The Primal Hunter

She dodged the attack as she vaulted backward, a few strands of her long hair still caught by the sharp claws of the beast. With her back bent like she was trying to win the world championship of limbo, her stance was a bit awkward as another claw descended towards her body.

In an impossible move, her entire body swayed to the side as if she didn’t have any bones. Simultaneously, she pushed off the ground with her hand and landed a solid kick on the huge three-meter tall bear-like beast in front of her.

The beast barely reacted to the attack, but it allowed her to create some distance between them. She was breathing heavily, with several wounds already covering her entire body. All of them were healing at a near-visible rate, but she was still far from in optimal condition.

Her opponent was a bear-like creature that, in retrospect, actually looked more like a werebear. In actuality, though, it was a sloth.

[Slothful Warden – lvl ???]

It was the final boss of her tutorial, a being she had failed even to reach back then… but now, more than two months later, she would face it and win.

This wasn’t the first time Carmen fought the beast… but it would be the last.

She charged again, not giving the beast time to relax. She knew it would recover as fast as herself, so hit-and-run tactics wouldn’t work. The beast had two modes – slow-mode and fast-mode.

It moved incredibly slowly in slow-mode, but its defenses were ridiculous, and it healed its wounds incredibly fast. It was far more vulnerable in fast-mode and didn’t recover at all, but it made the beast super fast, as the name suggested. This knowledge had taken her losing several limbs to learn.

The beast moved again, staying in fast-mode. She dodged back, not daring to try and fight it straight-up but instead looking for an opening. She leaned and weaved away from the claws until she finally saw her chance. She landed a right hook on the beast’s face, making it stumble a bit back.

While her hit was far weaker than the D-grade’s, she had managed to hit the chin and rattle the brain a little. With it disorientated, she moved in quickly and managed to land ten or so more blows before it used a skill to get her off.

Its long hair suddenly grew in length as the long strands, like tendrils, tried to catch her. She jumped back with all her strength, barely avoiding them. Her fists were both encompassed in an orange glow that was already spreading throughout her body, healing her wounds.

With every hit, she stole life-energy from the opponent, healing herself. At the same time, the lower her health, the stronger she got. She was a berserker, but without the berserking part. Her mind was calm as she swiftly moved forward again, seeing the Slothful Warden about to enter its slow-mode. Won’t help you this time.

She wouldn’t allow it to regenerate.

Her fists came down like hail, every one of them leaving a small imprint of energy behind. It tried to defend but was far slower than before. Carmen’s attack didn’t do any noticeable damage, but they did send energy into the beast’s body with one purpose – stopping its healing.

Forced to move fast again, it exited its slow-mode and returned to fast-mode, and they returned to their slugfest. Carmen, calculatingly dodging every hit of the beast while it swung with increasing desperation.

After nearly half an hour, it was time to enter the second phase. Carmen had gotten here before and had almost lost her life… but now she would be ready.

The beast exploded with power as its hair grew, and it began glowing red. It grew another meter in size, power overflowing from its body.

Carmen took this time to make her own preparations as she prepared for the battle’s final stage.

Pressing both her fists against the ground, she spoke, “Sacred Battleground.”

An aura spread throughout the area, and for a split-second, an echo of battles prior swept across the land. Animals were fighting and hunting before the system, and even echoes of a war that had happened in bygone eras, perhaps all the way back in the stone age.

The visions disappeared as quickly as they came, but the ground remained hallowed. It was now a blessed battlefield where Carmen would bring down her foe.

She felt the power of the land flow into her as she activated her boosting skill.

“Ruination Drive.”

it was burning as orange energy swirled out from every pore on her skin. She didn’t hesitate as she

fist landed on the beast, but at the same time, it also attacked. Her entire right arm was ripped off with a swipe, but the moment her fist connected, it pushed in a flood of the orange

a kick. Spikes

arms were longer than hers, making it an advantage to get in closer. It did mean the hair would impale her now and then…

before. The corrosive breath that leveled an area hundreds of meters in front of it in a cone was avoided

but she inflicted a heavy blow on the sloth for every limb she lost. Her regeneration was pushed to eleven, her power only growing as her massive health pool slowly depleted. If she fought outside her Sacred Battlefield or without her boosting skill,

victory even if she didn’t fuck up. She could have fought with others or tried to level more… but she wanted to win alone and do so before capping

its final stand as energy poured out of it like never before. Carmen had kind of expected this…

the beast - a sword, a spear, a set of claws, two skulls of beasts, and finally,

“Echoes of War.”

had prepared for the last two weeks by fighting powerful foes. Combining her class and profession with the

and didn’t hesitate to attack. The spearman fell nearly instantly, while the one with the sword managed to at least block a single attack before also dispersing. The two wolves

regard for her own safety. Both hands behind her as she ran, building up all the momentum she could. The summoned apparitions were also beginning to disperse as they couldn’t remain active for more than a few seconds, the

the beast in a reckless attack. The Slothful Warden saw her reckless attack as it brought its

but the second it made contact with her hair, it didn’t hit the human but instead sunk into a mirror

mirror also shattered to

her fist forward. It impacted the sloth’s head, the facial bones and skull shattering to the fist that held everything the woman could muster. An explosion of power sounded out in

in the crater, her Ruinious Drive deactivated, her right arm gone, and her entire body covered in blood. Before her lay the headless corpse of the Slothful

Warden – lvl 108] – Bonus experience earned for killing

reached level 98 - Stat points allocated, +5

has reached level 79 - Stat points allocated, +5

reached level 99 - Stat points allocated, +5 free

as she saw the messages before she began full-on

she gave it the

of the prison she was in before the system, as not a single remnant of it now remained.

help with the after-effects of the boosting skill

of business. She went up to the corpse of the beast as she knelt down and placed her hand on

tribute this victory

single set of long claws

has reached level 61 - Stat

has reached level 80 - Stat points allocated,

scam. All Carmen had to do was tribute kills she made to Valhal, and she would gain levels in it. Okay, she also had to prepare the items dropped to summon echoes and do some other rituals and stuff, but it was way easier to level than those professions that felt more like full-time jobs

way she would have the patience

had just

She briefly looked at the other new quest she had gained about the Perfect Evolution title and shrugged. She

was going to stop fighting… she needed more

the valley to give her weekly report to Jake. It had become routine that she would come by with some good food, and they would talk over any new happenings of the city. Nothing seemed unusual at first, but she did notice one

but not both of them. While the birds hadn’t allowed Miranda to see it, Jake had mentioned they were caring for

a bit as she went through the ever-active barrier and knocked on the door. It opened a second or so later, her mana sense skill telling her it was done with pure

brought this new dish; it reminds me a bit of

today’s meal when she saw Jake sitting in a chair with a book, and she was instantly dumbfounded. Not by the man himself as he looked the same as usual with a mask covering