Zeke shoved his hand through the monster’s chest. Its scales were durable, but a simple punch from Zeke could shatter boulders with ease. As a result, he felt almost no resistance until he latched onto the creature’s spine. Then, he reared back and kicked the monster in the stomach while yanking back. The opposing forces countered one another for only a second before the thing’s spine ripped free of its body – along with its serpentine head – showering Zeke’s metallic body with sizzling blood.

A second later, he was swinging that makeshift weapon at another of the monsters – [Inspect] called them fire naga – who took the blow about as well as could be expected. Not only was it horrified at seeing its companion’s fate, but it was wholly incapable of winning the fight it had picked. Zeke bludgeoned the thing to death, then wheeled around to take stock of the rest of the battle.

He needn’t have bothered.

Adara stood amidst a pile of bodies, her axe having been discarded for a pair of swords. She was a true knight, and as such, she was an expert in the use of a wide variety of weapons. Zeke had seen that she was deadly with axes, spears, and swords of all sorts. She was even a great rider – though she preferred her own two feet – and a deft hand with a lance. In short, she was the perfect warrior she’d been trained to be.

And despite her lower levels of power, she could more than hold her own within the confines of a dungeon. Of course, Zeke also knew that, if he wasn’t there, she would have been overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

The moment they’d stepped foot into the castle, they’d discovered that it was not as unpopulated as the surrounding area. Mostly, the creatures inside were fire naga – red-scaled monsters that looked like someone had combined snakes and people – but they’d also been confronted by tame hellhounds, a couple of fire elementals, and even a bird made entirely of flames.

Fortunately, none were terribly dangerous to Zeke. Adara had to be careful, and over the course of a dozen battles, she’d been injured often enough that Zeke was required to use [Hand of Divinity] to heal her. However, that was expected, given the circumstances, and he didn’t mind.

She did, though. Not the healing itself. No warrior could fight as much as they did without being injured. What bothered her was what each wound said about her performance. Adara was a perfectionist, so any failure shone a bright light on her shortcomings. That was how she saw her injuries, and Zeke was at least conscious enough to know that she wouldn’t react well to any attempt to convince her otherwise. Adara was not to be pandered to.

“Are you hurt?” Zeke asked, still holding the spine of his slain enemy. Voromir remained in his spatial storage because he wanted to work on his unarmed abilities. It was rare that he was separated from his favored weapon, but it did happen from time to time, so he wanted to remain prepared.

“I’m fine,” Adara answered, her chest heaving. She was also covered in sizzling gore from her hot-blooded enemies. She pushed a wet lock of hair out of her face. “How many did you get?”

“Seven. You?” he asked.

She glanced down at the bodies. Most had been hacked to pieces, so the count wasn’t as easy to attain as it should have been. “Something close to that, I think. These things are dangerous, but they die pretty easily.”

Zeke couldn’t have agreed more. The fire naga were quintessential glass cannons – high on offensive power, but a little deficient in defense. Given Zeke’s and Adara’s high durability, the creatures weren’t quite as deadly as they probably would have been against other groups who’d challenged the dungeon. Still, if they stood still and took the attacks head-on, it wouldn’t be comfortable. Zeke would certainly survive whatever they threw at him, but Adara had to be cognizant of the dangers they represented.

“Do you need to rest?”

With a grin, she answered, “No, I’m good. How many more do you think we’ll get to fight? I’m getting close to a level.”

Zeke could not say the same thing. The fire naga, as strong as they were, failed to move the needle in terms of his own store of kill energy. Each one was only a drop in a very large bucket. It would take tens of thousands of such kills to push him to level ninety-nine. Hopefully, there would be something more powerful waiting at the end of the dungeon.

Of course, the guide they’d read concerning the challenges had proved to be inadequate. Sure, the types of creatures present was the same, but they were much more powerful – and numerous – than the records had indicated. Clearly, Zeke’s presence, or more accurately, his divine spark, had pushed it to a new tier of difficulty.

But rather than resent that modification, Zeke was thankful for it. Otherwise, the chances of him getting anything out of it would have been quite low. This way, he would not only get to fight something that might give him a good chunk of kill energy, but he would stand the chance of accomplishing his real goal of acquiring a fire-attuned natural treasure that would satisfy the terms of his quest.

He tossed the skeleton aside, then proceeded to loot each of the slain enemies. He wasn’t certain if there was anything useful in the piles of scales or meat that were deposited into his spatial storage, but he would leave that determination up to the kobolds whose job it was to sort through everything he acquired. Still, he was a little leery about the meat.

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“Do you think it’s acceptable to eat the meat of sentient creatures?” he asked aloud.

Adara shrugged. “I grew up eating monster meat,” she answered, trying to pick a few of the larger strings of gore from the seams in her armor. “Many of those are sentient. Some are even sapient. It’s never bothered me.”

It struck Zeke as akin to people eating primates back on Earth. He was certain that it had happened, especially in places where starvation was a matter of course rather than an exception. However, to him, it just seemed distasteful. He certainly wouldn’t have eaten a chimp unless there were absolutely no other options, and it was the difference between life and death.

Perhaps he needed to adjust those views, because they didn’t seem prevalent in the Eternal Realm. Originally scavengers, the kobolds would eat anything put in front of them, and natives of the Eternal Realm held a similar attitude to the one Adara espoused. So, it was likely up to Zeke to adapt, rather than try to force his own views onto others.

Or maybe he would just not think about the origins of the food the kobolds gave to him.

That thought had settled onto his mind when, suddenly, Adara went flying across the room. The sound of wrenching metal announced that her armor had been shredded, but Zeke didn’t have time to consider her condition. Instead, the whole of his attention was occupied by the looming fire naga who’d suddenly appeared at Adara’s former location. It was much larger than the others, with red scales streaked with white. More disturbingly, Zeke could feel the mana coursing through those pale lines.

They were runes that had been etched into the creature’s flesh. A dicey proposition even if someone had the proper path, but the incredible results of success meant that plenty of people tried to make it work – usually to their detriment. One wrong move, and a person’s entire mana system could be broken.

Zeke had considered it quite a few times, but ultimately, the cracks and scars covering his torso and shoulders served a similar function. It wasn’t quantified in his status, but they definitely accentuated the level of power he could bring to bear. But where his version was chaotic and often disjointed – they were the result of his Path of Arcane Destruction – the fire naga’s were beautiful and organized.

“Invader,” the naga said. “You will be the culmination of my Path of the Hunter.”

“You really should have hit me first,” Zeke growled, flicking his eyes to Adara. He could see that she was still breathing, so she was definitely alive. However, he couldn’t help but be concerned with how shallow each breath was. If he didn’t end the fight quickly, then there was a chance that she would die. Belatedly, he saw a thick spear jutting from her back. He turned his attention to the hunter. “I see you brought friends.”

Indeed, two hellhounds, both more muscular than any other Zeke had seen so far, flanked the snake-like humanoid. In the naga’s hands were two short spears, both glowing with that same white-hot power. The air wavered under the heat of the creature’s mere presence.

Zeke summoned Voromir to hand.

The moment he was armed, the hounds bounded forward. Even a few months before, Zeke would have been overwhelmed by their speed. They darted in, covering the ground between in less than a second. However, Zeke was a different man than he’d been back then. He’d gained a handful of levels, and what’s more, he’d improved in so many other ways. So, what once would have been a truly overbearing degree of speed was now only vaguely superior.

Zeke could work with that.

He’d never been a creature of speed, so he’d long since learned to lean on his strengths in order to mask his weaknesses. So, he shifted only slightly, and instead of latching onto something vital, the hounds’ jaws only found bits Zeke was more than willing to sacrifice. In this case, that meant one of his forearms and a thigh. They savaged his limbs, their sharp teeth shredding his metallic flesh. But aside from a little pain, their efforts were mostly fruitless.

Pulsing [Hand of Divinity] and dragging all sorts of mana into his body, Zeke quickly repaired the damage. Quicksilver blood splashed upon the stone ground, but Zeke ignored it as he brought Voromir’s head down on one of the hounds. He couldn’t harness the entirety of his strength, but even from his awkward position, he could power the blow well enough to elicit a high-pitched yelp. The beast’s jaws tightened.

That’s when Zeke dismissed his hammer. It was ill-suited to this sort of battle. Instead, he would rely on his own two hands. Still, he wasn’t averse to tipping the fight in his favor, so he used his twin domains. The room was already swelteringly hot, with fires dancing along the black walls, but the moment Zeke used [Aura of Desolation] and [Burden of Sovereignty], those flames took on a very different appearance. As corruption wove through them, they grew darker and more aggressive. Almost eager to consume and taint anything with which they came into contact.

Zeke felt the influx of power in his very bones, and he used that increased strength when he reached down, wrapped his fingers around the hellhound’s head, and squeezed. Its skull cracked immediately, but it took two seconds before it burst entirely. The creature went limp, but its jaws remained locked in place. So, Zeke had no choice but to rip the monster free, tearing his own flesh in the process.

Fortunately, [Hand of Divinity] quickly mended that damage. The other hound, which was still attached to his thigh, redoubled its efforts to savage his limb, but Zeke barely felt it. With so much corruption swirling through the air, he verged on losing himself to the battle lust of his demonic side. He kept it under control, but it still affected him.

So, he used that to his advantage, letting it fuel his strength as he brought his fist down on the other hellhound’s head. This one proved a little more durable than the last, which meant that it endured three blows before it was rendered unconscious. A fourth and final attack cracked its neck, and Zeke pulled it free a moment later.

That was when the hunter finally joined the battle. Only a few seconds had passed, but that should have been more than enough time for the creature to act. Instead, it had remained on the outskirts of the room – as if it had been giving its hounds an opportunity to win the battle alone.

Did it think to use Zeke as fuel for its pets’ progression? Did it think so little of the threat posed by Zeke?

No.

That was when Zeke felt the effects of the creatures’ bites. Sure, their attacks were physically damaging, but that was just a mask for the true effects. Corruption, disease, and poison formed a triumvirate of an affliction that, by all rights, should have been enough to down a powerful opponent.

Unfortunately – for the hunter, at least – Zeke was likely the worst match-up it could have picked. The corruption only served to fuel him, and the combination of poison and disease was easily resisted. So, aside from being slightly angrier than normal, Zeke felt no ill effects.

He laughed.

“You really picked a fight with the wrong guy,” he said. Then, Zeke summoned Voromir to hand and advanced on the confused hunter.