Davis lay panting on the forest floor, his back propped up against wet Jungle bark and moss. His chest heaved up and down, and despite the fact that it was High noon, and the Jungle was nearing a hundred degrees, Davis felt cold sweat drip down his back.

The pain… He glanced at the mummified corpse next to him. What had once been a fearsome Wind-Tiger, White-ranked before its death, was now nothing more than dried-out flesh and an oversized pristine fur loosely attached to its too-small frame. The Silvery blade of Masamune pulsed with greed.

“Feed me…” The soft voice constantly echoed through his mind. “Feed me more…” Davis had not forgotten the mind-numbing pain that shot through his body the moment he reappeared back in the Devil’s Valley. It was like every single fiber of his body was being thrown into a grinder, crushed, flayed, and burned. All the while, a deep pit appeared in his stomach, filling him with an insatiable, overwhelming hunger. He could barely even think, much less move, while Masamune screamed in his head.

“KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL-” From the hunger, bloodlust surged through his body, and it was only because of that surge that was he able to sheathe Amaterasu and throw Masamune with the force of an arrow being shot out of a bow, piercing the unlucky tiger nearby and pinning it to the tree. He had to painstakingly crawl his way over to the tree, while it felt like his body was eating itself from the inside.

Only when he had touched the hilt of Masamune did the pain temporarily subside, and Davis promptly dumped his entire bag of Aetherite crystals on her blade.

[38 Aetherite Crystals have been absorbed.]
[The shred of consciousness grows.]

“More…” Masamune whispered. It seemed that Masamune had built up an appetite for slaughter in the weeks he had been in Prometheus’s temple. It was his responsibility to satiate it, and he was barely able to do so.

“Fuck…” Davis felt like both the unluckiest and luckiest man alive. Lucky, in how he managed to accomplish something no other human had done, according to the Blue Scrolls. Unlucky, in how he would likely not be able to do anything worthwhile since he’ll die in a couple of days at worst.

Rubbing his eyes and ignoring the protests of his strained body, he used the scabbard as a walking stick. He stuck an Aetherite crystal in his mouth and relished the taste, circulating his mana to refresh his muscles and body. One kill wasn’t enough. He needed more.

The blood moon was arriving in less than 2 days. He had to escape while getting as strong as possible, as fast as possible.
Slicing past a couple of thick vines, and through the bodies of many more helpless beasts, Davis finally chanced upon a strange resident of the Devil’s Valley, a weird abomination; a combination of several different beasts together. A massive lion’s body held a goat’s head, with a snake-like tail, and had the mighty wings of an eagle. Its coat was a proud golden brown, and it seemed to be devouring an unfortunate beast—mauled beyond recognition—it had hunted with its Eagle-like claws. Its intestines, still fresh with white blood and crimson splotches, hung lifelessly in the lion’s maw.

A Chimera. And a winged variant at that. Davis instantly dropped to the ground, careful to not make a sound. He did not want to startle the Chimera until he was sure he could take it on in a fight. Even then, he didn’t want the fight to be prolonged, or else he would not be able to make it out of the Devil’s Valley until the Blood Moon rose.

He studied the surroundings. Dense Jungle trees, some likely older than entire kingdoms with trunks the size of at least 3-4 meters in diameter, were all around them. It would be hard to destroy these trees, though Davis was confident that they would not be able to slow his sword swings.

They rose hundreds of meters into the sky, their canopy allowing only the slightest splotches of sunlight to enter. Uncountable amounts of thick branches littered the canopy, making it so that if the Chimera began to attack him from the sky, he could use the branches to his advantage.

The Jungle floor was uneven, slippery, wet, and generally unsuited for this kind of combat. Sure, he usually killed White/Black-ranked monsters with a single slice of Masamune. But against a Chimera who could fly? He wasn’t so sure about his chances, especially since he had heard Chimeras were extremely powerful, and at their weakest, were at Lord rank.

That meant that it could have the potential to host a [Rule]. [Rules] made it so that, unless it hit directly at a hidden weakness determined by the Scrolls or the creature itself, it would not die. However, he wasn’t sure if that [Rule] applied to such a powerful weapon like Masamune, or a literal Primal.

Prometheus had said something about the Scrolls being made by a Primal, so maybe she transcended its authority.

‘Oh well.’ He thought. No use in thinking too hard about it, just kill the Chimera, and continue running. Getting off the wet Jungle floor, he made it up a nearby tree without much sound, using Masamune as a makeshift climbing pick, and dragged himself upon its lowest, branch. He was still a good 12 meters off from the ground, making the rather large Chimera seem a little larger than an oversized housecat.

He brandished Masamune, calculating and measuring where he would need to fall to land safely on the Chimera. The goat head needed to go first, since it was situated extremely defensively, which, naturally, meant that it was important to the Chimera.

Maybe it was its weakness? Davis didn’t know. He cursed at himself since he hadn’t paid much attention to the anecdotes seasoned veterans come back with.

‘But first…’ Davis summoned the Blue scrolls yet again. He had held it off for quite some time now, but he had yet to see the skills his new Curse awarded him. It was stupid, but why use complicated skills when your sword killed everything in a single slice?

Davis frowned, unpleasant thoughts rushing through his head. Normally, he would be jubilated! A staggering 4 passive skills augment his status and abilities to unnatural lengths! His old Curse only gave him a single passive ability, after years of hard work.

But now, he cursed at the lack of offensive options. It was midday right now, and the sun was up, which meant every single one of these passive skills was worth nothing more than dirt.

A single offensive skill…

Davis sighed. He’ll have to make due. If worse comes to worst, he’ll unsheathe Amaterasu, his trump card.

He patiently waited, waiting for an opening to strike. His moment came only minutes later, as the Lion's head bent down for another bite, Davis let himself succumb to gravity’s will. Plummeting headfirst, he barely had time to widen out his body and hold Masamune in a death grip before slamming into the Chimera’s soft, furry back.

A sharp, shooting pain came from his chest, but he ignored it. Masamune was plunged hilt-deep into the goat’s solid skull, the life leaving its glassy, demonic eyes. A massive roar shook the forest, with Davis holding onto it for dear life as the Chimera thrashed about, shaking Davis like a cube of ice in a tumbler.

Finally, a piece of the goat’s skull loosened from the constant shaking, sending both Davis and Masamune flying, slamming into a thousand-year-old Jungle bark. His head and ears rang, the entire world blurry and constantly rotating.

A concussion and several broken ribs weren't the best way to start a fight, but Davis had knocked out one of its 3 heads immediately, so it was a worthwhile trade. He quickly scrambled to his legs, but in this state, he almost instantly crumbled like a folding chair once he took a few steps.

A massive gust of wind punched past his back, a massive crack appearing on the thousand-year-old bark, which was nearly as hard as steel. An acrid smell filled the air, snake venom dripping down the Jungle tree. More pain shot from his back, as Davis quickly stumbled to his feet.

He called the Blue Scrolls with his mind, letting it insert how to cast [Bloody Crescent]. Pain akin to stabbing oneself with a needle erupted from his forehead, as he hid behind another thick Jungle tree. The Chimera’s claws made each one shake, thousands of leaves drifting down to the Jungle floor.

Davis just had to endure this cat-and-mouse game for just a little longer. Just a little longer…

Finally, the pain subsided, and the thick package of information digested into something more palatable, the knowledge flooding into his mind. It felt as if he had been practicing this move for decades, able to bring out the most of its ability.

Slamming his foot into the ground, he jumped into the air and grabbed onto a low-hanging vine, swinging a complete 360, toward the Chimera. Mana flowed into his arms, through his newly formed mana veins, flooding his arms with power. Masamune glowed in response, an ethereal blue aura erupting from her blade.

The blue aura condensed and changed, thick, red, murderous tentacles formed of blood writhed around the blade and pulsed like blood vessels. Davis tensed his muscles and brought his arm down.

The bloody tentacles hardened into a crescent shape as it was flung from the blade at near sonic speed, slamming into the charging Chimera’s chest, the momentum slamming it against the trees. Davis landed soon after, using Masamune as support.

“Not dead yet…” He murmured, a pair of now blood-red eyes glared back at him from a mess of forage. The little sunlight that slipped past the canopy vanished, and the rumbling of thunder foreshadowed the onslaught of rain.

Davis gripped Masamune tightly.

The fight was just getting started.

…