectory, and it curved through the air to strike a second Bruteneck's neck. Then a third.

Three kills from one throw.

The second chakram performed identically, finding three more necks and severing them with crazy precision.

Six Brutenecks down in two seconds.

Both chakrams returned to Tatehan's hands. He caught them smoothly, then immediately threw them again at the four remaining Brutenecks, which were now finally reacting to the attack, turning toward him with aggressive snarls.

Too slow.

The chakrams found their targets, four more necks, four more clean decapitations. The creatures collapsed before they could even begin their charge.

Both weapons returned again. Tatehan caught them, then unsummoned the chakrams and summoned his Shadow-Forged Blade instead.

But there was nothing left to fight. All ten common Brutenecks lay dead or dying, their bodies twitching with residual nerve activity but functionally eliminated.

'I must have been lost in the adrenaline of using the chakrams' Tatehan thought.

He had intended to leave there brutenecks for which he'd use his sword on.

Tatehan walked calmly through the carnage, his blade ready just in case any of them showed signs of recovery. But Brutenecks, for all their regenerative abilities, couldn't regenerate from complete decapitation. The separation of head from body was permanent and fatal.

He remembered in the middle of the stride something important about Bruteneck biology: they were regenerating creatures. Hitting them anywhere else (body, limbs, even organs) would be largely useless. The wounds would close within minutes. Only destroying the head or completely severing it from the body would actually kill them.

It was good he'd remembered that detail. Fighting them any other way would have been a waste of energy.

Tatehan stood among the corpses, looking down at his handiwork with satisfaction. The entire fight had taken less than fifteen seconds from first throw to last kill.

Quick, efficient, clean.

Crazy stuff!

Since these were ordinary Brutenecks, they possessed no cores. Their bodies would decompose naturally, returning to the Martian soil, and that would be that.

But the Carapace Bruteneck they'd been feeding on…, that was different.

Tatehan approached the dying creature. It was still breathing, but barely. Its eyes tracked him weakly as he knelt beside it. The Carapace variant was significantly larger than the common ones, with thick armored plating covering most of its body. That armor was what made them dangerous, and what made their cores valuable.

"Painful death," Tatehan said quietly to the creature, though he wasn't sure why he felt the need to speak. Maybe because it was still technically alive. "Let me make it easier."

He positioned his blade carefully and drove it through the creature's eye, the quickest, most merciful way to end it. The Carapace Bruteneck shuddered once, then went completely still.

Tatehan used his blade to carefully cut into the creature's chest, accessing the core chamber. Carapace variants kept their cores near the heart, protected by the thickest armor plating.

After some careful work, he extracted it: a dark, glowing core about the size of his fist, still warm from the creature's body heat.

[Mode restoration Core acquired]

The system notification confirmed it. One more core for his collection.

This cores helped in restoring places in the spaceship.

Tatehan stood, storing the core in his inventory, and looked around at the battlefield. Ten dead common Brutenecks, one dead Carapace variant, and he hadn't even broken a sweat.

He smiled inside his helmet. This had indeed been light exercise. Almost disappointingly easy, in fact.

Maybe he should venture further out and find something more challenging.

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