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.”

didn’t hesitate as she moved, facing the

entire right arm was ripped off with a swipe, but the moment her fist connected, it pushed in a flood of the

in less than a second as she dodged a blow from the Slothful Warden and landed a

teeth, she grabbed hold of the hair and dragged the beast in closer. Its arms were longer than hers, making it an advantage to get in closer. It did mean the hair

in front of it in a cone was avoided as the attack was rather telegraphed, and the crescent beams it released from its claws were easy

for every limb she lost. Her regeneration was pushed to eleven, her power only growing as her

from start to finish, with no guarantee of victory even if she didn’t fuck up. She could have fought with others or tried to

the beast looked to be on the verge of death, it made its final stand as energy poured out of it like never before. Carmen had kind of

a spear, a set of claws, two skulls of

“Echoes of War.”

around each item as golden ghostly apparitions were conjured. This was what she had prepared for the last two weeks by fighting powerful foes. Combining her

attack before also dispersing. The two wolves summoned from

momentum she could. The summoned apparitions were also beginning to disperse as they couldn’t remain active for more than a few seconds, the items that summoned them crumbling

with all her energy as she swung a right hook straight for the head of the beast in a reckless

the sloth’s long arms, but the second it made contact with her hair, it didn’t hit the human but instead sunk

off. The mirror also shattered to pieces, its power only enough to block a

damaged, it couldn’t react properly when Carmen swung her fist forward. It impacted the sloth’s head, the facial bones and skull shattering to the fist

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

Warden – lvl 108] – Bonus experience earned for killing

[Savage Pugilist] has reached level 98 - Stat

reached level 79 - Stat points

level 99 - Stat points

she saw the messages before

as she gave it the finger. “Fuck

felt like she only now had truly broken free of the prison she was in

after-effects of the boosting skill while also helping her recover her resources faster.

on with the next area of business. She went up to the corpse of the beast as

tribute this victory

golden dust, leaving only a single set of long claws behind. She

Valkyrie of Gudrun] has reached level 61 - Stat points

reached level 80 -

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

have

someone else to deal with the damn Pylon she had just gotten a quest about. No way she was going to waste her time

punch and more levels to gain. She briefly looked at the other new quest she had gained about the

like she was going to stop fighting…

report to Jake. It had become routine that she would come by with some good food, and they would talk over any new

Miranda to see it, Jake had mentioned they

and knocked on the door. It opened a second or so later, her mana sense skill telling her it was done with pure mana manipulation. He is getting a lot better every time I

it reminds me a bit

and she was instantly dumbfounded. Not by the man