The crisp early morning air of Galen Town carried a biting chill, but Klaus paid it no mind as he stood outside the heavy oak doors of the inn.

He meticulously adjusted the thick leather straps of his new light armor, ensuring the reinforced metal plating covering his chest and shoulders sat perfectly over his dark clothing.

Klaus needed mobility for what he was about to do today, but he wasn’t reckless enough to go out completely unarmored.

Sitting directly on the reinforced metal pauldron of his right shoulder was a tiny, glowing white figure.

"My King, where are we going?" Valeria asked with her voice echoing telepathically in his mind.

The chibi sniper was currently sitting cross-legged on his shoulder armor, her tiny hands resting on her knees as her glowing green eyes curiously scanned the quiet cobblestone streets.

"Isn’t it obvious?" Klaus replied aloud as he reached down to his hip with his fingers lightly brushing against the sheath of his light armor which held a sword to ensure it was securely fastened. "We’re going hunting."

He had woken up incredibly early today.

Long before they officially went Inn hunting... or rather, House hunting... he had a very specific, highly personal objective to complete.

Klaus needed to significantly increase his Soul Mana reserves.

Valeria’s tiny, ethereal face immediately lit up with absolute devotion.

"Oh? I will try my best to assist you, Master!" Valeria declared, her chibi form standing up on his shoulder and puffing out her chest proudly. "It’s even better since nobody can see me except for you..."

It was a massive tactical advantage.

They had thoroughly tested the mechanics of her manifestation earlier that morning before leaving the room.

When Klaus walked past Serra in the hallway, the blonde-haired healer hadn’t even spared his shoulder a second glance.

A highly trained Healer was naturally sensitive to mana fluctuations, yet Serra had been completely oblivious to the glowing white chibi soul sitting right there.

It was perfect. Klaus could keep his spectral slave completely hidden in plain sight, retaining a massive trump card without drawing unnecessary attention.

Furthermore, they discovered that Valeria wasn’t just a hallucination in his mind; she could actually physically interact with the World of the Living.

She could touch objects and move small things, though doing so required her to actively draw upon his already incredibly small, highly restricted pool of Soul Mana.

In essence, Klaus acted as her literal, physical bridge between the Soul World and the Real World. He didn’t mind the parasitic drain... having an invisible scout was undeniably overpowered but it heavily reinforced his immediate need to acquire much more Soul Mana, just in case he needed her to perform a highly demanding task.

"It really doesn’t matter," Klaus told her smoothly, adjusting his gauntlets. "I want to do this entirely on my own."

Instantly, the glowing chibi sniper violently deflated.

Her tiny shoulders slumped, and she sat back down on his pauldron, pulling her knees tightly to her chest in a highly adorable display of disappointment.

"Alright, My King," Valeria conceded. "I will watch instead. Though I want to ask, what monster will we be facing today?"

Klaus paused.

"I have a grudge," Klaus replied. "It’s some giant snake."

His mind instantly drifted back to the humiliating terrifying early days of his existence in this world.

He was specifically talking about the massive, overgrown snake monster that had relentlessly chased him down through the dense foliage of Yerefall Grove.

Back then, he had been so weak and so hopelessly outclassed by the environment that Taula had literally been forced to carry him in her arms just to escape its terrifying jaws.

The sheer indignity of that memory burned in his highly petty mind.

It was a Tier 3 monster and it possessed a high level of predatory intelligence. An intelligent, high-tier beast meant it possessed a powerful, highly condensed soul... It was the absolute perfect target to grind for his new divine bloodline.

"I am incredibly excited to see you defeating it, My King!" Valeria cheered.

Klaus simply nodded, his boots clicking rhythmically against the stone path as he made his way through the waking town.

Within minutes, the towering heavily reinforced stone gates of Galen Town came into view.

The massive iron portcullis was lowered, and heavily armed town guards were stationed directly at the exit, checking the credentials of the early-morning merchants and low-level adventurers.

Klaus approached the checkpoint.

He reached toward the gauntlets, entirely prepared to peel it back and summon his official Adventurer’s Guild Card from the small pie tattoo.

However, the magical verification wasn’t even required.

The moment the First Town Guard laid eyes on him and the man’s posture instantly straightened. The guard aggressively nudged his partner, completely bypassing the standard protocol.

"Mister Klaus, it’s an absolute pleasure to meet you..." the First Town Guard greeted warmly, dipping his head in a highly respectful bow. "A B-rank Adventurer such as yourself is really well known around Galen Town. Would you like to go outside?"

Klaus blinked, slightly taken aback by the overwhelming respect, but his mind instantly accepted the social upgrade. He simply nodded his head.

"Yes."

Instantly, the second guard rushed to the heavy iron crank mechanism built into the stone wall.

He threw his entire body weight into it, violently turning the gears to lift the massive gate just enough for Klaus to comfortably pass under the iron spikes.

Klaus smiled beneath his mask as he walked forward into the shadow of the gate.

It was honestly a profoundly fulfilling sensation.

The very first time he had left this exact town to go to Yerefall Grove with Taula, he had been nothing more than a nameless disposable mob.

The guards had treated them with mild indifference, not knowing who he was or if he would even survive the afternoon. Now, they were practically rolling out the red carpet for him.

As he passed the threshold, the second guard greeted him with a sharp salute. Klaus offered a polite, silent nod of acknowledgment, stepping completely out of the tunnel as the heavy iron gate slammed shut with a resounding metallic CLANG! behind him.

He was officially in the outside world.

There were several other guards stationed around the exterior perimeter, casually patrolling the grassy plains, but Klaus completely ignored them.

He needed to close the distance to the dungeon rapidly.

’Well I could do that...’

Klaus immediately dropped his left hand down toward his side, resting his palm lightly on the heavy metal pommel of his sheathed sword.

He channeled his mana downward, aggressively bypassing his upper body and forcing the raw magical energy entirely into his right leg.

Iron Skin!

In a single fraction of a second, the flesh, muscle, and bone of his right leg violently transmutated into hyper-dense solid steel.

Combining the terrifying hydraulic output of his new Strong Body passive trait with the unbreakable density of the Iron Skin, Klaus bent his knee and violently pushed off the ground.

CRACK!

A miniature crater instantly exploded beneath his boot.

The displaced dirt and grass violently shot outward in a shockwave as Klaus launched himself directly into the morning sky like a fired ballistic missile.

Woah... Valeria gasped in his mind, her tiny hands gripping the raised edge of his metal pauldron to keep from flying off as the wind whipped violently around them.

The chibi sniper looked down at the sprawling, vibrant green lushery of the Galen Town outskirts passing rapidly beneath them.

She had absolutely never seen such vibrant, untamed nature before. In her previous life, and throughout her undeath, she usually moved exclusively through the dark, rotting caverns with the Death Cult, or hid out in the heavily industrialized stone alleys of the Capital where her magical sniper rifle had been procured.

Well, maybe she had seen greenery before she died, but those fragmented human memories were completely gone now.

"Aha..." Klaus muttered aloud, his sharp eyes cutting through the rushing wind.

In the far distance, perfectly framed by the rolling green hills, he spotted it. The heavily fenced glowing white gate that marked the entrance to Yerefall Grove.

He adjusted his trajectory, slightly twisting his torso in mid-air to manipulate his momentum, and descended rapidly toward the structure.

Klaus plummeted toward the dirt path just outside the chain-link fence surrounding the portal. At the absolute last microsecond, Klaus landed heavily on both feet.

BAM!

The impact kicked up a thick cloud of dust.

He instantly deactivated his spell, turning his dense steel leg back into normal human flesh and bone, perfectly absorbing the shock with his enhanced physical stats.

Klaus casually took his sword by the hilt, fully tucking it securely into the leather loops of his light armor, and calmly walked forward as the dust settled.

Sitting directly in front of the fenced gate, exactly as they had been weeks ago, were the two Drunk Twins.

They were currently slouched against the metal fence, bottles of cheap foul-smelling liquor clutched tightly in their dirty hands as the overpowering stench of alcohol and unwashed bodies completely permeated the air.

"Oi... ’old on a tick," the first twin slurred out with his words heavily sloshing through the drunken haze.

He aggressively squinted at Klaus, leaning forward as if trying to determine if he was real or a hallucination. "Ain’t that... ain’t that the scrawny lil’ noodle Klaus from afore, innit?"

"Yeh, yeh... ’struth, it really is ’im!" the second twin continued in equally incomprehensible gibberish, waving his half-empty bottle around for emphasis. "All fancied up in armor... still a scrawny lil’ thing underneath, does ’e?"

The first twin grunted, extending a dirty, shaking hand. "Right then, fancy pants. Tha’ll be five silvers to pass, innit."

Without uttering a single word or entertaining their drunken banter, Klaus simply reached into his storage ring.

He pulled out exactly five silver coins and casually tossed them through the air. The coins landed perfectly in the first twin’s lap with a soft clink.

The men grunted in approval. They aggressively shoved themselves off the dirt floor, stumbling slightly before grabbing the heavy chains securing the gate.

They yanked the metal doors open, creating a gap just wide enough for him to pass through toward the swirling white portal.

"Hey, don’ ferget..." the first twin slurred loudly, pointing a dirty finger at Klaus’s back. "Ye can’t take none of them monster cores or bodies outta Yerefall Grove, ’ear me? Jus’ the ’erbs!"

Klaus didn’t even bother to look back. He kept walking straight toward the blinding magical anomaly.

"I know..." Klaus replied flatly.

On his shoulder, Valeria turned her tiny body backward to look at the two stumbling, foul-smelling men.

’My King, those are quite weird men,’ Valeria noted telepathically, her tiny nose wrinkling in absolute disgust.

"They really are," Klaus sighed out loud, completely agreeing with her assessment. "But there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. It’s the system."

With that final sentence, Klaus stepped directly into the swirling White Portal. The blinding, overwhelming white light completely swallowed his physical form, and the physical world vanished.

A split second later, the spatial transition ended.

Klaus appeared seamlessly on the other side of the portal.

The air inside Yerefall Grove was entirely different from the outside world. It was thicker and heavily saturated with dense mana that felt incredibly heavy in the lungs.

Valeria’s glowing green eyes widened until they were completely as wide as saucers. She looked around the massive, ethereal dungeon environment in absolute awe.

"This is my very first time inside a dungeon, My King," Valeria whispered in his mind, her tiny hands gripping his armor. "It has a highly strange, tingly feeling to it."

Klaus chuckled softly at her innocent observation. He reached down, cleanly pulling his sword from its sheath.

The polished steel caught the ambient light of the grove.

He didn’t want to waste time walking through the low-level zones. He immediately bent his knees, channeling his kinetic energy, and violently launched himself into the air once again.

He tore through the thick canopy of the treeline, soaring high above the dense forest floor.

His eyes scanned the sprawling landscape below until he finally spotted his destination in the far distance.

It was unmistakable.

The Huge Tree...Its massive bark stretched incredibly high crowned by thousands of vibrant, glowing pink petals that softly illuminated the area around it.

Klaus adjusted his momentum and plummeted.

He tore through the air like a meteor and landed directly at the base of the massive tree with a heavy THUD that shook the roots beneath his boots.

The trunk of the tree was incredibly thick, possessing a circumference that would take dozens of men to wrap their arms around.

The moment he landed, a sudden, powerful gust of wind blew through the clearing.

A massive flurry of glowing pink petals was violently ripped from the branches above, blowing directly at Klaus.

The beautiful, glowing leaves passed by him harmlessly, dancing in the wind like a localized snowstorm of pure color.

"They are really beautiful," Valeria breathed in awe, reaching her tiny, ethereal hands out as the petals swirled around his armor.

Klaus watched her for a second.

With a swift precise movement, he reached his hand out and plucked a single glowing pink petal directly from the air. He held it between his fingers and intentionally pushed a tiny, microscopic fraction of his white Soul Mana directly into the organic material.

He lifted his hand to his shoulder, offering the infused petal to her.

Valeria reached out with her tiny hands and gently touched the leaf. ..Because it was now anchored by his Soul Mana, it didn’t phase through her ethereal form. She could actually feel it and she could hold it.

A massive, incredibly bright smile completely lit up the chibi sniper’s face as she hugged the pink petal to her tiny chest.

"Thank you, My King," Valeria beamed.

Klaus simply offered a small nod before turning his attention entirely back to the mission.

He gripped his sword tightly and walked around to the back of the massive tree.

The environment here was perfectly preserved in his memory. Apart from the highly valuable, glowing patches of Silverleaf Moss clinging to the ancient roots and the bushes... there it was.

The massive, dark, perfectly still pond where the beast resided.

He stopped at the very edge of the water, his boots sinking slightly into the damp soil.

’Last time, I got incredibly angry at Taula for throwing a rock directly into the water and waking this thing up,’ Klaus thought, his eyes locked onto the black, glassy surface of the pond.

He slowly reached down and picked up a rock from the muddy bank and he rolled the dense stone in his hand, feeling its weight.

’But I’m going to do so much worse.’

Klaus planted his feet firmly into the dirt. He gripped the rock tightly and aggressively poured his aura directly into the stone, completely coating it in a thick layer of kinetic energy.

He leaned backward, his enhanced muscles coiling like high-tension steel springs, and violently threw the rock forward with terrifying velocity.

BOOM!

It slammed into the center of the dark water with the concussive force of an artillery shell as a massive, towering splash of water violently shot dozens of feet into the air, raining down heavily over the Silverleaf moss.

’So that’s what happens when you use aura and Soul mana at the same time huh?’

For two seconds, there was silence then, the massive body of water began to violently bubble.

The surface of the pond frothed and churned aggressively. Klaus didn’t move an inch and he watched with a cold gaze as the water split open.

The absolutely massive head of the snake monster violently emerged from the depths.

Klaus hadn’t fully remembered the exact color scheme from his panicked flight weeks ago, but seeing it now, the details were burned into his retinas.

Its thick, impenetrable scales were a deep glistening aquatic blue and its massive, terrifying eyes were a bright, glowing golden yellow, complete with vertical highly aggressive reptilian slits.

The monster rose higher and higher into the air, its incredibly thick, muscular neck towering dozens of feet over Klaus, casting a massive, terrifying shadow over the base of the pink tree.

HSSSSSS!!!!!

The snake unleashed a deafening, terrifying, ear-splitting hiss.

The pressure of the monster’s cry carried enough force to physically blow the pink petals violently away from the clearing and ripple the grass beneath Klaus’s boots.

"Nice to see you again..." Klaus said, his voice completely calm despite the towering apex predator looking down at him.

He didn’t run.

Instead, Klaus raised his left hand. He extended his index finger and tucked his thumb upward, perfectly shaping his hand into the physical form of a pistol.

He pointed it directly at the golden, slitted eyes of the towering beast above him.

The snake monster’s golden eyes locked onto the tiny human.

Recognizing the prey that had escaped it before, the massive beast unhinged its jaw, exposing terrifying, venom-dripping fangs, and aggressively darted its massive head downward to swallow him whole.

Simultaneously, Klaus tapped directly into his newly acquired Wind Affinity as he combined it with Soul Mana.

Heavy highly pressurized currents of wind violently began to swirl around his extended finger.

The ambient oxygen in the clearing was aggressively sucked toward his hand, condensing and compacting with terrifying speed.

He amplified the concussive force of the Phantom Finger-Gun with tearing wind magic, forcing the invisible air to swirl around the tip of his finger exactly as if it were a high-speed tornado.

The snake’s massive jaws were mere feet away, the stench of rotting meat and aquatic decay blasting against Klaus’s face but Klaus smiled.

"Boom..."

WHOOSH!

The highly pressurized, invisible bullet of condensed wind shot forward with terrifying, absolute velocity.

As it moved, it created a visible ring of distorted air in its wake. The invisible artillery shell violently collided directly with the center of the giant snake’s head.

All of the beast’s massive, terrifying forward momentum died in a single brutal microsecond.

The concussive impact completely bypassed the tough blue scales, sending a horrific rippling shockwave directly through the monster’s skull and into its internal organs.

BANG!

The explosive force was absolute.

The multi-ton snake was completely and violently forced backward into the air. Its massive heavy body was thrown entirely out of the pond, hurdling backward through the sky like a discarded toy.

It crashed violently down onto the thick timber behind the pond.

CRACK! SNAP!

Dozens of massive trees were instantly obliterated as the beast’s heavy body tore through the forest, destroying everything in its path.

A massive, concussive shockwave of wind violently crossed around the entire surrounding area, ripping through the grove and making the big pink tree rattle aggressively.

Thousands of glowing petals fell down like a torrential rainstorm, completely surrounding Klaus in a beautiful chaotic display of environmental destruction.

The dust settled slightly, revealing the massive snake thrashing wildly in the ruined timber, violently disoriented and heavily bleeding from the blunt-force internal trauma. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Klaus slowly lowered his left hand.

He reached over with his right, firmly gripping the hilt of his sword, and cleanly pulled the steel entirely from its sheath.

SHING!

He smiled and deep within his core, his Soul Mana surged causing his dark eyes to suddenly glow with a terrifying brilliant white light.

"It’s time..... To hunt," Klaus said.

He bent his knees and violently shot forward toward the ruined timber with a massive, earth-shattering shockwave.