NOVEL NEXT Chapter 75: Third
He barely had time to breathe before the scarred wolf hurled itself at him again, its body a storm of muscle and fury that didn't give him a second to steady his lungs.
The weight slammed him into the trunk behind, bark exploding against his drip, wood cracking from the force.
"Motherf*cker, that f*cking hurts," he hissed, blood dripping out of his helmet.
The collision rattled his bones, again, his helmet clanging against the tree hard enough to send sparks of white flashing across his vision, but his hands never betrayed him.
His blade was still raised, always raised, refusing to drop even when the world spun for a heartbeat.
The wolf wasn't slowing though.
Blood poured from the gouges he had already carved into it, soaking its once-pale fur into something darker, but it still pressed forward with a rage that carried its entire frame.
Its eyes locked onto him with nothing but raw intent, and every step hit the dirt heavy enough to send small tremors through the roots.
The other wolves had fallen, yet this one didn't care, didn't break nor hesitate.
Lanz planted his boots, forced his knees to bend against the strain, and dragged a long breath that cut into his chest.
His grip tightened around the Aged Blade Fragment until his knuckles burned under the gloves.
His mind pulsed with one thought, one answer, and the blade responded.
[Crimson Slash — Activated.]
The fragment ignited in his hands, blood-red light spilling down its length, burning brighter than before, the air humming under the release of energy.
His stance lowered, body leaning forward.
The scarred wolf lunged, jaws wide enough to take his arm off, claws raised to tear through his chest.
But instead of stepping back, instead of yielding space, Lanz surged forward to meet it head-on.
His sword whipped upward in a diagonal arc, and the crimson glow split through fur, flesh, and bone in a violent flash.
The blade didn't just cut — it f*cking tore.
The impact staggered the wolf mid-air, its momentum dragging it forward another meter even while its chest split open in a brutal wound.
The beast hit the ground with a heavy thud, dirt kicking up around the collapse, its body twitching once before going still.
Blood spread out in a slow pool, soaking deep into the forest floor.
[EXP +15]
The system's cold text appeared, cutting across his vision, but the silence that followed carried more weight than the notification ever could.
For the first time since the clash began, the forest stilled completely.
Lanz stood in the middle of it all, chest heaving, every inhale grinding against his ribs, every exhale fogging the inside of his visor.
His arms trembled under the weight of the fragment, the muscles screaming from the punishment, but he kept the blade pointed down, refusing to let it fall entirely.
Sweat clung under the drip, mixing with the sting of shallow cuts across his skin, yet the smirk still tugged at the corner of his lips, hidden beneath the helmet's shadow.
"That was a bit hard," he muttered, voice hoarse, mocking even through the exhaustion, the words rolling out more for himself than anything else. "But I still looked hot."
His boots dragged slightly as he shifted his weight, pulling the sword free from the dirt where he had braced it, dragging the blade down in a flick that sent blood spattering off the edge.
The crimson glow had faded, leaving only the steel, stained and ugly but still his.
He turned his gaze across the battlefield.
Five regular gray wolves and three white wolves, all sprawled across the ground with their bodies broken and their blood draining into the earth.
What had started as a bait had ended in a massacre, and he was still standing, still breathing, still holding the weapon that had carved them apart.
The realization pressed down on him harder than the weight of the fight.
He had actually pulled it off.
The thought made him laugh, a sound breaking out under the helmet, not entirely stable but filled with satisfaction that came from his plan working.
The chuckle cracked into words, dripping with sarcasm, his tone carrying the same sh*t like it always did.
His chest rose and fell, lungs still burning, but the smirk didn't fade.
If anything, it settled deeper, because the proof was right there in front of him.
Eight kills. Five messages of [EXP +7] and three for [EXP +15].
And a body that was tired, but slowly recovering.
"Time to check the stats," he muttered, dragging himself back to where the fight between the boss boar and the alpha wolf had left the ground torn up.
The air still carried that heavy tension from earlier, but for him it was already business as usual.
The system chimed the moment the words left his mouth, throwing the familiar menu in front of his eyes.
________________
Stats:
STR: 20 | AGI: 10 (Affinity) | VIT: 5 | DEX: 5 | INT: 17 | WIS: 5
[Available Stat Points: 3]
[Derived Stat — MANA: 85 / 90]
________________
"Yeah, no surprise there. After spamming Phantom Stride nonstop, my body feels like trash. I definitely need to dump something into vitality before I drop dead from running out of stamina in the middle of a fight," he said, shaking his head at the screen.
Without dragging it out any further, he shoved all the available points straight into VIT.
VIT: 5 → 8
The moment the change settled in, his body didn't feel all that different, just lighter, most likely because the level up had already healed him
"Great, now for the new reward," Lanz muttered, already expecting the system to pull something out of its bag of tricks.
Well, he wasn't wrong — because the moment the words left his mouth, the panel snapped open in front of him.
________________
Quick Sever Lv.1 Unlocked
(Active Skill – A swift, high-precision slash designed to cut through vulnerable points in an enemy's stance or body. Prioritizes speed and control over brute strength, making it ideal for exploiting brief openings and punishing overcommits.)
________________
The second he read it, his entire expression shifted from curiosity to outright delight. "Oh, this is just what I needed!" he practically yelled, throwing his hands up.
"I wanted something quick, and guess what? The damn thing actually gave me something quick!" He stared at the description again just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
He knew instantly what this meant before the level up. Just look at the name.
Quick Sever wasn't exactly a puzzle — Lanz could, in fact, read, which was a shock to anyone who'd seen his report cards.
The title screamed fast, and the description only hammered the point home.
"This skill is going to carry me hard," Lanz continued, grinning at the panel. "Yeah, now I can actually slice and talk sh*t at the same time. This thing is speed, precision, control — everything Crimson Slash were missing."
He paused, rubbed his chin for effect, then burst out laughing. "Who am I kidding? I don't even need to think about it. This is busted for me."
The thought of testing it right now immediately crossed his mind.
His hand twitched toward his weapon, his body itching to try the new toy.
"Should I test it now?" he said aloud, his tone dragging between temptation and impatience.
His gaze swept across the ruined area.
The dirt was torn, the trees cracked, and, of course, the wolves.
The only problem? There weren't any good test subjects left in sight.
He tapped his sword against his shoulder and shook his head.
"Nah, wasting it on empty air would just kill the vibe. This isn't some practice-swing skill, it's gotta be shown off properly. I need something with fur and the audacity to think it can still fight me."
His eyes narrowed as he remembered the boars lurking on the lake side.
Those oversized pigs were practically asking to get carved up anyway, so why not debut Quick Sever on them?
"Yeah, that settles it," he said, smirking. "I'm saving this for those dumb boars. They won't even see it coming."
He snorted at his own joke and added, "Well, technically they might see it, but by the time they realize, they'll already be on the ground bleeding out. So…not really their problem anymore."
That was when it finally clicked for him, the realization hitting hard enough that it shoved everything else out of his head.
"Holy sh*t, I need to be fast," Lanz muttered, breaking into a sprint toward the lake again.
His breathing quickened with each step, but his voice carried on with the same sarcastic bite that never seemed to leave him.
"The leaders are about to finish their duel any second now, and if I'm not finished killing the remaining boars when it happens, I might as well just write 'idiot' on my forehead and call it a day. I need to move faster!"
His legs burned as he forced more power into every stride, each step pounding against the dirt.
He didn't have the luxury of pacing himself, not now, not when the climax of that brutal clash was unfolding without him being done with his mission.
He cut through the underbrush, occasionally throwing himself against exposed roots jutting from the ground and using them as crude platforms to launch forward, anything to shave off even a sliver of wasted time.
Every second felt heavier than the last, a countdown ticking mercilessly in the back of his head.
The path thinned, the trees began to break apart, and he knew he was close.
His focus sharpened, body straining under the effort, but his thoughts were locked on one single outcome — killing the boars.
Missing that moment would not only screw with his plan but also feel like the dumbest waste of all his effort so far.
He burst into the edge of the clearing, chest heaving, and then stopped dead in his tracks.
His eyes widened instantly, pupils dilating as his brain tried to process what was right in front of him.
His breath caught in his throat, the weight of the scene slamming into him before his body even knew how to react.
Sweat dripped freely down his forehead, his entire face tightening as the reality of what he was seeing started to settle in.
"What the f*ck just happened," he muttered, eyes still wide.
End of Chapter
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ALT SYSTEM — USER PROFILE: ZERO
Level: 16
EXP: 18 / 160
Next Reward:
Global System Tracking: DISABLED
World Rank Association: UNLINKED
Stats:
STR: 20 | AGI: 10 (Affinity) | VIT: 8 | DEX: 5 | INT: 17 | WIS: 5
[Available Stat Points: 0]
[Derived Stat — MANA: 89 / 90]
Skills:
[Quick Sever Lv. 1]
[Crimson Slash Lv. 1]
[Phantom Stride Lv. 2]
[Instinctive Blade Lv.1]
[Predictive Guard Lv.1]
[Skill Fusion Menu: Active]
[Dev Tree: Tier 0 Access Granted]
[Developer Node – Fusion Core Anchor: Active]
Equipment:
Aged Blade Fragment (??? Rarity) (Bound)
Training Ring (+1 VIT)
Bag :)
Ring of Genorya - ???