Chapter 12: Razor Claw [1]
The carriage rolled silently through the night. Moonlight washed over the empty road as dense forests stretched endlessly on both sides.
Neither Alden nor Seris spoke during the journey.
Several minutes later. The carriage gradually slowed to a stop.
The coachman climbed down before respectfully opening the door.
"We’ve arrived, Lady Seris."
Seris stepped out first.
The cool night breeze gently lifted her silver-white hair as her crimson eyes swept across the vast wilderness ahead.
Alden followed behind her. The moment his feet touched the ground, he froze.
Towering mountains stretched far into the distance. Ancient forests blanketed the landscape like an endless emerald sea.
Somewhere deep within the darkness, a roar of an unknown beast echoed through the mountains.
"So..." Alden slowly looked around. "This is the Ravenveil family’s territory."
A faint smile appeared on Seris’ lips.
"It is." She folded her arms as she admired his reaction.
"The border between the Human Empire and the Vampire Dominion lies just beyond those mountains. Our family has governed these hunting grounds for generations."
Her crimson eyes shifted toward him.
"The beasts here are considerably stronger than the ones around Astral Academy. If you’re truly planning to grow stronger... You’ve come to the right place."
Alden couldn’t hide the excitement in his eyes.
"Perfect. This is exactly what I needed."
"My." Seris chuckled softly.
"I’ve never seen someone this excited over the thought of fighting monsters."
She teasingly added,
"Go on then. Raise your levels, little genius. I’ll get going." Seris gave a graceful nod.
She turned toward the carriage before casually waving a hand over her shoulder.
"Just try not to die. I’d hate to lose my favorite source of blood so soon."
Alden couldn’t help rolling his eyes.
As Seris reached the carriage, Alden instinctively focused on her.
A translucent screen appeared before his eyes.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Opponent Status
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Seris Ravenveil
Level: 35
Rank: A
Class: Warrior
Weapon: Scythe
━━━━━━━━━━━━
His eyes widened slightly.
’Level Thirty-Five... As expected of her.’
Just then, without even turning around Seris spoke.
"...You know."
Alden stiffened.
She rested one foot on the carriage step.
"If you’re going to stare at my status, you don’t have to hide it."
Her smile was audible in her voice.
"I wouldn’t have minded if you’d done it while standing in front of me."
Alden blinked.
’She noticed...?’
Slowly, Seris glanced back over her shoulder.
"See you soon, Alden." She stepped into the carriage.
The coachman cracked the reins. The horses pulled forward. Within moments the carriage disappeared into the darkness.
Alden stood there for a few seconds before letting out a helpless sigh.
"...How does she keep making me feel like she’s above me? I’m the author!"
He clicked his tongue.
’Why am I getting worked up over a character I created? Forget her.’
A slow grin spread across his face as he turned toward the endless mountains.
Countless roars echoed through the night.
But instead of fear, Alden felt anticipation.
"Let’s see what kind of beasts I’ll encounter tonight."
______
The deeper Alden ventured into the Ravenveil hunting grounds, the quieter the forest became.
Towering trees blocked most of the moonlight, leaving only scattered beams illuminating the forest floor.
Minutes passed.
Then an hour.
Yet, he encountered nothing but insects, rodents, and harmless woodland creatures.
Alden let out a long breath.
"...Seriously?" He scratched the back of his head. "This is the terrifying hunting ground she was talking about? I’ve seen scarier things near the academy dormitories."
He activated Keen Hearing.
[Wolf Blueprint: +1%]
The forest changed immediately, every layer of sound became distinct and separate. Wind in the upper canopy. A stream forty meters to the east. Something small moving through undergrowth to his left, too light-footed and quick to be anything dangerous.
And then—
Skrrk!
A scraping sound. Not far. Coming from somewhere between the trees ahead.
He drew his sword.
Step.
Step.
He moved through the bushes slowly, keeping his breathing even, following the sound.
It got louder.
He pushed through a branch and his eyes went wide.
The spider’s body was larger than a horse. Eight legs drove into the earth like bladed stakes, each movement leaving deep marks in the soil. Multiple crimson eyes reflected in the scattered moonlight. Its fangs, each longer than his forearm, parted slightly and where they met, thick green liquid dripped steadily onto the ground.
Alden crouched low immediately.
’I underestimated this place.’
He took one careful step backward.
Something tightened around his ankle.
He looked down.
It was a thick, sticky web, already set in place. It wrapped around his boot and lower shin before he even noticed it was there.
"...Shit."
The spider reacted the moment he moved.
Its entire body launched forward and the ground shook with the impact of its weight.
Alden swung his sword down, the web snapped and he threw himself sideways in the same motion.
A bladed leg drove into the exact spot he’d been standing.
The earth cracked around the impact.
He hit the ground rolling, came back to his feet, breathing hard.
Then he registered the burning. His cheek. The spider’s leg had grazed him on the way past and the pain from it was spreading sideways across his face and down his jaw.
His vision went slightly wrong at the edges.
Poison.
His limbs were already heavier. His fingers felt thicker around the sword handle than they should.
The spider pulled its leg free from the earth and turned toward him.
Another leg rose. Positioned above his chest.
’Move!’
[Predator’s Instinct: Activated]
Everything slowed.
The leg was already descending, its shadow spreading across him. Drifting leaves hung in the air. A drop of the green venom fell from its fang in a perfect arc, impossibly slow.
He twisted everything he had to the right, using his last working speed, and the leg hammered into the ground where his chest had been.
BOOM.
Earth exploded outward.
Alden hit the ground a few meters away and got back up on shaking legs, one hand steadying himself against a trunk.
He inhaled and exhaled rapidly.
"...Too close."
[Predator’s Instinct: Ended — Cooldown: 5 minutes]
[Wolf Blueprint: 50%]
[NEW CONCEPT UNLOCKED]
[Razor Claw]
[Description: Swing your hand toward a target to release three invisible claw strikes capable of reaching it at near-instant speed.]
He stared at the notification for half a second.
The spider had already turned back toward him, all those crimson eyes locking forward.
Five meters between them. Maybe less.
His sword hand was shaking from the venom. His cheek still burned. His vision was doing the blurry thing at the edges again.
He let his sword arm drop.
Raised his other hand instead.
"...Let’s see what this does."