The ambitions and greed in my head almost made me lose half my body. The smaller of the two armadillos is even faster than the thinner variants, its body following a straight trajectory toward the cave wall. I can see it burst out through a massive hole created by the impact of its body.

  “Not only are you faster, you’re also more dangerous and stronger.” I speak, fully aware I won’t receive any answer.

  I take advantage of the brief moment without being attacked to inspect the other enormous monster resting in the corner of the chamber. It remains lying there without moving, and I can’t sense any intention from it to do so either.

  I use my swords to block the next attack, the monster stopping mid-lunge. It moves around me with small, rapid sidesteps, its long, sharp claws trying to tear chunks of flesh from my body.

  This armadillo is a highly improved version of the previous ones. It is faster and stronger, with agility and control over its body, capable of fighting without relying on wild jumps or launching itself like a missile. Its use of earth mana is rather poor, but it still tries to destabilize me by shifting the ground beneath my feet or creating spikes aimed at piercing my legs.

  What worries me is the pressure of its Imra. Before, I could understand why my movements were restricted if I didn’t cover my body with my full force of will through my Imra. That pressure should have dropped now that only a single monster is fighting me. Instead, it feels even stronger.

  I focus part of my concentration to satisfy my curiosity. Why can a single monster generate the same, or even greater, pressure than dozens? The monster’s Imra defenses are remarkably solid when it comes to interrupting that network or connection.

  I use my will to overpower its own just enough, creating small gaps in its defenses to understand how that ability works. The monster lets out grotesque sounds, clearly hating the way I’m invading its private space. This must be the first time anyone has managed to breach those tough defenses.

  For me, it wasn’t especially difficult. My Imra has always been intense and powerful, and using it like a blade felt natural. My Blade Law helped greatly, carving repeatedly until its defenses were torn apart. Now I can roughly study how it functions.

  The armadillo attacks with even greater fury. I can feel the anger and hatred in every movement, its claws growing larger, their sharpness something I have no desire to test right now. I move side to side, forced to rely on my swords to defend myself. Its speed has increased, and its erratic movements are hard to predict.

  Seconds pass and I find nothing unusual. I click my tongue in frustration. It seems I’ll have to push deeper, breaking through the lighter defenses wasn’t enough.

  I’m a bit afraid of completely shattering its Imra. Nothing good ever comes from doing that. I could directly damage its core or leave it completely vulnerable. Taking the risk, I decide to dive deeper into its Imra.

  Just as I’m about to give up for fear of killing it outright with my Imra, I find something interesting.

  My eyes shift toward the enormous armadillo lying in the corner. That monster is the source of the Imra network. I don’t know exactly how the ability works, it looks far too complex to study in such a short time, especially when a raging monster is trying to turn you into Swiss cheese.

  Somehow, the armadillo chief can generate a field of its Imra and form a network to connect with the monster in front of me. I’m not completely certain, but everything suggests the other armadillos I already killed worked the same way. It’s the only logical explanation for how they were able to merge their Imras.

  After all that investigation, I’ve managed to decipher part of it. They’re essentially fusing their Imras through a connection. I’m no expert, and I’ve never intended to specialize in this kind of study. I keep playing around, trying to figure out more, and it isn’t impossible.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  My curiosity fades. I now understand the basics of how all these monsters were connected. Some Imra-based ability kept them all linked.

  I dodge its claws with a slight tilt of my head, my right arm already moving as the monster in front of me loses an arm. The next cut to its leg is just as effective. Two simple strikes, and it loses two limbs.

  There’s no reason to hold back anymore. It’s time to finish this fight and go for what really matters, the chest.

  A few seconds later, the sound of a body hitting the ground echoes through the cave, followed by the dull thud of the armadillo’s head. Only two living beings remain in this dark space.

  “Can’t you move? Did constant use of that ability leave you paralyzed? Is it a side effect of using such a powerful ability simultaneously with other monsters?” So many questions, and I won’t get a single answer.

  The last monster lets out small growls. It’s its final resistance. I construct two Joyeuse to end its life, the massive, powerful swords plunging into its head and putting an end to it.

  I head toward the chest. It’s very small, at most about 30 centimeters tall, 40 long, and 20 wide. My Personal World detected it, because in this darkness it would’ve been a real problem. Using my eyes alone would be impossible.

  I don’t want to open it in such a dark place. I grab it with both hands and walk back through the path where I annihilated an entire family of armadillos.

  I sit on a rock outside the cave to appreciate the chest. It’s covered in silver and green patterns, with a white button in the center. I press the button, the chest vanishes from my hands, and two items fall to the ground.

  One is a medal of honor. It’s triangular and purple, the same color as my eyes. They already showed us its shape outside, and the host spent many minutes talking about it, with all the surrounding screens focused on it.

  When I bring it close to my chest, the medal of honor automatically attaches itself to my clothes. It has enchantments that make it invisible to others. Otherwise, everyone would hunt you down the moment they saw the triangle on your chest.

  Another function is its durability. It’s an unbreakable object. No matter if your clothes are destroyed or torn during combat, you won’t lose it unless you “die” and are eliminated from the competition. It will always reappear if you inject mana to restore your uniform.

  The other item is a snow-white leaf, much larger than a normal one, almost the size of an A4 sheet.

  The host also explained situations like this. All items found without exception have a guaranteed function. If you focus on them, you can see a small description explaining their use. It’s built-in, so you don’t have to wait until the end of the stage to find out.

  “Leaf of the Millennial Tree: Contains an enormous amount of vital mana. You can bind it to any part of your body and fully recover your vitality twice.” The omnipresent voice delivers the description inside my head.

  A swirl of emotions rises within me as I discover how this item works. I’m happy, because the words fully recover your vitality mean a lot. You could be on the brink of death and return to peak condition the moment you use it. It could save your life.

  It’s a precious item, something anyone in the world would want. Everyone wants a lifeline. What I don’t know is how long you must wait between uses, or whether the effect is instant or takes a few seconds. That kind of information can be clarified once this stage ends, the organizers can provide it.

  For me, this leaf isn’t that important. My life affinity is already very high. I can recover from lethal wounds as long as I have a few seconds. Damn it, I regenerated half my body after being cut by that anomaly. My ability is already at the peak of rank IV self-healing.

  It’s a bit depressing not to have found something better, but I won’t complain. Maybe I can use it in a critical moment, or give it to Brendu if she gets into trouble during this tournament, or to one of my loved ones when I return home.

  My first fight and impression of this second stage are already far more positive than the first. I had a lot of fun fighting monsters with such a unique and strange ability, and I even found a chest in the first few hours. It’s been a very rewarding start.

  “Where should I go now?” I store the large leaf in my storage bracelet for the time being. There’s no way to truly die here, I’d simply be eliminated.

  I sit and observe the landscape around me. Massive mountains, vegetation, and endless possibilities. I’m sure I’ll find more and more interesting things as the hours pass. Time flows a bit differently in this place. Days could pass for me and the other participants before the first phase of this second stage ends.

  With a jump, I rise from the rock and decide to explore the mountain a bit more. If I don’t find anything interesting, I’ll head to the next one, possibly avoiding very weak monsters or anything that feels boring.

  Deep down, I hope to run into some people and be attacked. That would add a bit more action to this stage. “It would be fun to run into that savage guy or one of the other limit breakers. Let’s see what fate has in store for me.”