"Argh! Too weak," Zane muttered, dashing toward his next target.

His experiment continued—one beast after another reduced to pulp and crimson puddles. While he honed his control over raw strength, others weren't faring as well. Several students were badly injured, some on the brink of death, saved only by senior students and teachers who swooped in at the last moment.

Zane paused, glancing back. He saw the rescuers gather the wounded.

"Since we helped you, you're out," a teacher informed.

They collected the green cards from the fallen students, activated something, and the cards burst into flames. In the next instant, the card holders were pulled into them.

"Don't worry—you'll be teleported back to Earth," a senior student explained.

From a distance, Zane muttered, "So that's another function of the green cards. Pretty useful."

He returned to the hunt, moving from one beast to the next. None lasted more than a single strike. More and more people began noticing his overwhelming feats, each thinking the same thing—his physique had to be extraordinary. Some speculated the only way to deal with him would be long-range magic.

Zane didn't care.

Finally, he felt confident in his control. His current opponent was a giant, twin-headed gorilla wielding a treant like a club.

"Interesting…" His eyes flicked to the stats above its heads. "All three attributes nearing 8,590 points. Good. Let's see how much you can take."

The gorilla roared, unleashing a sonic wave.

Mid-dash, Zane dropped his load weight to slip under the attack. He turned to see the aftermath—trees ripped from the earth, the ground carved into a jagged trench.

"Such a great magic attack… Alright, surprise me. Bring it on!"

His taunt only enraged the beast further.

It beat its chests, twin voices howling in unison.

Zane advanced, unshaken.

The gorilla lunged, slamming the ground. The earth split open, a fissure racing toward him faster than he expected.

"Luminous Step!"

In a flash, Zane vanished from the fissure's path. The rift tore through the forest, uprooting trees and leaving a jagged scar in the earth.

"This beast can use two elemental attacks…" Zane noted—earth-based and sound-based magic.

The twin-headed gorilla roared louder, furious that its target still stood unscathed. It charged.

"That's right… come to me," Zane muttered, planting his feet.

He aimed a punch for its gut, but the ape was faster than expected, skidding back. Zane blurred forward in pursuit.

The second head opened its jaws, unleashing a torrent of flame.

Warning! The System's voice jolted through his mind.

He twisted aside just in time, the fire scorching past.

The gorilla fought with surprising cunning—cycling between earth, sound, and fire magic in a steady rhythm. But Zane's speed and reflexes outmatched every spell. He wove through each attack, steps fluid, body untouchable.

So that's all you've got…

"Then die."

His form flickered—faster than before—and reappeared point-blank in front of the roaring beast. His fist drove into its midsection.

He'd hoped to hold back, to keep it from exploding.

Bang!

Meat paste.

Zane sighed in disappointment. "Still can't time it right."

His gaze shifted—and locked onto his next target. A gigantic black panther.

"What an interesting creature… a third eye."

The panther's muscles tensed. Its gaze was calculating—too calculating.

Zane read the intent instantly. Smart enough to know what happened to the gorilla. Smart enough to run.

"So, you're a scaredy-cat, huh? Run along, kitty."

As if in answer, a roar split the air—deep and resonant—from the far rear of the battlefield, near the city's wall. One of the six towering beasts.

Another black panther, titanic in size, with three eyes and two tails.

Its roar rolled like thunder.

The intelligence in the smaller panther's eyes vanished—replaced by a feral red glow.

"That big one's… controlling it?" Zane's mind sharpened.

The black panther lunged. Its speed was shocking—so much that even Zane couldn't evade completely.

Four claws tore into his left arm. Pain flared hot, blood dripping in thick lines down his forearm.

"So fast!"

Zane burned mana, Luminous Step flaring at full power.

He shot forward—and the panther mirrored him. Then, without warning, it stopped dead.

Too late to pull back, Zane's fist was already in motion.

Bang!

The beast burst into a spray of gore.

"Fine. I've mastered the slap… now I'll hone my punching technique. You'll all be my stepping stones."

He blurred through the battlefield, each punch leaving another pile of shredded flesh behind. For the next hour, the last wave of the horde thinned under his relentless assault—more than half the beasts falling to him alone.

Finally, he found the rhythm.

A black bull—strength stat: 9050—took a perfectly timed blow. It dropped without rupturing, without a single bone snapping.

A rare grin spread across his face… then faded. No System notification.

A quick check of the corpse revealed the problem—no intact bones inside. Even without rupturing, the sheer force had crumbled the skeleton.

"So that's it. I need to stop breaking bones altogether." His jaw tightened. "I've come too far. I will complete this quest before this wave ends—or I'll fail it entirely."

He scanned the field. Many of the strongest fighters—noble heirs, scions of Super-families, and dangerous dark horses—were locked in their own battles, some fighting well above their weight with exceptional magic skills.

Zane memorized their faces.

Then his eyes caught something—northwest of the woods, a dense cluster of beasts. No students in sight.

"Luminous Step!"

He flickered forward, reappearing mid-strike above a rhino-beast.

Crack.

It collapsed instantly, every bone turned to dust before it could even react.

He moved again. And again. A trail of pale motes shimmered in the wake of his movement.

Up in the hidden vantage points, spectators and drones recorded every second.

Many whispered the same theory—Zane's blows must plant some explosive magical effect inside the beasts, detonating moments later.

Only a handful knew the truth—Shelby, Erlin, Director Aaron, and Pudge.

It wasn't magic. It was pure, terrifying muscle power.

After slaughtering more than a dozen, he finally found the perfect timing—and the perfect strength. His fist connected, and the beast crumpled with a dying roar. No ruptures. No explosions. No broken bones. Just death.

Ding!

[Auxiliary Quest 1 Completed!]

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