In a secluded jungle, a group of three people were in despair at the sudden appearance of a creature that far surpassed any other they had ever witnessed alive in this strange place, coming tearing through their surroundings.

It was a monster the size of a bear, with fangs like swords, covered with a kind of exoskeleton frame surrounding its head and back, with countless spikes protruding from it.

That terrifying beast, which looked like an armored boar, was glaring at them furiously.

“Tsk, looks like we're screwed, boys.”

“Oh, come on, are you serious?”

“......”

«I knew my luck was being too good to be true»

The trio looked at each other, discouraged, they knew they couldn't escape this beast without a fight.

The only thing that comforted them was that even the rest of the pack continued on their course, as if they didn't notice them, it was just that the strangeness of that event gave them a different kind of discomfort.

They wanted to get out of there fast.

“GAAAH!”

«Dammit, Rasmus, it's okay that it seems like the rest of the herd doesn't pay attention to us, but it's still no reason to release a scream like that when attacking!!!»

Kael glanced around, there didn't seem to be a significant change.

Watching as Rasmus had already begun to attack while Avian was circling the beast, he couldn't help but have a glimmer of doubt.

His body almost seemed to have petrified as his heart rate increased, looking at the monster's intimidating appearance, he had a passing thought, but cocked his head, ashamed of his thoughts.

He sighed and in resignation followed Avian's example.

He has no deep connection with these people, but he still didn't want to run away. Rationalizing it, running away by himself might be even more dangerous for him, he convinced himself of that.

“Sword Slash!”

Kael still didn't understand if it was really necessary to shout the name of the skill to activate it, but that didn't matter now.

Avian cut towards one of the creature's hind legs while it was focused on Rasmus from the front, whose attack had missed.

Rasmus had already considered that, it was quite unrealistic to be able to pierce through the exoskeleton armor of this large boar so easily when it had already had a bit of trouble piercing through the flesh of the scaled down version of it.

It is unwise to trust that the two people he had just met would stay to help him, but Rasmus felt they were reliable guys, he pretty much trusts his intuition.

The exoskeleton it wears does not represent all of this boar's defense. Both its fur and flesh are extremely tough.

Avian understood this immediately, when he encountered great resistance from the target, leaving only a superficial cut that barely bled.

It should be noted that, although it was a lateral cut from an uncomfortable position, that cut was still imbued with a skill.

Kael had positioned himself parallel to Avian to try to pierce the other leg of the creature but only the skin of the creature was resistant enough to stop him, so he immediately retreated a considerable distance.

While the damage had been little, it was enough to anger the beast, which turned around and began....to gore? While spinning in circles, generating a deadly whirlpool of destruction.

Preventing them from taking advantage of it as it constantly attacked from all sides, with its great destructive capacity.

“Damn.”

While they hadn't exhausted much stamina, seeing the monster's great strength in front of them couldn't help but demoralize them.

«His whole body is too tough...no...wait» thinking about the monster's great endurance, Rasmus suddenly remembered the physiology of this type of animal and couldn't help but find his own carelessness funny.

He had become so confident in experiencing the power of this new capacity of his called [Muscular Amplification], that he had momentarily neglected the cunning required to defeat something beyond his own human strength.

He used to be just a “simple carpenter”, who got his own wood, who enjoyed going deep into the magical lands surrounding his village, occasionally enjoying the thrill that hunting offered him, although his sons had warned him of the danger and “meaninglessness” of it, but it gave him a special sense of accomplishment.

He himself was probably dissatisfied to have died that way when he still had time to see his grandchildren grow up.

He sighed, regretting constantly being a stubborn, muscle-brained old man.

Although he's not really that old.

But that's not the point

While he is a bit saddened that he won't be able to spend more time with his loved ones, he is happy that he was able to teach his children enough to fend for themselves, which is why he won't sink into those regrets right now.

There is still a chance against this beast.

Besides, he's determined that even if they can't beat it, he could hold it off long enough for those two boys he just met to escape.

He didn't know what that “origin” was in his status window, but he can get some idea of its usefulness and conditions, instinctively.....

There may be no weak spot at first glance, but that's only if you look at it with the naked eye.

Animals tend to evolve protection of the most visible areas where predators usually attack, however, due to the cost of development, those areas that are difficult to access often lack this same protection.

“Boys, be ready to attack when I say!”

The young duo looked hesitant, intimidated by the destructive power they witnessed, but in the end, they decided to trust.

Rasmus unexpectedly dropped the axe he carried, adopting a sumo-like stance.

His muscles, already inflated by his skill, began to spasm, further emphasizing his veins, which by now were as thick as ferocious writhing snakes.

The wild boar was already calming down from his outburst, but before he could act any further, old Rasmus was already running towards him, dodging the animal's first retaliation at the sight of the man approaching it.

Finally positioning himself at its side and wrapping his arms around one of its front legs and knocking it to the side, while shouting “ Now! ”

Although shocked by the unprecedented outcome, Avian did not hesitate and charged the boar that was already face down, while old Rasmus used his arms to keep its head immobile and his legs to press its neck, whose armor did not cover, along with its entire lower front thoracic area, where the flesh was less tough.

“Sword Slash!”

This time, Avian applied a downward slash, using much of her physical stamina to once again power up her ability and not waste this valuable opportunity.

*kiiiik*

A considerable torrent of blood covered him, as he leapt back to make way for his oncoming companion.

Once Avian stepped aside, there was Kael, who wielding his sword with both hands, made a penetrating attack on the partially uncovered chest of the armored monster, before retreating from the violent movement of this one.

It was only a few seconds but old Rasmus couldn't take it anymore and once he saw both young men retreat, he finally relented and released his grip as he spun to the side, quickly rising to reach for his weapon.

“Here, gramps, you dropped it earlier.”

Avian already had Rasmus' weapon in hand and immediately passed it to him.

They all took their distance from the enraged beast, which still retained a sword embedded between its chest while its entire lower ribcage was practically exposed, releasing blood in spurts.

It is then, that a red aura began to emerge from its body, sending shivers down the group's spine.

With a terrifying explosive power, which it had not shown before, the boar was already in front of the group before they realized it.

Aiming directly at the old Rasmus as he managed to ram his head into Avian, who flew a few meters while his arm was placed in an unnatural position, he had barely managed to mitigate the damage by blocking with his sword.

Kael, reacting quickly to the danger, slid to the ground to avoid the boar's charge, but could not match the boar's speed and was still pushed aside.

Old Rasmus meanwhile, faced the creature and grabbed it by its fangs, resisting its advance with all his strength.

He seemed to be able to hold it back.

However, that's only if you look at it superficially.

Rasmus ended up injured even though he tried to be careful with those things in the creature's armor.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The red-haired man's legs and arms had large scratches and small bleeding puncture wounds, trembling slightly as if he could not stand it much longer.

One cannot contain these types of monster without a price to pay.

That's without considering the consumption of skills.

While [Muscular Amplification] is quite a powerful skill, if used to its full capacity or in excess, the strain it causes on the user is no small thing.

Every muscle in Rasmus was experiencing uncontrollable spasms at this point, as if begging for its life, as they were losing volume as Rasmus was being cornered between the spikes of the boar's armor and the surface of a tree.

With his two companions on the brink of doom, Kael was desperate as he contemplated this scenario. His body burned as his heart seemed to slow down but not calm down.

He has tried attacking that beast from behind before, his own strength is insufficient to pierce its flesh, even with a spear, the damage would not be as significant as to....

Kael suddenly caught a glimpse of something and a disgusting crazy idea popped into his head.

An idea that he would usually be totally reluctant to carry out.

However, it is in this state that he couldn't care less about any inhibitions he may have had.

He is not confused.

You might say, his mind is unusually clear, as clear as it has ever been.

Kael charged towards the beast as he summoned his spear.

A faint hint of cruelty appeared in his gaze.

He was angry with the creature as he thought of his wounded partners and the intense pain he was experiencing in his shoulder from the vermin.

Even if it was an undignified and disgusting method

does it really matter now?

«Thank you for staying so still, you bastard»

As the beast wagged its tail, Kael was attentive and pierced ferociously at a certain target deliberately marked by mother nature, easily reaching towards the armored boar's internal organs, tearing them apart in a bloody process while maximizing the damage by lightly stirring the spear.

*GWWWWAAAAAAAAAAK!*

The boar felt pain like it had never experienced before, not even when it ate some rare glowing blue berries with a suspicious smell.

The tutorial entities are created virtually by using some incomplete soul fragments and filling them with “data” to fulfill certain functions.

A product of this is their instinct to keep attacking when encountering a new entity in the tutorial, even if the difference in strength is clear.

However, they could not be considered non-living entities. They can have emotions, get angry, feel pain, feel hungry, and so on. It's just that they don't have too complex thoughts beyond the margin configured in them.

That's exactly why the creature whose back virtue was outraged by the merciless and cold spear of that black-haired boy was no longer angry, but right now agonizing in pain.

That red aura that seemed to be activated either by the damage received or by his anger had already disappeared, leaving him in an extremely weak state.

It being unclear whether it was because of the accumulated damage, the expiration of the red aura or the painful infringement on its dignity.

Maybe all together.

“ Mister Rasm...”

Kael was about to reach for the axe to the old red-haired man but noticed that he was sitting on the ground with a pained expression, while his muscles were deflated.

There was a brief moment of silence but seeing the suffering beast lying on its back, as if it had already given up and was simply begging for an end to its suffering.

Kael approached it calmly and quickly buried the axe in the creature's chest, which seemed to have extinguished the vitality of that robust entity at once.

With a slightly irregular breathing, the boy only gave a short and strange laugh.

Kael smiled happily as he felt a strange and comfortable warm current entering his body.

The same happened to the two remaining men, who seemed on the verge of collapse. They all suddenly felt their physical stamina recovering moderately while there was a slight hint of recovery in their wounds.

*clank*

Suddenly, in front of the monster appeared a shiny metal axe along with a small vial with a reddish fluid inside.

The trio didn't know it, but they had been very lucky.

Kael was about to head for those objects but something else caught his attention.

Inside the open chest of the armored boar.

There was a faint hint of yellow light.

Although he was not so affected by the sight of this pitiful corpse, he still felt some revulsion at the thought of getting his hands inside it.

But

He felt he should have taken that glowing object.

Kneeling down, he began to insert his hand into the monster's moist interior, which still retained its warmth....and viscosity.

The blood was abundant but fortunately the spherical object was recognizable, as there was already a path between the ribs, it was not difficult to make contact with it and withdraw it.

It's just that, as soon as his footprints touched that orb.

A series of confusing messages appeared in front of Kael.

The monster's internal vital energy absorption begins (amplified by the benefit of the tutorial)

Starting the full integration of the individual to the magic system of Ausperia

Possibility Seed Starting the essence absorption

No essence of any record or an existing soul has been found

Absence of essence and a natural power level. Searching for abnormality cause....

Target identified as a low level artificial existence

Virtual target. analyzing....

Information has been analyzed and refined

Similarities with previously absorbed nutrients have been found

Understood the basis of the functioning behind the present energy and previously absorbed nutrients

All previous processes have been suspended

Attempting to update...

Failed

Failed

Failed

Kael began to feel an intense headache.

Followed by the sensation of being on fire, which made him kneel down again ,in confusion.

He felt various unknown forces begin to conflict within him.

This went beyond his own body, he felt like his spirit was being shaken, if that makes sense.

It is only when he suddenly felt a cold but somehow familiar hand on his head, which “pushed” one of the forces away while “letting the other grow”, that he felt those symptoms alleviated.

At the same time as he felt that icy touch, some particular individuals within the tutorial space couldn't help but become startled, as they felt a sudden and short chill.

Permissions of [Possibility Seed] have been successfully increased

Result: Partial assimilation(in progress)

Rest is needed to finish with the upgrade and integrate the ecosystem correctly

Enter suspended state [Yes] [No]

«No»

Kael was confused by the sudden series of messages presented in front of him, barely giving him a chance to read them in depth.

He only knew that there was an important change in his “origin”, which he was glad about, even if he couldn't get any other benefits from that orb that was still in his hand.

It's just that he couldn't faint now or anything like that, it's not safe.

«Luckily, that herd of wild boars was long gone»

He felt a constant sense of lethargy but he thought he could take it, he had to.

Now he had to help his companions.

Enter suspended state [Yes] [No]

«NO»

Enter suspended state [Yes] [No]

«I said NO!»

Enter suspended state [Yes] [No]

«NO! STOP IT NOW!!!»

Noticing the insistence of those notifications, Kael was aware that he had to be quick.

He proceeded to store the sphere in his inventory while extracting the healing potions he had stored.

Heading towards the wounded Rasmus while his eyelids felt heavy.