'Null Buds like the Bulk Rhino are almost entirely made out of bones.
Heck, just look at them?! They're a Severe-ranked massive source of destruction with a bone plate that's practically living armour!'
Luca landed with a disorienting thud.
He rolled over to the side and grabbed his sword, then lowered his entire body to the ground.
'If you can't find the physical flaw of a structure then go for the inside. There's a reason why we go for the roots when dealing with weeds.'
Cataclysmic creatures of destruction were not plants, yet Luca still seemed to be focused on the fact that there were in fact– similarities.
Luca had observed the beast and to his discontent, the Bulk Rhino was a perfection of defence.
Its eyes were covered with the same carapace, bone-like structure– a whitish substance that made Luca certain that it was blind.
Its nostrils were barricaded within the bone helmet and even its underbelly had the same tough texture.
There was no visible structural flaw, so Luca began to decipher its body from a different standpoint.
Something so large and protected would naturally leave at least some parts of its body weakened.
And if not external, then internal.
Of course, higher-ranked Egoists would hardly care about such a defence. They could tear through it with ease, just as the Tiger had done.
But Luca was no high tier rank.
And that is why he went for the mouth.
It was opened. It was unprotected.
The only thing that stood in the way was its teeth and powerful jaw, so he deciphered a plan to pry it open— and thus, went for the most fleshy, sensitive part he assumed would cause the most damage.
Perhaps it was luck, or maybe expertise, but Luca had just pulled out a structure he didn't know the name or function of.
It was merely instinctual.
And he was repaid wholly for that decision.
The massive Spawn of the Abyss went on a rugged rampage.
Its breath was haggard and torn.
Thick, murky dark vicious blood dripped down its maw in torrents. Splashing onto the forest floor with a wet sound.
Its pupils were dilated– thin needles of pure agony and its inner ears, connected to those very muscles, had snapped from the pressure.
It lost the sensation of balance and crashed relentlessly into the tall trees and nearby mushrooms erratically.
As it moved, the earth shook. A constant beat like that of drums in a general assembly.
The sound shook the trees, and Luca was certain it attracted and just as much chased nearby Buds.
Luca wasn't entirely certain, but he had long decided to let the creature simply die from blood loss, but a sudden scene changed his plans instantly.
A beam of yellow light– sharp and cruel dug through the underbelly of the carapace of the Bulk Rhino and out through its back.
The creature froze on the spot, its body tensed as massive muscles coiled to a grip.
Luca narrowed his eyes and sent his sword into the air.
'I won't let that tiger take my kill.'
His gaze darted to the Vallion Tiger that had begun to rise. It seemed to have healed a bit from the wound– another hurdle added to his list.
But Luca ignored it for now.
The Bulk Rhino was on its last legs.
His sword swirled through the air– end to end– in an erratic swing. Its blade glowed with a metallic sheen as it arched through the air and into the hole formed by the Vallion Tiger's ability.
The Rhino visibly shivered. Its hind legs buckled as its two-hundred-ton frame tilted, its sense of balance shattered as if the horizon itself had been tilted at a forty-five-degree angle.
It tried to roar, but only a wet, gargling heave escaped. Its own biology had turned into a noose.
More blood spilt out of its maw, a fist of it that began to clog its breathing.
Luca didn't stop at just sending his sword into the creature's body.
No, he had begun to spin it within the internal organs of the Bulk Titan.
Perhaps if it were at its peak, such a thing wouldn't have bothered it, but it no longer was.
His sword spun like a propeller, slicing through layers of important organs like butter.
Blood poured out of the hole beneath the creature, forming a thick pool around it.
Its rugged breath grew shallow– until, finally, it lay at rest.
The interface glowed on his retina in that moment, but he ignored it, turning to his next opponent instead– the Vallion Tiger which was now standing, shakily.
It may have been weaker, but Luca wouldn't underestimate such an intelligent creature.
'I don't know how long that thing had been playing dead. In fact, even the Bulk Rhino wouldn't have guessed it…'
It had struck at the perfect time and would have taken the percentile he needed if he had not acted quickly.
Such a Null Bud can only be referred to as Intelligent.
'That could explain why it attacked the Bulk Rhino despite their difference in ranks.'
Luca sighed evidently before shooting forward with blistering speed.
The tiger felt it– impending doom was upon it.
The creature growled furiously. It raised its forelimbs into the air as Luca closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
The hands descended in an attempt to clamp on him. Luca dodged.
He sidestepped and stretched his hand forward.
The tiger suddenly tripped on a misdirected foot– confusion evident in its amber eyes as it tipped forward.
Luca leaned forward. He held both hands as the gust of golden energy was emitted, then a sudden blast of it.
"Hmp!" A sudden blast of his form sent the creature hurling backwards into the thin leaves and against the stalk of a mushroom.
It screamed in pain as a sharp snap ensued from its back, knocking out the air out of it.
Its underbelly was exposed– too exposed and Luca was upon it before it could even attempt to recover.
"Not letting you."
He curled his fist and whipped it towards the underbelly in a solid punch. It connected.
The earth hummed as cracks spread in a spiderweb. A crater dug on its own and the mushroom tilted to the side– collapsing from the force.
The tiger's growls fractured into pained snarls as Luca tightened his fists and detonated a merciless barrage of punches across its exposed flank.
Its jaw wrenched open, its eyes stripped of colour as Ego charged fists caved into flesh– too fast to count, too dense to separate. A cluster of stacking impacts crashed into its body like a continuous collision with no end.
Its chest caved. A jagged scar tore and blood and gore splashed out in a torrent.
Black ichor and intestines poured down like a waterslide of thick soup over Luca as he slowed down his pace to a halt.
He watched the tiger for a few seconds as if waiting. Observing.
Time ticked slowly and finally, he dropped his wet, blood-thickened fists with a wave of relief.
The Vallion Tiger lay at rest.
The air went silent. Filled with the arrhythmic breathing of a single living force– Luca.
'Hah… hah… I survived that.'
He looked around carefully, observing the dead Rhino, then the dead Tiger.
'A Severe and Moderate Rank.'
He laughed out awkwardly as a smirk grew across his face.
A horrid sight for those who witnessed his condition in that moment.
Luca noticed the crimson image of his Interface replaying in his retina in that moment, and he called for it as he dusted off the organs and sat a distance away from the dead body.
There had been some notifications he had missed even since the Rhino's death, and finally, he could observe them clearly.
'As well as take a look at my percentile.'
He narrowed his eyes as he called his interface.
Praying silently, that it wasn't as bad as he anticipated.
Name; Lucamir Elaric.
Archetype; Undefined.
Ego Rank; Explorer, 2nd Stage
Ego Core; Particle White (1% =>4.6%)
Luca almost cursed.
'Are you kidding?! A normal Severe rank gives 15% to Explorers! 15%! and a Moderate gives 10%! 10%!'
Just this casual fight which had cost him quite a lot of energy had cost a mere 3.6% rise in his core?!
At this rate, not only will his end goal be a pipe dream, but the rest of the world will move on without him.
'I'm seven times stronger than my peers, but what is seven times stronger if I'm no longer the same strength as my peers?
Wouldn't that mean that a new set of Explorers will come which I will be stronger than for only a limited time?'
It almost sounded like a bad commercial.
One where the customers are obviously at a loss, but choose to engage themselves because their products are just that good!
Seven times stronger than his peers was especially good!
It meant that if he were to reach the Invoker rank, or even the Integrator and higher, there would be no one at his level.
'The path is hard, but the goal will be worth it.'
He shrugged his interface away and turned to the Null Buds with a frown.
'Now, to find their cores.'
He raised his right arm and his sword materialised in his grip.
With that, he stood to his feet with a slight grunt, ready to harvest his gains and continue his trip around the vast forest.
At that moment, killing more Null Creatures had been the number one priority in his growing list of necessary tasks to perform.
Ten minutes had passed since the start of the test, and Luca was still at two.