Guangdong Forest Entrance
I returned to that forest. To finish the missions given by the System, I must become stronger from this point forward. Before heading to the guard post, I checked my status to estimate the time remaining.
[EMERGENCY MISSION]
Quest 1 & 2: COMPLETE
Quest 3: UP LEVEL (47%)
Quest 4: LOCKED
Time Limit: 1 Day 22 Hours 12 Minutes
"I have to level up today," I muttered, clenching my fist. I walked toward the post to request access, but the guard today was different—colder. He merely asked for my Hunter ID and handed over the permit without a word, a sharp contrast to yesterday's guard who was overly worried about me.
Inside Guangdong Forest
Finally, I reached the spot where I nearly died yesterday. The carcasses of the Grimrats I killed were gone—likely scavenged by other Hunters.
I stepped deeper into an uncharted sector. A pungent, fishy stench began to pierce my nose, far sharper than the scent of Grimrats. The trees thinned out, opening into a vast clearing covered in thin mist and mounds of death.
I stopped. My eyes widened at what lay in the center of the field.
Hundreds of carcasses—rats, forest wolves, even deer—were piled up to form a small hill two meters high. At its peak, a creature perched with terrifying elegance. That was its throne.
[Target Identified: Alpha Carrion-Vulture (Boss Tier F)]
A giant bird with a wingspan capable of enveloping a small hut. Its feathers were jet black and coarse, glinting like rusted sword blades. Its featherless neck glowed a fiery red, pulsing with muscles as if its heart resided right beneath the skin.
The bird slowly turned its bald head. A pair of blood-red eyes stared straight at me. It looked at me like a king disturbed by a small insect.
SKREEEEEAAA!!!
It opened its steel beak and let out a shriek that split the forest's silence. The air pressure from the sound was so intense it made my ears ring violently. I was forced to my knees, stabbing my black sickle into the ground to keep from being blown away.
The Alpha flapped its wings. The resulting wind blast sent dust and the stench of rot flying toward me. With one powerful flap, it soared into the air, circling briefly before diving sharply like a black bullet.
"Here it comes!"
[GLACIAL EDGE ACTIVATED!]
[WHITE SOUL -1]
My black sickle was instantly wrapped in a pale, glowing layer of ice. I didn't run. As the giant shadow covered my vision, I threw my body to the side.
BOOM!
The Alpha's steel beak slammed into the ground where I had stood, creating a small crater. Before it could retract its beak, I lunged forward, swinging my sickle at its broad wing.
CLAK!
[ARMOR PENETRATION EFFECT ACTIVE!]
Feathers as hard as iron, which should have deflected an F-Rank Hunter's attack, shattered like glass. The icy gash tore through the wing's flesh, leaving freezing crystals that crawled into the wound.
The giant bird screeched in pain. With another [Sonic Screech] that shattered my focus, it bolted back into the sky, vanishing behind the dark tree canopy.
"Where is it?!" I screamed internally, my eyes scanning the sky wildly.
WUSH!
A black shadow dove from my blind spot. I barely managed to raise my sickle before its giant talons slammed into the handle of my weapon.
BANG!
The force was like being hit by a truck. I was dragged five meters back, my feet digging trenches in the soil. Before I could balance myself, the Alpha flapped its wings again, creating a [Gale Blast]—a violent gust of wind mixed with toxic carrion dust.
"Damn, I can't see!" My eyes stung. In that moment of blindness, I heard the rapid approach of flapping wings.
I swung my sickle blindly toward the sound. TING! My ice blade clashed with its steel beak. Sparks and ice shards flew. The bird was clever; it wouldn't land, instead performing repeated hit-and-run attacks from the air.
A talon swipe caught my shoulder. A peck tore through my left thigh. Blood began to soak my tattered clothes.
Blood flowed from my temple, blurring my vision. I lay on the ground, chest tight after being hit by the Alpha's steel-hard wing. The giant bird landed with a heavy thud, staring at me as if I were nothing but unfinished leftovers.
It raised its sharp, scaly leg, ready to drive its poisonous talons down to end my life. I tried to move my arm, but my body was numb. I was so exhausted.
Is this the end? I thought bitterly.
But just as the talons descended, a painful cold sensation exploded from my mana heart.
[WARNING: Stamina 8%. Vital Signs Critical!]
[Passive Skill: SOUL SUSTENANCE Activated Automatically.]
[Consuming 1 White Soul... Reconstructing physical stamina...]
THUMP!
My heart beat violently, forced by a surge of electricity. The fatigue that had paralyzed my nerves was swept away in an instant, replaced by a sharp, cold artificial energy.
My pupils constricted; my focus became so sharp I could see the individual feathers of the Alpha vibrating in the wind.
The talons came down, but in my eyes, the movement was slow—as if moving through water.
With that burst of instant energy, I spun my body on the ground, dodging the Alpha's death stomp by mere milliseconds. BOOM! The earth where my head had been was pulverized.
"Not yet... I'm not done!" I growled.
I leaped to my feet, using the momentum from Soul Sustenance to dash forward. The startled Alpha tried to flap its wings to take flight again, but I was already beneath its belly.
"Don't think you can run!"
[GLACIAL EDGE ACTIVE!]
I drove my sickle into the joint of its wing. With the Armor Penetration effect, my black blade sliced through muscle and bone without resistance. The bird shrieked, but the sound died as ice began to climb, freezing its throat.
The fight turned into a one-sided slaughter. With stamina being automatically replenished by the System every time I neared collapse, I slashed relentlessly. One for the left wing, one for the leg, until finally, the ruler of the sky fell slumped atop its own pile of carcasses.
I stood over its weakly struggling neck. Cold mist escaped my breath.
"Thank you for your soul," I whispered coldly.
SHLIIICET!
I swung the sickle in a full 360-degree rotation. The Alpha's head was severed from its body, freezing before it even touched the ground.
[BOSS KILLED: ALPHA CARRION-VULTURE]
[Corrupted Sky Soul OBTAINED]
[EXP +65]
[LEVEL UP! LEVEL 0 -> LEVEL -1]
[BASE STATS]
Strength: 12 + 25 → 37
Agility: 15 + 35 → 50
Vitality: 5 + 10 → 15
Intelligence: 10
Stamina: 12/100 (Critical)
For a moment, I was stunned. Level minus? Why did my stats increase? Will people be able to see this level? My head was filled with questions I couldn't answer alone. The bird's body crumbled into icy dust, leaving behind a ball of blue light spinning rapidly in the air.
[Corrupted Sky Soul converted into Blue Soul]
"So this is a new soul... a Blue Soul. This means I can unlock new skills for the Black Sickle." I looked at the orb. "System, use the Blue Soul on the Black Sickle."
[CONSUMING BLUE SOUL...]
[NEW MODE UNLOCKED: BLUE SOUL MODE]
[ACTIVE SKILL: AERO-DRIVE]
The blade is coated in rotating high-pressure wind; Movement Speed +30%.
Cost: 1 White Soul / Minute.
[ACTIVE SKILL: SKY-RENDING TRINITY] Releases 3x vacuum wave slashes at the target; Damage 300x Strength per slash and inflicts Brief Stun.
(Cooldown: 24 hours).
[SPECIAL PASSIVE: DEATH'S DANCER]
Trigger: Activates automatically when HP falls below 10%. Effect: Grants +300% Movement Speed, Immunity to all negative effects.